Weapons will be Switching to a New System

[Brokkr]

Sometime within the next couple of weeks there will be a new system in place that will determine the damage that weapons do.  Weapon damage will become a calculated value rather than being set by Staff on a weapon by weapon basis.  Quality, material and weapon category will determine the calculation.

FAQ

Q: Why is this being done?
A: Over time a range of damage dice and pluses have been assigned weapon by weapon by Staff.  These have not been consistent. The intent behind the change is to make similar weapons do similar damage.  This also helps to standardize how materials affect damage, as that was something Staff were supposed to be incorporating into what they set on a weapon, but this has been inconsistently applied over time.

Q: Which and how many weapons will be affected? How will they be affected?
A: A few weapons may gain in damage, a non-insignificant number will go down in damage, most will not be noticeable.

Q: What are the weapon categories?
A: An value we will be setting on items that best represents the characteristics of the weapon and the amount of damage it should do.  For example, the "longsword" category would encompass a longsword, sabre, scimitar, falchion, etc.

Q: How are sparring and training weapons handled?
A: There are specific categories for each sparring weapon type.

Q: How important is quality to weapon damage?
A: Quality will have a moderate impact. You likely will not notice a difference going from "average" to "above" average but likely would going from "terrible" to "very good", for instance.

Q: How can we tell weapon quality?
A: If you can use the weapon (e.g. have slashing weapons for longsword) or can craft it (e.g. sword making), you will be able to assess a weapon to determine its quality.

Q: Does this include bonuses for weapon finesse?
A: No, this is solely about how the damage dice are set for weapons, not any of the combat calculations.

Q: Do bigger weapons do more damage?
A: Roughly speaking, in general larger weapons will do more damage, all other things equal. The categories are meant to, within a weapon type (i.e. slashing/bludgeoning/etc.), categorize weapons by size among other things.

Q: Does damage differ based on weapon category? Does damage differ between similar weapon categories across weapon types?
A: It can, in both instances.

Q: Are throwing weapons impacted?
A: Yes.

Q: Will weapons still be the same weapon types?
A: Mostly but not always.  Only daggers and some longknives will be stabbing weapons.  Short spears, halfswords, shortswords, etc. that were stabbing will be piercing. Additionally, trident type will be rolled into polearm type and knife type will be rolled into stabbing.

Q: How will material play into weapon damage?
A: Some materials will be better for certain weapon types than others. To give some idea in general:

Metal is great at everything.  So is magick.
Wood is light, not great at hold an edge but ok at holding a point.
Obsidian is heavy and holds a sharp edge extremely well.
Stone is really hard and heavy.
Bone is medium-heavy and decent at most things.
Horn is solid, holds a pointed end well, but does not typically hold an edge.
Ivory is solid and can hold both a point and an edge decently well.
Chitin is fairly heavy, durable in larger chunks, and can hold an ok edge.

[Brokkr]

After some discussion with someone, most halfswords will remain stabbing.

[Halaster]

This has been put in place, and all weapons "should" be converted to the new system.  It's entirely possible we missed something and I'll run some queries later to see.

Most weapons won't have any noticeable change, some will have their damage reduced, a small number will have theirs increased.  Weight certainly changed all over the place.

** If you have a weapon you feel is incorrect, put in a request and we'll take a look.  This was all converted with automation, so there's certainly the possibility errors were made.

[Halaster]

More Q&A

Q:  If an unclanned sword was average and a Salarri sword was average, would the Salarri sword be better or would they be the same?
A:  The same.  A wooden sword of good quality is going to be the same weight and damage, no matter who makes it.

Q:  What's the deal with flippable weapons in the new system?
A:  All flippable weapons will exclusively use the FLIP command, and no longer use the USE command.  However, you can now flip them while in combat.  All flippable weapons do slightly less damage, regardless of which end you're using, than their dedicated counterparts.  Meaning, if you have an average quality bone spear that flips to a bludgeoning end, an average quality bone spear that does not flip does a little more damage, and an average quality bone bludegoning weapon that does not flip does a little more damage.  In other words, you sacrifice a little bit of damage for that extra utility.

Q: Can I custom craft an 'amazing' quality weapon?
A: For now, only Salarr has the technology and history to make the best quality weapons.   There may be tribes that can make the best quality weapons of a single type, like a spear.   Independent, self-taught crafters will not have the ability to make amazing weapons.

Q: What is the quality scale?
A:  terrible -> low -> below average -> average -> above average -> good -> very good -> amazing -> legendary -> ??

Q: A lot of weapons seem to be lighter in weight, is this intentional?
A: Yes!

Q:  What does that mean that a lot of weapons are lighter now?
A:  It means weaker characters (or really everyone) can wield weapons that might have been too heavy for them before.

[Brokkr]

Someone suggested we put some of the new weapon stuff in helpfiles, which was a good suggestion.

Weapon Categories
Weapon Materials
Weapon Quality