WEAPONS


Adventurers often carry weapons of some sort, whether it’s a knight’s broadsword, a detective’s snub-nosed .38, or a space pirate’s blaster pistol. 

Choosing Your Weapons

To determine what weapons to carry, consider your situation first, and then your skills, strength, and budget. If you can’t use it or don’t need it . . . don’t buy it.

First, decide why you carry a weapon. Is it for self-defense, intimidation, battle, or hunting?
Do you need a concealed weapon – or a quiet one – or does law or custom let you carry it openly?
If you’re a pacifist, do you want a weapon just as a threat, or one that you can use to disarm or subdue a foe?

Consider what the law allows, too.
Most settings have laws or customs that govern the weapons and armor you may wear on the street or on the job without attracting attention (see Legality Class, box). This applies in historical settings as well. A stranger visiting the average medieval village wearing a suit of plate armor would be every bit as conspicuous – and threatening – as a person carrying an assault rifle into a corner grocery store today! 

Also review your skills and Strength. 

High-tech weapons (such as guns) work equally well for anyone who knows how to use them. Low-tech weapons – clubs, swords, etc. – do much more damage if wielded by a strong person. Either may have a minimum ST. 

Finally, look at the weapon’s statistics. Each weapon is rated for its TL, weight, cost, and relative legality. 

A weapon’s damage rating is the basic measure of its effectiveness, but there are also factors such as reach, range, rate of fire, and accuracy to consider.

This section contains information to help you make the choices discussed above. If you are a total nonfighter, you can skim or skip this material!


Weapon Statistics

Weapon tables provide the items of information explained below. A given column will only appear on a table if it is germane to the weapons on that table. In all cases, “–” means the statistic does not apply, “var.” means the value varies, and “spec.” means to see the relevant weapon skill in Chapter 4 or applicable section of Chapter 13 for special rules.

TL (Tech Level)
The tech level at which the weapon first becomes widespread. You may only buy weapons of your campaign’s TL or less, unless you have the High TL trait (p. 23).

Weapon

The general class of weapon in question; e.g., “shortsword” or “assault rifle.” Each entry represents a wide range of individual types. For guns, this entry includes a projectile diameter, or “caliber,” given in millimeters (e.g., 9mm) or fractions of an inch (e.g., .50), as customary for the weapon. The letters M (Magnum), P (Pistol), R (Revolver), and S (Short) appear after caliber in situations where different guns have the same caliber but fire different ammunition; for instance, 7.62mm ammo is not interchangeable with shorter 7.62mm ammo.

Damage

For muscle-powered melee and missile weapons, such as swords and bows, damage is ST-based and expressed as a modifier to the wielder’s basic thrusting (thr) or swinging (sw) damage, as given on the Damage Table (p. 16). For example, a spear does “thr+2,” so if you have ST 11, which gives a basic thrusting damage of 1d-1, you inflict 1d+1 damage with a spear. Note that swung weapons act as a lever, and so do more damage. For firearms, grenades, and some powered melee weapons, damage is given as a fixed number of dice plus adds; e.g., a 9mm auto pistol lists “2d+2,” which means that any user would roll 2d and add 2 to get damage.

Armor Divisors:

A parenthetical number after damage – e.g., (2) – is an armor divisor. Divide the target’s DR from armor or other sources by this number before subtracting it from your damage (or adding it to the target’s HT roll to resist an affliction). For instance, an attack with a divisor of (2) would halve DR. A fractional divisor increases DR: (0.5) multiplies DR by 2; (0.2) multiplies it by 5; and (0.1) multiplies it by 10. 

Damage Type:

An abbreviation indicating the type of injury or effect the attack causes.  Abbreviations:
aff - affliction, burn - burning, cor - corrosion, cr - crushing, cut - cutting, fat - fatigue, imp - impaling, pi- - small piercing, pi - piercing, pi+ - large piercing, pi++ - huge piercing, spec. - special – see weapon notes, tox - toxic

A victim loses HP equal to the damage that penetrates his DR. Halve this for small piercing attacks; increase it by 50% for cutting and large piercing attacks; and double it for impaling and huge piercing attacks. Subtract fatigue damage from FP instead of HP. Afflictions cause no injury, but impose a particular affliction on a failed HT roll, as specified in the weapon’s notes. See Damage and Injury for additional rules.

Explosions:

An “ex” after crushing or burning damage indicates the attack produces an explosion. This may injure those nearby: divide damage by three times distance in yards from the center of the blast. Some explosions scatter fragments that inflict cutting damage on anyone nearby (see Fragmentation Damage, p. 414). Fragmentation damage appears in brackets; e.g., “3d [2d] cr ex” means an explosion that inflicts 3d crushing damage and throws fragments that do 2d cutting damage. The “danger radius” for fragments is five yards times the dice of fragmentation damage; e.g., 10 yards for [2d]. If an explosive attack has an armor divisor, this only applies to the DR of a target that takes a direct hit – not to those caught in the blast radius or hit by fragments.

Afflictions: 

Some special weapons don’t list dice of damage. Instead, they give a HT modifier; e.g., “HT-3.” Anyone who is hit must attempt a HT roll at the listed penalty to avoid the effects of the affliction (e.g., unconsciousness). 

For example, a stun gun calls for a HT-3 roll to avoid being stunned for (20 - HT) seconds. Note that DR (modified by any armor divisor) normally adds to the victim’s HT; for instance, a DR 2 leather jacket would give +2 to your HT roll to resist that stun gun. 

Other Effects:

A few weapons have additional linked or follow-up effects, noted on a second line. These occur simultaneously with the primary attack on a successful hit. For details, see Linked Effects (p. 381) and Follow-Up Damage (p. 381). 

Reach

Melee weapons only. This is the distance in yards at which a human-sized or smaller wielder can strike with the weapon. For example, reach “2” means the weapon can only strike a foe two yards away – not a closer or more distant one.  “C” indicates you can use the weapon in close combat; see Close Combat (p. 391). Some weapons have a continuum of reaches; e.g., a spear with reach “1, 2” can strike targets either one or two yards away. An asterisk (*) next to reach means the weapon is awkward enough that it requires a Ready maneuver to change reach (e.g., between 1 and 2). Otherwise, you can strike at foes that are at any distance within the weapon’s reach. 

Parry 

(Melee weapons only).  A number, such as “+2” or “-1,” indicates the bonus or penalty to your Parry defense when using that weapon (see Parrying, p. 376).
For most weapons, this is “0,” meaning “no modifier.” 

Acc (Accuracy) 

Ranged weapons only.
Add Accuracy to your skill if you took an Aim maneuver on the turn prior to your attack. If the weapon has a built-in scope, the bonus for this appears as a separate modifier after the weapon’s base Acc; e.g., “7+2.”

Range: 

Ranged weapons only. If a weapon has only one range number, this is the


Special Melee Weapon Rules

Cloaks

You can snap a cloak in your opponent’s face or use it to block his vision; treat either as a Feint (see Feint, p. 365). You can also use a cloak to grapple. Roll against Cloak skill to hit; reach is C, 1. Otherwise, treat this just like an unarmed grapple (see Grappling, p. 370).

Fencing Weapons

The “ready” position of a fighter using Main-Gauche, Rapier, Saber, or Smallsword skill keeps his weapon pointed toward his foe at all times. As well, the “fencing weapons” used with these skills are light and maneuverable. These factors make it easy for a fencer to recover from a parry or fall back in the face of an attack.

With a fencing weapon, you get: 

Flails

A weapon with a length of chain between the handle and the head is a “flail.” Because of the chain, a flail can wrap around a foe’s weapon or shield when he tries to defend against it. Any attempt to parry a flail is at -4; fencing weapons, with their light blades, cannot parry flails at all! Even a shield is less useful against a flail: all blocks are at -2.

Garrotes

A “garrote” is a cord or wire used for strangling.
You can only use it on an unaware or helpless victim, and you must attack from behind (this often requires Stealth rolls!). 

Once you are in position, roll against Garrote skill to hit. You must target the neck, at the usual -5 to hit.

In most cases, your target is unaware, so you can safely make an All-Out Attack (Determined) for +4 to hit.

On the turn of the attack and every subsequent turn, you may choke the victim (see Actions After a Grapple, p. 370), and get +3 to ST in the ensuing Quick Contest.

 Treat the damage as crushing (x1.5 to the neck) for a rope garrote, cutting (x2 to the neck) for a wire one.
In addition, your victim starts to suffocate (see Suffocation, p. 436). 

To break free, the victim must win a Quick Contest of ST-5, Judo-3, or Wrestling-3 against your Garrote skill.

An improvised garrote (almost any piece of rope) gives -2 to skill. A wire garrote must be equipped with handles, or you will take thrust/cutting damage to each hand!

Picks

Melee weapons that inflict swing/impaling damage – picks, warhammers, etc. – do a lot of damage, but may get stuck in your foe! 

At the start of the turn following any attack that penetrates the foe’s DR and  inflicts damage, you must either relinquish your weapon and leave it stuck in your foe (a free action), or attempt a ST roll to free it (a Ready maneuver).

On a successful ST roll, your weapon comes free. If it is one that must be readied after an attack (any weapon with “‡” next to its ST statistic), you can ready it next turn. On a failure, it is stuck. You can’t use it or ready it – and if you wish to move, you’ll have to let go. On later turns, you have two choices: let go of your weapon or try another ST roll. Should you ever get a critical failure on the ST roll, the weapon is permanently stuck (but you can retrieve it from a fallen foe after the battle). When the weapon comes free, it does half as much damage as it did going in. For example, if the original wound was 4 points, it does another 2 points. Failed ST rolls cause no extra damage. If your foe tries to move away while your weapon is stuck in him, roll a Quick Contest of ST. If he wins, he pulls the weapon from your grasp! If you win, your foe can’t move. On a tie, the weapon comes free and does damage as above.

Shields

A shield is an excellent defense against low-tech weapons, but you can also use it offensively: Shield Bash: A shield “bash” is an ordinary melee weapon attack. A shield can only hit foes in your front or shield-side hexes. See the Melee Weapon Table (p. 271) for statistics. Shield Rush: A shield “rush” is an attempt to knock your foe down by running into him shield-first. See Slam (p. 368) for details. You cannot do this with a buckler.

Whips

Whips are effective disarming weapons. When you strike to disarm with a whip, you get +2 in the ensuing Quick Contest; see Knocking a Weapon Away (p. 401).

You may try to entangle your opponent instead of his weapon. This attack is at an extra -4 to hit, and inflicts no damage, but follows the Lariat rules (p. 411) if successful. 

Whips are poor defensive weapons, and get -2 to Parry. Whips are also unbalanced, and cannot attack and parry on the same turn – and long whips actually become unready after an attack or a parry. It takes one turn to ready a two-yard whip, two turns to ready a whip three yards or longer. 

Additional rules apply, depending on the type of whip:

Whip: You can “crack” an ordinary bullwhip – this is the sound of the tip breaking the sound barrier! This requires an attack at -4 to skill, but inflicts +2 damage. Any whip blow is painful: anyone who suffers a whip wound to his arm or hand must roll against Will, modified by the shock penalty for the injury. On a failure, he drops anything in that hand.

Kusari: This is a weighted chain. You can adjust reach from 1 to 4 yards with a Ready maneuver. Treat it as a whip when disarming, entangling opponents, or readying. Treat it as a flail vs. enemy defenses: -2 to block and -4 to parry. If someone parries your kusari with a weapon, make a skill roll immediately. On a success, your kusari entangles his weapon. A failure has no special effect; a critical failure means you drop the kusari! Your opponent may disentangle his weapon on his turn. This requires a free hand and a DX roll. If he does not, you may make a disarm attempt on your next turn without rolling to hit first: state that you are attempting to disarm and immediately roll the Quick Contest. This still counts as an attack. You cannot use a kusari if there is no headroom, or in an area full of obstacles (nearby people count as obstacles). On a critical miss, a roll of 3, 4, 17, or 18 indicates that you have hit yourself in the face! 

Monowire Whip: An ultra-tech whip made of superfine wire. A control allows you to vary length from 1 to 7 yards, changing both reach and ready time. Adjusting the length requires a Ready maneuver. When used to snare an opponent or a weapon, the whip cuts into its target, inflicting thrust+1d(10) cutting damage every turn it is pulled taut until the victim escapes. A “drop weapon” critical miss indicates that you have hit yourself or a friend.