Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group

[Blogotron]

I am still fiddling around with Dark Sun and next on my list are non-metal weapons vs metal weapons.

In the original material you had Bone, Wood, Stone and Metal. Damage and to Hit were affected; wood -3, bone -2, stone -1, and metal -. Certain hard to get forms of each might work better than similar materials and under certain circumstances there was no penalty regardless of material ( i.e. bone clubs vs wooden clubs)

I figure I could take advantage of the Raise die for some things and use degradation levels

Wood: A 1 on the Fighting Die, regardless of the Wild Die, wooden weapon's damage bonus due to a raise is permanently reduced to a 1d4. If another 1 is rolled on the fighting die before repairs can be made then the weapon breaks.

Bone: A 1 on the Fighting Die, regardless of the Wild Die, a Bone weapon's Damage bonus due to a raise is permanently reduced to a d4. If you roll a pair of "ones" on a fighting roll before it is repaired the weapon is broken.

Stone: A pair of "ones" on a Fighting roll permanently reduces the Damage bonus due to a Raise to a d4. Any time a pair of ones on the fighting die is rolled again prior to the weapon being repaired then the weapon breaks.

[Cryonic]

[Winsling]

Sundered Skies has rules for non-steel weapons. You may actually find that source book has a quite a bit that you can use.

[shadd4d]

I'd also plug Sundered Skies; there are rules that look at non-metal weapons being perhaps weaker (lower damage dice) as well as more fragile (degrading). It also includes if you end up using other materials for weapons, like bronze or something else.
_________________
Don

"But there is a difference between fear and horror. An important difference.
Fear is when you worry about what might be.
Horror is when you are certain." Dannyboy01

[supercOntra]

I'd keep it down to metal vs non metal to not overcomplicate things
_________________
"Eyes without life…sundered heads…piles of carcasses…these are pleasing words to me"
http://www.savageslaine.com

[GranFalloon]

I would also make sure that nonmetal weapons aren't too gimped. A well-made obsidian blade is a very dangerous weapon. Studies suggest the Aztecs and Mayans could have adopted metal use, but that obsidian was plentiful enough and useful enough that they just didn't bother having a Bronze Age.

[77IM]

I would have two traits, Fragile and Dull.
Fragile: If you roll a 1 on the Fighting die, regardless of the Wild Die, the weapon becomes broken, and suffers a -2 attack roll penalty until repaired.
Dull: The weapon has a -1 penalty to damage if it is an edged weapon.

Wood, Chitin: Fragile and Dull.
Bone, Glass, Ceramic: Fragile.
Stone, Bronze: Dull.

-- 77IM

[supercOntra]

Obsidian doesn't dull. It chips and the chips stay razor sharp on a microscopic level, that's why they use obsidian blades for heart surgery
_________________
"Eyes without life…sundered heads…piles of carcasses…these are pleasing words to me"
http://www.savageslaine.com

[chugosh]

I'm not sure I'd really bother diferentiating at all. A bad role is a bad role, and two ones should always mean something dire/ In many cases as the obsidian blades mentioned above, the main difference is in the time required to make the tool or weapon. Stone tipped arows are every bit as dangerous as metal tipped, and a stone headed axe as dangerous as an iron one. The main difference in the latter is in their use as tools, where the metal is better.

In SW, the dice are so much less diferentiated than in D&D or GURPS or many others that have all the diferentiation in there and I think it is alright to leave it simple.

[Blogotron]

The thing is magical weapons, as per the setting, are super secret triple rare.
Metal weapons are as rare as Magical items might be in a standard setting. The different grades of weapons allow for some versatility in a resource poor world built upon basic survival roleplaying.

I don't want to penalize normal damage because, as others have pointed out, damage is tied strongly to Toughness. I chose to penalize bonus dice as i figured a dull (or in the case of a knapped blade, unbalanced) just won't have the kick. I might just rule that they only get a d4 bonus period, and any failed attack roll results in no bonus dice for raises. That might make it simpler.

I will only have one type of metal weapon so bronze, Iron and Steel will get the same stats.


Armor is the next rule.

Armors will get the same bonus regardless of materials but at the end of each combat during which the armor wearer receives a wound non-metal armors make a "save". Armors get a D8 or a D10 ( light/medium and heavy) penalized per wound suffered (I suppose bonuses could be applied for masterwork). If the Armor fails the "save" then it loses an armor point and causes a reduction in all Agility rolls by a similar number. A simple repair can fix the damage.

[Chezzo]

[Revolution 9]

Since non-metal weapons are the norm, and steel is nearly "magical"(at least in rarity), why not let non-metal weapons act as normal weapons in this setting, and simply add a +1 to actual metal weapons? In a typical setting, this would be overpowered, but in a setting where bone and stone are the norm and metal is rare, this seems like the simplest solution. Instead of applying penalties and special rules to stone and bone, which are the most common weapons, why not just apply a small bonus to those rare few metal weapons?
_________________

Final Fantasy is neither final nor fantasy.

[shadd4d]

It's an interesting turn. I'd possibly tack on a degradation mechanic compared to metal and you could run with it like that.
_________________
Don

"But there is a difference between fear and horror. An important difference.
Fear is when you worry about what might be.
Horror is when you are certain." Dannyboy01

[Blogotron]

Whoa. Way smarter than me. Brilliant idea. Winner!

[GranFalloon]