Post/Author/DateTime	Post
BeefotronX 07-27-07, 03:16 PM	Weapon type effects In this variant rule, weapons gain special abilities according to their damage type. The overall effect is that weapon choice will make more of a difference in how a combat plays out, and combat will be deadlier on the whole. Piercing: Armor Piercing Piercing weapons gain armor piercing ratings. An attack with an armor piercing weapon can bypass part of the target's armor bonus, if it has any. The weapon can bypass a number of AC points, from armor or natural armor, equal to its AP rating. Thrown piercing weapons reduce their AP rating by 1. A weapon with AP-0 has no armor piercing ability but may still benefit from effects that improve armor piercing. A masterwork piercing weapon gains +1 to its AP rating, and certain magical enhancements may increase an AP rating further. Light: AP-1 One-handed: AP-2 Two-handed: AP-3 Piercing weapons known for exceptional armor piercing ability, such as stilettos, picks, crossbows, and firearms, follow this scale: Light: AP-2 One-handed: AP-4 Two-handed: AP-6 Bludgeoning: Clobbering Bludgeoning weapons gain bonus nonlethal damage whenever used in a lethal attack. Masterwork bludgeoning weapons improve this bonus by +1, and certain magical enhancements may increase this bonus further. Double this damage die when attacking a target that is denied its Dexterity bonus. Like other bonus damage dice, this damage is not multiplied in a critical hit. Light: +1d4 One-handed: +1d6 Two-handed: +1d8 Slashing: Lacerating Strike Slashing weapons gain bonus damage against unarmored or lightly armored foes. This bonus damage functions againstfoes protected by a natural armor bonus, provided that the armor bonus is no more than half the damage bonus (rounded up) . Masterwork slashing weapons improve this bonus by +1, and certain magical enhancements may increase this bonus further. Light:+1 One-handed: +2 Two-handed: +3 Curved-blade slashing weapons, including axes, scimitars, sabers, and katanas follow this scale: Light: +2 One-handed: +4 Two-handed: +6 Magic and type effects: Magic armor protects against the weapon type effects of all weapons with a lower (but not equal) enhancement bonus compared to the armor. Purely magical armor effects, such as mage armor or bracers of armor, should be considered for this purpose to have an enhancement bonus equal to half their armor bonus.
Werral 07-27-07, 04:16 PM	Your numbers seem kinda arbitrary. I agree with picks having armour piercing, but a scythe? Halberds (the pick like bit) should also be way up there). No way. Also note that blunt weapons such as hammers are usually considered the best for penetrating plate because waves of force travel through the armour and cause damage even though the armour is not literally penetrated (but I'm no physicist).
BeefotronX 07-28-07, 02:36 PM	The idea is that all piercing weapons get some level of armor piercing. I know the numbers seem arbitrary, so I tried to simplify things a little.
Werral 07-28-07, 05:55 PM	There was an optional 2E rule (that no-one ever used) where different types of armour offered different amounts of protection versus different damage types. It didn't work then because it didn't intereact well with THAC0 and the armour class but I reckon it could work in D20. Give each armour 3 ACs that average as the current one. Piercing would be best versus chain, bludgeoning versus plate etc... Slashing would probably be the worst for AP but you could balance that by raising the base damage or crit threat a little maybe (think of katanas and scimitars, crap versus heavy metal armour but deadly versus an unarmoured foe). GURPS does this really well by the way. It divides weapons into swinging and thrusting and then into piercing, cutting and blunt. It works well but is a bit slow. Check it out and see if it gives you any ideas.
zorgling25 07-28-07, 06:04 PM	For Slashing Weapons: Lacerating Strike - Slashing weapons do bonus damage to lightly armored and unarmored foes.
BeefotronX 07-29-07, 06:00 PM	I like that. I think it's mostly done now. Arcanists without mage armor may be in a pickle, though.