Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 demonwastesmarauder Aug 31, 2010 20:44:59	Personally, I think that to highlight the rarity of metals on Athas, there should be more definite advantages should you obtain a metal weapon. I plan to use the fumble breakage rules described in the DSCG, and there should be some active advantage from using a metal sword, some proposals are described below: 1.)Some house-ruled proficiency bonus. Maybe an extra +2 on the weapon type just for being metal. 2.)Some monsters should, I think, have a vulnerability to metal weapons; problem is which ones? 3.) Using the inherent bonus system, with magic weapons being a rarity, I'm thinking of adding extra crit dice equal to the proficiency bonus for the metal weapon type.
#2 Pennarin Aug 31, 2010 21:14:12	Woah, flashback to 2e, far off dude!
#3 angelus_obscura Aug 31, 2010 21:30:48	"Steel isn't strong, boy. Flesh is stronger. Look around you." Thulsa motions to some of the thousands of followers surrounding his mountain who worship him as the mouthpiece of God. He points up to the top of a cliff, "There, on the rocks, that beautiful girl." He motions to the girl, "Come to me, my child." The girl steps off the cliff and falls to her death. "That is strength, boy. That is power: the strength and power of flesh. What is steel compared to the hand that wields it? Look at the strength of your body, the desire in your heart. I give you this ...such a waste. Contemplate this on the tree of woe. Crucify him." < + :P
#4 demonwastesmarauder Sep 01, 2010 2:02:29	"    I SEEEE YOU.....    I HEARRRR YOU.....     WHO AMONG YOU STILL FEARS DEATH?"    My players will, as their non-steel weapons shatter on roles of a natural 1!
#5 Duskweaver Sep 01, 2010 4:29:19	3.) Using the inherent bonus system, with magic weapons being a rarity, I'm thinking of adding extra crit dice equal to the proficiency bonus for the metal weapon type. The DarkSun version of the inherent bonuses system (DSCS page 209) already gives you bonus crit dice. It might be a good idea to increase the die size for metal weapons, though. The default is 1d6 per plus, so maybe bronze weapons do 1d8 per plus and steel weapons do 1d10 per plus*? I would be inclined to make superior implements increase their crit die size as well, to keep weapon users and implement users balanced (implement users are already slightly behind weapon users on damage due to Weapon Focus). "Steel isn't strong, boy. Flesh is stronger. Conan's steel sword turned out to be stronger than the flesh of Thulsa Doom's neck, as I recall... * - Making steel weapons unconditionally better than bronze weapons isn't really accurate, but most people expect steel to be better than bronze.
#6 tavitin Sep 01, 2010 12:52:25	Weapons made of steel can cover some weapon enchantments (much like a sword with a boon) Steel-made - Adamantine Weapon Iron-made - Flesh Grinder Weapon Bronze/Brass/Silver/etc - Vicious and Supremely Vicious this is just a thought
#7 edwin_su Sep 02, 2010 14:12:37	wel one thing metal weapons in my campaign are not subjest to weapon breakage
#8 Pennarin Sep 02, 2010 14:35:57	The morale of Thulsa Doom's story was that the people behind the swords make the difference.
#9 bruul Sep 02, 2010 20:05:01	The morale of Thulsa Doom's story was that the people behind the swords make the difference. That is exactly what he was getting at.  Any weapon is worthless in the wrong hands.  In the right hands almost anything can become a weapon.
#10 demonwastesmarauder Sep 02, 2010 20:32:06	It'll be beautiful; the PC's will be engaged in a pitched battle against cannibalistic halflings; and..... a 1! your Carrikal shatters! Minor action to draw another one! Or to grab one off a dead body. Soon, the PC's will become savvy, ruthless reavers covered in three-to-four brutal stone-age weapons. With each shattered Alhulak, the PC's will feel the primitive savagery of Athas!    And they will crave even the rumor of metal weapons!
#11 rethelici Sep 03, 2010 7:23:58	The morale of Thulsa Doom's story was that the people behind the swords make the difference. That is exactly what he was getting at.  Any weapon is worthless in the wrong hands.  In the right hands almost anything can become a weapon. But what happens when you come to the point of 2 equally skilled fighters, the one with the better tech wins.  A bronze shield is going to turn aside a lot more stuff then a wicker one will.  A steel axe head is going to cut down or slice thu things much better then most normal stone head axes would. If I was running a DS game, I would just keep it simple and give steal or other hard metal weapons a +1 hit, and maybe brutal 1 over top of what other properties the item may have.
#12 beej_silver Sep 03, 2010 7:47:42	I talked about this topic on my blog awhile back (the perils of work are keeping me off the blogosphere these days, and I haven't been able to update too much after this): I Break My Weapon to Break Your Bones!  In a nutshell, I'm of the opinion that either optional rule in the DS CS works well enough. For those who want to emphasize the sheer manliness of warriors, Reckless Barrage works well. I've had a natural 1 turn into a solo-ending crit with that rule. Sure the weapon shattered into a hundred obsidian pieces, but it happened while it was inside the opponent's body. That you can use the rule on metal weapons and have a chance of not breaking is icing on this optional rule. Fumbling Barrage, on the other hand, fits well for a Dark Sun game that emphasizes the hardships of the world. Again, metal weapons are excempt from randomly breaking. To me, that's a big enough boon.
#13 talid Sep 03, 2010 19:28:34	1) Using the optional 'reckless breakage' rule, is a good start to making metal weapons more desirable. That way a botched roll can be turned to their advantage with only a one-in-four chance of breaking the weapon, instead of the automatic shattering of a non-metal weapon. An additional +2 proficiency bonus that stacks on top of the normal proficiency bonus seems a little too generous for my admittedly austere tastes. Personally I'm considering implementing all metal weapons with the 'brutal 1' property to reflect their superior quality. I haven't yet decided whether weapons with any existing level of 'brutal' will stack with this bonus, or whether that would be more than the players really need. Imagine a barbarian running around swinging a metal executioner's axe!   Rolling damage is always a crap shoot, but it means that a normally unexciting metal weapon such as a dagger - being the most likely to roll a '1' - will actually benefit the most from this property. Unless of course the player really doesn't like rerolling four-sided dice. 2) There were indeed a few monsters in 2E that were the Athasian versions of 'needs magic weapon to hit' from the more garden-variety sort of campaign settings. The braxat and the so-ut (rampager) were two that come to mind immediately. With 4E, however, I have noticed that monsters only have resistances to energy types and not mundane weapons. I haven't been playing 4E for long, so I daresay there may be critters out there that are exceptions to what I have seen.