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On families -

Blades - slashing damage
Blades are balanced and quick, so they don't require the same grip as other weapons. When using a blade in two hands (great weapon or reach) you may also equip a buckler. When fighting with two blades at the same time, you gain a +1 shield bonus to AC (this bonus is +2 if you have two weapon defense). When fighting with a blade in only one hand, attempts to disarm you have disadvantage.

Axes- slashing damage
Axes are brutal weapons. Treat all damage rolls of a 1 or 2 as a 3 instead when attacking with an axe.

Flails- bludgeoning or piercing damage
Flails (and whips) can make grasping attacks (as written). Attacks with flails ignore shield bonuses to AC.

Maces- bludgeoning damage
As written above.

Spears - piercing damage
Spears can be used to make penetrating attacks. Penetrating attacks ignore the defense bonus granted by cover (except for total cover).

Shields
Light - buckler. A buckler is a small shield for personal defense. It can be equipped alongside any bow or cross bow. Because of its small size, use of a buckler does not count as wearing a shield for purposes of protecting/defending others.

Medium shield. A medium shield gives +1 shield bonus to AC and satisfies shield requirements for feats and abilities.

Tower shield. Grants +1 shield bonus to you and adjacent allies. Because of its size and weight, attacks made while using a tower shield do not benefit from the special properties of weapons. For example, if you are wielding a tower shield and a flail, you may not make wrapping attacks.

Reinhart: Am I alone in feeling that tower sheilds and pavice are way too war/seige oriented concepts to really be made so distinct? Isn't the main focus of this system to be for heroes running through caves and forests with three or four comrades, and not on lines of soldiers in formation?

The main focus, sure.  But traditionally, there have been abd can be adventures in which the PCs may want to besiege a castle.  3e had rules for tower shields and I've seen plenty of gammes in which they were used to good effect.

Reinhart: Past that, the scale of these defense bonuses causes havoc with the bounded accuracy system goal.

They don't go farther than +3.  The two-handed and reach shields grant bonuses only where someone uses an entire action to do nothing but shield his allies.












bawylie: I think you can play with disadvantage a bit: Mace - a mace can deliver a crushing blow. When you attempt to deliver a crushing blow, make an attack with disadvantage, if you hit, treat the hit as a critical hit dealing damage accordingly.

Interesting idea!  I'll think on it.

bawylie: When using a blade in two hands (great weapon or reach) you may also equip a buckler. When fighting with two blades at the same time, you gain a +1 shield bonus to AC (this bonus is +2 if you have two weapon defense).

I think this is more appropriate for a two-weapon Specialty than a basic two-weapon rule.  Also, I'm not sure why we care to encourage people to use two blades instead of a blade and hammer or blade and dirk.

bawylie: When fighting with a blade in only one hand, attempts to disarm you have disadvantage.

I'm really trying to limit how often (dis)advantage is offered.  Advantage bloat is one of the riskiest parts of Next game design.

bawylie: Axes- slashing damage Axes are brutal weapons. Treat all damage rolls of a 1 or 2 as a 3 instead when attacking with an axe.

That makes the hatchet (d4 axe) really potent!

bawylie: Spears - piercing damage Spears can be used to make penetrating attacks. Penetrating attacks ignore the defense bonus granted by cover (except for total cover).

Why do spears ignore low walls?  Can they really pierce a wall?

bawylie: Shields Light - buckler. A buckler is a small shield for personal defense. It can be equipped alongside any bow or cross bow. Because of its small size, use of a buckler does not count as wearing a shield for purposes of protecting/defending others. Medium shield. A medium shield gives +1 shield bonus to AC and satisfies shield requirements for feats and abilities. Tower shield. Grants +1 shield bonus to you and adjacent allies. Because of its size and weight, attacks made while using a tower shield do not benefit from the special properties of weapons. For example, if you are wielding a tower shield and a flail, you may not make wrapping attacks.

I don't think the shield rules need amending at this point.  Though I should mention you can wear a buckle and use bow or crossbow.  I wouldn't allow it for other two-handed weapons.

Oct 5, 2012 -- 8:29AM, Quidhala wrote:

I think maybe reach needs to be a separate property from handedness. Just as you described whips and flails in your exotic weapon section. How will I categorize my battle yo-yo?

Are we still operating on the assumption that players can change weapons automatically without any kind of action or penalty? If a fighter with a reach weapon has an opponent adjacent to them they can just switch to short sword for an attack without a penalty. I wonder if this system combined with free weapon change will begin a tedious process in combat of "formulaic weapon use"?

People that are experienced with the game will know in this situation use X. Inexperienced players won't know the ideal weapon for each situation and my feel either inadequate or take way too long to decide what to do. 

Actually it is kinda realistic. Swiss pikemen typically carried a heavy knife. If enemy infantry penetrated the pike thicket then they'd pull out the knife and at least they would be able to fight. Of course you have to DROP your polearm to do that, which may be free, but picking it up again probably isn't. At the very least the DM is unlikely to let you get away with a whole lot of dropping and sheathing and unsheathing and etc all in one round. Presumably the combat system will address this in detail when the rules are more polished.

Let's take a look at what the familial benefits would be if they all triggered when the player chooses to take disadvantage...  (I've decided the rules for range and thrown weapons should be listed separately in the "length" section.)

Family Benefits
You can only gain the features associated with a weapon's family if you are proficient in the weapon.  In order to gain the benefit of a weapon's familial feature (other than shields and unarmed), you must choose to take disadvantage on the attack roll, and you must not be attacking a creature resistant to the weapon's damage type.  You must roll twice and take the lower result, even if you have advantage from other sources.  This is the one circumstance in which advantage and disadvantage do not cancel one another out.  The feature manifests if the disadvantaged attack is successful.  Here are the rules pertaining to each weapon family:

• Axe: Weapons in this family are "brutal".  A hit is treated as a critical hit.

• Blade: Weapons in this family are "deflective".  In addition to the damage inflicted by the attack, a hit means the target takes damage as normal, and the target's next action cannot target you with a melee attack.

• Bow/Spear: Weapons in these families are "piercing". In addition to the damage inflicted by the attack, the creature you hit is immobilized the target until the end of its next turn, ad long as it is not larger than you.  If you immobilized the target with a melee attack, you may use your next action to maintain the immobilized condition until the end of your next turn. If you immobilized the target with a melee attack and move (or are moved) out of reach of the target, the immobilized condition immediately ends.

• Crossbow/Pick: Weapons in these families are "puncturing". In addition to the damage inflicted by the attack, the target incurs a -2 to AC until its armor can be repaired. At the DM's discretion, this feature may also apply to creatures that are made of stone or metal (such as some golems), that have exoskeletons (such as giant insects), or that benefit from carapaces (such as turtle dragons). For such creatures, the penealty applies until it it is fully healed of all damage.

• Flail: Weapons in this family are "grasping". In addition to the damage inflicted by the attack, you grab the target or one of its possessions, if it is not larger than you. A grabbed foe cannot leave your reach, but may, as its action, make an opposed Strength check to escape the grab. While it is grabbed, with a subsequent action, you can engage in an opposed Strength check. If you win, you can either cause the foe to fall prone, move the foe as you move on this turn, or disarm the foe of one object it holds. The disarmed object falls adjacent to the foe.

• Hammer: Weapons in this family are "battering". In addition to the damage inflicted by the attack, you push the target five feet away from you and knock it prone, unless the target is larger than you.

• Mace: Weapons in this family are "penetrating". If the unmodified result of the higher of the two dice rolled on the disadvantaged attack is an 18, 19, or 20, you inflict half damage on the opponent.

• Shield: You may not weild multiple shields. Great shields (great shield) allow you to use an action to transfer your shield bonus to one adjacent creature until the end of your next turn, as long as the creature does not move in the interim. Tower shields (reach shield) extend the AC bonus to creatures adjacent to you if you use your action to wield your shield. As set forth above, bucklers (close) allow you to hold a thrown weapon in that hand.

• Unarmed: These weapons can always be used in close quarters. In addition, your fist (close unarmed) cannot be disarmed, but a successful fist (close unarmed) attack on any creature with a touch attack (such as most oozes) will also be treated as if the creature had successfuly touched you. A monster's attacks are always considered to be unarmed attacks, unless they are with a weapon. You can wield any weapon with a shorter length than your unarmed weapon.  (Thus, you can wield a close weapon in a hand with a cestus (short unarmed), and cannot wield a close or short weapon in a hand with a gauntlet (long unarmed).)