I thought of this today. Whetstones sharpen blades. For adventurers, a nice sharp blade would be better than a dull one. However, I've never seen whetstones used in games, other than as dressing or as useless items you would find or never buy because they had no mechanical use... until now! This isn't about weapon maintenance, characters are assumed to be doing that - it's an elective bonus, a rule for when the party dramatically sharpen their swords to razors before going into battle.
It takes 10 minutes (or 1 hour, you choose) to sharpen a bladed weapon with a whetstone. Once sharpened the weapon deals a minimum of 2 damage. Damage rolls of 1 are bumped up to 2. The player writes [sharp] next to the weapon on their character sheet. This effect lasts... (select one)
- for a single battle (in which the weapon is used)
- for the whole day (even if the weapon is unused)
- until a result of 1 is rolled on an attack roll using the sharpened weapon
- until the weapon is notched
A whetstone doesn't last forever. When a whetstone is used, roll a d20, if you roll under the maximum damage of the weapon being sharpened (e.g 6 for a d6 weapon) the whetstone cannot be used again.
Very cool. How much for one?
ReplyDeleteThanks. 5 or 10gp I'd think, possibly even 1gp. The idea's a day old and isn't playtested yet. In Lotfp I'd have the whetstone take up an encumbrance slot to ensure the player carrying it doesn't forget they have it.
DeleteMundane cost raises the idea of a hugely expensive, enchanted whetstone(s) that permanently sharpens weapons. That'd be cool. Kingdoms and empires would fight over it to ensure their army's weapons have the 'edge' (get it) over their rivals.
I like it, but I'd flip it around. When you attack with the sword, you can choose to roll extra damage (however you want to do that) but then you put "blunt" next to it. Then you remove that with the whetstone at some point. Everyone else's weapons are presumed to be somewhere between sharp and blunt, but if you've got a whetstone then it is worth keeping track of the edge, because you can do something about it.
ReplyDelete'Swords will be blunted'
DeletePCs (or just Fighters/Barbarians) can declare to strike with such ferocity as to blunt their blades. Roll for an attack as normal, if successful roll for damage adding half of the weapon's total damage potential to the result (D6 weapon = +3 damage). If maximum damage is rolled (6 for a d6 weapon), the blade shatters.
If the blade has not shattered, write [blunt] next to the weapon. [blunt] weapons cannot roll maximum damage. A roll of 6 damage on a d6 weapon becomes a result of 1 damage instead. [blunt] weapons cannot be used in ferocious strikes and will just shatter if such a strike is attempted. The [blunt] tag can be removed by using a whetstone.
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Honestly, a slightly silly mechanic. Characters would walk around carrying multiple swords or recruit sword-bearer hirelings - discarding blunt swords in the heat of combat for maximum damage dealing potential. You might want to encourage that sort of behaviour though I don't know. Thanks for the idea!
Honestly, I don't mind it at all! How often in dramatic, honourable duels, does someone snap a spear on the enemies armour, backs off, and gets another one? That's like, the *classic* spear-wielding moment. I'd keep it as an optional rule, like "Shields Will Be Splintered" or "Oh Crap, My Hat!"
DeleteI didn't mean it like that. A silly mechanic - but a fun one. Perhaps there might be a way of limiting its usage from 'all the time' to 'sometimes'. Perhaps you can only [blunt] your weapon in single combat or against a specifically [hated] NPC or against a [hated] category of monsters that each player specifies for their characters. That would work.
Delete