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2013-07-28 15:52:00 
Oubliette: Weapons in the Shogunate. I mentioned when I discussed encumbrance in Oubliette that I wanted to move toward a generic armor system. Generic is probably the wrong word for it; abstract would be better. The difference between a chain shirt & leather armor is largely situational; better to make the back-end math transparent & broad, to make it low friction. I decided to do the same thing with weapons (& other equipment, for that matter), which is already the direction World of Darkness tends towards, with the Armory books excluded. I decided to make the katana, or long sword, the sort of default; a +3 attack bonus. That said, there are elements about a particular weapon that would lead you to choose it; a warhammer to fight the guy in heavy armor, a dagger because you can smuggle it in between your breasts, whatever. Some of that can be covered in Encumbrance & Concealment, but some of it...well, I think the best way to use something very much like Character Traits. I've gone ahead & given them a rough gloss of mechanics, but really the hook is more that the trait exists; the math is there more as a guideline than anything else. My basic rule of thumb is that a better concealability or lower encumbrance can be "traded" for by lowering the attack bonus...but not vice versa. In the same way, attack bonus can be "spent" on a trait or two. What follows are some quick weapon mechanics that I whipped up using that method. This is the first real draft, however, & I don't know how the math will actually play...but I think the balance is pretty good.

Light: Use better of Strength or Dexterity
Sneak Attack: If target is denied Defense, add Wits or Manipulation to attack roll.
Reach: +1 to Defense, & can attack one hex or square further.
Disarm: Can be used to disarm; compare successes to targets Dexterity rather than as damage.
Two-handed: Off-hand cannot be used.
Armor Piercing: Ignores armor bonus equal to wielder's Strength.

Tags: equipment, house rules, oubliette, traits, wod