Weapon Construction Rules

Note: These rules are 3.5 compatible.

These rules are designed to free people from the tyranny of a weapon list. By selecting various qualities, you may choose the stats of your weapons directly, thus allowing you freedom to customize the construction of your weapon. You must select one quality from Handedness, one from Complexity, one from Damage, one from Crit, one from Reach, one from Damage Type, and any number of traits from General. The overall value of the weapon cannot be positive, but you are free to construct weapons with a negative overall value. The weapon's qualities should be reasonable, given the weapon's design.

These rules will construct weapons for Medium creatures. If creating weapons for creatures of another size, first construct the weapon using this list as if the creature was Medium, and then increase or decrease the damage according to the "Larger and Smaller Weapon Damage" table in the PH. As usual for 3.5, a cumulative -2 penalty applies on attack rolls for each size category of difference between the size of its intended wielder and the size of its actual wielder.

Handedness

(+0) Light

(-1) One-handed

(-3) Two-handed

Damage

(-2) 1d3

(-1) 1d4

(+0) 1d6

(+1) 1d8 / 2d4

(+2) 1d10

(+3) 2d6 / 1d12

(+4) 2d8

Crit

(-1) x2

(+0) 19-20x2 / x3

(+1) 18-20x2 / x4

(+2) 19-20x3

Complexity

(+1) Simple

(+0) Martial

(-1) Exotic

Reach

(+0) Normal

You threaten squares adjacent to you, according to your size.

(+1) Extended

You threaten squares at twice your normal reach, but do not threaten squares within your normal reach.

(+3) Full

You threaten all squares within double your normal reach.

Damage Type

(+0) Bludgeoning

(+0) Piercing

(+0) Slashing

General

(+2) Ranged

Your weapon does not threaten any squares, and attacking with it in a threatened square provokes AoOs, but you may attack with a range increment of 60 ft. Your weapon uses ammunition, but you may reload as a free action. (Additional range costs additional GP, but does not improve the value of the weapon.) Most other General properties will not work on a Ranged weapon.

(-1) Slow Reload

Requires: Ranged

Reloading your weapon is a move-equivalent action that provokes AoOs.

(-1) Really Slow Reload

Requires: Ranged, Slow Reload

Reloading your weapon is a full-round action that provokes AoOs.

(+1) Throwing

You may throw your weapon with a range increment of 10 ft. Using it at Range provokes an AoO, but otherwise it does not gain any of the bonuses or penalties of Ranged weapons.

(+3) Double-Headed

Requires: Two-handed weapon

Your weapon is one half of a double weapon. When wielding a double weapon you are treating as Two-Weapon Fighting with a One-handed weapon in your primary hand and a Light weapon in your offhand. Both halves of the weapon must have this property, but are not otherwise required to be the same. You may choose to attack with only one head of the double weapon. In this case, it is simply treated as a two-handed weapon as normal.

(+2) Monk Weapon

Your weapon is a special monk weapon. This designation gives a monk wielding this weapon special options.

(+.5) Tripping

You may use this weapon to make trip attacks. If you are tripped during your own trip attempt, you can drop your weapon to avoid being tripped.

(+.5) Disarming

You gain +2 bonus on opposed attack rolls made to disarm an enemy (including the roll to avoid being disarmed if such an attempt fails).

(+.5) Set

If you ready an action to attack a charging enemy, you deal double damage with your attack.

(+1) Mounted

You deal double damage when you use this weapon from the back of a charging mount. If the weapon is two-handed, you may treat it as one-handed while mounted.

(+1) Improvised

Improvised gives no penalty or benefit. An item not meant to be used as a weapon must include the Improvised quality.

This is not an exhaustive tool for creating all weapons. It should cover all major abilities, but there are many minor abilities that do not affect a weapon's value. For example, the rapier may be used with Weapon Finesse, even though it is not a Light weapon. The morningstar does two types of damage at the same time. A halberd does double damage when set against a charge. These properties make the weapons strictly better, but not enough to grant them additional value.DMs should be very careful when allowing weapons to have such free qualities, and only allow them when it makes sense for the weapon.