Am I reading this wrong
 

ITL LE says, on pg 123, "A person who has the Master Armourer talent can make a sword, polearm, hammer, mace, or ax (but no other weapon) so well that it does extra damage, or effectively increases its user’s DX, or both. A dagger may do extra damage, but not increase DX. This is not magic – just very good craftsmanship. A weapon could have bonuses both for being well-made and for magic, if it was made carefully and then enchanted. Good workmanship can give a weapon such good balance that its user gets +1 DX (never more than +1). A cutting weapon can also be made of such good metal that it does either 1 or 2 extra hits of damage."

It seems to say, to me at least, that a hammer or mace can be made so well that it can have a bonus for DX and Damage, but the last sentence says that cutting weapons are the only ones that can get a damage bonus. A hammer or mace do not seem to fit. Which one is it?

Re: Am I reading this wrong
 

I've read it as:

Dagger: +damage only
Hammer/Mace: +DX only
Cutting weapons: Both

Javelins: ?

Re: Am I reading this wrong
 

"...does extra damage, or effectively increases its user’s DX, or both."

Emphasis mine.

I think that the wording implies a dependency on the item being crafted. It could have been clearer, but I read it as saying that a hammer or mace can only ever be crafted to +1 DX.

Re: Am I reading this wrong
 

Another interpretation that fits is that hammers, etc, can get a +1 to damage (the first clause of the first sentence is true; +1 is "extra damage"), but not +2 (so the last sentence is also true -- only cutting weapons can get to +2, but cutting weapons can also be made as +1).

Re: Am I reading this wrong
 

"A cutting weapon can also be made of such good metal that it does either 1 or 2 extra hits of damage."

This sentence strongly implies that only cutting weapons can receive a bonus to damage. A hammer or mace is not a cutting weapon.

I wouldn't give javelins a bonus to damage as they are strictly piercing and not cutting weapons. YMMV.

Re: Am I reading this wrong
 

Exactly so.

Re: Am I reading this wrong
 

The passage is repetitive and confusing, but I would say the opening sentence states the general case and the bit about the dagger gives the one exception, and you should ignore the last passage (which reads like something that was pasted in from a different place or retained from an earlier edition).

Re: Am I reading this wrong
 

Here is my take on that passage.

Polearm, hammer, mace, ax: +1 DX and/or +1 damage.

Dagger: +1 damage only.

Weapons can gain additional enhancements through enchantments.

Swords: +1 DX and /or up to +2 damage.

Note: "A cutting weapon... made of such good metal" also implies to me that axes, halberds, and pike axes could be made with +2 damage enhancement.

Re: Am I reading this wrong
 

I'd go with this interpretation as well. Makes sense that edged weapons can get a further point of damage, if made to be especially keen or serrated or such.

Re: Am I reading this wrong
 

So daggers, javelins and maces get sharp spikes for +1 damage while halberds, axes, and swords get sharp edged for +2 damage?