Question about swords
 

Swords are hella expensive. Do characters still buy them?

If not, what can be done to make characters use them?

Re: Question about swords
 

Sometimes, though it's been my experience with dungeoneering campaigns that most PCs end up using something they looted rather than actually bought.

Remind them that sticks usable with various sword skills are pretty cheap (or free if you have a couple hours, a knife, a sapling and a point or more in Armoury (melee weapons)), relatively innocuous, and are actually fairly effective weapons. More than good enough for somebody with a PC level of combat abilities to kill that a sword armed orc or bandit so you can steal his blade. See that bit about using something they looted rather than bought....

Re: Question about swords
 

I did, for my only DF character, a knight. A broadsword is a little cheaper in DF than DFRPG, but I doubt it would have made a difference. The advantages of swords, IME, are:

• Decent damage.
• Balanced, giving you more defence options. You're likely to need several active defences on the same turn down a dungeon.
• Choice of cut or imp damage, on the same weapon with the same grip.

I've used looted weapons for most of the character's career. Since we played converted Pathfinder scenarios, there was a reasonable supply of swords.

Re: Question about swords
 

Buy with cash? less common than many fantasy art depictions of warriors would have us believe.
Buy as signature gear? almost always for some character types.

The expense - breakability - lootability risk/reward calculus makes buying a sword with starting cash a bit tricky.

Re: Question about swords
 

It's somewhat odd that Cheap weapons are not listed in DFRPG (there are rules for them in Exploits... but no price is ever given). The main reason you use a sword-class weapons is because there aren't a lot of weapons with a parry of 0 or 0F, and most of the non-sword options have significant flaws.

Re: Question about swords
 

Buying with SG is pretty broken, which is why it has all but disappeared from the game. In DFRPG specifically, SG onlly protects the gear, you still have to pay for it normally.

Re: Question about swords
 

Considering making swords cheaper to enchant, because they are purely weapons of war, unless axes (tools) and spears (used for hunting). So there's a symbolic sympathic symething discount.

In the old BECMI games, swords were the only weapons that went to +5 - all other weapons peaked at +3.

Re: Question about swords
 

Well, yes but also no; if you spend points for cash (Adventurers 95) you get $500 per point spent, which matches the SG rules, not the normal $100 per point.

Re: Question about swords
 

Compared to the more decent forms of armor swords are dirt cheap

But for a character with average wealth most sword class weapons are easy to start with

Or if you want to start cheap, a club

Re: Question about swords
 

Cheap weapons (from DtG) are an option in the campaign, so I think I'll go with that. Most weapons can be enchanted to +1, but for +2 you need Fine weapons and for +3 you need Very Fine. And something similar for other enchantments. Since only swords can be Very Fine, this means only swords can be +3.