Distinguishing Edged Weapons from Hafted Weapons

[Chris Rice]

I suppose if we look at the original tools the weapons were derived from this gives us a clue to their usefulness. (These are just my ideas not scientific facts!)

Blades (daggers and swords) were designed for cutting flesh, leather, bark and rope/twine. They should therefore be at maximum effectiveness against unarmoured opponents or the very lightly armoured (thick skin or cloth armour)

Axes. A modification of the blade with more weight behind the edge. These were designed to cut wood. These should be at maximum effectiveness against medium armour (leather and chain) and against shields.

Maces and Hammers. The weight is concentrated in the head but does not rely on a sharp edge as the axe does. These were designed for working with stone and metal and so should be effective against the heaviest armours (plate, stone golems etc.)

Spears were designed for hunting larger game. They have a small blade or piercing point at the tip but put a lot of extra weight behind it. They were effective at killing an animal before it could get close enough to harm the wielder.

I'd like a system that incorporated these ideas without too much extra rules overhead. The idea that a weapon would be chosen for a specific purpose or situation appeals to me. So if your warrior is facing a heavily armoured knight, he'd be better to take that warhammer from his belt. If facing a horde of unarmoured goblins he'd be better of with a sword. If charged by a wild boar he'll wish he had a spear, and so on.

I think it will require more than just fiddling with damage values to achieve this which was why I liked the "Bash" idea.

What about something simple like this:

Swords do +1 damage per die against bare flesh or cloth.

Axes do +1 damage per die against shields (or things made of wood)

Maces and Hammers either: ignore armour as far as the results of reactions to injury results are concerned (Bash) or do +1 damage per die against heavy armour.

Spears do double damage against beasts and large creatures.

Just some rough ideas at this point for consideration and comment.