Questions about weapons!

[tbone]

Questions about weapons! (Not "What is the riddle of steel?"; Conan already tackled that.)

I've got 10, many in the form of "does my understanding/ruling seem sensible?" For any, please let me know if the question is already addressed somewhere in the sprawling GURPSverse - and whether it is or isn't, feel free to detail how you'd rule on it.


Broken weapons and special traits

You’ve got a weapon that benefits from Weapon Bond or Weapon Master, but it breaks, leaving you with a half-weapon that's still functional but different (a staff from a broken polearm, a dagger from a broke smallsword, etc., per Exploits p. 56). Do you keep the benefits of the traits?

My guess: You lose Weapon Bond, as perfect feel, familiarity, etc. are the trait's justifications.

Weapon Master is a little trickier, but there's this text in the broken weapon rules: "If the weapon effectively becomes a different kind of weapon, figure skill and damage according to the new weapon type!" From that, I’d guess that if the new weapon type still falls under your WM specifications, WM applies; otherwise, not.

Does that sound sensible?


Signature Gear = unbreakable?

Signature Gear "insures” a weapon "against the vagaries of adventuring". Further description only details loss and theft, though. What about normal breakage due to parrying a heavy weapon, an attack on the weapon by a foe, etc.? Is the Signature Gear weapon as vulnerable as any other to this breakage, or is it effectively immune?

(If the latter, Signature Gear is quite an alternative to the $8,000 Shatterproof enchantment…)


"Flame on"… and off?

Are the Flaming Weapon and Continual Light enchantments "always on", or can they be freely switched off? Always-on light sources can be bad for stealth. A scabbard, bag, etc. could hide Continual Light on a weapon, but how do you sheathe gear that’s burning with Flaming Weapon? Or even set it down safely?

(Along those lines: Is Flaming Weapon meant to act as real fire that can set things alight, or is it "extra damage only" with flames as a special visual effect?)


Parrying atlatl-ed spears

A normal character can parry thrown weapons, but not missile weapons.

The Spear Thrower skill is listed under missile weapon skills, and the atlatl/woomera don't carry a thrown weapon's "T" in their "Shots" stats.

So… getting all picky, this would mean you can parry a spear or javelin if thrown, but not if hurled with a spear thrower. Does that sound technically correct? (And would you ignore that and just rule "yes, you can parry the spear" regardless of how it was hurled, to avoid looking all pedantic?)


Khopesh: single- or double-edged?

The khopesh description in Magic Items 2 says the blade is "similar to a long sickle sharpened on its outside edge." But it further says a hook maneuver delivers cutting damage. So I guess the text should be read as "similar to a long sickle that’s also sharpened on its outside edge."

Any forum experts on ancient weapons object to this reading?


Parry after a hilt punch with a cutlass

I had earlier made the clever ruling that a parry with a cutlass’ blade on the same turn after a hilt punch should take a penalty, as a hilt punch hardly falls under proper sword fighting form.

But I then realized that such a ruling is unnecessary. The hilt punch is performed with Boxing, Brawling, or DX, not Shortsword, so under normal "a weapon uses a single skill for the entire turn" rules, a hilt punch means the weapon is stuck in Boxing/Brawling/DX mode for the remainder of the turn, and thus technically can’t perform a blade parry anyway.

The question: Is my enlightened understanding correct, or am I missing something?


Dwarven whetstone and arrows

A player asks: Does a dwarven whetstone work on arrows/bolts? Sure, I don’t see why not. It’s actually a great idea, as the big limitation of the tool – "first blow" – doesn’t matter for projectiles.

Which means… If a PC archer has a dwarven whetstone, and can reasonably spend 1 minute per arrow on sharpening (simple enough, especially while in town), then it’s only fair to assume that all of the PC’s arrows get +1 damage.

So my advice to archers: If you can afford it, make a dwarven whetstone your first choice for a damage bonus. (It’s an up-front investment, but the damage bonuses are essentially free thereafter.) Then go for the Fine weapon mod (just +$4 per arrow). If you need more damage beyond that, go for the Puissance enchantment (+$25 per arrow).

The question: Any flaw in that advice?


Projectiles with Balanced = great bargain?

More from the world of archer optimization: There’s an Accuracy enchantment that’ll add +1 TH to a projectile for $25. Good to know, but an archer should always go for the Balanced mod first: same effect, much lower cost.

Hm, what about other projectiles? Unshaped rocks and stones are explicitly denied Balanced, but it appears that shaped rocks, shaped stones, lead bullets, and lead pellets can all take the mod. And at ridiculously low cost: a lead bullet goes from $0.1 to the not-so-princely price of $0.5.

The question: No real rules question; just wondering whether archers and slingers in your games all swear by the Balanced mod. It seems a great bargain to me!


Lead bullets = lead pellets?

Lead bullets and lead pellets have the same stats; are they the same thing? No, I’d guess, or they’d be a single entry. So the difference is… what? Pellets are spheres, bullets are oblong?

The obvious question: So what happens if I interchange the two? If there’s no rule, I’d think a small penalty would suffice; anyone already have a ruling on this?


Silver bullets (and pellets, and stones…)

Can lead bullets and pellets take the Meteoric or Silver mod? The text specifies metal projectiles, so that seems a "yes". Which means these are fantastic specialty ammo vs wizards and werewolves. At +19 CF for either mod, a pure meteoric or pure silver bullet/pellet costs a paltry $2, the same as a mundane arrow. It’s an amazing bargain…

…and a really abusive money hack. Buy 16 silver bullets for $32, and you’ve also bought a pound of silver for quite the discount from the usual $1,000. (Likewise, I don’t know the official per-lb price of meteoric iron, but I’m pretty sure it’s not intended to be $32.)

I think the cause of the problem is clear: The CF for Silver or Meteoric assumes an upgrade to the special metals from already-expensive steel, not from cheap lead. So lead bullets/pellets have to be handled differently.

My simple approach: Assume that a 1-lb lump/ingot of steel is worth $50. Tack on the +19 CF for silver, and you get the $1,000 of a 1-lb silver ingot.

Treat the price of bullets, rocks, etc. as if these were steel, before applying the CF.

• 1-lb rock, silver: $50, +19 CF → $1,000
• 0.05-lb stone, silver: $50x0.05 = $2.5, +19 CF → $50
• 0.06-lb bullet/pellet, silver: $50 x 0.06 = $3, +19 CF → $60

All of which is the same as saying "Price these things as if they were lumps of silver of the given weight" (which they are). That would seem simpler. But the above approach also works with other mods, like Meteoric or Silver Coating. (It’d also be the way to price projectiles with the Orichalcum mod, though I don’t see any reason for buying those…)

Final note: The game treats silver coins and silver ingots the same in terms of value, i.e., it’s based on their weight alone, with no extra value for shaping (or lack thereof). I’m assuming the same above: whether the item is a nice ingot, an oblong bullet, or an ugly blob, the value of simple shaping is trivial compared to the value of the metal; we can ignore shape and price the above from weight alone.

The question: Is the above a reasonable approach to pricing silver/meteoric bullets, pellets, etc.? Has anyone already tackled pricing these?


Thanks, all!