Awesome weapon quality

Anders · 11-08-2011, 02:25 PM

Spillover from another thread. We have 'Fine', 'Very Fine', etc. as weapon qualities, but why are there no awesome weapons? And what abilities should an Awesome weapon give. I'm thinking a bonus to Intimidation, myself.

Peter V. Dell'Orto · 11-08-2011, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asta Kask

Spillover from another thread. We have 'Fine', 'Very Fine', etc. as weapon qualities, but why are there no awesome weapons? And what abilities should an Awesome weapon give. I'm thinking a bonus to Intimidation, myself.

Isn't this what the various ethnic cool weapon rules are for, though?

Gorkamorka · 11-08-2011, 02:33 PM

I would say that Awesome weapons get whatever weapon quality they have, ethnic cool and +1 reputation bonus for whoever his holding it. He must be a cool dude to have such an awesome weapon.

aesir23 · 11-08-2011, 02:38 PM

I think a weapon with Very Fine and Balanced is plenty awesome enough.

With Signature Gear and Weapon Bond a Very Fine+ Fine (Balanced) weapon can be the basis for an entire character.

There's also Ultra-Fine, Oriculum, Dwarven, Hyper-Dense, Vibrating, Monowire, Nanothorn, etc...

That's without getting into Magic Weapons, Named Weapons, and Innate Attacks with the Gadget Limitation.

whswhs · 11-08-2011, 02:54 PM

I don't see having a rules category for it.

GURPS Fantasy defines "monster" as referring not to a member of a race, but to a unique and unnatural entity with unpredictable traits. In the same way, if a weapon is really awesome, shouldn't that be represented not by buying "awesome" for it, but by defining it as having several impressive traits, with not two weapons being alike?

Bill Stoddard

Kuroshima · 11-08-2011, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whswhs

I don't see having a rules category for it.

GURPS Fantasy defines "monster" as referring not to a member of a race, but to a unique and unnatural entity with unpredictable traits. In the same way, if a weapon is really awesome, shouldn't that be represented not by buying "awesome" for it, but by defining it as having several impressive traits, with not two weapons being alike?

Bill Stoddard

Shouldn't it be Delusion (My Weapon is Awesome)? (cut in the quote about bringing pointy objects into a post-gunpowder battlefield)

Bruno · 11-08-2011, 06:59 PM

I think the posers that are thinking of "Awesome" as an upgrade that makes a weapon more useful as a weapon (ie, more dangerous) may be missing the point. :)

Most of the weapons that make ones inner 14 year old go "AWESOME" are actually pretty bad weapons. Or at best are merely interestingly decorated weapons.

"Awesome" sounds like a kind of Styling to me. The necromancer's wands and staves and rods from Pyramid #3.1 are Awesome, weapons in World of Warcraft are designed entirely around Awesome first, functionality a distant second, etc.

So. It's Styling. Base Styling gives a bonus to Reaction rolls and to Merchant skill to sell the item. I'm thinking we can subdivide Styling - giving reaction bonuses to smaller groups of people or only in potential combat situations etc.

A Styling bonus that only gives a bonus in potential combat situations is one that is Menacing. Menacing weapons trade the non-combat Reaction bonus for an Intimidation bonus, and only get a bonus to Merchant skill for "some kinds" of buyers - not to refined half-elven bards perhaps, but probably to 14-18 year old male humans. To people it doesn't give a bonus to sell to, it probably is a Merchant penalty ("I really don't want that gaudy looking thing.")

aesir23 · 11-09-2011, 06:34 PM

Actually, come to think of it, I think this calls for a Low Tech version of the Tacticool perk from Gun Fu.

Victor Maxus · 11-09-2011, 06:46 PM

Something I have done is too allow for the once in a life time creation of a weapon so great, that it does far exceed what any one else can do. Thus I use the Ultra-Tech rules for Super Fine weapons. It gives the +2 damage, and the half armor protection, making it better than the very fine. This represents a weapon that is able to acheive superior performance with out being magical or enchanted. And in any setting, it is extremely rare. In fact, in my fantasy area, there is only three such weapons. One was made 3000 years ago as a joint effort between between an elf and dwarf smith who wanted to show what they could achieve when working together. Another was made 500 years ago, and was a symbol of royal heritage for the king. The third was made about a hundred years ago as the final effort of an old smith who was about to die and wanted to do one last great work.

I don't know if this helps any, but it is what I do when I want a super weapon that is not magical, but is very good in what it does.

starslayer · 11-10-2011, 01:39 PM

So how about levelled awesomeness based on the builds that generally make a weapon 'awesome'.

Here are three, but by no means definitive, examples

Scary Awesome (covered in spikes, etc) [bonuses are per level, max level 4]
-1 to skill (it's unwieldy)
-1 to damage (despite looking really horrific a sword covered in spikes or a hammer that is a nest of thorns will not do more damage then the simple wedge)
+1 to intimidation checks, acting, etc; when the end result is to cow the opponent in fear of you/your weapon
Special: Anyone injured by the weapon suffers an extra point of stun because it looks like it hurts a lot more then it does; high pain threshold or immunity to metabolic hazards can avoid this with a will roll, those who have both are immune.
Special2: All injuries are -1 to treat via traditional medicine due to large irregular cuts

Big Awesome (overtly large)
ST requirement +4
Weight +50%
Skill -1 (unbalancing)
damage +1
+1 to intimidation checks, fast-talk rolls, etc; where the ability of your weapon to endure, or your own physical might is being referenced.

Stylized awesome (strange design that looks neat)
ST Requirement +1
Weight +5% (all that extra material)
Skill -1 (unbalancing)
+1 to any social check involving the weapon
-1 to enemy skill in attempts to disarm (they aren't sure where they can try to disarm from)

I am sure others can come up with dozen's more, also possibly some CF costs for it.

Each of the awesome I did have some utility, though perhaps not exactly direct combat utility.

Notably a balanced fine Scary Awesome sword provides only bonuses, and likewise for the others- if it's a well constructed weapon then the trade-offs for it to be a well constructed 'awesome' weapon may be worthwhile, but junk that is 'awesome' will be worse junk then just a hunk of metal.

11-08-2011, 02:25 PM	#1
Anders Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Gothenburg, Sweden	Awesome weapon quality Spillover from another thread. We have 'Fine', 'Very Fine', etc. as weapon qualities, but why are there no awesome weapons? And what abilities should an Awesome weapon give. I'm thinking a bonus to Intimidation, myself. __________________ “When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love ...” Marcus Aurelius

11-08-2011, 02:38 PM	#4
aesir23 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Vermont	Re: Awesome weapon quality I think a weapon with Very Fine and Balanced is plenty awesome enough. With Signature Gear and Weapon Bond a Very Fine+ Fine (Balanced) weapon can be the basis for an entire character. There's also Ultra-Fine, Oriculum, Dwarven, Hyper-Dense, Vibrating, Monowire, Nanothorn, etc... That's without getting into Magic Weapons, Named Weapons, and Innate Attacks with the Gadget Limitation. __________________ My ongoing thread of GURPS versions of DC Comics characters.

11-08-2011, 02:54 PM	#5
whswhs Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Lawrence, KS	Re: Awesome weapon quality I don't see having a rules category for it. GURPS Fantasy defines "monster" as referring not to a member of a race, but to a unique and unnatural entity with unpredictable traits. In the same way, if a weapon is really awesome, shouldn't that be represented not by buying "awesome" for it, but by defining it as having several impressive traits, with not two weapons being alike? Bill Stoddard

11-08-2011, 06:59 PM	#7
Bruno Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Canada	Re: Awesome weapon quality I think the posers that are thinking of "Awesome" as an upgrade that makes a weapon more useful as a weapon (ie, more dangerous) may be missing the point. :) Most of the weapons that make ones inner 14 year old go "AWESOME" are actually pretty bad weapons. Or at best are merely interestingly decorated weapons. "Awesome" sounds like a kind of Styling to me. The necromancer's wands and staves and rods from Pyramid #3.1 are Awesome, weapons in World of Warcraft are designed entirely around Awesome first, functionality a distant second, etc. So. It's Styling. Base Styling gives a bonus to Reaction rolls and to Merchant skill to sell the item. I'm thinking we can subdivide Styling - giving reaction bonuses to smaller groups of people or only in potential combat situations etc. A Styling bonus that only gives a bonus in potential combat situations is one that is Menacing. Menacing weapons trade the non-combat Reaction bonus for an Intimidation bonus, and only get a bonus to Merchant skill for "some kinds" of buyers - not to refined half-elven bards perhaps, but probably to 14-18 year old male humans. To people it doesn't give a bonus to sell to, it probably is a Merchant penalty ("I really don't want that gaudy looking thing.") __________________ All about Size Modifier; Unified Hit Location Table A Wiki for my F2F Group A neglected GURPS blog

11-09-2011, 06:34 PM	#8
aesir23 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Vermont	Re: Awesome weapon quality Actually, come to think of it, I think this calls for a Low Tech version of the Tacticool perk from Gun Fu. __________________ My ongoing thread of GURPS versions of DC Comics characters.

11-08-2011, 02:33 PM	#3
Gorkamorka Ceci n'est pas un hyperlien Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Iceland	Re: Awesome weapon quality I would say that Awesome weapons get whatever weapon quality they have, ethnic cool and +1 reputation bonus for whoever his holding it. He must be a cool dude to have such an awesome weapon.

11-09-2011, 06:46 PM	#9
Victor Maxus Join Date: May 2007 Location: Right Here	Re: Awesome weapon quality Something I have done is too allow for the once in a life time creation of a weapon so great, that it does far exceed what any one else can do. Thus I use the Ultra-Tech rules for Super Fine weapons. It gives the +2 damage, and the half armor protection, making it better than the very fine. This represents a weapon that is able to acheive superior performance with out being magical or enchanted. And in any setting, it is extremely rare. In fact, in my fantasy area, there is only three such weapons. One was made 3000 years ago as a joint effort between between an elf and dwarf smith who wanted to show what they could achieve when working together. Another was made 500 years ago, and was a symbol of royal heritage for the king. The third was made about a hundred years ago as the final effort of an old smith who was about to die and wanted to do one last great work. I don't know if this helps any, but it is what I do when I want a super weapon that is not magical, but is very good in what it does. __________________ I am not most people. If I were, there would be a lot more of me.

11-10-2011, 01:39 PM	#10
starslayer Join Date: Dec 2006	Re: Awesome weapon quality So how about levelled awesomeness based on the builds that generally make a weapon 'awesome'. Here are three, but by no means definitive, examples Scary Awesome (covered in spikes, etc) [bonuses are per level, max level 4] -1 to skill (it's unwieldy) -1 to damage (despite looking really horrific a sword covered in spikes or a hammer that is a nest of thorns will not do more damage then the simple wedge) +1 to intimidation checks, acting, etc; when the end result is to cow the opponent in fear of you/your weapon Special: Anyone injured by the weapon suffers an extra point of stun because it looks like it hurts a lot more then it does; high pain threshold or immunity to metabolic hazards can avoid this with a will roll, those who have both are immune. Special2: All injuries are -1 to treat via traditional medicine due to large irregular cuts Big Awesome (overtly large) ST requirement +4 Weight +50% Skill -1 (unbalancing) damage +1 +1 to intimidation checks, fast-talk rolls, etc; where the ability of your weapon to endure, or your own physical might is being referenced. Stylized awesome (strange design that looks neat) ST Requirement +1 Weight +5% (all that extra material) Skill -1 (unbalancing) +1 to any social check involving the weapon -1 to enemy skill in attempts to disarm (they aren't sure where they can try to disarm from) I am sure others can come up with dozen's more, also possibly some CF costs for it. Each of the awesome I did have some utility, though perhaps not exactly direct combat utility. Notably a balanced fine Scary Awesome sword provides only bonuses, and likewise for the others- if it's a well constructed weapon then the trade-offs for it to be a well constructed 'awesome' weapon may be worthwhile, but junk that is 'awesome' will be worse junk then just a hunk of metal.