Japanes Sword Additions and Corrections

[Arkhandus]

Thanks for the responses. I'll give the weapons proper resilience for their size and type instead of the reduced stats I gave them. I'll also re-write the "fragility" description below. BTW, I figured the tanto, kozuka, and aiguchi were similar enough to a dagger to be given the same stats as such, the ko-dachi was similar enough to a short sword (though dealing slashing damage), and likewise figured that varied-length/curvature versions of katana could be represented simply enough by a longsword, scimitar, or bastard sword. Also, I meant to add in the zanmato's description that its threat range cannot be worsened beyond 20 just by close proximity (so its penalty in that regard really just makes Improved Critical - Zanmato or Keen Edge useless up close).

^^^Each time the katana (wakizashi, nodachi) strikes an enemy with an armor bonus of +5 or greater (before enhancements), from force effects or from mostly-metallic medium or heavy armor, reduce the katana's hardness by 1/2 point (this has no actual effect until another 1/2 point is lost). Likewise, if the katana strikes an enemy with a natural armor bonus of +8 or greater, reduce katana hardness by 1/2 point, as above. This loss of Hardness also occurs when the katana misses an enemy with any of the above AC bonuses. If the katana successfully hits an opponent with any of the above AC bonuses, the katana deals only half damage, rounded up. Lastly, reduce katana Hardness by 1/2 point if striking an object, unless the object has Hardness 8 or less, or unless the strike is to parry a weapon or projectile no more than one size category larger than the katana. If the Hardness is reduced to zero, further reductions are applied to hit points instead, until repaired. These reductions in katana Hardness and hit points last until it is repaired.

 

[Inari]

It's been highly interesting reading this thread Me being a liker of katanas and ninjas, and running a Rokugan adventure, I of course value the anime vision of the Katana. Now, I'm no weapon specialist, the only weapon knowledge I have is from studying books, practicing a bit of kendo, and daydreaming way too much (and taking pride in it).

My view of the katana is indeed d10, 19-20/x2, wanting to represent the long curved blade with high damage potential, but a low average. Thenagain, I'm no weapon expert. DnD is a game in my eyes, although it's always fun to play around with balance, and realism.

An idea I got from the sweet ol' 2nd edition is the speed factor... An idea I haven't seen yet on this thread, granting the katana perhaps a higher initiative count. It *might* fit in with some people's thoughts of how the weapon is balanced, and as I saw somewhere here about how much quicker the katana *felt* than the longsword. This would of course mean that weapons should be split up into catagories of speed, but that's no real biggie I think. Classifying it by weapon size would be the most simple (although it's the most crude), and by that definition, the katana would count as a size catagory smaller.

Thenagain, like I've said repeatively, I'm no weapon expert, and this is just an idea from the top of my head, so don't start saying !#%# this, and nazi that

 

[genshou]

^^^Each time the katana (wakizashi, nodachi) strikes an enemy with an armor bonus of +5 or greater (before enhancements), from force effects or from mostly-metallic medium or heavy armor, reduce the katana's hardness by 1/2 point (this has no actual effect until another 1/2 point is lost). Likewise, if the katana strikes an enemy with a natural armor bonus of +8 or greater, reduce katana hardness by 1/2 point, as above. This loss of Hardness also occurs when the katana misses an enemy with any of the above AC bonuses. If the katana successfully hits an opponent with any of the above AC bonuses, the katana deals only half damage, rounded up. Lastly, reduce katana Hardness by 1/2 point if striking an object, unless the object has Hardness 8 or less, or unless the strike is to parry a weapon or projectile no more than one size category larger than the katana. If the Hardness is reduced to zero, further reductions are applied to hit points instead, until repaired. These reductions in katana Hardness and hit points last until it is repaired.

So what you are saying is that the katana loses hardness when it hits stuff? I can see the game mechanic idea being to weaken the blade, but you're doing it wrong...

HP measures the structural integrity of an object. Hardness represents the molecular density and composition. According to your stats, the katana starts with hardness 7... which is somewhere between wood and masonry (iron is 10, and isn't that what type of metal katanas are made of?). After 4 hits, the blade now has the equivalent to the molecular density and composition of wood. So the blade is suddenly made of wood? Doesn't make sense; it should still have a higher hardness after whacking plate mail 4 times. No good...

And after that, it gets even worse. 4 more hits, and it's got the same hardness as bone. 8 whacks against plate mail make an iron blade the same as bone? I don't think so... it would lower HP, not hardness.

When it whacks two more times, it becomes as tough as packed dirt. So after 10 hits, I can now grab it with my hands and mold it?!

Here's an alternate solution, based on stuff I developed for a d6 System Starcraft RPG:

When a katana strikes as Arkhandus described (hitting the armor instead of the person), it takes 1 pt. of a special form of damage per natural, nonmagical AC bonus of opponent's armor beyond +4. When this damage equals or exceeds the katana's hardness, it takes 1 pt. of hit point damage. A katana receives a -2 circumstance penalty to attack and damage rolls for each HP lost IN THIS MANNER. Any special damage left over stays to prepare for the next HP loss... so going with the katana hardness of 7:

The katana nails a breastplate instead of missing entirely or striking the wearer herself. The armor bonus is +5, so the katana takes 1 pt. of special damage. It doesn't show too much wear yet, but there are some cracks and chips in the blade. Next, it strikes +2 full plate. The magic doesn't matter, so the katana takes 4 pts. of special damage, putting it at 5 pts. so far. Now the cracks and chips are pretty obvious. Next, it gets dealt 5 more pts. by dendritic crystal armor (FRCS). The blade has now taken 10 pts. of damage, so it loses one hit point and has 3 pts. carried over toward its next hit point reduction. The samurai now notices that his katana is beginning to show serious signs of breakage.

All in all, this works a lot better than reducing the weapon's hardness, and if you call the special damage anything BUT special damage, it sounds cool, too. This could also easily be adapted to work with all weapons and the parrying rules presented in the AC per level thread, pages 3/4.

As a side-note, I have no idea what to do about natural armor. Surely a dragon's scales would damage the blade, but I'm not sure how to rule that one...

 

[Arkhandus]

Well, I was just trying to come up with a way to represent how the katana isn't made for directly blocking heavy weapons and stuff, or striking thick armors..... Since the katana's pretty thin and all, I figured it would probably be easier to break than a longsword if not used properly, so I lowered its Hardness...... Besides, iron or steel weapons of medium size only have about 5 hit points, which is why I went for a mechanic that lowers Hardness first, sort of like extra HP for the weapon. Your idea does seem cool though, so I'll probably give the katana and such proper hardness/hp for their size and composition, and just use something like your idea for handling the reduced effectiveness against metal armor... Thanks for the critiques, guys.

 

[genshou]

Well, I was just trying to come up with a way to represent how the katana isn't made for directly blocking heavy weapons and stuff, or striking thick armors..... Since the katana's pretty thin and all, I figured it would probably be easier to break than a longsword if not used properly, so I lowered its Hardness......

Yeah, your reasons for change are obviously right. It was only the way you changed it that was wrong. Hardness isn't what you're looking for. An iron wall has the same hardness no matter how thick or durable it is. Hit points are used to represent a creature or object's ability to withstand actual damage. Hardness just reduces or negates that damage (most people can't punch a dagger hard enough to damage it, even though it has low HP. But when it does get damaged, it breaks easily).

Besides, iron or steel weapons of medium size only have about 5 hit points, which is why I went for a mechanic that lowers Hardness first, sort of like extra HP for the weapon. Your idea does seem cool though, so I'll probably give the katana and such proper hardness/hp for their size and composition, and just use something like your idea for handling the reduced effectiveness against metal armor... Thanks for the critiques, guys.

Well, critiquing is something I happen to have a lot of practice doing... Aside from that, yes the katana needs change! A katana and bastard sword are different enough in size, shape, and quality of metal (in some time periods, in which Japanese mettalurgy sucked royally), that they need different HP certainly, and possibly lower hardness in some time periods.