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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Psion" data-source="post: 2009934" data-attributes="member: 172">Encyclopedia of WeaponryThe Encyclopedia of Weaponry is a sourcebook that details a variety of weapons for the d20 System, as well as providing a magical example of each and background information behind it.A First LookThe Encyclopedia of Weaponry is a 128 page perfect-bound softcover book priced at $19.99.The cover of the book uses the same grainy red background that most FFE books use. The cover picture is an image of drawing of many of the weapons in the book scattered across a desktop along with a few weapons. One of the most visible weapons on the cover - a katar - does not actually appear in the book, which leads me to wonder if the katar was cut from the book when the authors realized that the katar is in the core rules (as the punching dagger.)The interior art is black and white. The interior illustrations are by Dave Zenz. The pictures are all basic illustrations of the weapons, presented in a block that appears as if it were penned on a scrap of parchment.The interior text is reasonably dense, with a conservative font size and line spacing.A Deeper LookThe bulk of this book is weapon descriptions. Each weapon has a page devoted to it. Each weapon has a basic description, historical information, and game statistics, as well as a single magical version of the weapon and a snippet of background/story text about the magic weapon, much in the same vein as Fast Forward's Items of Power series of books. The background of the magic item is the largest section of the page.There are 110 different weapons in all. Most of the weapons are primitive melee and missile weapons of the sort that might be wielded by typical fantasy RPG characters, but there are also siege weapons like arbalests and catapults and gunpowder weapons like pistol shields, breach loaders, and even cannons.In most cases the statistics seem reasonable. In a few cases, they are confusing. For example, the haladie, a double-ended dagger, has a split damage statistic, but no explanation of what it is supposed to mean.The magic weapons are also reasonable and interesting. Unlike the items of power series, these aren't artifact level items and all are fairly well designed using d20 System terminology. That said, most are pretty powerful, generally limiting them to high level characters.In addition to the weapons, the book presents a short section of alternate rules, including combat rules for gunpowder weapons, a new skill and several new feats dealing with siege weapons and gunpowder weapons. The rules are straightforward and sensible; my only nitpick is that I would have made artillerist a profession skill to prevent compatibility problems.ConclusionThe Encyclopedia of Weaponry does present a number of interesting and unique weapons for use in the campaign, and the d20 statistics are generally solid, as are the additional rules and feats. Many of the weapons are of the sort that could arguably be represented as core weapon of some sort, like jambiya and claymore, are arguably variants of core weapons - daggers and greatswords respectively. Further, many of the weapons provide minor benefits over existing weapons that would otherwise require an exotic weapon proficiency under the core rules. DMs who are sensitive to the power of basic weapons in the campaign may want to consider excluding some of the weapons, modifying their statistics, or requiring the exotic weapon proficiency.-Alan D. Kohler</blockquote>

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