D&D 5E Mearls on other settings

[Ilbranteloth]

If you're doing weapon breakage, I would:

1. Only have the weapon have a chance of breaking on the first attack each round. Otherwise you run into the weird problem that skilled warriors (= multiple attacks) break their weapons more often.

2. Connect breakage to the attack roll rather than the damage roll, because if you do it the 2e way of having it potentially break on a max-damage roll, you get the weird effect of a greatsword only breaking once in a blue moon, while shortswords are fragile as heck (while realistically, it ought to be the opposite - the longer weapon should be more likely to break). A suggestion is to have it potentially break on a crit - not on every crit, but a crit would trigger a roll for breakage.

That's what I use, you make a weapon break check on a critical hit. The DC to avoid breakage is very, very low. DC 4 for steel, DC 6 for wood, DC 7 for stone, and DC 8 for bone.

I use the Rust Monster concept that each time a weapon is damaged it takes a -1 penalty, and at -5 it's broken. But some weapons (such as orcish weapons) have fewer steps, like a -3 is broken.

The exception are bows and crossbows, where you make a weapon breakage check on a natural 1 instead.

 

[Obryn]

I never said +3 = artifact.

I kinda did. Because a maximum enchanted metal weapon on Athas is effectively that unique.

And I have no idea why it's even something to worry about.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[MoonSong]

It was not superior, maybe sharper but that doesn't mean better. Real swords are more like a meat clever than razor. The Mahuahuitl was fairly useless against steel.

Again not a type of sword, there wasn't fencing involved, the weapon was both sharp and powerful. Also I said at the time, and at the time conquerors weren't outfitted in full plate. It matters little if your chest is protected by ring mail, when your head and arms are vulnerable. It only took it one hit to kill. When at the time not even firearms were that powerful.

 

[Zardnaar]

Again not a type of sword, there wasn't fencing involved, the weapon was both sharp and powerful. Also I said at the time, and at the time conquerors weren't outfitted in full plate. It matters little if your chest is protected by ring mail, when your head and arms are vulnerable. It only took it one hit to kill. When at the time not even firearms were that powerful.

Fencing was not involved with a lot of European weapons either, its a movie myth lol.

It was formation fighting (Swiss Pikemen, Tercio, Landsknect) or a very offensive orientated style with "longswords".

The only fencing as such was in the Italian city states an similar location, on the battlefield not so much.

If you time shifted a European army to Mexico to face the Aztecs in armor (say 12th to 14th century) the Aztecs would have been chewed apart even worse than the Spanish did on them. Or a Roman legion.

They would have had no equivalent of longbows or any real way to deal with platemail and a heavy cavalry charge. Even pikemen would have caused them a great deal of grief.

An Islamic army would literally run rings around them with cavalry and a lot of archery.

 

[Yaarel]

I would rather Dark Sun have reallife nonmetal weapons, rather than unrealistic ‘substandard’ versions of metal weapons.

For example, as far as I know, there is no such thing as an ‘obsidian sword’. The material is too brittle.

In reallife, obsidian can make highly effective knives, spearheads, axeheads, and arrowheads.

Heh, an actual ‘handaxe’ is a typical prehistoric tool, and is little more than holding a sharp rock. Albeit, that rock can be chipped away to form a very sharp edge, if it is obsidian. If flint, it is duller but less brittle.

 

[Zardnaar]

I would rather Dark Sun have reallife nonmetal weapons, rather than unrealistic ‘substandard’ versions of metal weapons.

For example, as far as I know, there is no such thing as an ‘obsidian sword’. The material is too brittle.

In reallife, obsidian can make highly effective knives, spearheads, axeheads, and arrowheads.

Heh, an actual ‘handaxe’ is a typical prehistoric tool, and is little more than holding a sharp rock. Albeit, that rock can be chipped away to form a very sharp edge, if it is obsidian. If flint, it is duller but less brittle.

Obsidian swords existed lol the Aztecs uses them. On Athas an agfari wood sword edged in obsidian is decent weapon.

A wooden spear has a fire hardened end. They have also found armour made out of bone from 8000 years ago in Siberia. Not so good vs most weapons but probably effective enough vs grazing blows or claws (in a world with no antibiotics cuts could kill).

I think it was more a way go through and invent a heap of new weapons. If you can sharpen t or it golds an edge you can bet it was used on a weapon at some point.

Slings, clubs and staff weapons are a bit better than a normal D&D on Athas, some weapons are a bit silly such as a bone axe but I would not be surprised if cavemen used that as well.
In my own country the Maori had a lot of stone and wooden weapons. A wooden edged weapon can open you up (NZ has do some very hard woods). A wooden sword is basically a sharpened club and in AD&D had -2 or 3 to hit and damage. A patu (jade club) in the side of the head won't do you to many favours either and our local museum has bone harpoons in it.

Some Maori here also do Taiaha training (Maori martial art)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiaha

Its a wooden staff/spear and they do similar strikes as some of the Asian martial arts.

In the land wars (19th century) around 1/4 of the British army was here vs a few hundred Warriors armed with weapons like this. The British won the war but they did not win every battle and they out numbered them with modern weapons. Not to bad with sticks and stones and a few muskets they traded for

Last used in WW2 when the Maori Battalion raided the German lines at night in hand to hand fighting (the Maori won, Germans complained about war crimes).

 

[Yaarel]

Obsidian swords existed lol the Aztecs uses them.

With regard to the Aztec macuahuitl, I would categorize that as more like a wooden club with spikes.

 

[Yaarel]

Obsidian swords existed lol the Aztecs uses them.

With regard to the Aztec macuahuitl, I would categorize that as more like a wooden club with spikes.

I have no problem with bone armor. There are reallife examples. It is comparable to the more common wood armor, a kind of lamellar.

Lamellar simply sews tiles to each other.

I would rather it be called ‘bone armor’, rather than say ‘substandard scale armor’.

 

[Yaarel]

Dark Sun deserves its own weapon list that includes the limited number of options in that world.

The ‘exotic’ look of that list, in itself, sets a flavorful tone for what the world feels like.

 

[Zardnaar]

With regard to the Aztec macuahuitl, I would categorize that as more like a wooden club with spikes.

I have no problem with bone armor. There are reallife examples. It is comparable to the more common wood armor, a kind of lamellar.

Lamellar simply sews tiles to each other.

I would rather it be called ‘bone armor’, rather than say ‘substandard scale armor’.

It was a bit beyond the rules, Combat and Tactics did introduce all sorts of armor.

I suppose its a lot of work when you can just assign a penalty. I posted my DS conversion notes on these forums, I did not post the table I include on my home notes. I use.

Hide
Scale Shirt
Chitin
Breastplate
Half Plate

Scale
Splint
Plate

What the armor is made out of I don't bother with to much just apply a -1 AC, +1 dex modifier to it. Bone armor is probably the equivalent of leather. My plate armor is probably mekilot hide or something similar.