Mithral Weapons?

[SouthernPride]

ok, has anyone House Ruled that Mithral Weapons counted as one size catagory lighter? And if so, how did this affect the balance of the game.

 

[Crothian]

ok, has anyone House Ruled that Mithral Weapons counted as one size catagory lighter? And if so, how did this affect the balance of the game.

That would be a two weapon fighters dream come true. Mithral Bastard sword (with the Bastard Sword EWP) and it counts as a light weapon so -2/-2 to attack instead of -4/-4. Plus you can have that Mithral greatsword in the other hand.

Also, it's allow more weapons to be used while one is grappled, it'd allow huge weapons to be used as 2HW (mithral greatsword 2d8 damage). And that's all the reasons I can think of why this shouldn't happen.

Granted, a few clairifications on this house rule can easily get rid of these.

 

[SouthernPride]

I was thinking more along the lines of 2 Battle Axes, but I see your point about it being easily taken advantage of.

 

[kreynolds]

Hey, how about a material that is light enough to reduce two weapon fighting penalties by 1? For now, let's call it Reynolds Wrap. Your penalties for two Reynolds Wrap Shortswords would be -1/-1, and two Reynolds Wrap Longswords would be -3/-3. If you made it costly enough, I think it might be a good substitute to what SouthernPride is looking for. What do ya'll think?

 

[the Jester]

I like it, but the name need to change.

 

[kreynolds]

I like it, but the name need to change.

Burt Reynolds Bromium?

 

[Drawmack]

Hard Gold.

Hard Gold is a delicate mixture of gold and steel to achive a blend that is strong enough to forge a bladed weapon from yet light enough to make it easier to fight with. (It's something like 8 - 10k gold)

Cost: 4x normal weapon cost
Benefit: Reduces all penalties from weapon weight by 1
Prerequisite: Hard Gold is difficult to work with so only master smiths can use it. Must have 10 ranks in any one of the following, craft (weapons & armor), profession (blacksmith) and also have 10 ranks in knowledge (metals).

New knowledge
metals: This knowldege allows a character to make a check for identifing metals, blending metals into alloys, knowing the melting point/maliable point of metals, knows the approximate value of metal objects. With at least 5 ranks in this skill the character receives +2 synergy bonus to craft (weapons & armor) or profession (blacksmith) skills.

How to create a Hard Gold item.

First the hard gold must be created.
DC 35 - knowledge(metals) ranks to a mximum of 10 against craft (weapons & armor) or profession (blacksmith). Takes one day for each urn of alloy to be created.

Then the item must be forged.
Follow the standard rules for creating weapons, armor, etc. but increase the DC by 10 and double the time.

There that should make it significantly difficult to obtain the item, but leave the item worth enough that people will do it. This was off the cuff so it probably needs work, but it I think it's a push in the right direction.

 

[kreynolds]

The main problem I see is that gold is heavier than steel, not lighter, so a mixture of gold and steel would still be heavier than a steel item.

 

[Drawmack]

ooppss my bad, but the idea is there if someone wants to run with it.

 

[fuindordm]

The problem with this is that lighter weapons should do less damage even if they're extra-hard. Mithril is good for armor, not so good for weapons. I would say that a mithril longsword
weighs half as much but does only d6 damage.

If you want something "balanced", you could give hybrid mithril weapons a low-grade version of keen, because mithril can hold a much finer and stronger edge than steel. Add +1 to the threat range of a mithril-edged weapon, which does not stack with the keen enchantment. You would still need a steel core, though--a weapon's damage potential really does come from its weight.

--Ben