My Weapon Proficiency House Rules.

[Gez]

They're kinda simple.

Simple Weapon Proficiency gives proficiencies in all simple weapons.
If you are not proficient with a simple weapon you wield, then you suffer a -2 nonproficiency penalty on your attack rolls; also, you can't threaten a critical hit with a weapon you are not proficient (a natural 20 is still an automatic hit), but you are at the risk of fumbling clumsily with your weapon: If you roll a natural 1, your attack is an automatic failure, and you must reroll your attack to confirm the threat (to yourself). If you fail to hit the enemy again, then it is a critical fumble, and you managed to inflict weapon normal damage to yourself.

Martial Weapon Proficiency gives you proficiency in one set of martial weapons. The six sets are melee piercing, melee slashing, melee bludgeonning, ranged slashing, ranged piercing, and ranged bludgeonning.
If you are not proficient with a martial weapon you wield, then you suffer a -4 nonproficiency penalty on your attack rolls; also, you can't threaten a critical hit with a weapon you are not proficient (a natural 20 is still an automatic hit), but you are at the risk of fumbling clumsily with your weapon: If you roll a natural 1, your attack is an automatic failure, and you must reroll your attack to confirm the threat (to yourself). If you fail to hit the enemy again, then it is a critical fumble, and you managed to inflict weapon normal damage to yourself.

Exotic Weapon Proficiency gives you proficiency with a single exotic weapon.
If you are not proficient with an exotic weapon you wield, then you suffer a -8 nonproficiency penalty on your attack rolls; also, you can't threaten a critical hit with a weapon you are not proficient (a natural 20 is still an automatic hit), but you are at the risk of fumbling clumsily with your weapon: If you roll a natural 1, your attack is an automatic failure, and you must reroll your attack to confirm the threat (to yourself). If you fail to hit the enemy again, then it is a critical fumble, and you managed to inflict weapon normal damage to yourself.


Fumble and Critical Fumble
Whenever you roll a natural 1 on an attack roll, you fumble (your attack miss). However, if you fumble with a weapon you are not proficient with, you threaten to harm yourself in the process. On the confirmation roll, if your result would be enough to hit the opponent, then it is only a normal fumble, while if you fail also with the confirmation roll, you inflict normal weapon damage to yourself. With reach weapons that cannot threaten adjacent squares (like a halberd, but not a spiked chain), then you do not hurt yourself, instead, you manage to disarm yourself.
If you are proficient with a weapon, you never risk critical fumbles with it, and instead can threaten critical hits.
Some weapons have a greater threat ranges of critical fumbles. Add one to the threat range of critical fumbles for any of these conditions:

• The weapon is articulated (nunchaku, spiked chain, flail, and so on).
• The weapon is a double weapon, or you are using it with another weapon in your other hand.
• You wield the weapon in your off-hand without having the Two-Weapon Fighting feat.
• The Weapon is not appropriately sized for you.

So, a human trying to wield a Large spiked chains will threaten to clumsily hurt himself in the process on a natural 1-4.

 

[Cheiromancer]

Does multiclassing into a class like Fighter or Barbarian give you all six martial proficiencies?

What are the penalties for improvised weapons? Do you treat them like exotics?

What happens if you fumble with a weapon you are proficient in? My group has a dex check (DC 10) or you drop it, break the bow string, etc..

The non-proficiency penalty for exotic weapons seems a little high.

 

[Gez]

Classes that give you proficiency with all martial weapons give you proficiency with all martial weapons. Likewise, if a class feature gives you proficiency with a single martial weapon, then you get a proficiency with that single martial weapon. Only the way the MWP feat works is changed, so as to make it fit nicely in the middle of SWP's all-around proficiency, and EWP's single proficiency.

Improvised weapons would be exotic, since most exotic weapons are actually improvised weapons (farm implements, for example). Though I'm rather lenient with improvised weapons -- a rolling pin would be considered as a club, for example.

If you're proficient with a weapon, you will not critically fumble with it. A natural 1 is still an automatic miss, though. Inversely, if you're not proficient with a weapon, you will not critically succeed with it. A natural 20 is still an automatic hit, though.

Maybe I'd peg it down to -6, then.

 

[Thondor]

Martial Weapon Proficiency gives you proficiency in one set of martial weapons. The six sets are melee piercing, melee slashing, melee bludgeonning, ranged slashing, ranged piercing, and ranged bludgeonning.

Pray tell me what martial ranged slashing and bludgeoning weapons are in the PH, whoops throwing axes for slashing I guess. Still that's one weapon . . .
Dividing it into the type of damage it does doesn't feel realistic to me. How 'bout
melee: hafted (maces, axes, picks exct.), swords (self-expanatory) pole-arms (scythe, ranseur and probably the greataxe exct.) and articulated (guess that only includes flails, oh well)
Alternatively axes, swords, pole-arms, hafted(the left-overs)
ranged: bows, thrown
Alternatively bows, thrown hafted ('hammers' which don't exist in the PH and axes) thrown pole (trident . . . perhaps Atlatl -javelin thrower- Dragon 331. dam d8 X3 120ft though that's designed to suit exotic proficiecy requirement better. perhaps dam d6 X3 80ft gains you a decent range increment and your str bonus to dam.

I would also suggest that because you are dividing these that you give warrior classes 2 types of weapon they can use (in many ways I feel this should be the point of the change) Anyone taking this feat would also gain 2 types of weapon categories.

 

[Thondor]

Oh, I have a real hard time with telling people that if they want to use a net without taking exotic weapon proficiency(net) it's a -4, making it a -6 if so much worse.

just with nets though. A -8 was to steep, -6 is much better.

Perhaps the fumbles when someone hit's themeselves should just be non-lethal damage? I have a hard time seeing anyone actually killing themeselves with a weapon in there hands. (unless there deliberately falling on there swords of course )

 

[Gez]

Pray tell me what martial ranged slashing and bludgeoning weapons are in the PH, whoops throwing axes for slashing I guess. Still that's one weapon . . .

I don't limit myself to PHB material.

Also, remember that for some races or cultures, certain exotic weapons could become martial. For example, in Eberron, boomerangs would be martial bludgeoning weapons for Talenta halflings (and, *cough* those damn Xen'drik drow *cough*).

Dividing it into the type of damage it does doesn't feel realistic to me. How 'bout
melee: hafted (maces, axes, picks exct.), swords (self-expanatory) pole-arms (scythe, ranseur and probably the greataxe exct.) and articulated (guess that only includes flails, oh well)
Alternatively axes, swords, pole-arms, hafted(the left-overs)
ranged: bows, thrown
Alternatively bows, thrown hafted ('hammers' which don't exist in the PH and axes) thrown pole (trident . . . perhaps Atlatl -javelin thrower- Dragon 331. dam d8 X3 120ft though that's designed to suit exotic proficiecy requirement better. perhaps dam d6 X3 80ft gains you a decent range increment and your str bonus to dam.

Dividing weapons by the type of damage may not be the most realistical way, but it's the simplest. As an added bonus, when a weapon deals two different kinds of damage, you're proficient with it if you're proficient with either or both.

I would also suggest that because you are dividing these that you give warrior classes 2 types of weapon they can use (in many ways I feel this should be the point of the change) Anyone taking this feat would also gain 2 types of weapon categories.

I don't see the interest of changing the warrior classes' "omnipotence" with martial weapons into just two of the subsets. This rule intend to change how the feats work, and how nonproficiency itself works, not how class features work.

Oh, I have a real hard time with telling people that if they want to use a net without taking exotic weapon proficiency(net) it's a -4, making it a -6 if so much worse.

Using a net is much more complicated than just aiming at the enemy and hitting hard.

just with nets though. A -8 was to steep, -6 is much better.

OK, -6 rather than -8.

Perhaps the fumbles when someone hit's themeselves should just be non-lethal damage? I have a hard time seeing anyone actually killing themeselves with a weapon in there hands. (unless there deliberately falling on there swords of course )

When I first saw the pic for the dire flail, I had a hard time seeing anyone actually not killing themselves with that weapon in their hands.

 

[Ferret]

• The weapon is articulated (nunchaku, spiked chain, flail, and so on).
• The weapon is a double weapon, or you are using it with another weapon in your other hand.
• You wield the weapon in your off-hand without having the Two-Weapon Fighting feat.
• The Weapon is not appropriately sized for you.

So, a human trying to wield a Large spiked chains will threaten to clumsily hurt himself in the process on a natural 1-4.

Sword chucks anyone?

 

[Gez]

With swordchucks, there's a special ruling: if you fumble, you actually perform a coup-de-grâce on yourself.

 

[Thondor]

When I first saw the pic for the dire flail, I had a hard time seeing anyone actually not killing themselves with that weapon in their hands.

We are agreed on something anyway That was my first thought too. (And orc double axes just don't work for me either I just don't see how you could possibly get the right kind of force with one.)

As for the modifiying the warrior classes # of proficiency idea, well I've always been uncomfortable with the idea that everyone is equally proficient with every weapon. It just doesn't fit to me. "Yup your fav ranseur just got sundered."
"oh well, I'll just go sweep up that heavy flail that the dead hobgoblin dropped - and fight just as well with it despite the fact that I've never had my character use one in the last three levels."
Gaaahhhhh! (even if he took weapon focus that's only +1 difference it's nothing)
However I suppose that's just a pet peev of mine. (grumble, gripe, complain) Oh well it's what I'm going to do with my version of your feats. thanks.
(warriors will only suffer a -2 on ther attack rolls with a martial weapon they didn't pick)