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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kinematics" data-source="post: 8380502" data-attributes="member: 6932123">If I was trying to grapple with categorization, I'd go something like:Simple: Can be used without explicit training.  A club, a club with a heavy end (mace or hammer), a dagger or knife, a hand axe, a big stick (quarterstaff or greatclub), a shortbow (doesn't take much strength), etc.  "Proficiency" doesn't mean training, it just means any Joe off the street should be able to make use of most of the utility the weapon provides because it's just sort of built-in to everyday life (cooking, swinging your arm, hammering in a loose board, chopping wood, etc).Everyone should have (potential) proficiency in simple weapons, even wizards and sorcerers and such.   At most, I'd make simple weapon proficiency a part of a character's background, rather than its class. (For example, maybe the noble background doesn't do the everyday work that would lead to a basic assumed proficiency in simple tools and weapons.)Side note: simple weapons with the 'thrown' trait (aside from darts) shouldn't be usable as thrown weapons without martial or specialized training. Throwing a weapon (such as a dagger) accurately is not something you learn from casual everyday work. It requires dedicated training.  Explicit proficiency with the weapon (such as the wizard with daggers) would be sufficient to throw it, but not from just a general proficiency in simple weapons.I'd also probably put the sling in the exotic weapons section, along with the whip, net, blowgun, and such.  Thus, it would be considered a martial weapon rather than a simple one.Martial: Requires a certain amount of explicit training to use — how to use the leverage of the weapon, how to block and parry, edge alignment (almost all slashing weapons are martial weapons), etc.  Without training you just wouldn't be able to use it effectively. Most training here easily carries from one weapon to another, even if they work different ways. A saber and a rapier are very difficult weapons in the fine technicalities, but the basics — parry, push, block, footwork, how to react to an opposing blade, etc — work for either one.  If you want to truly distinguish them, you'd want to upgrade from mere proficiency up to full mastery.  Mastery of the saber is very different from mastery of the rapier, which is different from mastery of a great axe, etc.Proficiency in martial weapons should provide a range of general combat maneuvers, and mastery of a weapon should provide some unique maneuvers per weapon.Large: Any heavy, reach, or non-ranged two-handed weapons. These could be either simple or martial, but have a minimum strength requirement, because the weight and length can be enough to swing you around if you're not careful.I'd probably also consider making these weapons provide a flat damage bonus, and limit larger die sizes. Exact values aren't something I can work out right now, but something like having a greatclub that does 1d6+1 or +2 instead of 1d8, or something like that.And as a peripheral idea, I'd probably also make it so that non-martial classes can choose to gain proficiency in a single weapon each time they gain an ASI, and martial classes can gain mastery in a weapon of their choice.  Maybe your evil sorceress really likes to use whips, or the bard showed proficiency in his lead-lined guitar, El Kabong, or your Zorro expy is an expert with the rapier.  Just a little extra flavor.</blockquote>

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