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Fantasy Pollaxe for Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
Posted by Owen K.C. Stephens
Once again, I was watching the show Forged in Fire, and found myself moved to write Pathfinder Roleplaying Game stats for the features weapon. In this case it was a pollaxe, which is similar in some regards to the halberd and lucerne hammer, but distinct enough (and was common enough) I think it deserves its own write-up.
Martial Two-Handed Weapon
Name Cost Dmg (S) Dmg (M) Crit Weight Type Special
Pollaxe 30gp 1d8 1d10 x2 7 lbs. B/S/P Brace, Trip
A pollaxe is a common weapon among knights and those who must face heavily armored foes on foot. It has a wooden haft between five and six-and-a-half feet long, with languets running along the top third or half. A metal head is mounted to the top, which features an axe blade, hammerhead, and spike. It is often confused with the halberd (which has a larger axe blade and normally no hammer), and the lucerne hammer (which has a clawhead rather than an axe blade).
A proficient character can use a pollaxe one-handed. Whenever a pole-axe is used one-handed, it is a one-handed weapon, and it’s damage die is reduced by one step (to d8, for S/M weapons).
A proficient character using a pollaxe two-handed, and who has the Lunge feat, can use Lunge with the pollaxe while taking only a -1 penalty to AC (rather than the normal -2).
A proficient character using a pollaxe two-handed, and who has the Combat Patrol feat, can use Combat Patrol as a standard action (rather than the full round action).
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Posted in Pathfinder Development
Tags: forged in fire, Game Design, gaming, Geekery, Pathfinder First Edition, PC Options, Weapons
Fantasy Folding Navaja Sevillana Blade for Pathfinder
Posted by Owen K.C. Stephens
The navaja is one of the first folding blades to gain widespread acceptance as a combat item, starting in regions of Spain, and was used in various eras as an openly carried utility knife, a trusted offensive weapon, a concealed choice for self-defense, and a highwayman’s tool of intimidation. While many different styles of navaja have existed, among the largest is the navaja sevillana, which commonly had a blade at least eight inches long, a locking ratchet, and a long curved handle. The blade was generally razor sharp (and may have evolved from folding straight razors), and when opened the overall length could easily run 16 to 20 inches.
This is a fantasy version of the navaja sevillana, appropriate for Pathfinder Roleplaying Game campaigns that mix rapiers, firearms, and printing presses. It doesn’t attempt to be a historic representation, and more than the game’s versions of longswords or falchions are, and though inspired by a real-world weapon it is not intended to reflect on any of the social, ethnic, or national groups that have used navajas throughout history.
(Martial) Light Melee Weapons
Name Cost Dmg (S) (M) Crit Weight Type Special
Navaja 50 gp 1d3 1d5* 18-20, x2 1 lb. S Deadly, finesse
*Numerous companies, including Impact Miniatures, now make d5 dice, but it you don’t have one (or don’t like them) you can treat this as 1d4+1 (and thus if you have a +1 STR bonus to damage, you’d roll 1d4+2)
Deadly: When you use this weapon to deliver a coup de grace, it gains a +4 bonus to damage when calculating the DC of the Fortitude saving throw to see whether the target of the coup de grace dies from the attack. The bonus is not added to the actual damage of the coup de grace attack.
Finesse: You can use the Weapon Finesse feat (and ability that work with weapon you can use with that feat) with a navaja sevillana.
Navaja Sevillana: If it is folded, you can conceal and draw a concealed navaja sevillana (using Sleight of Hand) in the same amount of time it takes to draw or sheath a normal weapon, and you gain a +4 bonus to Sleight of Hand checks to conceal it. If you are proficient with a navaja sevillana, you can open it and shut it as part of the same action used to draw or sheath it (even from concealment). If a navaja sevillana has the broken condition, its locking ratchet does not work, and it cannot be used to make attacks.
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Posted in Game Design, Pathfinder Development
Tags: forged in fire, Game Design, gaming, Pathfinder First Edition, PC Options, Weapons
Falx for Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
Posted by Owen K.C. Stephens
The falx is a weapon so powerful, it forced the Romans to make the only change to their armor (reinforced helmets) that was recorded as occurring specifically because of an enemy weapon. Used by the Dacians and Thracians, the falx was a curved blade sharpened on the inside edge. Contemporaneous accounts suggest it was made in both one-handed and two-handed versions, but the one-handed may also have been used in both hands at least sometimes. It seems to have come in both swordlike and polearm-like designs, and while its most powerful swing appears to have been a devastating overhand chop, it may also have been used to thrust. It seems related to the rhomphaia (as featured on a recent episode of the television show Forged in Fire), and went through many design evolutions. During much of the time it was a popular weapon, creating a long, sharp, strong blade required particularly skilled smiths, so the longer-bladed falx may have been weapons of prestige as well.
In short, it is exactly the kind of weapon rpg players love to argue about by finding specific references or illustrations that support one concept of what it looked like and how it was used, while ignoring others. And there’s just no need for that in an rpg setting. There’s room for lots of falx ideas to all be lumped together in one game mechanical weapon, the same way the pathfinder Roleplaying game combines numerous distinct weapon designs into the broad categories of shortsword” or “longsword.”
(Martial) Two-Handed Melee Weapons Name Cost Dmg (S) (M) Crit Weight Type Special
Falx 75 gp 1d4 1d6 19-20*, x4 8 lbs. P or S Disarm, trip
*See description
Falx: A falx is a two-handed martial weapon, but if Exotic Weapon Proficiency is taken with it, it can be wielded as a one-handed weapon. It is part of the axes, heavy blades, and polearms weapon groups. A falx is considered to have a threat range of “20” for the purposes of all abilities that increase threat ranges, but after making all such calculations its threat range is increased by 1. For example, a keen falx doubles its normal threat range of 20 to 19-20, then increases that threat range by 1 (to 18-20).
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Fantasy Tabar-Shishpar for Pathfinder
Posted by Owen K.C. Stephens
Welcome to more things inspired by Forged in Fire, where I do fantasy Pathfinder version of weapons I was introduced to by the television show Forged in Fire. Given how cool many of the weapons they feature on that show are, I decided to go back to this idea do another one. And while doing so, I thought I would continue to explore the design space created by using odd-sided dice (d5s, d7s, and so on) such as those available from Impact Miniatures (who are running a Kickstarter right now for more of these dice—I have nothing to do with the campaign, but I own a lot of their dice and are very happy with them).
This is an effort at a fantasy pathfinder version of the Tabar-Shishpar, a weapon from the Deccan region of India that appears to have existed in the 17th and 18th centuries, though it was always rare. “Tabar” means axe (the tabar was a horseman’s axe) and shishpar means mace and refers to a flnged mace introduced by the Delhi Sultanate. The Tabar-Shishpar is thus an axe-mace, with a single-bladed axe at one end and a mace at the other end of a roughly 3-foot-long metal haft. The same stats can also be used for the Tabar-Zaghnal (“axe-hammer”).
This is a game option inspired by the real-world history of the weapon, and is designed to be no more accurate than the Pathfinder versions of the longsword or falchion.
Although the Tabar-Shishpar has a weapon head at each end of the haft (like a gnomish hook-hammer), it is not a double weapon—only one end is designed to be used at a time, with the haft being flipped by the user when switching which head to attack with. As a result magic weapon properties (and abilities that emulate them) affect the entire Tabar-Shishpar, rather than only one end of it.
When the mace head is used, the axe is held facing outward to prevent self-injury.
Tabar-Shishpar (Two-Handed Martial Weapon)
Cost 20 gp Weight 1.5 lbs.
Light: Dmg (S) 1d9 (B, S) DMG (M) 1d11 (B, S) Crit 20, x3 Switch-hit
Switch-Hit: The Tabar-Shishpar does either bludgeoning or slashing damage, depending on how you hold it. Changing between the two damage types is a swift or move action. If you are not proficient with the Tabar-Shishpar and you roll a natural 1 on an attack roll (a “1” shows on the d20), you must either drop the weapon or do half base weapon damage (ignoring all modifiers) to yourself.
Speaking of Going Back to Cool Things
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Fantasy Yatagan for Pathfinder
Posted by Owen K.C. Stephens
Welcome to more things inspired by Forged in Fire, where I do fantasy Pathfinder version of weapons I was introduced to by the television show Forged in Fire. Given how cool many of the weapons they feature on that show are, I decided to do another one. And while doing so, I thought I would continue to explore the design space created by using odd-sided dice (d5s, d7s, and so on) such as those available from Impact Miniatures.
This is an effort at a fantasy pathfinder version of the Yatagan, a weapon from the Ottoman Empire often used by janissaries. This is a game option inspired by the real-world history of the weapon, and is designed to be no more accurate than the Pathfinder versions of the longsword or falchion.
A Yatagan is a single-edged, light long knife or short saber, with a pronounced forward curve and a handle with a two-lobed pommel of “ears” that make the grip easy to hold on to. Despite being a one-handed (rather than light) melee weapon, you can use a Yatagan with Weapon Finesse, and any feat or ability that allows you to use your Dexterity modifier, rather than Strength modifier, with melee weapons.
Yatagan
Cost 20 gp Weight 1.5 lbs.
Light: Dmg (S) 1d3 DMG (M) 1d5 Crit 18-20, x2, gripping
Gripping: Gripping weapons give you a +2 bonus to your CMD against disarm, steal, and sunder maneuvers directed at that weapon.
Speaking of Cool Options
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Fantasy Khanda for Pathfinder
Posted by Owen K.C. Stephens
Welcome to more things inspired by Forged in Fire. I already did a full fantasy Pathfinder version of the fascinating Akrafena (and a quick conversion for the Ida on my Patreon), both swords I was introduced to by the television show Forged in Fire. Given how cool many of the weapons they feature on that show are, I decided to do another one. And while doing so, I thought I would explore the design space created by using odd-sided dice (d5s, d7s, and so on) such as those available from Impact Miniatures.
This is an effort at a fantasy pathfinder version of the Khanda, a weapon from India with deep ties to various religions and philosophies. I am certainly not an expert on India, its history, or its religions. This is a game option inspired by the real-world history of the weapon, and is designed to be no more accurate than the Pathfinder versions of the longsword or falchion.
The Khanda is a one-handed martial weapon that is a double-edged straight sword, with a blade that widens near the tip (which is blunt). A Khanda’s grip guard is sufficiently encompassing to allow the weapon to deal damage as a gauntlet (though it still counts as a one-handed, rather than light, weapon). The blade has a reinforcement partway along the back, which is both stronger and dull (allowing the weapon to be grabbed at this point to reinforce the user’s grip for parrying powerful blows). A Khanda often has ornate religious iconography on its guard and blade, and a masterwork Khanda can act as a holy symbol for one specific deity.
Cost 20 gp Weight 4 lbs.
1-handed: Dmg (S) 1d5 DMG (M) 1d7 Crit 19-20, x2 blocking, reinforced, trip
Reinforced: Reinforced weapons have their hardness increased by +1, and their hp increased by +25%.
Patreon Exclusive
While I was playing with odd-dice design spaces, I invented a new weapon, the “light bastard sword,” inspired by nothing but mathematical possibilities. It’s currently a patron-exclusive bit of content over at my Patreon.
Fantasy Akrafena for Pathfinder
Posted by Owen K.C. Stephens
So, I am a huge fan of the show “Forged in Fire.” And, to my surprise, they sometimes forge weapons I am unfamiliar with. One of those is the Akrafena.
I can’t claim to be a scholar of the Akrafena, though I am fascinated by what little I have learned so far. So this is only a stab at a fantasy version of the weapon, no more accurate than the Pathfinder versions of the longsword or falchion.
Akrafena
The Akrafena is a sword with a curved blade roughly 2-1/4 feet long with heavy round elements in the handle, and cut-outs within the blade. It can be wielded as a 1-handed martial weapon, but if Exotic Weapon Proficiency is taken with it, it also can be used as a 2-handed weapon with different damage dice (noted below). Additionally, the markings on an Akrafena and how it is carried can convey information about its use and the intent and position of its user. Anyone with Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Akrafena) can make a single special Bluff check to convey a specific message about their intent and status when they strap on an Akrafena each day. Only people with 1 or more ranks in Knowledge (nobility) and those who also have Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Akrafena) can receive this message. The character wishing to send this message can make a base attack bonus check, rather than a Bluff check, to make the desired message clear.
Cost 40 gp Weight 8 lbs.
1-handed: Dmg (S) 2d3 DMG (M) 2d4 Crit 19-20, x2
2-handed with EWP: Dmg (S) 2d4 DMG (M) 1d4+1d6 Crit 18-20, x2
Patreon
I also have a Patreon, which helps me continue to offer this free content, and has some exclusive material as well. In this case, I made a quick rule set for another weapon from the show, the Ida.
Posted in Pathfinder Development
Tags: forged in fire, Game Design, Pathfinder First Edition, PC Options
Owen K.C. Stephens 