Weapons

Weapon Categories

Weapons are grouped into several interlocking sets of categories. These categories pertain to what training is needed to become proficient in a weapon's use (simple, martial, or exotic), the weapon's usefulness either in close combat (melee) or at a distance (ranged, which includes both thrown and projectile weapons), its relative encumbrance (light, one-handed, or two-handed), and its size (Small, Medium, or Large).

Simple, Martial, and Exotic Weapons: Anybody but a druid, rogue, or wizard is proficient with all simple weapons. Barbarians, fighters, paladins, and rangers are proficient with all simple and all martial weapons. Characters of other classes are proficient with an assortment of mainly simple weapons and possibly also some martial or even exotic weapons. A character who uses a weapon with which he or she is not proficient takes a -4 penalty on attack rolls.

Melee and Ranged Weapons: Melee weapons are used for making melee attacks, though some of them can be thrown as well. Ranged weapons are thrown weapons or projectile weapons that are not effective in melee.

Reach Weapons: Glaives, guisarmes, halberds, lances, longspears, meteor hammers, ranseurs, spiked chains, and whips are reach weapons. A reach weapon is a melee weapon that allows its wielder to strike at targets that aren't adjacent to him or her. Most reach weapons double the wielder's natural reach, meaning that a typical Medium wielder of such a weapon can attack a creature 10 feet away, but not a creature in an adjacent square. A typical Large character wielding a reach weapon of the appropriate size can attack a creature 15 or 20 feet away, but not creatures up to 10 feet away. (The Polearm Wielder feat lets the wielder strike at adjacent opponents with the butt of his weapon.)

Double Weapons: Dire flails, dwarven urgroshes, gnome hooked hammers, orc double axes, quarterstaffs, and two-bladed swords are double weapons. A character can fight with both ends of a double weapon as if fighting with two weapons, but he or she incurs all the normal attack penalties associated with two-weapon combat, just as though the character were wielding a one-handed weapon and a light weapon.

The character can also choose to use a double weapon two-handed, attacking with only one end of it. A creature wielding a double weapon in one hand can't use it as a double weapon - only one end of the weapon can be used in any given round.

Thrown Weapons: Clubs, daggers, darts, javelins, light hammers, nets, shortspears, shuriken, spears, throwing axes, and tridents are thrown weapons. The wielder applies his Strength modifier to damage dealt by thrown weapons (except for splash weapons).

It is possible to throw a weapon that isn't designed to be thrown (that is, a melee weapon that doesn't have a numeric entry in the Range Increment column on Table 2), but a character who does so takes a -4 penalty on the attack roll. Throwing a light or one-handed weapon is a standard action, while throwing a two-handed weapon is a full-round action. Regardless of the type of weapon, such an attack scores a threat only on a natural roll of 20 and deals double damage on a critical hit. Such a weapon has a range increment of 10 feet.

A character can also throw items that are not weapons; in this case, he can throw an object weighing up to 1/10th of his light load up to 5 range increments (10 foot increment) with one hand. He can throw anything weighing up to 1/10th his medium load allowance up to 5 range increments with two hands. Heavier items cannot be thrown, though they can be picked up and tossed a few feet.

Objects that are especially unwieldy (a sword, for instance) have their range increment reduced from 10 feet to 5 feet.

A creature smaller than Medium loses one range increment per size category (to a minimum of 2 increments at Tiny) and gains one per size larger (no maximum).

Projectile Weapons: Light crossbows, slings, heavy crossbows, shortbows, composite shortbows, longbows, composite longbows, hand crossbows, and repeating crossbows are projectile weapons. Most projectile weapons require two hands to use (see specific weapon descriptions). A character gets no Strength bonus on damage rolls with a projectile weapon unless it's a specially built composite short- or longbow, or a sling. If the character has a penalty for low Strength, apply it to damage rolls when he or she uses a bow or a sling.

Ammunition: Projectile weapons use ammunition: arrows (for bows), bolts (for crossbows), or sling bullets (for slings). When using a bow, a character can draw ammunition as a free action; crossbows and slings require an action for reloading. Generally speaking, ammunition that hits its target is destroyed or rendered useless, while normal ammunition that misses has a 50% chance of being destroyed or lost.

Although they are thrown weapons, shuriken are treated as ammunition for the purposes of drawing them, making mastercraft or otherwise special versions of them (see Mastercraft Weapons), and what happens to them after they are thrown.

Light, One-Handed, and Two-Handed Melee Weapons: This designation is a measure of how much effort it takes to wield a weapon in combat. It indicates whether a melee weapon, when wielded by a character of the weapon's size category, is considered a light weapon, a one-handed weapon, or a two-handed weapon.

Light: A light weapon is easier to use in one's off hand than a one-handed weapon is, and it can be used while grappling. A light weapon is used in one hand. Add the wielder's Strength bonus (if any) to damage rolls for melee attacks with a light weapon if it's used in the primary hand, or one-half the wielder's Strength bonus if it's used in the off hand. Using two hands to wield a light weapon gives no advantage on damage; the Strength bonus applies as though the weapon were held in the wielder's primary hand only.

An unarmed strike is always considered a light weapon.

One-Handed: A one-handed weapon can be used in either the primary hand or the off hand. Add the wielder's Strength bonus to damage rolls for melee attacks with a one-handed weapon if it's used in the primary hand, or 1/2 his or her Strength bonus if it's used in the off hand. If a one-handed weapon is wielded with two hands during melee combat, add 1-1/2 times the character's Strength bonus to damage rolls.

Two-Handed: Two hands are required to use a two-handed melee weapon effectively. Apply 1-1/2 times the character's Strength bonus to damage rolls for melee attacks with such a weapon.

Weapon Size: Every weapon has a size category. This designation indicates the size of the creature for which the weapon was designed.

A weapon's size category isn't the same as its size as an object. Instead, a weapon's size category is keyed to the size of the intended wielder. In general, a light weapon is an object two size categories smaller than the wielder, a one-handed weapon is an object one size category smaller than the wielder, and a two-handed weapon is an object of the same size category as the wielder.

Inappropriately Sized Weapons: A creature can't make optimum use of a weapon that isn't properly sized for it. A cumulative -2 penalty applies on attack rolls for each size category of difference between the size of its intended wielder and the size of its actual wielder. If the creature isn't proficient with the weapon, the nonproficiency penalty also applies.

The measure of how much effort it takes to use a weapon (whether the weapon is designated as a light, one-handed, or two-handed weapon for a particular wielder) is altered by one step for each size category of difference between the wielder's size and the size of the creature for which the weapon was designed. If a weapon's designation would be changed to something other than light, one-handed, or two-handed by this alteration, the creature can't wield the weapon at all.

Improvised Weapons: Sometimes objects not crafted to be weapons nonetheless see use in combat. Because such objects are not designed for this use, any creature that uses one in combat is considered to be nonproficient with it and takes a -4 penalty on attack rolls made with that object. To determine the size category and appropriate damage for an improvised weapon, compare its relative size and damage potential to the weapon list to find a reasonable match. An improvised weapon scores a threat on a natural roll of 20 and deals double damage on a critical hit. An improvised thrown weapon has a range increment of 10 feet.

Non-Proficient Weapons: If a character wields a weapon with which he is not proficient, he suffers a non-proficiency penalty to attack rolls: -2 for simple weapons, or -4 for martial weapons. Exotic weapons incur a -4 penalty for non-proficient use, but many also have special uses. Exotic weapons incur a -4 penalty for non-proficient use. An exotic weapon wielder who doesn't fulfill the special prerequisites, but still fulfills the basic ones, can use the weapon without penalty but can't perform special maneuvers with it. For example, a spiked chain requires 13 Dex to use properly, and 15 Dex to use it to perform combat maneuvers. A character with 13-14 Dex can use it without penalty, but can't perform trip or disarm attacks; one with 12 or less Dex suffers a -4 penalty when using it. A character with 15+ Dex can take full advantage of the chain's design.

Weapon Qualities

Here is the format for weapon entries (given as column headings on Table 2, below).

Cost: This value is the weapon's cost in gold pieces (gp) or silver pieces (sp). The cost includes miscellaneous gear that goes with the weapon.

This cost is the same for a Small or Medium version of the weapon. A Large version costs twice the listed price.

Damage: The Damage columns give the damage dealt by the weapon on a successful hit. The column labeled "Dmg (S)" is for Small weapons. The column labeled "Dmg (M)" is for Medium weapons. If two damage ranges are given then the weapon is a double weapon. Use the second damage figure given for the double weapon's extra attack. Table 1 gives weapon damage values for weapons of those sizes.

Table 1: Weapon Damage by Size

Example Fine Diminutive Tiny Small Medium Large Huge Gargantuan Colossal
Shuriken 1 1d2 1d3 1d4 1d6 1d8
Gauntlet 1 1d2 1d3 1d4 1d6 1d8 2d6
Dagger 1 1d2 1d3 1d4 1d6 1d8 2d6 3d6
Shortspear 1 1d2 1d3 1d4 1d6 1d8 2d6 3d6 4d6
Falchion 1d2 1d3 1d4 1d6 2d4 2d6 3d6 4d6 6d6
Longsword 1d2 1d3 1d4 1d6 1d8 2d6 3d6 4d6 6d6
Bastard sword 1d3 1d4 1d6 1d8 1d10 2d6 3d6 4d6 6d6
Greatsword 1d4 1d6 1d8 1d10 2d6 3d6 4d6 6d6 8d6

Critical: The entry in this column notes how the weapon is used with the rules for critical hits. When a character scores a critical hit, apply maximum damage for the first die and then roll an additional one, two, or three times, as indicated by its critical multiplier (using all applicable modifiers on each roll), then add all the results together.

Exception: Extra damage over and above a weapon's normal damage is not multiplied on a critical hit.

x2: The weapon deals 1 extra die of damage on a critical hit.

x3: The weapon deals 2 extra dice of damage on a critical hit.

x3/x4: One head of this double weapon deals 2 extra dice of damage on a critical hit, and the other head deals 3 extra dice.

x4: The weapon deals 3 extra dice of damage on a critical hit.

19–20/x2: The weapon scores a threat on a natural roll of 19 or 20 (instead of just 20) and deals 1 extra die of damage on a critical hit. (The weapon has a threat range of 19–20.)

18–20/x2: The weapon scores a threat on a natural roll of 18, 19, or 20 (instead of just 20) and deals 1 extra die of damage on a critical hit. (The weapon has a threat range of 18–20.)

Range Increment: Any attack at less than this distance is not penalized for range. However, each full range increment imposes a cumulative -2 penalty on the attack roll. A thrown weapon has a maximum range of five range increments. A projectile weapon can shoot out to ten range increments.

Weight: This column gives the weight of a Medium version of the weapon. Halve this number for Small weapons and double it for Large weapons.

Type: Weapons are classified according to the type of damage they deal: bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing. Some monsters may be resistant or immune to attacks from certain types of weapons.

Some weapons deal damage of multiple types. If a weapon is of two types, the damage it deals is not half one type and half another; all of it is both types. Therefore, a creature would have to be immune to both types of damage to ignore any of the damage from such a weapon.

In other cases, a weapon can deal either of two types of damage. In a situation when the damage type is significant, the wielder can choose which type of damage to deal with such a weapon.

Special: Some weapons have Special features. See the weapon descriptions for details.

Weapon Groups

Weapons can be divided into several groups, as noted below. Each class gets a certain number of groups (or specific groups), as noted in the class description. If a character has proficiency with a weapon group, he can use all the simple weapons in that group without penalty, and can use the martial weapons with a -2 attack penalty. If he has the Martial Weapon Proficiency feat, he can use all martial weapons in his groups of proficiency. He must still fulfill any prerequisites for weapons noted as being exotic, however.

Axes: Battle axe, dwarven urgrosh*, dwarven waraxe*, greataxe.

Bows: Composite longbow*, composite shortbow*, longbow*, shortbow.

Crossbows: Hand crossbow, heavy crossbow, light crossbow, repeating crossbow*.

Double Weapons: Dire flail*, orc double axe*, quarterstaff, two-bladed sword*.

Flails: Heavy flail, light flail, nunchaku*.

Great Blades: Bastard sword*, falchion, greatsword.

Long Blades: Katana, longsword, rapier, scimitar.

Short Blades: Dagger, kukri, sai, short sword, wakizashi.

Maces and Clubs: Club, greatclub, heavy mace, light mace, morningstar, sap.

Picks and Hammers: Gnomish hooked hammer*, hand axe, heavy pick, kama, light hammer, light pick, scythe, sickle, warhammer.

Polearms: Glaive, guisarme, halberd, ranseur.

Slings and Thrown Weapons: Dagger, dart, shuriken, sling*, throwing axe.

Spears and Lances: Javelin, lance, longspear, shortspear, spear, trident.

Unarmed: Punching dagger, spiked gauntlet, unarmed strike.

Whips and Chains: Meteor hammer*, spiked chain*, whip*.

*This is an exotic weapon and has additional prerequisites for proper use. See the individual description for more details.



Table 2: Weapons
Simple Weapons Cost Dmg (S) Dmg (M) Critical Range Inc. Weight1 Type2
Unarmed Attacks
Gauntlet 2 gp 1d2 1d3 x2 1 lb. Bludgeoning
Gauntlet, spiked 5 gp 1d3 1d4 x2 1 lb. Piercing
Unarmed strike 1d23 1d33 x2 Bludgeoning
Light Melee Weapons
Dagger 2 gp 1d3 1d4 19-20/x2 10 ft. 1 lb. Piercing or slashing
Dagger, punching 2 gp 1d3 1d4 x3 1 lb. Piercing
Mace, light 5 gp 1d4 1d6 x2 4 lb. Bludgeoning
Sickle 6 gp 1d4 1d6 x2 2 lb. Slashing
One-Handed Melee Weapons
Club 1d4 1d6 x2 10 ft. 3 lb. Bludgeoning
Mace, heavy 12 gp 1d6 1d8 x2 8 lb. Bludgeoning
Morningstar 8 gp 1d6 1d8 x2 6 lb. Bludgeoning and piercing
Shortspear 1 gp 1d4 1d6 x2 20 ft. 3 lb. Piercing
Two-Handed Melee Weapons
Longspear4 5 gp 1d6 1d8 x3 9 lb. Piercing
Quarterstaff5 1d4/1d4 1d6/1d6 x2 4 lb. Bludgeoning
Spear 2 gp 1d6 1d8 x3 20 ft. 6 lb. Piercing
Ranged Weapons
Bolts, crossbow (10) 1 gp 1 lb.
Crossbow, hand 100 gp 1d4 1d6 19-20/x2 30 ft. 2 lb. Piercing
Crossbow, heavy 50 gp 1d8 1d10 19-20/x2 120 ft. 8 lb. Piercing
Crossbow, light 35 gp 1d6 1d8 19-20/x2 80 ft. 4 lb. Piercing
Dart 5 sp 1d3 1d4 x2 20 ft. 1/2 lb. Piercing
Javelin 1 gp 1d4 1d6 x2 10 ft. 2 lb. Piercing
Martial Weapons Cost Dmg (S) Dmg (M) Critical Range Inc. Weight1 Type2
Light Melee Weapons
Axe, throwing 8 gp 1d4 1d6 x2 10 ft. 2 lb. Slashing
Hammer, light 1 gp 1d3 1d4 x2 20 ft. 2 lb. Bludgeoning
Handaxe 6 gp 1d4 1d6 x3 3 lb. Slashing
Kama 2 gp 1d4 1d6 x2 2 lb. Slashing
Kukri 8 gp 1d3 1d4 18-20/x2 2 lb. Slashing
Pick, light 4 gp 1d3 1d4 x4 3 lb. Piercing
Sap 1 gp 1d43 1d63 x2 2 lb. Bludgeoning
Shield, light Special 1d2 1d3 x2 Special Bludgeoning
Spiked armor Special 1d4 1d6 x2 Special Piercing
Spiked shield, light Special 1d3 1d4 x2 Special Piercing
Sword, short 10 gp 1d4 1d6 19-20/x2 2 lb. Piercing
Wakizashi 20 gp 1d4 1d6 19-20/x2 2 lb. Slashing
One-Handed Melee Weapons
Battleaxe 10 gp 1d6 1d8 x3 6 lb. Slashing
Flail 8 gp 1d6 1d8 x2 5 lb. Bludgeoning
Longsword 15 gp 1d6 1d8 19-20/x2 4 lb. Slashing
Pick, heavy 8 gp 1d4 1d6 x4 6 lb. Piercing
Rapier 20 gp 1d4 1d6 18-20/x2 2 lb. Piercing
Scimitar 15 gp 1d4 1d6 18-20/x2 4 lb. Slashing
Shield, heavy Special 1d3 1d4 x2 Special Bludgeoning
Spiked shield, heavy Special 1d4 1d6 x2 Special Piercing
Trident 15 gp 1d6 1d8 x2 10 ft. 4 lb. Piercing
Warhammer 12 gp 1d6 1d8 x3 5 lb. Bludgeoning
Two-Handed Melee Weapons
Falchion 75 gp 1d6 2d4 18-20/x2 8 lb. Slashing
Glaive4 8 gp 1d8 1d10 x3 10 lb. Slashing
Greataxe 20 gp 1d10 2d6 x3 12 lb. Slashing
Greatclub 5 gp 1d6 2d4 x3 8 lb. Bludgeoning
Flail, heavy 15 gp 1d8 1d10 x2 10 lb. Bludgeoning
Greatsword 50 gp 1d10 2d6 19-20/x2 8 lb. Slashing
Guisarme4 9 gp 1d6 2d4 x3 12 lb. Slashing
Halberd 10 gp 1d8 1d10 x3 12 lb. Piercing or slashing
Katana 100 gp 1d6 2d4 19-20/x2 4 lb. Slashing
Lance4 10 gp 1d6 1d8 x3 10 lb. Piercing
Ranseur4 10 gp 1d6 2d4 x3 12 lb. Piercing
Scythe 18 gp 1d6 2d4 x4 10 lb. Piercing or slashing
Sword, two-bladed5 30 gp 1d4/1d4 1d6/1d6 19-20/x2 10 lb. Slashing
Ranged Weapons
Crossbow, repeating heavy 400 gp 1d8 1d10 19-20/x2 120 ft. 12 lb. Piercing
Bolts, crossbow (5) 1 gp 1 lb.
Crossbow, repeating light 250 gp 1d6 1d8 19-20/x2 80 ft. 6 lb. Piercing
Bolts, crossbow (5) 1 gp 1 lb.
Longbow 75 gp 1d6 1d8 x3 100 ft. 3 lb. Piercing
Arrows (20) 1 gp 3 lb.
Longbow, composite 100 gp 1d6 1d8 x3 110 ft. 3 lb. Piercing
Arrows (20) 1 gp 3 lb.
Shortbow 30 gp 1d4 1d6 x3 60 ft. 2 lb. Piercing
Arrows (20) 1 gp 3 lb.
Shortbow, composite 75 gp 1d4 1d6 x3 70 ft. 2 lb. Piercing
Arrows (20) 1 gp 3 lb.
Shuriken (5) 1 gp 1 1d2 x2 10 ft. 1/2 lb. Piercing
Exotic Weapons Cost Dmg (S) Dmg (M) Critical Range Inc. Weight1 Type2
Light Melee Weapons
Garrote 3 gp 1d36 1d46 x2 0 lb. Slashing
Garrote, wire 10 gp 1d36 1d46 19-20/x2 0 lb. Slashing
Nunchaku 2 gp 1d4 1d6 x2 2 lb. Bludgeoning
Sai 1 gp 1d3 1d4 x2 10 ft. 1 lb. Bludgeoning or Piercing
One-Handed Melee Weapons
Sword, bastard 35 gp 1d8 1d10 19-20/x2 6 lb. Slashing
Waraxe, dwarven 30 gp 1d8 1d10 x3 8 lb. Slashing
Whip4 1 gp 1d2 1d3 x2 2 lb. Slashing
Two-Handed Melee Weapons
Axe, orc double5 60 gp 1d6/1d6 1d8/1d8 x3 15 lb. Slashing
Chain, spiked4 25 gp 1d4 1d6 x3 10 lb. Piercing
Hammer, gnome hooked5 20 gp 1d4/1d3 1d6/1d4 x3/x4 6 lb. Bludgeoning or piercing
Meteor hammer5 20 gp 1d4 1d6 x2 6 lb. Bludgeoning
Urgrosh, dwarven5 50 gp 1d6/1d4 1d8/1d6 x3 12 lb. Slashing or piercing
Ranged Weapons
Bolas 5 gp 1d33 1d43 x2 10 ft. 2 lb. Bludgeoning
Net 20 gp 10 ft. 6 lb.
Sling 1d3 1d4 x2 100 ft. 0 lb. Bludgeoning
Bullets, sling (10) 1 sp 5 lb.

1 Weight figures are for Medium weapons. A Small weapon weighs half as much, and a Large weapon weighs twice as much.

2 When two types are given, the weapon is both types if the entry specifies "and," or either type (player's choice at time of attack) if the entry specifies "or."

3 The weapon deals nonlethal damage rather than lethal damage.

4 Reach weapon.

5 Double weapon.

6 This item can be used to strangle a victim; see garroting and chokeholds for more details.

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