Improvised & Funnel Weapons

[abk108]

I 've read in another post that some folks don't like the idea for example that a pitchfork deals d8 damage, which is the equivalent of a longsword, a battleaxe or a spear, and I certainly can see why.

We DMs want our PCs, especially at 0 lvl, especially in DCC, to feel rewarded even upon finding a shortsword without too much rust on it. We don't want our funnel PCs to just overlook every weapon scattered in the dungeon we carefully designed because they started off with a pitchfork.

I think that improvised weapons, and objects not intended for combat used as weapons should deal damage equal to the closer "weapon", so Pitchfork->spear, Pick->Handaxe (in the Beta, a pick does damage as a mace, i think it should be more), shovel->mace; but they should break easily, therefore i suggest that on particularly brutal hits, as CRITICAL HITS and those hits that roll the maximum damage on the die roll, the weapon should break and become useless after the hit.

example: Egar prefers to use his fork, rather than the handaxe he picked up. He's fighting a goblin and hits with maybe too much strength (damage 8 on the d8): the goblin has been impaled, but the fork has been broken in half. Egar will have to use his handaxe now, sure that it won't break that easily.

[Colin]

I definitely like the idea that they simply break if they inflict their maximum rolled damage. Straightforward, simple, and helps ensure that weapons specifically created for combat have something very much in their favour. Great idea, matey.

Colin

[finarvyn]

In general I try to avoid lengthy weapons lists, and would rather say "well, X is most like Y" and group them accordingly. My long-standing OD&D house rule is that weapons tend to be grouped into piles, based on how big they are and how pointy the end.

Group 1: (d4 damage)
Smaller weapons such as Slings, knives & daggers, staffs, clubs, chair legs, etc.

Group 2: (d6 damage)
Medium weapons such as Maces, Short Swords, Bows, Crossbows

Group 3: (d8 damage)
Larger weapons such as Swords and Battle Axes. Maybe throw in Longbows and Heavy Crossbows.

Group 4: (d10 damage)
Two handed weapons such as Two-handed swords, pole arms.

[abk108]

that's a good division and it's pretty much the same that i use in general. However, after a long time playing D&D 3.x both me and my players feel that not all the weapons should be the same...
that's why for example I had to change damage output of bows and x-bows,as 1d6 shortbow, 1d7 crossbow, 1d8 longbow....

[finarvyn]

Nothing wrong with your system if it works for you.

My goal is usually to come up with something simple that I can work with that doesn't require me to memorize a lot or look up things in tables. By dividing weapons into generic piles I achieve my own goals sufficiently.