Items: Weapons¶
"A weapon is a promise. You picked it. Now keep it."
The shape of it: Weapons split by type (sword, axe, dagger, bow, staff, etc.), each with its own skill tree, stamina cost, damage profile, and combat-maneuver overlay. Your starter class nudges you toward a type - but every type is open if you put the ranks in.
At a glance¶
| Types | sword / dagger / axe / hammer / mace / polearm / greatsword / bow / staff / wand |
| Where to find | smithy (common), fletcher (bows + arrows), specialty vendors, dungeon loot, quest reward |
| Cost tier | cheap (iron / wood) → mid (steel) → pricey (fine / faction) → expensive (mastercraft / named) |
| Class restrictions | soft - anyone can wield anything; class skills make it real |
| Stamina cost | per-attack; bigger weapons hit harder but cost more |
How to read a weapon¶
/inventory and examine <weapon> show:
- Weapon type - drives which skill tree governs your rolls.
- Material - iron, steel, mithril, bronze, bone, etc. Pushes base damage and durability.
- Quality - crude / standard / fine / superior / masterwork. A fine steel sword outperforms a standard one at the same tier.
- Base damage - inherent damage rolled into your hit math.
- Slot -
weapon(mainhand) oroff_hand(shields, parry daggers, focuses for casters). - Affinity tags - some weapons carry per-creature bonuses (e.g. holy weapons against undead, silver against were-folk).
look weapon
examine iron sword
/stock steel sword
The weapon-type roster¶
| Type | Profile | Class fit |
|---|---|---|
| Sword (1H) | Balanced, fast, accurate | Warrior, Paladin, Wanderer |
| Dagger | Fastest, low damage, crit-friendly, stealth synergy | Rogue, Bard |
| Axe | Slower swords, higher max damage, swing-arc | Warrior, Wanderer |
| Hammer | Slow, blunt, anti-armor | Warrior, Paladin |
| Mace | Mid speed blunt, anti-armor light | Warrior, Cleric, Paladin |
| Polearm | Reach, slow, formation/tactical reads | Warrior, Town Guard |
| Greatsword (2H) | Hardest hits, slowest, no shield | Warrior |
| Bow | Ranged, costs arrows, stealth-friendly | Ranger, Rogue |
| Staff | Caster focus + blunt melee | Mage, Monk, Druid-adjacent |
| Wand | Caster focus only - no melee fallback | Mage, Necromancer |
| Holy symbol | Off-hand caster focus for divine | Cleric, Paladin |
Class proficiency¶
Each class has a skill rank in its native weapon types, plus the broader Combat Maneuvers parent skill. Picking up a weapon outside your native list is legal - you'll just be slow to rank until you put time in.
- Warrior - Sword / Axe / Hammer / Mace (allowed list)
- Rogue - Dagger / Shortsword
- Ranger - Bow / Shortsword
- Mage / Wand-classes - Wand / Staff (focuses for spellcasting)
- Cleric / Paladin - Mace / Hammer + Holy Symbol
- Wanderer - open; specialise once you've picked a path
Use /skill <weapon type> to see your rank, sub-skills (jab, slash,
parry, riposte, etc.), and which sub-skills are still locked behind
parent-rank gates.
Combat maneuvers - the cross-weapon overlay¶
Above the per-weapon skill tree sits Combat Maneuvers, a parent skill that unlocks weapon-agnostic moves: feint, disarm, sweep, pin, shield-bash, riposte. Some maneuvers are restricted to a weapon class (sweep wants something with reach, pin wants a free hand) but the Maneuvers rank itself is shared.
Why it matters: a Warrior who only ranks Sword will hit hard. A Warrior who ranks Sword AND Maneuvers can disarm a key target before hitting hard. The maneuvers are the difference between "I do damage" and "I control the fight."
The progression curve¶
| Hour | Typical weapon |
|---|---|
| Hour 1 | Starter - iron sword, crude bow, plain staff, two daggers |
| Hour 3-5 | Material upgrade (iron → steel, crude → standard arrows) |
| Hour 10-20 | Quality upgrade (standard → fine) + first crit-tier sub-skill |
| Hour 20-50 | Faction-locked weapons (Town Guard issue, Thieves' poisoned blades, Collegium-enchanted staves) |
| Hour 50+ | Mastercrafted, enchanted, or named blades - quest-locked and dungeon-deep |
The single biggest combat upgrade is usually going from crude to fine quality at your current material tier - not jumping material. A fine steel sword beats a standard mithril sword in many fights.
Edge cases¶
- Off-hand matters - a shield costs nothing to ready and adds flat damage reduction. Parry daggers add ripostes. Holy symbols unlock divine casts in melee range. Don't leave the off-hand empty if your class supports a fill.
- Bows need arrows - and arrow type matters. Crude arrows are
cheap and accurate-enough; bodkin arrows pierce armor; broadhead
arrows bleed.
/inventorydistinguishes them. - Wand/staff for casters - a wand is a focus, not a weapon. Trying to melee with a wand is a bad time. A staff doubles as a blunt weapon for Mages who get cornered.
- Two-handed lockout - greatsword + shield is illegal. The engine will refuse the equip.
- Affinity overrides - a holy weapon against undead, or silver
against beasts of the night, applies a damage multiplier the
weapon's base stats don't reveal at a glance.
examine <weapon>shows the tags. - Broken weapons are weapons - a snapped sword is still a hilt with a sharp edge. Reduced damage, but legal to fight with.
- Stealing weapons is loud - the Town Guard treats armed-theft differently than coin-theft. A blade taken from a vendor cart bumps your bounty harder than the same value in copper.