Author Topic: What to call "Exotic Weapons" except "Exotic?"  (Read 10605 times)

Offline Endarire

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What to call "Exotic Weapons" except "Exotic?"
« on: November 08, 2011, 07:03:53 PM »
I don't like the name of "Exotic" weapons.  They're usually just slightly altered simple or martial weapons.  (Yeah, yeah, Spiked Chains are that different.)

I don't want to go 4E and call them "Superior" weapons since they probably aren't that superior.

Offline veekie

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Re: What to call "Exotic Weapons" except "Exotic?"
« Reply #1 on: November 08, 2011, 07:36:52 PM »
Depends on their role. Most current exotics are really simple weapons, at least in their home environment. A good chunk of them are modified farm tools.
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Offline Prime32

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Re: What to call "Exotic Weapons" except "Exotic?"
« Reply #2 on: November 08, 2011, 09:04:57 PM »
Advanced? Awkward? Imbalanced?

Offline bhu

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Re: What to call "Exotic Weapons" except "Exotic?"
« Reply #3 on: November 08, 2011, 09:12:17 PM »
Non-standard?

Offline Bozwevial

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Re: What to call "Exotic Weapons" except "Exotic?"
« Reply #4 on: November 08, 2011, 09:13:44 PM »
Unfamiliar, foreign, peculiar, obscure?
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Offline Lycanthromancer

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Re: What to call "Exotic Weapons" except "Exotic?"
« Reply #5 on: November 08, 2011, 09:50:34 PM »
Not nearly worth a feat for any but spiked chains and spinning swords because they're generally worse than a martial weapon, and sometimes even simple ones?

Offline weenog

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Re: What to call "Exotic Weapons" except "Exotic?"
« Reply #6 on: November 08, 2011, 10:32:52 PM »
Fool's tools, for most of them.

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Offline Jackinthegreen

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Re: What to call "Exotic Weapons" except "Exotic?"
« Reply #7 on: November 08, 2011, 11:29:25 PM »
Handheld traps.

Offline SorO_Lost

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Re: What to call "Exotic Weapons" except "Exotic?"
« Reply #8 on: November 09, 2011, 02:09:41 AM »
Erotic?

Offline Solo

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Re: What to call "Exotic Weapons" except "Exotic?"
« Reply #9 on: November 09, 2011, 02:24:34 AM »
Simple
Martial
Ludicrous
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Offline Soundwave

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Re: What to call "Exotic Weapons" except "Exotic?"
« Reply #10 on: November 09, 2011, 02:34:39 AM »
Locale specific?

Regional weaponry?

Non traditional fantasy armament?

Offline veekie

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Re: What to call "Exotic Weapons" except "Exotic?"
« Reply #11 on: November 09, 2011, 04:44:19 AM »
So yeah, to give exotics a name you'd have to redefine the proficiency concept first.

Is it a matter of skill and familiarity? If so what about applying the same level of skill to a simpler weapon? What about similar weapon skills? If it acts like a club, should not the skills carry over?
The existing system seems to indicate so, since martial weapons tend to be more tricky to use without specialized training. However, other than the really far out exotics, most of them work just like simples and martials, they're only exotic because they're foreign.

Is it a matter of weapon quality? Simple weapons are generally cavemen weapons, with low requirements on construction, or dual use tools and hunting devices. Martial weapons tend to be purely military in nature, and meant to kill people effectively. Going by this order, exotics should be even more effective, perhaps weapons ahead of their time. But then you have the whip, which other than its reach, falls cleanly into a simple weapon(its a dual use tool), the kama(which is an oriental sickle), and so forth.

Personally, I'd make it a matter of skill and weapon groups, forget 3 tier weapons. You're proficient in types of weapons, and focus to get higher effective rank in a weapon category.
Rank 0: Untrained unarmed strikes, natural weapons
Rank 1: Clubs, staves, spears, daggers, repurposed farm tools(the common scythe, whip, sickle etc), basic unarmed strike(nonlethal but non provoking, think simple boxing)
Rank 2: Swords, advanced unarmed combat, flails, scourges(whips with metal knots) stuff that takes training to use properly,
Rank 3: Advanced techniques for Rank 2 stuff, weird hybrid weapons,
And you keep going up with more weird weapons and advanced uses of lower rank stuff.
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Offline RobbyPants

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Re: What to call "Exotic Weapons" except "Exotic?"
« Reply #12 on: November 09, 2011, 08:00:40 AM »
I guess I'd separate them into two groups. One group would be the ones that are actually pretty cool and are worth a feat (like spiked chains). The other group would be the rest of them (which are usually either a bump up one damage die type or a slightly better crit).

The first group would still cost a feat. Maybe these are Exotic Weapons. I'm not sure what a good name is.

The second group would be handled sort of like Tome's exploits, where it doesn't take much training to use them. The way Tome handles this is: if you're already proficient in all martial weapons, you can train with one of these weapons for a week and make a DC 10 Int check (you can't take 10), and if you succeed, you're proficient. If you're not proficient with all martial weapons, you can carry one of these exotic weapons around for an entire level practicing in your downtime, and you're proficient when you gain a level.

I don't have a fancy name for the second group, either. The side effect is, no one uses longswords past the first few levels when they could bump the damage a bit with a bastard sword, but at least no one had to blow a feat to do so.


Veekie's idea is interesting, too.
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Offline Ithamar

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Re: What to call "Exotic Weapons" except "Exotic?"
« Reply #13 on: November 09, 2011, 02:42:41 PM »
Specialty or Specialized?

Offline JohnnyMayHymn

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Re: What to call "Exotic Weapons" except "Exotic?"
« Reply #14 on: November 09, 2011, 05:10:20 PM »
Esoteric Weapons
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Offline X-Codes

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Re: What to call "Exotic Weapons" except "Exotic?"
« Reply #15 on: November 09, 2011, 05:18:45 PM »
You'll-never-find-this-in-random-loot weapons.

Offline SneeR

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Re: What to call "Exotic Weapons" except "Exotic?"
« Reply #16 on: November 09, 2011, 05:56:43 PM »
Most of the weapons are either fantasy race versions of normal weapons, like the elven thinblade, gnomish quickrazor, etc. or are eastern weapons that take an extra moment to get used to.

I second regional weapons, but you could also go for racial... not to be racist...
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Offline Lycanthromancer

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Re: What to call "Exotic Weapons" except "Exotic?"
« Reply #17 on: November 09, 2011, 06:28:45 PM »
I think 'traps' sums it up nicely.

Offline Necrosnoop110

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Re: What to call "Exotic Weapons" except "Exotic?"
« Reply #18 on: November 09, 2011, 08:09:25 PM »
How about this scheme:

Natural: Natural Weapons & Unarmed Strikes
Simple: Common weapons that require little or no training to use (Non proficiency penalty -2)
Martial: Common weapons that require training to use (Non proficiency penalty -6)
Remarkable: Uncommon weapons that require extensive training (Non proficiency penalty -10) 

Offline veekie

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Re: What to call "Exotic Weapons" except "Exotic?"
« Reply #19 on: November 10, 2011, 03:28:39 AM »
Esoteric Weapons
That probably describes them quite well.
Everything is edible. Just that there are things only edible once per lifetime.
It's a god-eat-god world.

Procrastination is the thief of time; Year after year it steals, till all are fled,
And to the mercies of a moment leaves; The vast concerns of an eternal scene.