Weapon Specialization & Mastery Weapon Proficiencies Anybody can pick up a sword and swing it in a menacing manner, but without proper training and technique it's impossible to use a weapon correctly. A character's weapon proficiencies represent weapons in which he has some degree of training. Usually, he can wield them without embarrassing himself. Degrees of Weapons Use: It's fairly obvious that there is a huge difference in the attack potential of an unskilled novice and a trained swordsman. The level of skill with which a character fights is divided into five general categories: Non-Proficiency Proficiency Expertise Specialization Mastery (with Master being sub-divided into Mastery, High Mastery, and Grand Mastery) Non-proficiency has no cost in skills, Proficiency costs one skill, Expertise costs two skills, Specialization costs three skills and Mastery costs four or more skills. Non-proficiency If a character has never had any training or practice with a weapon, he is non-proficient. He can only guess at the proper way to hold the weapon or attack his opponent. Anything fancier than a simple hack, slash, or bash is beyond his abilities—the character cannot attempt any attack options such as disarming, blocking, or sapping. Any weapon wielded by a non-proficient character is considered slower than it really is (-5 to initiative), and missile weapons have their rate of fire halved. Non-proficiency means that there was no cost in skills for the character. Proficiency This is the basic level of competence most characters achieve with their weapons training. Proficiency allows the character to use a weapon with no penalties and employ all attack options and special weapon properties to their fullest extent. A normal Weapons Proficiency (W.P.) costs one skill. A Character may gain Proficiency in multiple weapons. Expertise At second level, by spending a second skill slot on a weapon, a character can gain expertise in a chosen weapon. Weapon expertise allows a character to gain extra attacks as if he or she were a weapon specialist. An expert gets one extra attack every 4 levels. A Character may gain Expertise in multiple weapons. Specialization At third level, by spending a third skill slot on a weapon, a character can become a specialist. The exact benefits of weapon specialization vary with the particular weapon involved. Generally, the types of benefits fall into one of four categories: melee weapons, missile weapons, bows, crossbows. Melee Weapons: Specializing in a melee weapon provides a character with two main benefits: first of all, he gains a +1 bonus to attack rolls and a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon; secondly, he gains an extra attack per melee every 3 melee. Missile Weapons: This category includes slings and thrown weapons. Generally, specialists gain an increased rate of fire with these weapons and a +1 bonus to attack rolls. If a character specializes in a weapon that can be used either for melee or as a missile weapon (spears, daggers, hand axes, etc.), he gains the melee benefit described above when using the weapon for hand-to-hand combat and the increased rate of fire for using the weapon for ranged attacks, specifically , he gains an extra attack per melee every 3 melee. Bows: Characters who specialize in the bow gain a +1 bonus to hit at any range (normal range penalties still apply, of course), an increased rate of fire (One extra attack per melee every 3 melee), and at point-blank range, the character gains a +2 to damage. In addition, bow specialists can automatically fire first as a very fast action if they have their target covered. Crossbows: Specialists with crossbows gain a +1 bonus to hit at any range, an increased rate of fire (One extra attack per melee every 3 melee), and at point-blank range, the character gains a +2 to damage.. For crossbows, however, point-blank range extends to double that of a bow. In addition, they share the archer's quick-shot benefit when covering an enemy. A Character may gain Specialization in no more then 2 weapons (the exception to this would be the Weapons Master OCC). Weapon Mastery There are swordsmen, and then there are swordsmen. A warrior who devotes his life to the study of martial combat and the characteristics of a single type of weapon can become a weapon master—a fighter whose precision, quickness, and skill are virtually unequaled anywhere. Weapon masters are rare characters. Only men at arms can ever achieve weapon mastery, and even then they do so with time, study, and sacrifice. To achieve mastery in a weapon, a character must first specialize in the use of that weapon (ie have progressed through simple proficiency to specialization). Then, at any time after he reaches 5th level, he can spend another skill to gain weapon mastery. He may then expend an additional skill slot every other level from this point to increase his level of Mastery. (1 skill at 7th level for High Mastery, and 1 at 9th level for Grand Mastery). Effects of Mastery If a fighter expends enough skill slots to become a Master with a melee weapon, his attack and damage bonuses increase to +3 and +3, respectively. For bows and crossbows, his point-blank bonuses increase to +3/+3 as with melee weapons, and he gains an additional +2 to hit at all other ranges. In Addition he gains 1 extra attack every other melee round Effects of High Mastery Upon becoming a high master. The character gains a +3 to Initiative, his attack and damage bonuses increase to +4 and +4, respectively. For bows and crossbows, his point-blank bonuses increase to +4/+4 as with melee weapons, and he increases to +3 to hit at all other ranges, In Addition he gains 1 extra attack every melee round. High masters who specialize in bows, crossbows, slings, or firearms gain a new range category: extreme range. For all weapons, extreme range is 1/3 farther than long range. For example, if a weapon has a normal maximum range of 180 yards, in the hands of a master it can shoot 240 yards. Extreme range shots have a –10 penalty to hit before adjustments are made for the effects of mastery. Effects of Grand Mastery High masters who spend one more slot on learning their weapon of choice can become grand masters. Grand masters are capable of feats of swordplay that border on the fantastic. Grand masters gain two additional attack per melee and Initiative increases to +4, his attack and damage bonuses increase to +5 and +5, respectively. For bows and crossbows, his point-blank bonuses increase to +5/+5 as with melee weapons, and he increases to +4 to hit at all other ranges. In addition, the weapon's base damage die are increased to the next greater die size against all opponents. For example, A weapon would thus inflicts 3d6 points of damage in the hands of a grand master, instead of 2d6. Needless to say, grand masters are extremely dangerous opponents. A Character may gain Mastery in only one weapon style (the exception to this would be the Weapons Master OCC). Special GM Note Weapon mastery is hard to come by, and even harder to perfect. It's rare for a character to become a master, and the quest to become a high master or grand master could take years. Unlike the previous levels of specialization, which can simply be selected as an advancement choice, high mastery and grand mastery should require a great deal of time and personal sacrifice on the part of the character. It's not unreasonable to require the candidate to locate someone who can teach her and spend several months of campaign time in training—possibly "sitting out" an adventure or two while she hones her skills. While the higher levels of weapon mastery are a great goal for a character to set her eyes on, they can unbalance a game very quickly. Exercise tight control over the acquisition of weapon mastery in your campaign, and make certain that the players realize just how rare and special their weapon master characters really are. Return to System Rules Return to Occupations and Skills