'You should not have a favorite weapon, nor likes and dislikes. To become over-familiar with one weapon is as much a fault as not knowing it sufficiently well.'
Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings
When it comes to Weaponry in TRPGs, I always lean towards the type that can do more than damage. Versatility is key. Not every situation is a loose nail, so not every weapon need be a hammer.
Perhaps my favorite example of a versatile weapon is the Green Lantern Ring, a device capable of transforming thought and willpower into solid objects and effects made of energy. Likewise the object that inspired the GL Ring, the Lens of E. E. 'Doc' Smith's Lensman series, is a weapon that rarely does direct harm. It is primary a tool for communication and enhanced perception but it also gives the wielder greater capabilities toward winning the day.
What about the Phaser? You can certainly set your weapon to Stun, Kill, or Disintergrate but what about Heat (used by Sulu in 'The Enemy Within' to prevent he and his team from freezing to death), 'Cut' (my players reasoned that it can be used as a cutting tool somewhere between Heat and Disintegrate), and Blast (between Heavy Stun and Kill, inspired by effect depicted in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock).
Then there's Medieval Weapons. Yeah. Hmm. So...how about that Sportsball?
The problem with most medieval weaponry is that outside of cutting a rope, the sword and arrow are rarely used for anything beyond hitting and hurting an opponent. Be it axe, mace, or dart, medieval weapons - like many elements of Medieval Fantasy gaming in the Western world - see limited variation. This is something I try very hard to change when I run Fantasy, giving magic swords and other weapons more than one function.
As you can imagine, I'm not a dagger sort of guy. More the 'swiss army knife' type.
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Barking Alien
BONUS FEATURE: Day 7 of the official RPGaDay 2024 Prompts:
'Good Form'? What is good form in a TRPG context? What game features 'behaviour that conforms to the social conventions of our time'? I seriously have no idea how to answer this.
Pass.
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