The general theme of Dungeons & Dragons since AD&D has been simplification.  Make sense because nothing could be more simpler than “basic” D&D.  Gary Gygax, legend that he was, loved rules, rules, rules.  For instance, do you remember that each weapon had a specific modifier against each Armor Class from 10 to -10?  Oh, the wonderful bo stick, the gift that kept on giving.  Each time you went up a level, every weapon (or magical variant) in your arsenal had 20 numbers or more that needed modifying.

Of course, this trend of simplification takes a detour as the version starts to age, particularly with 2e.  Combat & Tactics, Skills & Powers – the super character builder’s wet dream.  Sprinkle in some Ravenloft with a few dashes of Dark Sun and – wallah – invincible.  No wonder 3e was such a hit.

While I am a big advocate of Keep It Simple, Stupid, I have a weak spot for weapon variations.

I’ve got two complaints about 4e weapons. The first is that the weapons have been grouped into easily digestable, homogenous portions.  Axe, sword, hammer, bow, pointy thing.  Small, medium, large, and family-value size.  When you look at this way it really makes the list of weapons rather bland.  For example,

Handaxe > Battleaxe > Greataxe > Halberd

Dagger > Short Sword > Longsword > Bastard Sword > Greatsword

I know that this was the intent with weapon groups (starting to sound like 2e again…) and I can appreciate the game advantage.  But why stop at the obvious groups?

Second, is that all of the entries are based on historical weapons with maybe a fuzzy exception on the spiked chain.  To take that one step further, there are only four weapons that are not of European origin (scimitar, katar, shuriken, and again our friend, the spiked chain).

Now there will be people that will tell me that the longsword is a generic placeholder for the sabre, katana, broad sword, and maybe even a falx.  I understand that, but if that is truly the case then why add a rapier, scimitar, short sword, or bastard sword?  A little variation, of course.

Why remove the fantasy element from the game’s weapons.  In 3e, they introduced the Dwarven urgrosh, the Orc double axe, the Elven thinblade, and even the double sword.  Of course, everyone that played 3e had to run at least one character with the double sword – even though it was a disadvantage.  How often do you find a magical double sword just laying around vs. a long sword? Hmm?

I’m really not looking for the ultimate weapon, just variety.  There are plenty of cool weapons that have a different flavor to be found and introduced into the game from history.  Here are some of my favorites:

• No-dachi: Japanese two-hander that has different proportions than a greatsword, its 50/50 blade to handle.  I first saw this in TMNT and immediately fell in love with it.  That still doesn’t mean that I like Kevin Siembieda.
• Tiger Claws: call it the X-Men lover in me, but I love to have orcs armed with these things.  First saw these in the Warcraft RPG, I believe.
• Foot Bow: used by Amazonians laying on their back and pulling the draw like a horizontal upright row (see the Mission with Bob Deniro).  I first saw this in the game as the Raptoran bow.
• Bolo: these get really fun when you start to play with the components – razor wire, spiked heads, etc.  Not to mention that one of the strongest (and craziest looking) Asians in 1980s martial arts movies was named Bolo Yeung.  Double cool points there.
• Fighting Sticks: I really just threw this in here for my boy, Johnnie.  For a period of three or four years, all of his characters were bald, goateed, ambidextrous warriors with fighting sticks.  Plus, I just watched the eskima episode of Human Weapon, so there.
• Bec de Corbin: The star of this eponomously titled article.  I have no idea why I like this weapon.  Maybe its the AD&D stats that made is super effective against heavy armor.  Maybe its the idea of sculpting the head to look like a raven or a dragon.  Maybe I like Corbin Bernsen.  Who knows?

Others of note: the man-catcher, whip, tonfa, repeating crossbow, kusarigama, three-piece rod, nun-chaku, etc.

And how about weapons that have never existed?  With the inclusion of magic in the development of a world and culture, new types of architecture, craft, and artisanship are now available.  Let’s consider them minor magic items.  They don’t possess an enchantment or bonus, but have some small piece of magic that makes the operate or even exist.  Examples?  I knew you were going to ask for something.

How about this:

Force controlled spheres that are magically linked to a wand or wrist tattoos on the wielder.  They come in two varieties, 5′ and 10′.  Call it an Exotic weapon for game balance.  In other variants, these spheres could be hollow and filled with flaming oil, holy water, one head vs. multiple, etc.

Or how about this:

Razor Lasso.  Sorry about the stupid name, really I am.  Here’s the idea, the character scores a hit and “lassos” an opponent.  They can influence their opponent’s movement (Str vs. Str?) and every time they are shifted, slided, or moved (except in the direction of the wielder) as the result of a Power, the lasso cuts and digs into flesh causing damage.  Minor damage (1d3 or something), but I think it’d be cool to have a combat where half the goblin war party is using my razor lasso.  Lariat.  Riata.  Rope.  Damn.

And another one:

Garment sleeves.  This one I stole from about every Jet Li movie I’ve ever seen – where he fights with the long sleeves of his monk robe.  Watch them, kinda cool what he’s able to do.  Royce Gracie actually joked out Ken Shamrock using the sleeve of his gi in UFC 2.

And these are just what I could think of in five minutes at my keyboard while pretending to fight off ninjas.