From russell.whyte@sheridanc.on.ca

New DQ Rules

Combat

I have added some new rules to DQ combat. These are related weapons proficiencies, 
attacks based on rank, and additional weapons characters may elect to use. These 
rules to make combat rather more dangerous, which is exactly why I wrote them. While 
a fight does happen to adventurers on a regular basis, players shouldn’t always go 
looking for one, and this helps to encourage that philosophy. It also makes some 
unsuspected individuals a lot more dangerous to mess with. (IE, an old farmer with 
the cudgel could probably kick some serious butt now)


Related Weapons

Since several weapons are somewhat similar in use, I have modified the rules so that 
related weapons can be used with half the proficiency level of a currently ranked 
weapon, rounded down.

The weapons that are related to each other is up to GM decision, but I grouped them 
like this:

Bows		long, short, or composite
Crossbows	light or heavy
Knives		dagger, knife, stiletto, machete, Bowie, or any other similarly sized knife
Short swords	short sword, gladius, machete, any other blade up to ~2 feet long
Staves		Quarterstaff, Bo, Jo, Cudgel
BattleAxes	Battleaxe, great axe, bearded axe, halberd, any other large 1-2 handed axe
Handaxes	Hand axe, hatchet, tomahawk, francisca usually 1 handed, throwable
Broadswords	Broadsword, backsword, longsword, claymore 1H, bastard sword 1H, falchion, scimitar, any other larger-bladed 1-handed sword
Japanese	Katana, wakazashi
Fencing	Rapier, Foil, Epee, Sabre
Spears		Spear, javelin, Pilum, Glaive
Clubs		Club, torch, mace, hammer
Slings		Sling, staff sling, slingshot (a.k.a. wrist rocket)
Greatswords	2H sword, bastard sword, claymore, flamberge, zweihander


Why change this?
Well, I had a little trouble with the idea that I could have rank 6 in Longbow, yet 
know nothing about using a short bow or a composite bow. I think the concept is the 
same (draw, aim, and release), just the bows have different sizes & strengths. Being 
able to use a related weapon at ½ rank seems fair to me. If you find this is excessively 
generous, or leads to abuse, lower it to 1/3 or even 1/4 instead.



Attacks per Rank
For every four ranks with a weapon, you receive an extra attack per round, without 
the penalty associated with Rule 17.6.
	Rank	Attacks
	0-3	1
	4-7	2
	8-10	3

This makes characters with higher ranks in weapons rather dangerous.


New Weapons
Descriptions

I mentioned a few new weapons in the list above. Here is a brief description of each 
one. Where they differ much from existing weapons, I have included their stats below.

Backsword
A lighter, faster sword that appeared towards the 1600's (I think!), it has a long, 
narrow, double-edged blade with a full basket hilt. It’s between a broadsword and 
rapier in performance.

See table for details.

Bearded Axe
A heavy battleaxe, usually on a rather long haft.

Bowie
Bowie knives, while admittedly not a medieval weapon, are still a very popular one 
(at least in north america). They are a large, heavy blade that is perfectly balanced, 
allowing the wielder to often perform some amazing throwing/juggling tricks. On a 
more practical side, their size and strength make for a very nice fighting weapon.

Cudgel
A crude staff. Usually rather knobby or gnarled, it’s basically a quarterstaff without 
any fancy polishing or smoothing out. Usually the people who carry these are extremely 
good with them!

Flamberge
A large, two-handed sword with a “wavy” blade. The blade weaves left and right until it 
reaches the hilt. Rather large and heavy, used mostly in Europe. Use the normal 2-handed 
sword stats.

Francisca
A battleaxe made popular in northern europe by the Viking and Germanic tribes. Does less 
damage than a regular battleaxe, but has a better range. See table for details.


Gladius
A short sword used by roman arena gladiators.

Hatchet
A small hand axe, lighter, usually used as a tool rather than a weapon. Stats are 
the same as a handaxe, except that damage is only D.

Longsword
Similar to a broadsword, usually has a double edge and no basket hilt.

Slingshot
Basically a wood or metal hand-grip, with two elastic-like strand coming from the 
top, meeting together at a leather pouch which holds the bullet. Your classic wrist-rocket! (Wrist brace is an optional part for you to add, increases range by 50%, adds 1 to damage).

See table for details.

Stiletto
These are very narrow knives used to stab. They are often favoured by fencers and 
characters placing speed above damage potential. While they don’t do as much damage 
as a regular dagger, they do have some merits. They’re small, usually very well 
balanced for throwing, and have special advantages over metal armors.

Stilettoes ignore chain mail and partial plate armour due to the narrowness of the 
blade. Full and improved plate have their protection reduced by 4 against this weapon. 
No special advantages exist against leather or scale.

Also adds 1 to IV due to its speed.

See table for details.

Tomahawk
A hand axe used by American native warriors. Depending on the tribe, often their 
preferred weapon.

Zweihander
An extremely large German greatsword. ~6 feet or 2 meters long, 14 pounds/6Kg. 
Hilt is long enough for 4 hands to grip. Slow weapon, subtract 3 from IV. However, 
if/when it hits, you know it!

See table for details.


Weapon Stats

Weapon		Wt	PS	MD	BC	DM	Range	Class	Use	Cost	Rank
Backsword	2	13	16	55	+4	P	B	M	45	7
Bowie		1	11	12	50	+1	8	A	RMC	15	9
Francisca	3	13	15	55	+3	8	B	RM	15	7
Slingshot	1	10	14	45	+1	60	C	R	5	8
Stiletto	.5	10	14	50	-1	10	A	RMC	15	10
Zweihander	14	25	15	60	+12	P	B	M	250	5


Experience Costs for these weapons are the same as the main weapon of the category. IE, 
the zweihander would have the same costs as a 2-handed sword, stiletto and Bowie same 
as dagger, etc.