SIFRP: Weapons
"If you are in need of new arms for the Hand’s tourney, you have come to the right shop… My work is costly, and I make no apologies for that, my lord… You will not find craftsmanship equal to mine anywhere in the Seven Kingdoms, I promise you. Visit every forge in King’s Landing if you like, and compare for yourself. Any village smith can hammer out a shirt of mail; my work is art."
—Tobho Mott, A Game of Thrones
There’s no denying Westeros is a violent place. The Seven Kingdoms were forged from conflict, starting with the arrival of the First Men who journeyed across the land bridge to settle there, wresting the lands from the children of the forest. The Andals who followed, and the numerous raids by the ironmen along the coasts, fouls things vomited from the lands of always winter, and the brutal defeat of these peoples at the hands of Aegon the Conqueror have shaped the people, culture, and identify of this storied realm.
Those who make the bloody business of battle their trade have a wide selection of weapons and armors to choose from in SIFRP, from the devastating longaxe to the common longsword, from Myrish crossbows to the Bravo blades used by the expert swordsmen of Bravos. To distinguish one weapon from another, SIFRP uses weapon qualities, all of which are described below.
Weapon Qualities
Qualities individuate weapons, providing traits that make a particular weapon stand out from the rest. Qualities can take the form of advantages providing a tactical benefit in combat, or impose drawbacks to make up for improved damage or another advantage. Most weapons have at least one quality, often more.
Adaptable
An Adaptable weapon is designed for use with one or two hands. When you wield this weapon in two hands, increase the weapon’s damage by +1.
Bulk
Some weapons are heavy or awkward and, thus, slow you down in combat. If a weapon has a Bulk rating, it applies toward your total Bulk for the purposes of reducing your Movement.
Close Range
A Close Range weapon has an effective range of 10 yards, meaning you can attack opponents within 10 yards at no penalty. You can still attack opponents beyond this range, but you take a penalty die for every 10 yards beyond this range. Thus, attacking an opponent that’s 11 yards away imposes a penalty die on your Marksmanship test.
Defensive
Defensive weapons serve a dual function. They can be used as weapons, but they are often more effective in turning aside your enemies’ attacks. If you are armed with a Defensive weapon and do not attack with it, add the weapon’s Defensive rating to your Combat Defense.
Many Defensive weapons also have the Off-hand quality, allowing you to wield them and a primary weapon at the same time. If you choose to add your Off-hand bonus to your damage, you lose the Defensive Bonus from the weapon until the start of your next turn.
Entangling
An Entangling weapon slows and hampers your opponent. A foe struck by an Entangling weapon reduces his Movement to 1 yard and takes a –5 penalty on all tests. The target can free himself with a Challenging (9) Athletics test (bonus dice from Strength apply) or Challenging (9) Agility test (bonus dice from Contortionist apply). You cannot make further attacks with an Entangling weapon as long as it affects your target.
Fast
A Fast weapon is designed to slip through your opponent’s defenses and strike rapidly. When you make a divided attack using a Fast weapon, you gain a bonus die on each test. These bonus dice cannot exceed the number of test dice rolled per attack.
Grab
Grab weapons let you seize and hold onto an opponent, preventing him from moving away from you. Whenever you successfully hit an opponent with a Grab weapon and equal or beat that opponent’s passive Athletics result (Strength applies), you may, if you choose, grab that opponent.
A grabbed opponent cannot move until you release him (a Free Action) or until that opponent beats you on an opposed Fighting test (Brawling applies; A Lesser Action). A grabbed opponent can only make attacks using Brawling weapons or short blades. Finally, grabbed opponents take a –5 penalty on their Combat Defense (minimum 1).
While you grab an opponent, you cannot move, and may only make attacks against that opponent using a Grab or Off-hand weapon.
Impale
Whenever you get three or more degrees of success with an Impale weapon, you drive the weapon through your opponent! You must immediately succeed on a Challenging (9) Athletics test. A failed test indicates you are disarmed, as the weapon remains buried in your opponent. If you succeed, your opponent cannot move, but you cannot attack with the weapon, either. To yank the weapon free, you must succeed on an Athletics test against a Difficulty of 3 + the opponent’s Armor Rating. Success frees the weapon, and every additional degree deals the weapon’s damage again.
Pinning an Opponent: As a Greater Action, you can use an Impale weapon to pin an impaled foe to the ground, wall, or some other surface. Roll an Athletics test against your opponent’s passive Endurance result (Resilience applies). A successful test prevents your opponent from moving until he pulls himself free.
Getting Free: An impaled opponent may remove the weapon by spending a Greater Action and successfully rolling a Challenging (9) Athletics test. Removal inflicts one injury—or one wound if the victim cannot take any more injuries. An ally may remove the weapon safely by succeeding on a Formidable (12) Healing test as a Greater Action. Failure removes the weapon but deals 1 point of damage for every 5 points by which the test failed (minimum 1 point).
Long Range
Provided you have a clear shot, you can fire a Long Range weapon at targets up to 100 yards away. For every 100 yards of distance between you and your target, you take a penalty die on your Marksmanship test.
Mounted
Mounted weapons are too large and bulky for use on foot and are thus intended for use while mounted on a horse or some other steed. Using these weapons on foot imposes –2D on your Fighting tests.
Off-Hand
An Off-hand weapon can be wielded in your off-hand, allowing you to add your Off-hand modifier to your primary weapon damage on a successful Fighting test. To gain this benefit, you must spend a Greater Action to make a Two-weapon attack.
Piercing
Piercing weapons bypass armor. Whenever you hit an opponent with a Piercing weapon, your damage ignores an amount of Armor Rating equal to the listed value.
Powerful
Strong characters can put more muscle behind Powerful weapons and, thus, deal more damage on a successful hit. For every bonus die in Strength, increase a Powerful weapon’s damage by +1.
Reach
When armed with a Reach weapon, you can attack opponents that are not adjacent to you. You can roll a Fighting test with a Reach weapon at any opponent up to 3 yards away. However, attacking any foe inside 3 yards with a Reach weapon imposes a penalty die on your Fighting test.
Reload
A Marksmanship weapon with the Reload quality requires an action to reload the weapon after it has been fired. The weapon’s quality specifies what sort of action is required to reload the weapon, either Lesser or Greater.
Set for Charge
A Set for Charge weapon is too unwieldy for use in normal combat and functions only when used with the Set for Charge action.
Shattering
Shattering weapons are designed to smash through shields, parrying weapons, and armor. Whenever you get two or more degrees on a Fighting test made with a Shattering weapon, you reduce the opponent’s Defensive Bonus or Armor Bonus by the amount indicated by the quality. The Shattering weapon affects weapons with a Defensive Bonus first. Reducing a weapon’s Defensive Bonus or an armor’s Armor Bonus to 0 destroys it.
Slow
A Slow weapon is cumbersome and difficult to wield with speed and grace. You may not make Divided Attacks using Slow weapons.
Staggering
The force of a Staggering weapon’s hit can knock a foe senseless. Whenever you attain two or more degrees with a successful Fighting test using a Staggering weapon, you may sacrifice one degree to prevent your foe from taking a Greater Action on his next turn.
Two-Handed
Large weapons need both hands to be wielded properly in combat. If you use only one hand, you take –2D on your Fighting test.
Unwieldy
An Unwieldy weapon is tough to use while mounted, so when astride a steed, you take –2D on Fighting or Marksmanship tests made to attack with this weapon.
Vicious
Some weapons are so good at what they do that fighting with them produces ugly outcomes. If you defeat a foe when wielding a Vicious weapon, the consequences of defeat are always death. A victim may burn a Destiny Point, as normal, to avoid this fate.
| Weapon Examples | ||||
| Weapon | Specialty | Training | Damage | Qualities |
| Battleaxe | Axes | — | Athletics</td | Adaptable |
| Crowbill | Axes | — | Athletics–1 | Shattering 1 |
| Hand Axe | Axes | — | Athletics–1 | Defensive +1, Off-hand +1 |
| Longaxe | Axes | 1B | Athletics+3 | Bulk 1, Powerful, Reach, Two-handed, Vicious |
| Mattock | Axes | — | Athletics+1 | Powerful, Slow, Two-handed |
| Woodsman’s Axe | Axes | — | Athletics+1 | Two-handed |