The weapons and armor listed on page 13 of the Five By Five core rules don't include pricing or guidance with regard to their distribution. The examples were included so that a GM could substitute these values when using an established setting. Such settings usually contain lists of weapons and armor and provide relative pricing.
This approach is fine in the hands of an experienced GM and if the game being played is patterned after popular fantasy RPGs. However, this accumulation of gear is generally a trope exclusive to those settings. Five by Five is meant to be more freeform. Below is a method for assigning Weapons and Armor values that is better suited to the spirit of Five by Five.
COMBAT STYLE
Using this method every player starts with a Weapon Value and Armor Value that is equal to their Level. Then, each player chooses from one of three combat styles:
- Barbarian - Your character's style focuses on dealing damage. +2 Weapon Value
- Knight - Your character's style focuses on resisting damage. +2 Armor Value
- Adventurer - Your character's style favors a balanced approach. +1 Weapon Value, +1 Armor Value
SIGNATURE WEAPON
Players should choose a signature weapon. This is the weapon that your character is always assumed to carry with them into combat. All signature weapons have two keywords.
- MELEE OR RANGED
Weapons with the MELEE keyword have no special bonus or penalty, but they are limited in the narrative to melee targets.
Weapons with the RANGED keyword suffer a -1 to Weapon Value but can be used without restriction in both melee combat and ranged combat.
- LIGHT OR HEAVY
LIGHT weapons allow the player to either use a defensive weapon or shield in their off-hand, (page 13 of the Five By Five core rules) or grant a +1 bonus the player's Armor Value. To represent this choice the player should record either: "Light: Extra Dodge" or "Light: +1 AV" on their character sheet. (If the player chooses the "Extra Dodge" option they should describe their off-hand weapon or shield along with their signature weapon.)
HEAVY Weapons provide an additional +1 to the Player's Weapon Value.
With these rules, weapons and armor are defined as "Aspects" (page 10 of the Five By Five core rules) of each character and will level up as the character grows in experience just like any other Aspect.
WHY USE THESE RULES?
While these optional rules may be less desirable in a traditional high fantasy "treasure for treasure's sake" sort of campaign, these rules work much better in science fiction and superhero themed games. (In a superhero themed game consider changing SIGNATURE WEAPON to SIGNATURE ATTACK to better represent the inherent nature of super-powered attacks.)
What do you think of these optional rules for the OG (2024) version of Five By Five? Have you read Five By Five? You can download it here.
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