System examples of tactical differences in weapon types

Especially talking about melee weapons.
What system has the best stat and modificator differences when it comes to dealing with the tactical advantages of melee weapons?

I am currently homebrewing a fantasy combat system, and while I have a boner for how medieval weapons were actualy used, i do not plan to go for simulationism but rather for applying bonusses and stats in a way that they are being advantagous in similiar situations.
Game balance is important here too, since throwing anything lesser than a polearm into sidearm category wouldnt be in favor of what i've intended to do

It's a pretty simplistic system, but I rather like Fire Emblem's "weapon triangle" system, if only because it gives a legitimate reason to use all the weapon types in the game instead of one of them just being the flatout best.

>throwing anus

that reference

i get it

I'd apply abilities instead of stats. They are more interesting than things like damage and to-hit numbers.

Would basically just crib the stance list from Strike! and apply it to weapons (I did that once but I lost the post).

with abilities, you mean things like "ignore armor-based deflection" for maces?

bump

sorry, wasn't around. I'll rewrite mah post.

Based on PDF related, each weapon has a passive effect that you get just for using it, and an on-hit effect that triggers when you hit someone with it.

Numbers are based on feel. first number for small, second for medium, third for large sized weapon of type. "Large" just means occupies both hands, so Rapier+dagger can work as a "large" light blade. You need to be trained in using these to use their effects.

Shields
>defense actually isn't a bad offense
Passive: Pick a direction. You resist 5/10/15 damage from that direction until the beginning of your next turn
Effect: The target has disadvantage on melee attacks against you/on all melee attacks/on all attacks

Polearms
>keeping your enemies at arm's reach
Passive: Reach +1/2/3
Effect: Slide target 1/2/3 square

Heavy blades
>with great blades come great cleavage
Passive: enemies ending their turn adjacent to you take 5/10/15 damage
Effect: make a secondary attack against 1/2/3 adjacent enemies

Flails
>the good ole' ball and chain
Passive: If you have an enemy grabbed, any attack that misses you instead grazes/hits/crits it.
Effect: The target is grabbed/grabbed and disadvantage on breaking out/grabbed and restrained

Hooks
>in soviet russia, hook bite into you
Passive: your opportunities slow/immobilize/trip enemies until end of turn
Effect: Target takes 5/10/15 bleed damage (save ends).

Light blade
>butterflies, bees, etc...
Passive: You shift 1/2/3 squares when you shift. If you end in full cover from all enemies, you can try to hide immediately
Effect: You may shift before or after the attack.

Exotic weapon
>it's got plumes, ribbons, jingling rings, and you can set it on fire
Passive: enemies within 1/3/5 squares of you can't make opportunities
Effect: Enemy is distracted/and slowed/dazed

Check out Veeky Forums's own Song of Swords

So using a dagger lets you turn invisible?

If you are trained in using it right, it lets you hide faster, cause you are using a mobile fighting style.

That sounds really dumb. Same with flails giving you magical grappling reversal powers. How does that jive with actually using a flail?

It's /v/ but lately I've really liked how Expeditions: Vikings has handled its different weapon subgroups (Sword, Axe, Dane Axe, Spear, Knife, Sling, Bow, Unarmed and Throwing). They each have different damage and crit rates and unlock successive tiers of active abilities that really affect the weapon you want to use.

>That sounds really dumb.

Ignore it then. They are examples. Having a problem with 2 out of 7 is fine, make something else up.

>Same with flails giving you magical grappling reversal powers. How does that jive with actually using a flail?

You grapple them with the chain part, and move them into position.

Is that how a flail is actually used though? (Serious question, I'm not sure).

The hook and shield ones seem good to me (but hook seems like a weird weapon type to be on its own). I kind of like the exotic weapon one too.

They aren't really used at all IRL as far as I know, at least not the "large spiky metal ball on chain" kind you see in fantasy. I saw some painting that had one being used from horse back, but never saw it with a footsoldier. The closest is peasant weapon that's a modified... err, that thing they used to whack plant parts with for various reasons, and that one has very few known techniques (someone in my HEMA group did research, but it was basically always "guys are in pose, next moment somebody is bleeding out from a headwound", not much to go on for recreation), probably on account of it being chaotic as fuck.

So, bascally the "flail" is a misnomer and should be "chain".

>The closest is peasant weapon that's a modified... err, that thing they used to whack plant parts with for various reasons
A flail?

The Hussites used flails as part of their freaky war wagons, but that's probably because they didn't own much to hit people with except their (actual) flails. It being "chain" makes more sense though, for sure.

I'd say GURPS has the best.

You have:
>the damage type and modifier (swing vs. thrusting, bonus or penalty to that)
>Reach, which can be C or a number of yards, typically 1 to 2
>Parry, how easy it is to parry with the weapon and what sort of parry it has (Unbalanced means you can't parry if you attacked that turn, or vice-versa, Fencing gives +3 on retreats, and there are modifiers like -1 to knives for having a small parrying surface or +2 to staffs for being ample and balanced)
>Cost is self-evident: cheaper weapons usually have drawbacks, more expensive ones less
>Weight determines its encumbrance and how heavy of a weapon it can parry (sufficiently heavy things have a chance to break your weapon when you parry with it)
>ST determines the minimum ST required to wield the weapon effectively, taking a 1:1 penalty for how much lower your ST score is from the minimum required
And plenty of weapons have their own notes for things specific to them, like a reduced penalty to target chinks with estocs, giving DR to the hands for basket hilts, getting stuck in the case of picks, etc.

Flails were a wheat-threshing tool, so... yeah, they just whacked at it with the things.

They WERE probably used as weapons at some point, but the reputation of the flail is more romantic than it probably was in reality. They COULD go "around" a shield, but the chain has caveats as well (requires windup, takes a lot of room to wield, has weird follow-through compared to a mace, etc.)

Chainmail (and by extension, OD&D+Greyhawk) offers various weapon tables/bonuses/penalties for comparing certain weapons against other weapons and types of armour. Some weapons--like the aforementioned flail--are a bit overrated, but if you can take it for what it is there's plenty of variety.

Especially if you incorporate Gygax's fuckhuge dissertation on extra polearms from The Strategic Review.

How different are those all in the rules?

Here. As you can see, the Morningstars, Flails, and Greatswords are really powerful, but it's not treated as a linear scale. Sometimes a shield doesn't help, and some weapons are really bad against strong armour (until someone's back hits the floor).

The supplementary polearms wedge between "Polearm" and halbards [sic]. The Class refers to both the general size and speed of a weapon. Longer weapons tend to attack first, while faster weapons receive more options to attack frequently or parry.

In Greyhawk, these properties are instead represented by modifiers to the d20 roll based on weapon vs. armour (with no weapon/weapon provisions).

> muh rock-paper-scissors