Note to Wodium: This is for inclusion with the Sword Article, I would guess.
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The following article is for use of Multiverser referees. The stats given are optional, as is most everything in a roleplaying game system. You are the game Master, revel in your power.
One side issue is whether the knife is balanced. If you can rest the knife on a fingertip at the joining of hilt and blade, then it is likely balanced. And that means, it will work better in a fight, and that it can be thrown.
Some knives may have a wrist strap or lanyard to help the user not be the loser of his blade.
Other, more supertech, or modern gimmicky, may have items like GPS scanners or compasses embedded into the hilt of the regular knife or the body of the folding knife. Also, spies, and assassins, and secret groups like ninjas make use of hollow hilts where poisons, rolled up papers, or a garrotte can be stored. Also, sometimes survival gear is stored in the hilt. In certain supertech worlds, you can buy survival blades that will turn black if what they are cutting is poisonous.
Knives are made of flint, basalt, bronze, steel, carbon fiber, ceramic, and other materials. The effects of these will be considered after the list of weapons.
1d10 List of Knives
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1. Pocket Knife--Your basic folding knife. Most often it has two blades, but sometimes one or three. Annoying damage -2 DR, -1 SM, RF 3
2. Swiss Army Knife--Your non-basic, everything but the kitchen sink, folding knife. This is a high-quality device which earns it the Masterwork or Quality distinction. Typically a knife will have a primary blade, a secondary blade, and a variety of the following items: tweezers, toothpick, corkscrew, can opener, bottle opener, slotted/flat-head screwdriver(s), phillips-head screwdriver, nail file, scissors, saw, file, hook, magnifying glass, ballpoint pen, fish scaler, hex wrench w/bits, pliers and key chain.
Damage from the blades is Annoying. RF 2. SM +1, Damage Point Bonus +1.
3. Butcher Knife--This single-edged, and pointed blade so beloved of horror movie directors is an effective, and rather scary tool of home defense. While a shotgun is definitely more effective, there is something about the glittering of steel in a mostly dark room, the willingness of the homeowner to plunge it into the robber's gut that will no doubt inspire second thoughts among the criminal class.
The hilt is often plastic which is slippery (-4 SM to defending against a disarm) or wood. The blade can be a foot long, and wide. It does Annoying damage +1 DR with a stab, and -1 DR with a slice. RF 1.
4. Bowie Knife--Created by Jim Bowie, American frontiersman. The single-edge with a bent point and a scallopped cutting blade the first third or so of the blade on the reverse side, which runs about ten inches in length in total. It is a thick and wide weapon suited to chopping saplings, skinning deer, and gutting men. The scalloped reverse cutting surface may be used to slice backwards in a surprise move.
Frequently, a thin layer of metal is added to the back side of the blade as a 'catcher' that will entangle an enemy blade. This gives a +5 SM to attempts to lock up or disarm the enemy knifeman.
It is a superior device well suited to combat, and to being used as a working knife.
It does Damaging damage. RF 2.
5. Pukka--A Finnish hiltless, heavy bladed, working knife. It has a single edge, and a flat back which can be used to support a finger to add additional force to a cut. It is usually used as a wood-working, and fish-cleaning knife. Its plain, straightforward, and sturdy.
It does Annoying damage +1 SM. RF 2. +2 DR if the finger is put on the back end of the blade.
6. Seax--A Germanic blade. It is a pointed, single-edged, with no hand-guard, weapon often used as a tool. It is very approximately 11 cm's long. It does Annoying damage. RF 2.
7. Gravity Knife--This knife can be opened by holding it upside down, or snapping the wrist. A blade extends out from the front, and locks into place. RF 3. Annoying damage -1 SM.
8. Butterfly Knife or Balisong-- A Filipino weapon used in the Eskriman martial art, or by modern day 'flippers' who do tricks with them. The hilt is a divided lengthwise two piece ensemble attached by a freely rotating axis to the base of the blade. When stored, the hilts cover the blade (which is because they have channels in them to fit the blade between both.) It can be very rapidly unshipped. Such a skill is also quite intimidating.
Annoying damage, RF 2, -1 SM. +3 SM to Fast Draw, and to Intimidation rolls.
9. Athame--A black handled knife used in magic by Wiccans. It has twin-edges, and a point, and is likely guardless. It likely has some esoteric symbols in the hilt. It may be dulled to prevent its harming anyone physically during magic in which case it is not a combat weapon. Annoying damage -2 SM, -1 DR.
10 Shiv--A tool of dispute resolution in prisons. This crude device is not suited to a serious knife fight. It is typically used in ambush in conjunction with an Intensified Damage skill such as Strike at Kidneys. Often a metal spoon is filed down to a sharp point to make a stabbing weapon. Almost all shivs are stabbing weapons.
It does Annoying damage. RF 1. + 4 DR, - 6 SM.
Knife Materials:
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1. Flint--This is a low-tech solution which requires considerable skill, and some luck in flint-knapping. It can produce an acceptable blade that is more fragile than steel. -2 SM.
2.Obsidian--Volcanic rock can produce edges that are sharper than steel. However, such edges degrade rapidly. Strikes: 1st +2 SM, 2nd +1 SM, 3rd -1 SM, 4th -3 SM, 5th--the weapon is effectively useless.
3. Bronze--This ancient alloy was used in much of the wars of the ancient world. Some people think that the stories of magic weapons were founded on tales of the first steel swords meeting bronze swords. The bronze would bend, and shatter before the steel. Bronze has a -10 SM in opposed strength checks. One such check should be made for every parry, or disarm, or once every four attacks. Failure equals a -20 SM weapon, or one that is shattered. A 'bent' sword may be straightened out with a Difficult strength check.
4. Ceramic fiber--This high-tech material has an edge in getting through metal detectors as its non-metallic. It can go for months not needing to be sharpened due to its extreme hardness. However, it requires extremely specialized powered tools to sharpen. +1 DR.
5. Glass--Frequently this is used as an improvised knife. A window is broken, and glass shards are strewn across the floor. A ripped bit of a shirt serves as the hilt, and a very crude weapon is born (Annoying -10 SM, + 5 DR, usable to stab only, or to cut something vulnerable like an uncovered throat which means it almost does no damage if used as a cutting tool. It requires an Intensified Damage target to do damage with a cut. A Difficult Agility check is required to keep from breaking it after using it in an attack. RF 1.).
But Glass can also be used more formally. Here it begins to shine. First, it is radar invisible. Second, it is fearsomely sharp. It still requires an Agility check, but with a properly prepared hilt, this is a Simple check. DR +8 for the use of Glass.
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Okay, I think that has got it.
I meant to make a disclaimer that that offer concerning the vampire article doesn't necessarily extend to others (it might, but I'll have to see how this one goes first). It seems that I didn't, though, so I'll pretend I made it just now.
I realize that Obsidian is similar, but it seems like Raven's glass knives (Snow Crash) ought to make the material list.
Densities for the various materials would help for resolving disarm or weapon-break techniques. That might be as simple as quoting from the book. (It's under Cover Value.)
I'm thinking about cooking up an alternate mechanic for obsidian (it's a prominent material in a scenario I'm considering, and I'd want it to work differently in that setting), but it's my birthday, so I won't be doing much writing today.
Oh, okay. Well, that's fine. I understand that its a lot of work. I'll take whatever help you're able to offer with thanks.
And happy birthday.
Eric
Thank you, it has been!
Really, I'd love to do everything I think about doing, but I know my limitations, and I especially hate promising more than I deliver. If the vampire thing goes smoothly (smoothly enough, anyway), I'll see about going back and articl'ing other interesting things that aren't finished yet.
The sword-and-knife article in particular probably wouldn't take much beyond what you'll already have done. Just a matter of presentation, mostly. Still, I've got three (four, now) vampiric types to write up before I can get the vamp article written, and I start class in January. Thanks for understanding.
You apparently share a birthday with the illustrious Pharaoh Walker, although I believe he's had it a bit longer.
Happy birthday to both of you.
--M. J. Young
If I may be so bold, how old are you Scott?
Twenty-one today. Alas, the opportunity to drink illegally has been forever lost to me.
I'd probably add some spears, javelins, pitchforks, and pikes in a general 1d20 Long Weapons.
But, yeah, I agree.
Would Glass knives fall into a SF subsection? I mean, if you have vibroblades, monomolecular edge blades, hyperdense metals, sonic blades.....
And for weapons you have 'impact batons', and energy swords.....
Of course, ceramic materials are kind of on that border as are glass....
Opinions?
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Also, I did perhaps the lazy man's method, but I just went with what I knew from historical research about bronze vs. steel and created rules for that effect. But I will take a look at Cover Value sometime....
I'm about to head out for a trip to be back late Sunday.
The impression I got from Raven's knives was that they were very low tech. Their big advantage was their radar invisibility and to some degree their sharpness, both of which are inherent properties of normal glass. Of course, sharpening them is an interesting process, and they'll shatter like, well, like glass under the wrong circumstances, but in the hands of someone as skilled as Raven that's frequently not a problem.
OK, I'll add glass to the Second List, the Knife Materials List.
I did a quick look at CV, and found nothing. I'll try again later if ya'll think the rules I have are not adequate.
Eric
It's in an odd place, where it talks about armor. And it's only relevant to this if you put it together with the rules for disarming and weapon-catch maneuvers listed under B7@5 Disarm. I'll look it up in a few minutes or a few hours and post stuff.
Sit-mods work too, and not everything can be done just with density. I just think it's good stuff to throw in there.