Weapon Familiarity, normal weapons and weapon upgrades

[rjshae]

Hmm, how about this: if you wield a decent weapon for long enough (say two consecutive level ups) and use it to kill some number of foes, it becomes a "named weapon". That is, you get to give it a custom name. Thereafter it becomes your weapon, and it begins to level up whenever you are wielding it. Any magical benefits are tied to your character's soul, so it turns into an ordinary weapon while somebody else is wielding it.

[Pipyui]

But then how could I ever manage to sell the things?

 

Me: "I call her Bonecleaver.  She has tasted the blood of scores more goblin than you've ever even seen.  Demons have been humbled by her caress.  Many a villain vanquished and damsel rescued with her at my side.  See that glitter of ember when I tilt the blade?  Its steel has been hardened and permanently embedded with the burning fragments of soul left from the most vile of her conquests.  Alas, I must pass her on, as I just found this neat masterwork greataxe of the maurader."

 

Merchant: "Well now. Two jakatas."

 

Me: "Two -?!  I don't think you understand.  Bonecleaver has been there with me to defy A GOD!  No stone nor blade can any longer even even nick her edge!  The dry blood permeating every pore of her metal serves as scent of warning to all wild things that approach!"

 

Merchant: "That's all well and good for you I'm sure, but I gotta make a living selling it somehow when all it reduces to in my hands is a hunk of scrap.  Alright then - two jakatas, a beer, and a clean rag to wipe those tears off your face."

 

 

Otherwise, not an alltogether bad idea.  Perhaps you could upgrade your weapon of choice at a smithy with enough gold, maybe raw material, and weapon experience (like a pokemon ).  It might not upgrade to be the be-all-end-all of pointy sticks, but could certainly entice one to hold close to a particular pointy stick even when one of marginally better stats is found.

Edited February 17, 2013 by Pipyui

[maggotheart]

Personally, I like switching weapons and it sounds like the skill and armor system in PE will favor weapon - switchers. But, if some people feel strongly about it, I'd support figuring out some solution to make sticking with a single weapon an available option. Here's some ideas I had for personalized weaponry:

 

1. weapon mods

Allow me to notch my shortsword, eliminate the guard on my dagger, and add spikes to my club. Silver coatings help against undead, while riphooks add damage to my whip. These modifications should have advantages and drawbacks.

 

2. weapon art

You can engrave a name onto your sword, or any text message. You can also have a symbol sketched onto some weapons. You can have gems inset into weapons.

 

3. Weapon Challenges: unlockable enchantments

There could be weapon challenges - kill 10 orcs with the same weapon, and it unlocks the Orcbane bonus, giving +1 damage vs orcs. 20 orcs is +2, and so on. Kill one of every type of monster in the Dyrwood to open up the Survivalist weapon bonus, Kill one of each kind of monster in the game to open up the Hunters bonus. Kill 100 monsters to open up the Bloodblade bonus. Perhaps it could work so that you play at a penalty compared to the player who switches out to better weapons, but end up on top in the end as you unlock all these bonuses on a single weapon.

Edited February 17, 2013 by maggotheart

[rjshae]

But then how could I ever manage to sell the things?

 

Why would you ever want to sell your trusty broadsword? It's like a family memento.

[IndiraLightfoot]

Not being able to sell them could be one of prices to pay for it being a familiar weapon. Like Rjshae said, it's your trusty weapon, and even it were to break or be surpassed by a new favourite, it would hang over the mantel piece in your stronghold like a beacon of good adventure memories. And to use another of Rjshae's idea: when you "retire" such a familiar weapon, then it turns into a magical item enchancing your very stronghold! 

[Gfted1]

Hmm, I dont care for the idea that it should soulbound to one person and cant be sold or passed to another party member. What about legendary / named weapons? That would basically reduce their utility to whoever you handed it to first. What if that NPC gets chunked or you switch them out for a different one? Then the weapon is worthless? Whatever properties you selected for it while it leveled up should be permanent but anyone should be able to use it. Its not really an issue anyway because everyones weapon would be levelling up also. Imo, such a system should award xp on each hit, not each kill.

[Shadenuat]

Weapons are just tools. They get dull, they break, they often just not suited for specific combat challenges. They should be replaced to show player's progress in game. Place a few skillpoints in swords, grab a feat, and you have both familiarity and freedom to not bash everything with the same weapon over and over again because game implies you'll get some hidden perk for that.

Edited February 17, 2013 by Shadenuat

[Jarmo]

If weapon leveling (magicalifying) was implemented in addition to weapon familiarity,

then the magical qualities should transfer to a new owner, while familiarity obviously should not.

 

500 jakatas, no less.

[TrashMan]

 

 

Yes, that's probably a decent approach, especially given the fact that XP may not be otherwise awarded for combat and that the armor system may encourage weapon swapping. But what happens if you swap your now enchanted personal weapon with another party member? Does it still accrue XP for kills? Do the powers go away?

 

 

Familiarity is not teh same as enchantment.

 

 

Let me give you an example/possibilities.

 

- PC gets awarded an old family sword as a reward by a vilalger he saved. High quality steel.

- PC uses sword for a while, gets X kills, gains familiarity bonus +1

- PC helps a master blacksmith that re-forges the sword for him. The sword gets +1 bonus for being masterwork

- PC further pays/quests to get enchantments for the sword. The sword now radiates fire or something

- the PC customizes his sword further, adding a jewled pommel and a ricasso.

- the PC bonds with the weapon further, inbuing it with a tiny piece of his soul ( more power)

 

 

Now the PC gives the weapon to someone else, because he found the ultimate sword of badassery.

 

Since all of the above properties are part of the sword, the new user would get them all EXCEPT familiartiy bonus..he needs to get familiar with the weapon himself.

Possibly, the soul binding may or may not work for him (or work only to a specific extent), but that is a design/balance decision.

[TrashMan]

Hmm, I dont care for the idea that it should soulbound to one person and cant be sold or passed to another party member. What about legendary / named weapons? That would basically reduce their utility to whoever you handed it to first. What if that NPC gets chunked or you switch them out for a different one? Then the weapon is worthless? Whatever properties you selected for it while it leveled up should be permanent but anyone should be able to use it. Its not really an issue anyway because everyones weapon would be levelling up also. Imo, such a system should award xp on each hit, not each kill.

 

 

Depends.

How many kills/hits does it take to become familiar with it?

When does it cap? (obviously, you can't keep improving forever, so kills over X dont' increase familiarity anymore...altough they could have other benefits, not tied to the user...as someoen else said..kill a 100 orcs with itand the blade becomes the orcslayer - something that is transferrable.)

 

If it takes 100 kills to get a +1 to hit/parry bonus with it, then it's very much possible to become familiar with a few weapons during a palytrough.

[JFSOCC]

 

 

 

Yes, that's probably a decent approach, especially given the fact that XP may not be otherwise awarded for combat and that the armor system may encourage weapon swapping. But what happens if you swap your now enchanted personal weapon with another party member? Does it still accrue XP for kills? Do the powers go away?

 

 

Familiarity is not teh same as enchantment.

 

 

Let me give you an example/possibilities.

 

- PC gets awarded an old family sword as a reward by a vilalger he saved. High quality steel.

- PC uses sword for a while, gets X kills, gains familiarity bonus +1

- PC helps a master blacksmith that re-forges the sword for him. The sword gets +1 bonus for being masterwork

- PC further pays/quests to get enchantments for the sword. The sword now radiates fire or something

- the PC customizes his sword further, adding a jewled pommel and a ricasso.

- the PC bonds with the weapon further, inbuing it with a tiny piece of his soul ( more power)

 

 

Now the PC gives the weapon to someone else, because he found the ultimate sword of badassery.

 

Since all of the above properties are part of the sword, the new user would get them all EXCEPT familiartiy bonus..he needs to get familiar with the weapon himself.

Possibly, the soul binding may or may not work for him (or work only to a specific extent), but that is a design/balance decision.

excellent example.

And I do hope that many customization options will be available like this, so that we can make our weapons to suit our fighting styles.

[Amentep]

Ironically, a levelling weapon would have to earn kill XP. 

 

The thief's shoes gain sneak xp

 

The diplomat's hat gets diplomacy xp.

 

or something.

[rjshae]

 

Ironically, a levelling weapon would have to earn kill XP. 

 

The thief's shoes gain sneak xp

 

The diplomat's hat gets diplomacy xp.

 

or something.

 

I've have shoes gain squeak xp...

[Alexjh]

While I like the idea of this in theory, in practice you are designing an anti-mechanic at its most basic level.  Finding increasingly powerful loot is one of the core mechanics of the genre/IE games, so making a mechanic that flatout counters that seems counter productive.  But I do like the idea of the player developing a weapon affinity with one specific weapon, but I'd suggest ways to integrate it a little into the existing model would probably make sense than having to choose the dedication model or the upgrade model.

 

I'd also say that the idea that any person can dedicate themselves to any weapon to the level of being able to defeat any foe is a bit dubious.  I can buy that someone might grab a pitchfork that just really worked for that person and being able to dispatch a bandit encampment with it, or even an evil wizard or a giant.  But taking that pitchfork that is just so perfect for you and trying to dispatch a dragon or an iron golem with it is just a bit daft.

 

What I'd suggest as a compromise is that for those who have the highest level of weapon specialisation it unlocks a set of abilities: lets say you focus in longswords, at this point any longsword you find has, say, a 1/100 chance of  just being perfectly intune with the player - you could represent this by the same system of identifying magic items but with a different colour.  An "in tune" (insert better name here) weapon then gains stacking to hit bonuses, defensive bonuses etc, and even could gain the ability to hit magical foes that technically it shouldn't be able to.   It'd only be in tune with a specific character (although concievably, two characters could be chance be intune with the same weapon). 

 

The trick here is that you can find other weapons you are intune with (in theory)

 

I'd also add that I'd like to include a some of "weapon achievement" system, whereby killing certain foes (bosses) or a certain number of foes will dramatically increase the value of the weapon and in soem cases, the power of it.  If you have a fairly average sword and then kill a great dragon or an otherworldly horror with it, saving a city or town or whatever, then that sword clearly should be worth mode than an identical sword that didn't do that.  Similarly, if you kill an intensely magical being, like said dragon, eldritch horror, lich-emporer, god or demi god or whatever, chances are that'd do something to a sword.  There might even be cases where surviving a certain spell from a certain boss actually empowers a weapon.  It might cause interestign effects, sometimes magical, sometimes psychological - if you kill 200 goblins with one spear, chances are that goblins will automatically run from anyone wielding that weapon, and/or some sort of soul energy it has absorbed from all the kills it has made gives it a 1/5 chance of insta-killing any goblins it hits.

 

In the case of those extra effects, I'd again make it a bit chance based as otherwise you risk people farming for them.

[maggotheart]

I'd also add that I'd like to include a some of "weapon achievement" system, whereby killing certain foes (bosses) or a certain number of foes will dramatically increase the value of the weapon and in soem cases, the power of it.  If you have a fairly average sword and then kill a great dragon or an otherworldly horror with it, saving a city or town or whatever, then that sword clearly should be worth mode than an identical sword that didn't do that.  Similarly, if you kill an intensely magical being, like said dragon, eldritch horror, lich-emporer, god or demi god or whatever, chances are that'd do something to a sword.  There might even be cases where surviving a certain spell from a certain boss actually empowers a weapon.  It might cause interestign effects, sometimes magical, sometimes psychological - if you kill 200 goblins with one spear, chances are that goblins will automatically run from anyone wielding that weapon, and/or some sort of soul energy it has absorbed from all the kills it has made gives it a 1/5 chance of insta-killing any goblins it hits.

 

In the case of those extra effects, I'd again make it a bit chance based as otherwise you risk people farming for them.

 

This is what I was advocating above with Weapon Challenges, but I think it does encourage slaughtering everything which ultimately is a behavior they are trying to avoid. Adding a risk element would only lead to further farming or simple reloading.

 

I think the only way to go about it would be to allow the player to spend gold to improve the weapon, which should keep it on par with the loot the rest of the party is getting. Instead of using a new sword from a dungeon, he sells the new sword and uses the money to pay for upgrades to his current one. The 'enchantments' on both are comparable. This way people can use weapons they find, upgrade and keep the weapons they have or fall somewhere in between and everybody is happy without one playstyle being more efficient or economical than the another.

Edited February 18, 2013 by maggotheart

[Lephys]

I think there's a perfectly valid idea there, in moderation, without necessarily designing it purely to negate the loot-advancement system.

 

Obviously, that piece of furniture leg you started the game with as a makeshift club probably shouldn't become legendary and help you fight a dragon, or be reforgeable or upgradeable (I dunno, maybe you could hammer some nails through it, like the spiked bat in DeadRising 2? heh). BUT, familiarity could still apply. I mean, an oak staff is just an oak staff, but people who are super familiar with it can outfight people with swords and axes. Which is along the lines of proficiency, I know.

 

Anywho, familiarity should simply allow for small improvements to weapons you actually stick with. Maybe critical chance, or weapon speed, etc. You should simply get a bit more effective with them, if anything. THEN, on top of that, the higher the base material quality of your equipment, the more improvements I think it should be possible of gaining (physical/enchantment-based improvements, SEPARATE from the minor bonuses of familiarity.) So, maybe that furniture leg can have some nails hammered through it or something, and that's about it. Maybe an iron sword can have a minor enchantment and a couple of improvements. A steel sword could have more improvement "slots" than that. Some legendary metal, and/or masterwork versions of any-material weapons (you obviously wouldn't have a "masterwork broken furniture leg" though) would have more improvement slots (or more potent/varied improvements than their basic counterparts).

 

The best part of this whole idea is the allowance for more player choice in weapon progression, rather than "find something with better DPS, swap out." The fun in finding better weapons via loot isn't the ONLY fun to be had. There's fun in improving your weapons (via any means), AND in finding useful things in loot. Direct improvement from a found, entire weapon is simply one means of equipment improvement (which should be used well and in moderation, just like any other means.)

 

Everything you find shouldn't simply be inherently better or inherently worse than what you already have. It should have varying potentials, which a weapon improvement system (and some form of familiarity system) provides.

 

Basically, you can implement a mix of all the desired means of weapon improvement without having a rusty pitchfork be a feasible weapon at the end of the game. Moderation and balance are our friend, and no system is unflawed without the the proper application of both.

[Jarmo]

Maybe the system could be much simpler.

 

Could assume the characters familiarize themselves with new weapons on their own, when there's time.

Practice fights in the evenings and mornings, taking a few swings with the new blades.

 

Say... you begin with an unfamiliar weapon, take -1 to hit and damage.

Keep it in your weapon slot for a few game days or a few fights and the penalty is gone.

Keep it for a few weeks or a dozen fights and you get +1 familiarity bonus to hit and damage.

 

And that would be all. Maybe.

Or maybe another +1 to hit after a few game months, as a kind of bonus for the crazy fools.

 

--

And then some companion candidates could have weapons they're familiar with,

giving you an incentive to let them keep them. Instead of the standard "can only be used by female clerics with yellow hair".

Edited February 19, 2013 by Jarmo

[TrashMan]

 

THEN, on top of that, the higher the base material quality of your equipment, the more improvements I think it should be possible of gaining (physical/enchantment-based improvements, SEPARATE from the minor bonuses of familiarity.) So, maybe that furniture leg can have some nails hammered through it or something, and that's about it. Maybe an iron sword can have a minor enchantment and a couple of improvements. A steel sword could have more improvement "slots" than that. Some legendary metal, and/or masterwork versions of any-material weapons (you obviously wouldn't have a "masterwork broken furniture leg" though) would have more improvement slots (or more potent/varied improvements than their basic counterparts).

 

 

I agree with pretty much the entire post of yours...except for that.

Why?

Why should a weapon made from an already better material (in durability, sharpness, etc..) be ALSO more enchantable? Aren't you just making a batter weapon even better, thus further inflating the difference? What is the reasoning behind it?

 

Frankly, I'd have all weapons have the same number of improvement slots...or maybe even the opposite of your idea - the more simpler and mundane materials can get MORE enchantments.

[TrashMan]

While I like the idea of this in theory, in practice you are designing an anti-mechanic at its most basic level.  Finding increasingly powerful loot is one of the core mechanics of the genre/IE games, so making a mechanic that flatout counters that seems counter productive.  But I do like the idea of the player developing a weapon affinity with one specific weapon, but I'd suggest ways to integrate it a little into the existing model would probably make sense than having to choose the dedication model or the upgrade model.

 

 

Well, I for one was never a fan of the looting focus/mentality to begin with. Loot as a player motivation seems chaep and wrong to me in a RPG.

And I don't see how weapon familiarity counters more powerfull loot, because you will find more powerfull loot.

 

 

 

I'd also say that the idea that any person can dedicate themselves to any weapon to the level of being able to defeat any foe is a bit dubious.

 

Eh? Who said that? Since when does a small bonus mean you can defeat any foe?

I propposed the idea because:

- it makes sense to me

- it increases the worth and lifetime of not-so-uber weapons

 

By itself, weapon familiarity won't magicly turn your weapon of choice into the next Excalibur.

 

 

 

The trick here is that you can find other weapons you are intune with (in theory)

 

You could have a magical wepon who's special property is that it tunes really fast to anyone?

 

 

 

If you have a fairly average sword and then kill a great dragon or an otherworldly horror with it, saving a city or town or whatever, then that sword clearly should be worth mode than an identical sword that didn't do that.

 

Given that people pay top dolalr for trash from houses of celebrities, I can see that happening.

But there is a cavetat - people have to know about it. You and your sword have to become famous.

If you saved a village, I'm sure the people there would be more than willing to offer a high price for your sword. But if you went to the town where no one heard of you....

 

 

 

[JFSOCC]

While I like the idea of this in theory, in practice you are designing an anti-mechanic at its most basic level.  Finding increasingly powerful loot is one of the core mechanics of the genre/IE games, so making a mechanic that flatout counters that seems counter productive.  But I do like the idea of the player developing a weapon affinity with one specific weapon, but I'd suggest ways to integrate it a little into the existing model would probably make sense than having to choose the dedication model or the upgrade model.

 

I'd also say that the idea that any person can dedicate themselves to any weapon to the level of being able to defeat any foe is a bit dubious.  I can buy that someone might grab a pitchfork that just really worked for that person and being able to dispatch a bandit encampment with it, or even an evil wizard or a giant.  But taking that pitchfork that is just so perfect for you and trying to dispatch a dragon or an iron golem with it is just a bit daft.

 

What I'd suggest as a compromise is that for those who have the highest level of weapon specialisation it unlocks a set of abilities: lets say you focus in longswords, at this point any longsword you find has, say, a 1/100 chance of  just being perfectly intune with the player - you could represent this by the same system of identifying magic items but with a different colour.  An "in tune" (insert better name here) weapon then gains stacking to hit bonuses, defensive bonuses etc, and even could gain the ability to hit magical foes that technically it shouldn't be able to.   It'd only be in tune with a specific character (although concievably, two characters could be chance be intune with the same weapon). 

 

The trick here is that you can find other weapons you are intune with (in theory)

 

I'd also add that I'd like to include a some of "weapon achievement" system, whereby killing certain foes (bosses) or a certain number of foes will dramatically increase the value of the weapon and in soem cases, the power of it.  If you have a fairly average sword and then kill a great dragon or an otherworldly horror with it, saving a city or town or whatever, then that sword clearly should be worth mode than an identical sword that didn't do that.  Similarly, if you kill an intensely magical being, like said dragon, eldritch horror, lich-emporer, god or demi god or whatever, chances are that'd do something to a sword.  There might even be cases where surviving a certain spell from a certain boss actually empowers a weapon.  It might cause interestign effects, sometimes magical, sometimes psychological - if you kill 200 goblins with one spear, chances are that goblins will automatically run from anyone wielding that weapon, and/or some sort of soul energy it has absorbed from all the kills it has made gives it a 1/5 chance of insta-killing any goblins it hits.

 

In the case of those extra effects, I'd again make it a bit chance based as otherwise you risk people farming for them.

You could also limit the benefit of familiarity so that an end-game weapon is still better than the most familiar early game weapon.

[AGX-17]

Yes, this has been discussed before. You get used to the quirks of a weapon, and so it becomes slightly more effective. Another way to factor this is that mundane weapons come with a penalty at first, which fades away after you wield it for a while.

 

 

 

MUNDANE WEAPONS

Should be viable for the entire game. A masterwork sword of high quality steel (or some other metal) may not be magical, but it would still be extreemly deadly.

 

I have some difficulty accepting this. A PoS weapon is still a PoS weapon, even if you've wielded it for a decade. Some weapons are simply going to be better than others. A masterwork weapon may remain perfectly viable against lesser foes for the entire game, but you should run into significant difficulties against the more potent enemies. Maybe you need to be a level or two higher to face the same foe with your trusty, but ordinary broadsword.

 

 

Pointe þe Firste: If your character is a fighter they should be proficient in certain weapon types, why would a trained soldier with combat experience suffer penalties for using a weapon they're already trained in the use of? Even if they weren't trained, the fact that they have a class, and it's the Fighter class, implies that they have experience with fighting. Maybe choose a weapon class that they prefer/are most experienced or comfortable with, but give a combat penalty to weapons outside of that category.

 

Pointe þe Seconde: A steel sword isn't necessarily a POS, but the broader concept of a low-level base, unenchanted, non-sentient weapon leveling with the character is absurd. Especially if P:E's setting has materials stronger than steel available.

[Alexjh]

The thing is here that if you want this mechanic there needs to be reasons why a)it doesn't overlap with weapon proficiencies and b) why you'd implement this rather than just having a fairly shallow curve for loot power, which has never been that much of an IE issue anyway. Even IWD2 which had the biggest level range of any of those games, the difference between a generic sword and, say, cera sumat the secret ultimate paladin sword is that the latter can breach defenses 5 points better, and does extra damage to evil duee to being blessed by a deity.  We aren't talking the difference between weapons in ARPGs which make no logical sense.

[Lephys]

I agree with pretty much the entire post of yours...except for that.

Why?

Why should a weapon made from an already better material (in durability, sharpness, etc..) be ALSO more enchantable? Aren't you just making a batter weapon even better, thus further inflating the difference? What is the reasoning behind it?

 

Frankly, I'd have all weapons have the same number of improvement slots...or maybe even the opposite of your idea - the more simpler and mundane materials can get MORE enchantments.

I wasn't really talking about enchantments, but I didn't make that very clear, did I. Doh! 8P

 

My main point was that you could only do so much to improve a furniture leg. You can't melt it down and reforge it, because wood doesn't work like that. If you had iron, you could probably make a lot more changes/improvements to it, purely because of the quality of the material and it'll hold up through. *shrug*.

 

Maybe there could be a lore reason for certain things holding enchantments better than other things? I have no idea. And, depending on how the system is designed, it might demand some mechanical need for pacing regarding enchantment "slots" (or maybe just potency instead of quantity of enchantments *shrug*). Then again, maybe there's no need for it at all. Which is where your good point comes in. I agree that they should all maybe have the same amount of enchantability.

 

For what it's worth, I'm thinking of a system in which you don't start with a furniture leg that does 7 damage, and end with a WraithSteel Longsword that does 173 damage. I think MOST of the increase in damage your characters get should come from their progression and ability to use said weapons more effectively. The weapon numbers should really just be a base, and should be balanced against one another (such as a heavy axe being more damaging but slower, and a dagger being less damaging but faster, etc.). Just thought I'd share my thoughts on the system context.

 

I definitely think things should be balanced in such a way that the furniture leg is never better than something you have to be level 20 and trek through 17 optional quests to acquire. Basically, I think the weapons should be tiered, for lack of a better word. So, maybe that Masterwork Steel Longsword can be quantifiably comparable (with you going out of your way to customize and upgrade it) to the Holy Blade of Metriall, but that rusty pitchfork you found 3 seconds into the game cannot. I just don't think the option should be "rely to SOME degree on the improvements in quality of found/purchased items, or completely ignore that and just make a ragged piece of rope into a legendary weapon by the end of the game."

[Somna]

The weapon familiarity idea itself as presented in the OP, if implemented, should be a relatively minor benefit at most. 

 

For example, getting used to the weapon's quirks could allow something as nice as an automatic reroll (once) each time you get a 1 (which is actually pretty nice), to reflect the familiarity you have with the weapon to not accidentally flub using it. 

 

Anything above that should still involve magic or a feat chain.

 

A possible enchantment example would be adding a "Resonance" enchantment that significantly reduces the cost of creating the magical item, but requires the user to build up familiarity with the item in order to unlock the full power of the item.  The cost reduction would be reliant on what the weapon is normally treated as (since you shouldn't be reducing the cost of the parts that it's always going to have).

 

A feat chain example would be introducing feats that allow you to use the power of your soul to imbue your familiar item with additional abilities, like being able to damage opponents who would normally ignore damage from that type of weapon or being able to attack from a longer range than normal without penalty.

 

Otherwise, I'm really not seeing any reason why weapon familiarity benefits should be a free extra, just because you don't want to change weapons. 

[TrashMan]

Pointe þe Firste: If your character is a fighter they should be proficient in certain weapon types, why would a trained soldier with combat experience suffer penalties for using a weapon they're already trained in the use of? Even if they weren't trained, the fact that they have a class, and it's the Fighter class, implies that they have experience with fighting. Maybe choose a weapon class that they prefer/are most experienced or comfortable with, but give a combat penalty to weapons outside of that category.

 

Pointe þe Seconde: A steel sword isn't necessarily a POS, but the broader concept of a low-level base, unenchanted, non-sentient weapon leveling with the character is absurd. Especially if P:E's setting has materials stronger than steel available.

 

 

1. There are no penalites. Only a small familiarity bonus. Why? Because all swords are not the same - no even all swords of a specific type.

 

2. Familiarity bonus by itself does little. The other enhancements and enchantments is what can make an early weapon compete with end-game ones.

 

And maybe PE doesn't have materials strogner than steel. Or maybe the sword is made from uberanium, but otherwise unenchanted. Maybe uberanium cannot be enchanted?

Maybe superior mateials have lower enchantability?