EDIT 2008 07 12: Added second spreadsheet and notes.

I was recently contacted at the same time by two good souls asking about the possibilities of a GURPS 4e update for GLAIVE, my weapon design system.

Questions and concerns

I appreciate the inquiries, and gave it some eager thought. But my response to both included the following reservations:

 I like GLAIVE, and would like to see a 4e version... but I haven't been thinking much about it. Some reasons:

1) Among the various toys on my site, it really hasn't resulted in much feedback over the years. I have to take that as a sign of lukewarm interest among readers.

2) I think 4e makes the weapon design process more difficult, simply by increasing the number of weapons (esp. w/ MA) that would have to be "reverse engineered" into the system. (That is, there are more weapons now whose stats the system would have to at least roughly match.)

3) Some new 4e-related questions would have to be answered. Example: the "U" stat for some weapons - is that a factor of the skill used or of the weapon itself? If I'm not mistaken, that answer remains unclear.

4) Isn't Low-Tech already planning a weapon design system? If so, there's not much point to making another system, when most players will use the "official" one anyway.

5) I've been working on my own set of original game rules, which includes weapon design as well. And for a rules developer, making an original, fresh-start  system is more fun than trying to force a rules set to fit another game's legacy stats! : )

None of those concerns make an update impossible, but they're reasons why I haven't thought about it much.

On top of that, there's the big question of just what a GLAIVE for 4e would be. Should it be simply a way to arrive at fully RAW-compliant weapon stats through a design process? Or should it, like the 3e version, take some liberties with RAW (such as ditching the ST-based swing dam stat) so as to arguably arrive at better results?

Should there also be, like the 3e version, a super-simple quick-build system, and should there be, unlike the 3e version, a new system for "scaling" existing designs up and down?

Would the project call for a similar foray into armor design?

Plenty of questions await, and per the above, I don't even know that there's a great deal of interest out there. 

Spreadsheets

The old GLAIVE article includes a link to a spreadsheet by Ryan Williams. Both of my recent inquirers have updated that spreadsheet with some ideas, and have given me permission to include them here. They're great updates with good 4e tweaks and more.

Spreadsheet by Diomedes

Diomedes includes the following notes on his update:

1. Melee Weapons    
    a.    The only major change is that Effective Load ST is now based on BL; Recovery has been doubled to account for this.
    b.    I've added entries for skill penalties to the weapon for weight and, for two-handed use, length.
    c.    In addition to the Effective ST and Damage Add, there is a second Damage Add stat, giving the modifier to basic thrust damage, instead of Effective thrust damage.
    d.    Ready Penalties are no longer rounded, enabling use for all three sets of readiness rules in the GLAIVE document.

2.    Bows    ––    There are two sheets for bows.  The first is close to the original GLAIVE system, substituting one-half Basic Lift for Load ST in the original.  Since BL is proportional to the square of ST, this allows strong characters to use very strong bows.  The second sheet recalculates bow use from Striking ST, bringing the numbers back into line.
    a.    The Damage rules use the Advanced rules, computing range and velocity from Firing ST, and using that to find Damage ST, which, like for Melee Weapons, is backed up by a simple modifier to base ST.
    b.    The spreadsheet is designed to account for outsized arrows.  As per GLAIVE, apply the modifier to damage (not Damage ST).

3.    Thrown Weapons    ––  This page uses the thrown weapon rules from GULLIVER.  Note that range is heavily influenced by skill.

4.    Slings    ––    This page uses the GLAIVE suggestions on slings, using the bow rules for range, and otherwise treating them as swung weapons.
    a.    The spreadsheet does not incorporate the suggested +3 across-the-board damage bonus for slings, resulting in weapons that are underpowered compared to GURPS standard.
    b.    Damage, however, varies by projectile weight.
    c.    Range is affected more by skill than ST.
    
5.    Experimental Slings    ––    This is a thought experiment, an attempt to model slings with the throwing rules, declaring the sling to be an extension of the arm.
    a.    In this case both range and damage are affected by projectile mass, and skill still plays a role in range.
    b.    Sling weight is ignored for one handed use, and is only part of a staff sling for two-handed use.

Spreadsheet by Demi Benson

Notes on this spreadsheet include:

- The only user-entered fields are in yellow, everything else is generated data.
- "User's Combat ST" should be "Striking ST" in G4e terminology, and "User's Load ST" should be "Lifting ST".
- Arrow weights changed from 3rd edition to 4th edition, so depending on which you use, effective ranges change. I believe the "Damage Multiplier" value at E9 was based on 3rd ed weights, but the calculation  hasn't been updated since it wasn't in the 4th ed rules conversion notes.
- The B and E columns show the calculated values, and the integer amounts for game mechanical values that cannot be decimal. The C and F columns show the non-truncated values, for the sake of curiosity.
- Lines 22 and 23 show the GURPS ranges: column B shows calculated range in yards, column E shows range as a ST multiplier. e.g. "x9/x14".
- Lines 25 and 26 show the two alternate methods for determining effective Bow ST.
- There aren't any reality-checks on the user's data - you can make a tripod crossbow with ST 1000 and a 1 foot wide bow.

Next?

If there's interest out there in discussing the topic, great! Let's hear from you. 

If not, then at least visitors can benefit from the two spreadsheets, for use in play or further tinkering.

Thanks to all who ask about and have contributed to GLAIVE!