Don’t settle for off-the-rack weapons from the local blacksmith. Build your own! T Bone’s Games Diner is proud to present GLAIVE Mini, your super simple, single page weapon builder system for GURPS – now updated to version 2.4! 

The old prototype

The full (non-Mini) GLAIVE (GURPS Light Arms Invention Expansion) for GURPS 3e is a complete design system for low-tech melee and ranged weapons of any shape and size, generating unique thr and sw damage, readying time, reach, and more, based on the inputs you provide. As you’d expect, though, a universal system like that won’t fit into a short page or few. And while you can mostly use GLAIVE with GURPS 4e, it’s still awaiting complete modernization.

For the simplicity mavens, GLAIVE also offered an alternate system so simplistic as to be almost non-existent, amounting to little more than a suggestion to read weight and damage right off of GURPS‘ Size and Speed/Range Table. But with a little hammering and varnish, that turns out to be a surprisingly useful tool.

Modern steel

That simple core is what I’ve extracted from GLAIVE to create GLAIVE Mini. At its heart remains a single table tying weight to damage, but you now get weapon ST as well. From there you modify damage and ST up or down for simple considerations like unbalance, length, and two hands, and then… well, that’s actually it. A new weapon, built in mere seconds. (The latest version, 2.4, places those mods into logical groups for quicker identification.)

It’s very simple (and similar to building combat skills with COSH). Yet GLAIVE Mini will recreate most existing GURPS weapons with no change to stats (while recreating a few with changes that are arguably improvements). Best of all, like GULLIVER Mini it’s a whole system in one page, with a bonus page offering system customization notes, ideas for handling a couple of oddball weapons, and a fully-developed new goodie for GURPS that even the full GLAIVE barely touches on: semibalanced weapons, great for heavy-chopping machetes, agile polearms, and other all-new instruments of mayhem.

It’s a free PDF download (below) made for GURPS 4e (though you can hammer the rules to fit 3e where necessary). Pick up your blacksmith hammer (i.e., your pencil) and churn out some custom steel!

Is GLAIVE Mini right for you?

Now that you know what GLAIVE Mini is, let me note clearly what it isn’t:

• GLAIVE Mini is not my proposal for an ideal weapon design system for GURPS.
• GLAIVE Mini is designed to reverse-engineer existing GURPS weapons (primarily from the Basic Set, with a nod to Low-Tech as well), not to rethink weapon stats from the ground up.

As such, here’s why you might not get big use from it:

• GURPS’ weapon tables are pretty darn packed as they are! Whatever sort of weapon you’re looking for, chances are you’ll find something close in Basic Set or another book.
• While GURPS’ weapon stats were (apparently) generated by the “eyeball it” method of balancing properties, not through some consistent system, they do a pretty good job with consistency! There are some rough spots, but overall it’s hard to find a listed weapon that’s inexplicably inferior, or one so superior within its category that other offerings seem moot. New rules releases generally keep improving things, too. (An example: The Basic Set’s cutlass provides one minor peeve, in that it offers the same goods as a shortsword, plus free brass knuckles, at a lower price and with no drawbacks. Low-Tech nicely remedies this with a higher price for the cutlass.)
• GURPS has been rolling out rules for creating tiny or huge versions of weapons, one of the original omissions GLAIVE sought to fill. GURPS’ rules are squirreled away here and there (look first at Low-Tech Companion 2: Weapons and Warriors), and we may have to wait for Basic Set 5e to get them all in one place, but official rules do exist now.
• GLAIVE Mini doesn’t attempt to solve all the oddities and mysteries of GURPS’ weapon offerings. For example, I’m not a fan of how the move from a short unbalanced weapon to a long unbalanced weapon in GURPS generally hits the wielder with a sudden triple whammy: higher required ST, plus a requirement for two hands, plus unreadiness after a swing. GLAIVE Mini doesn’t fix this with a smoother progression for these criteria. Likewise, it doesn’t codify the seemingly-haphazard appearances of the “U” Parry on GURPS weapons, or provide a systematic way to determine a unique design’s usable skills and appropriate defaults to other skills. These, and many other properties, remain something you’ll have to eyeball.
• Generation of weapon cost would be a fine addition to GLAIVE Mini, but that’s not part of the offering now!
• By intentionally trying to replicate existing weapon table stats, GLAIVE Mini is decidedly human-centric. That is, unless you break out GURPS’ separate rules for tiny beings’ weapons, a 0.25-lb blade using GLAIVE Mini will – just as on GURPS’ tables – inexplicably require a very human ST 5.

All right. That said, here’s why you might find GLAIVE Mini useful after all:

• It remains a fine way to fill in gaps on the GURPS weapon tables. If you want a Pixie’s or Giant’s sword, GURPS’ weapon scaling rules may work for you. But those rules exist to resize a “base” weapon published in a book, not create those base weapons in the first place. That’s where GLAIVE Mini steps in. If you want, say, a human-scale longsword that’s just a wee lighter or heavier than the published model, these rules let you design it with systematic consistency.
• Likewise, where GLAIVE Mini results do veer a bit from the GURPS weapon tables, you may prefer its results! Redoing your campaign’s weapon table entirely, knowing that all of the listings (as well as any future additions) are generated via a consistent design scheme, is the sort of thing some GMs like.
• The new Semibalanced weapon option is nifty, and is simply right for designs like hard-chopping machetes or agile polearms. Give it a try!
• Even where GLAIVE Mini doesn’t address all the questions to be found in GURPS’ weapon table stats, it does offer a few tools for standardizing things a bit. These include suggestions for handling stat oddities in flails and 1-hnd bastard swords, and the Semibalanced option for reworking other designs that seem a bit out of place.
• As noted earlier, while GURPS does a pretty good job of balancing its myriad weapons in terms of their merits and demerits, a few stand out as perhaps over- or under-powered. GLAIVE-based recreations of the weapons may yield improvements.
• Even if you have no interest in GLAIVE Mini’s design system, there’s one little rules suggestion on p. 2 that you might want to steal: For two-handed weapons that become unready after use (‡ mark on ST), GURPS offers the condition (1.5 times listed ST) that allows two-handed use without unreadiness, and the condition (3 times listed ST) that allows one-handed use without unreadiness. All good, but GURPS leaves out the condition that allows one-handed use with unreadiness after use. In the interest of filling in this blank, GLAIVE Mini suggests 2 times listed ST as the condition.
  Example: A great axe has ST 12‡. GURPS says ST 18 can use it two-handed without unreadiness, and ST 36 can use it one-handed without unreadiness. GLAIVE Mini adds the suggestion that ST 24 can use it one-handed, but with unreadiness after use.

So. If the above sort of stuff interests you, give GLAIVE Mini a shot!

GLAIVE Mini needs your help!

No amount of time and testing reveal every flaw. Do you spot any design mistakes in GLAIVE Mini? Are there any important considerations left out?

And here’s a good question for you. GLAIVE Mini is built on a reverse engineering of existing GURPS weapons, which is why it can recreate so many of those with no change in stats. Do you see a different set of modifiers and rules that does an even better job of recreating existing weapons?

Thank you. Now go treat your mightiest-thewed character to a real barbarian’s axe.

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Downloads

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Appendix

A mini armory

The PDF download contains several sample weapons. I’ll start listing a few more here.

When trying to finesse a recreation, I have some loose priorities:

• Weapon ST that veers a bit from published stats isn’t of great concern. Hitting the published damage mark is more important. It’s the stat players care about.
• Heavy polearms, mauls, and the like, with their big damage and ST stats, afford some leeway to stray a bit from published stats (as in, who really cares whether some giant hammer deals sw+5 or sw+6 damage?). With smaller weapons, it’s important to recreate stats right on the mark if possible.

There are a few ways to handle a design that just won’t fall in line:

• Accept that GLAIVE Mini just doesn’t work well for that design, and stick with the published stats.
• Go with the GLAIVE Mini redesign – and maybe even prefer it to the published design!
• Get a bit creative with the design, such as replacing the Unbalanced mod with the (very house rules-y!) Semibalanced mod.
• Consider some new mod that would whip the design into shape. A few such ideas are floated further below.

One-handed axes and friends

Basic axes and maces

These one-handed weapons use the Unbalanced mod, for +2 (sw) Dam Add rows and +1 ST row. A 4-lb axe ends up at sw+2 cut and ST 11; a 3-lb small mace, sw+2 cr, ST 10; and a 5-lb mace, sw+3 cr, ST 11.

These stats are on the money, except for the mace’s ST 11, which is 12 in the books. I don’t have a beef with that. ST 11 is able to manhandle about 20% more weight than ST 10 (based on Basic Lift), and a 5-lb mace is 25% heavier than a 4-lb axe – a pretty close match. (Noe that a 6-lb mace would end up with the published stats: sw+3 cr, ST 12. Which again seems appropriate, as ST 12 has a Basic Lift about 50% higher than that of ST 10.)

Another departure from the books is the 3-lb small axe. It naturally mirrors the 3-lb mace’s stats, so we get sw+2 cut, ST 10. That ST 10 matches the books, but damage is a point higher than in the books.

And then there’s the 2-lb hatchet, which under GLAIVE Mini ends up at sw+1 cut and ST 9, both stats that are higher than the books’ sw cut, ST 8. The reworked stats are sensible, if the hatchet were viewed as “like a shortsword, but unbalanced for chopping power”; damage and ST should be higher than those of a shortsword. But I’d at least like the option of generating the books’ well-known hatchet stats. Let’s see…

Finding balance

Can we hack the hatchet, and maybe the small axe, to better conform to the books? Maybe, but first, here’s a quibble with a published stat: Why is the hatchet exempted from Parry 0U? Empathizing with cries of “unfair!” from the hatchet’s less-wieldy Axe/Mace compatriots, let’s knock this weapon at least a little off balance, replacing the Unbalanced mod with Semibalanced, which calls for +1 (sw) Dam Add row, no modifier to ST. Result: The 2-lb weapon now gets the published sw cut damage (plus thr cr should you want it) and ST 8. Perfect!

How about giving the 3-lb small axe the same Semibalanced treatment? We get sw+1 cut damage and ST 10 – again, perfect.

So that sounds good – but there are effects on performance. Under these (highly optional) semibalanced weapon rules, the hatchet slows a bit from the (questionable) Parry 0 to a new Parry 0S (optionally, still Parry 0 after a thrust), while the small axe speeds up a bit from Parry 0U to a more wieldy Parry 0S. (We’ll keep both of these semibalanced weapons in the Axe/Mace skill family, with a default from Shortsword at -2.)

I like these results, especially how the reworked hatchet is no longer as nimble as a balanced weapon! So let’s try the same semibalanced approach on another flouter of Axe/Mace parrying norms, the knobbed club. It’s the same weight as the hatchet, so naturally, it ends up with the same stats: sw cr damage, ST 8, Parry 0S. That’s fine by me, but knobkerrie fans will mourn the loss of the books’ higher sw+1 cr damage. You’ll have to approve use of the Stick mod to nab sw+1 cr, or go with the full Unbalanced mod (result: sw+1 cr, ST 9, Parry 0U).

Meanwhile, following the rebuild of the small axe, you could also rebuild the small mace as semibalanced, yielding damage of sw+1 cr and ST 10. The improved Parry 0S is nice, but it comes at the cost of less damage than the published sw+2 cr. Seems reasonable to me.

Pick and sickle

A pick would use the Pick and Unbalanced mods, for a net +1 (sw) and +1 ST row. With a weight of 3 lbs, that yields damage of sw+1 imp, ST 10. Perfect.

The sickle? Here we have another Axe/Mace scofflaw flaunting an unseemly Parry 0 (though only with a cutting swing), so we’ll want to impose at least the Semibalanced mod to fix that. Using the Semibalanced mod for the cutting swing, we get damage of sw cut, ST 8, Parry 0S. That’s perfect (if you like the idea of Parry 0S). For the impaling swing, if we use the Pick mod and the full Unbalanced mod, we get sw imp, ST 9, Parry 0U. That matches the books’ stats, except for the higher ST. Good enough.

All in all, I think GLAIVE Mini does a good job with the sickle – though for simplicity, I’d suggest using the Semibalanced mod or the Unbalanced mod for both the cutting and the impaling swing, instead of a different approach for each. Going with Semibalanced for either swing, we get sw cut or sw imp, ST 8, Parry 0S. I prefer that to the published stats’ oddly mismatched Parry particulars!

Two-handed axes, etc.

Great axe

A great axe would use the Two-Handed, Unbalanced, and Long mods for +2 (sw) Dam Add rows and -1 ST row. At 8 lbs, that yields sw+4 cut dam and ST 12‡. Perfect!

Long axe

Same recipe as the great axe, but only 6 lbs. That yields sw+3 cut dam and ST 11‡. Perfect again!

Maul

Again the same recipe, but a whopping 12 lbs. That yields sw+5 cr dam and ST 13‡. Perfect once more! (We are on a roll.)

Warhammer

Here we spice up the recipe with another mod. The Two-Handed, Unbalanced, Long, and Pick mods net +1 (sw) Dam Add row and -1 ST row. At 7 lbs, that yields sw+3 imp dam and ST 11‡.

Alas, that breaks our winning streak, as the books call for sw+4 imp. But maybe it’s not a bad thing; after all, the warhammer is lighter than the great axe. Get an 8-lb warhammer if you really want that sw+4 dam. (Or just lose the Pick mod entirely – but then the one-handed pick ends up with damage a bit too high. So it goes.)

Gada

Let’s see what GLAIVE Mini does with a true monster weapon: the 15-lb gada (or humongous club in DFRPG). The build is simple, using only the Two-handed, Unbalanced, and Long mods. (It would be appropriate to use Long only for sw mode, as Low-Tech assigns thr mode a mere reach 1. However, the difference isn’t enough to change thr dam.)

The resulting sw ST 14‡, thr ST 14† are low compared to the published sw ST 16‡, thr ST 15†. Normally, I’d rather not see those discrepancies. And yet, I also have this thought: when a weapon is saddled with the dreaded slowness of the “‡” symbol, its “true” ST is arguably the ST that allows normal-speed “†” usage. That only comes with ST a whopping 1.5 times the weapon’s listed ST, so I generally welcome any lower-ST output that helps ditch a “‡”.

How about damage? Well, sw dam is right on the money at sw+6 – but thr dam blows way past the published thr+2 to hit thr+5!

That’s one of the biggest divergences I’ve seen GLAIVE Mini generate, yet it’s completely expected. Two-handed damage of thr+2 cr is what a 4-lb quarterstaff delivers. There’s simply no way for this system to generate identical or even similar damage stats for a weapon weighing 4 lbs and one weighing 15 lbs. At least not without some huge reworking of what weight even means to damage.

So for now, feel free to make your barbarians happy with GLAIVE Mini’s more modest ST requirements and boosted thr power.

Polearms

Monk’s spade

This odd, double-ended Polearm weapon from Low-Tech and DFRPG shares length and heft with the naginata, dueling bill, and dueling glaive, but falls behind its fellows in the damage department. So I’m curious as to whether GLAIVE Mini would treat it more kindly.

The relevant mods start with Center Grip, Two-handed, and Long. Having weights at both ends may give the weapon a balance of sorts, but not in the same way as a sword; it’s still a polearm. Let’s try Semibalanced.

The mods yield +0 (thr), +1 (sw) Dam Add rows and -4 ST rows. With a weight of 6 lbs, that yields damage of thr+2 cut, sw+3 cut, sw+3 cr and ST 9† (sw ST 9§). It’s a good match for the published stats, except for an improvement from Parry 0U to Parry 0S – and swing damage much better than the published sw+1 cut, sw+2 cr!

So, GLAIVE Mini is more generous to this weapon than I expected. If you want to rein in the stats, perhaps we could treat double-ended polearms as balanced, at least when wielded with a proper two-handed grip. (After all, I don’t see why martial artists would deliberately choose a weapon with poor defensive capabilities.) Drop Semibalanced, and we get thr+2 cut, sw+2 cut, sw+2 cr dam, ST 9†, and Parry 0. Interesting… it’s essentially a quarterstaff that can deliver cutting damage, albeit with higher weight, a greater ST requirement, and not a hint of that sweet (and terribly arbitrary) +2 Parry that the quarterstaff enjoys. Good? Bad? You call it.

Others

Next, I should tackle some of those other two-hex polearms, which can seem a little too good. Stay tuned. (Or, if you’d like to build a couple yourself and report what you get, I can update this quickly.)

Sticks and staffs

Baton

A 1-lb stick with the Stick mod, a baton ends up with thr+0 thr, sw+0 cr dam and ST 6, just what the books ordered.

Jo (Broadsword skill)

Wielded one-handed with Broadsword skill, a jo is just a 2-lb stick that takes the Stick mod, ending up with thr+1 cr, sw+1 cr dam and ST 8.

ST is lower than the published ST 9, but I’m good with that; I couldn’t say why a 2-lb shortsword should have ST 8 while a 2-lb jo has ST 9. (Unless the jo’s presumably greater length makes the difference, but accounting for that would require a whole new mod that distinguishes broadsword length from shortsword length.)

Damage, meanwhile, is higher than the published thr+0, sw+0 – it’s as high as that of the 3-lb club. The problem is this: the jo wants to fit its damage stats neatly between those of the 1-lb baton and the 3-lb club, but there’s no room in between; the jo has to match one of those weapons.

Jo (Staff skill)

A jo wielded with Staff skill uses the Center Grip, Two-Handed, and Stick mods. These net +3 (thr), +3 (sw) Dam Add rows and -4 ST rows. At 2 lbs, we end up with thr+1 cr, sw+1 cr dam and ST 5† – on target except for ST 5† instead of the books’ ST 6†.

I’m fine with that change to ST – but perhaps another change is in order. The combination of Two-Handed and Center Grip assumes the sort of wide, load-dispersing grip you’d take with a long weapon like a quarterstaff or polearm, but the short, reach-1 jo doesn’t offer as much room for a hand spread. For two-handed staff-like weapons with only reach 1, imagine this Center Grip replacement: Close Center Grip, a mod conferring -1 ST row, not -2 ST rows.

With the Close Center Grip, Two-Handed, and Stick mods, our 2-lb jo nets +3 (thr), +3 (sw) Dam Add rows and -3 ST rows, which yields… okay, still ST 5†, but a little closer to ST 6†. For short, jo-like staffs of heavier weight, the switch from Center Grip to Close Center Grip could make a difference in final ST.

Jo (Two-handed Sword skill)

Our stick loses Center Grip, leaving just the Two-Handed and Stick mods. These net +3 (thr), +3 (sw) Dam Add rows and -2 ST rows. At 2 lbs, we end up with thr+1 cr, sw+1 cr dam and ST 6†.

That damage is on-target, though ST is considerably lower than the books’ ST 8†. Which is good, I think: why should a stick with the weight of a shortsword, wielded with two hands, require as much strength as a shortsword wielded with one hand? (Unless, again, its broadsword-like length should raise ST above shortsword ST.) GLAIVE Mini’s lower ST feels right to me, while remaining appropriately higher than the ST 5† we generated above for a jo wielded like a staff.

Quarterstaff (Staff skill)

A quarterstaff uses the Center Grip, Two-Handed, Long, and Stick mods. These net +2 (thr), +2 (sw) Dam Add rows and -4 ST rows. At 4 lbs, we end up with thr+2 cr, sw+2 cr dam and ST 7† – bingo, right on target.

Quarterstaff (Broadsword skill)

This one’s not in the books, but how about a quarterstaff wielded like a wooden longsword? The Long and Stick mods net +1 (thr), +1 (sw) Dam Add rows. A 4 lbs, we get thr+2 cr, sw+2 cr dam and ST 10.

Quarterstaff (Two-handed Sword skill)

The Two-Handed, Long, and Stick mods net +2 (thr), +2 (sw) Dam Add rows and -2 ST rows. At 4 lbs, we end up with thr+2 cr, sw+2 cr dam and ST 9† – on target, except for thr+2 cr dam instead of the books’ thr+1 cr dam. But I don’t know why a quarterstaff’s thrust damage should drop from thr+2 to thr+1 when switching from Staff to Two-Handed Sword skill, so I’m fine with keeping thr+2 cr dam.

Long staff (Staff skill)

A long staff uses the Center Grip, Two-Handed, Very Long, and Stick mods. These net +1 (thr), +1 (sw) Dam Add rows and -4 ST rows. At 5 lbs, that yields the thr+2 cr, sw+2 cr dam of published stats – but only ST 8†, not the books’ ST 10†.

So that’s a discrepancy – yet I think I prefer it. ST 10† seems too big a jump from the quarterstaff’s ST 7† when the weight difference is just one pound. And ST 10† feels too close to the ST 11† of a glaive, a weapon that’s just as long as the long staff, weighs much more (8 lbs), and is unbalanced. I’m fine with GLAIVE Mini’s more forgiving ST 8† for the long quarterstaff.

Swords

Unless stated otherwise, any swords mentioned here are the proper pointy kind, not blunt-tipped models!

Bastard sword (Two-handed Sword skill)

Use the Two-Handed, Long, and Stabber mods. These net +2 (thr), +0 (sw) Dam Add rows and -2 ST rows. At 5 lbs, that yields the thr+3 imp, sw+2 cut dam and ST 10† of published stats. Perfect!

Bastard sword (Broadsword skill)

As above, without the Two-Handed mod. The result is thr+2 imp, sw+1 cut dam and ST 11. Perfect again. (But don’t ask me how to add that mystery “U” Parry.)

Katana (Two-handed Sword skill)

With the same length and weight as the bastard sword, the 5-lb katana would end up with identical stats. Except… the published weapon’s poor thrust dam suggests that this weapon lacks the Stabber mod. Removing that leaves just the Two-Handed and Long mods. That nets +0 (thr), +0 (sw) Dam Add rows and -2 ST rows, which at 5 lbs yields thr+2 imp, sw+2 cut dam and ST 10† for two-handed use.

That still leaves thr dam a point higher than the books’ thr+1 imp – but I call that fair. I’ve opined here that the katana, which oddly gains no extra thrust damage from two-handed use, is overly inferior to other swords in the stabbing department. It should gain the same +1 thr dam for two-handed use that other swords enjoy, I say. If you agree with that change, GLAIVE Mini’s thr+2 imp, sw+2 cut dam and ST 10† seem just right.

Katana (Broadsword skill)

Using nothing but the Long mod, we end up with thr+1 imp, sw+1 cut dam and ST 11, which matches published sources.

Greatsword (Two-handed Sword skill)

This sword resembles a heavier bastard sword but drops the Stabber mod, thanks to that mod’s fiddly criteria. The Two-Handed and Long mods net +0 (thr, sw) Dam Add rows and -2 ST rows. At 7 lbs, that yields thr+3 imp, sw+3 cut dam and ST 11†, deviating from the books only in slightly lower ST. (Which doesn’t strike me as too low; the greatsword is far lighter and shorter than the pike, which has ST 12†.) Pretty good!

If you do allow the greatsword to take Stabber, you’ll boost stabbing damage to thr+4. Would that still be reasonable? Arguably so; that’s the thrust damage the heavy spear enjoys, despite a lighter weight than the greatsword. But I’ll happily eschew Stabber and leave the greatsword with its long-beloved thr+3, sw+3 damage stats.

Greatsword (Broadsword skill)

Sure, this sword’s a big enough hunk of steel that it’s automatically considered a zweihander – but It’s nothing more than a bastard sword with a couple extra pounds, right? What’s to stop a strong fellow from swinging away with a single hand?

Well, the game already allows for that, though not in a satisfying way. A short detour into how the game handles ST with a two-handed weapon:

As explained in Basic Set and elsewhere, a two-handed weapon with “†” on its ST can be used one-handed, but only by boosting ST 1.5-fold (the weapon becomes unready after use!) or 2-fold (the weapon can be used normally).

Unless… the weapon happens to also have a listing under a one-handed skill, in which case it just uses those listed stats. This exception isn’t made explicit in rules. That is, looking at a two-handed weapon’s “†” symbol alone, there’s nothing to tell you whether one-handed use requires a massive wielder ST upgrade or whether there’s a separate one-handed listing somewhere with far more modest ST requirements.

Fortunately, experienced players know that a bunch of the weapons listed under Two-Handed Sword skill have Broadsword listings as well. We all know that a bastard sword, katana, or longsword gets to ignore the rules concerning “†”; they can happily switch from two-handed to one-handed use with nothing more demanded of the wielder than an additional point of ST. And thus a greatsword, too, can switch to one-handed use simply by requiring another point of…

Uh, wait. There’s no listing for “Greatsword” under Broadsword skill. Which means the listed weapon’s ST 12† doesn’t rise to ST 13, or maybe even an arbitrarily harsher ST 14, when used one-handed. Instead, it has to use the default rule for losing its “†” – which means a doubling of ST.

Wow. ST 11 to use a 5-lb sword one-handed with normal speed; ST 24 to use a 7-lb sword that way. Those extra two pounds must weigh a ton.

Fixing this weirdness is too big a task to tackle here. We’ll just work around it for now by creating stats for a greatsword used with Broadsword skill. It’s as simple as dropping the Two-handed mod from our greatsword build above, leaving just the Long mod. Result: thr+2 imp, sw+2 cut dam and ST 12.

Just as GLAIVE Mini’s output of ST 11† is a bit low for a two-handed greatsword, this ST 12 feels a bit low for one-handed use. I wouldn’t object if the system generated a 13 or so. Then again, ST 12 is by no means weakling strength, especially for smaller medieval folk. (And as noted already, the difference from a bastard sword or katana is a mere two extra pounds; how much extra ST is really called for?)

As for damage, GLAIVE Mini’s one-handed stats are reasonably lower than two-handed stats – not terribly impressive at all, really. I think they’re just fine.

So, I’m okay with the stats generated for a one-handed greatsword. The damage looks good. And even if we might prefer ST a tad higher, ST 12 sure beats a bizarre ST 24!

Longsword (Two-Handed Sword skill)

Build 1: This weapon appears unusually strong on the thrust but weak on the swing, so let’s add the Long Thruster mod. But going by my (ugh, complex) suggestions for combining Thruster with Stabber, we have to leave Stabber out.

So, with the Two-Handed, Long, and Long Thruster mods, we get +3 (thr), -3 (sw) Dam Add rows and -2 ST rows. At 4 lbs, that yields thr+3 imp, sw+0 cut dam and ST 9†.

That’s on the money for thr dam and ST, but I’d prefer to maintain the books’ sw+1 cut dam.

Build 2: Let’s look more closely at the Long and Very Long mods, and apply these not based on the weapon’s longest reach, but on reach for the attack in question – i.e., apply Long to the longsword’s thrust (max reach 2) but not to its swing (max reach 1). (If this works well for the longsword, it’ll be worth testing on any weapon with mismatched thr and sw reaches.)

Let’s also make Long Thruster an option for thrust-specialized reach-2+ weapons, letting them use the regular Thruster of shorter weapons if the build is not quite as needle-like as a rapier or spear. And let’s also allow Thruster to combine with a lesser form of Stabber that offers only +1 (thr) Dam Add row.

Applying the Two-Handed, Thruster, and lesser Stabber (+1 (thr) Dam Add row) mods, plus Long with the effect of only -1 (thr) (and not -1 (sw)) Dam Add row, we net +3 (thr), -1 (sw) Dam Add rows and -2 ST rows. At 4 lbs, that yields thr+3 imp, sw+1 cut dam and ST 9†.

That’s perfect! But it took some gymnastics to arrive at this tricky weapon’s published stats.

Build 3: Let’s start with Two-Handed and Long that affects only thr, not sw, as in Build 2. Then let’s add the full Stabber mod – the bastard sword got it, so the longsword is demanding it, too! But to tone down swing power a bit, let’s let it combine with Thruster – not the full Thruster, but a lesser Thruster with only +1 (thr), -1 (sw) Dam Add rows.

Add these up, and we get +3 (thr), +0 (sw) Dam Add rows and -2 ST rows. At 4 lbs, that yields thr+3 imp, sw+1 cut dam and ST 9†.

Again, perfect! So which is better, Build 2 or Build 3? Let’s see which works better when also applied to one-handed use.

Longsword (Broadsword skill)

We’ll try the above Builds 1-3, dropping only the Two-handed mod.

Build 1: Using the Long and Long Thruster mods, we get +2 (thr), -4 (sw) Dam Add rows. At 4 lbs, that yields thr+2 imp, sw-1 cut dam and ST 10.

That’s much too weak on the swing!

Build 2: Applying Long only to thr mode, not sw mode, allowing Thruster (not Long Thruster) as an option, and adding a lesser Stabber (+1 (thr) Dam Add row), we end up with +2 (thr), -2 (sw) Dam Add rows. That yields thr+2 imp, sw+0 cut dam and ST 10.

So close! Our sw dam is just a point shy of published stats.

Build 3: We start with Long applied only to thr mode, not sw mode. Now let’s add the full Stabber mod. To tone down swing power a bit, let’s let it combine with a touch of Thruster – not Long Thruster or even normal Thruster, but a lesser Thruster that confers only +1 (thr), -1 (sw) Dam Add rows.

Add these up, and we get +2 (thr), -1 (sw) Dam Add rows. At 4 lbs, that yields thr+2 imp, sw+1 cut dam and ST 10.

Perfect! So there it is: Build 3 is the recipe that yields published results for both two-handed and one-handed longsword use. It’s pretty simple, too. I like it.

Other swords

For many one-handed swords, GLAIVE Mini readily generates published stats.

For the non-thrusting (blunt) broadsword, cavalry saber, and Basic Set shortsword, no mods at all are needed.

For the thrusting (impaling) broadsword, estoc, and Low-Tech shortsword, add Stabber.

For the saber, light rapier, and light edged rapier, use just the Thruster mod. Make that Long Thruster for the rapier.

Those builds all yield results that match published stats.

Other exotica

Katar

This “push dagger” knife from Low-Tech and DFRPG would use the Stabber and Thruster mods, for a net +4 (thr), -2 (sw) Dam Add rows. With a weight of 1 lb, that yields damage of thr+1 imp, sw-2 cut and ST 6. Just a little less weight would yield the same thr+1 thr, sw-3 cut of the published stats. Pretty close!

And the large katar? This Shortsword version of the weapon uses the same mods but takes weight to 2 lbs, yielding final damage of thr+2 imp, sw-1 cut and ST 8 – just what the books’ stats ordered.

Wait, there’s one more member of the katar family (before even considering its cousin the pata, below). My page of new weapons concocts a medium katar. Like other offerings on that page, it’s merely “sandwiched” between the above two weapons, not built using GLAIVE Mini. Let’s remedy that and try a proper build here. Applying +4 (thr), -2 (sw) Dam Add rows to a weight of 1.5 lbs, we get… thr+1 thr, sw-2 sw and ST 7, a perfect match for my eyeballed stats.

Pata

For this long, Broadsword version of the katar, the 3.75-lb weight from Low-Tech yields final damage of thr+3 imp, sw cut and ST 10 – again, right on the nose.

Kukri

This hard-chopping knife from Low-Tech and DFRPG sounds like a good candidate for a semibalanced weapon. Starting with the Thruster mod prescribed for all knives and adding the Semibalanced and Poor Stabber mods nets +0 (thr), -1 (sw) Dam Add rows. With a weight of 1.5 lbs, that yields damage of thr-1 imp, sw-1 cut and ST 7 – bingo, right on the published stats. Parry suffers a bit, though, becoming Parry 0S. Keep Knife as the main skill; Axe/Mace can be used at -2.

Future hacks?

More mods?

For builds that don’t quite conform to published stats, some could be brought back into line if finessed with a new mod or two.

I’m hesitant to weigh down a simple system with too many mods, though, especially little-tested mods. I’ll merely mention a few candidate mods here as they await further review:

• GLAIVE Mini arguably improves monk’s spade damage too much. As noted above, treating the weapon as balanced fixes things (raising the question of whether that, or some other treatment, is appropriate as the default way to build double-ended polearms). Or perhaps there should be a new mod that reduces Dam Add rows a bit for the unusual blade shapes of the monk’s spade (ditto the combat shovel, scythe, and so on). I imagine a mod called “Tool-like”, reducing thr and sw Dam Add rows by 1 or more for striking heads that double as mundane tools or otherwise differ from idealized weapon heads.
• Another contender to test out later: a Flanged mod (+1 (sw) Dam Add row) for flanged, not smooth, maces.
• Edged rapier designs may call for an Edged Rapier mod with -1 (thr), +1 (sw) Dam Add rows, serving only to rein in what are otherwise too-extreme effects of Thruster and Long Thruster on these weapons.
• As noted in the example of a jo used with Staff skill, Close Center Grip may make sense as a replacement for Center Grip when wielding a short weapon with staff form, or when otherwise unable to take a properly wide two-handed spread.

Modified mods?

I make zero claim that my existing mods are all as they should be! Future modifications to my mods may be in order:

• Stabber and Poor Stabber could each be given variants with lesser effects, though I don’t immediately know what weapons would call for which variants. (A lesser version of Stabber could perhaps more readily combine with Thrust/Long Thruster.)
• The more I build stick weapons, the more I think the Stick mod should use just +1 (thr, sw) Dam Add rows, not +2. That’d generate the published damage stats for the jo and club, while leaving the already-spot-on damage stats of the quarterstaff and long staff intact. (It would, however, cause damage for the baton and other very light clubs to fall below published stats. If that’s to be avoided, we may need a “Super Lightweight Yet Oddly Expensive Stick” mod that brings damage back up for these particular sticks… : )
• As noted in the example of the longsword used with Two-Handed Sword skill, some further tweaking of what weapons can use and combine Stabber and Thruster/Long Thruster may be in order. (And a bigger question touched on in the example: should Long/Very Long always be applied separately to thrust and swing modes based on each mode’s specific reach, not applied equally based on the weapon’s greatest reach? Something to further play with.)
• I haven’t examined this much yet, but a number of builds might get closer to published stats by having Long and Very Long add ST rows, at least for sw mode. (Currently, Long/Very Long do not modify ST.) And going the other direction, a Short mod and Very Short mod, reducing ST rows for shortsword-length and knife-length weapons, respectively, may make sense. (If nothing else, this would create a meaningful mechanical difference between shortsword-length and broadsword-length reach 1 weapons, something currently nonexistent.)

Other topics

The weight is a lie?

There are indications in GURPS books (citations to come later, unless someone can point me to page references) suggesting that weapons’ listed weights… may not indicate actual weights. Specifically, listed weights for swords may include scabbards, with the wielded weapon itself a fair bit lighter.

I’d ideally rework GLAIVE Mini to account for that monkey wrench, but I have neither time nor vodka enough at hand. Let’s just see this work as an attempt at reverse engineering weapons from published stats, including weights as listed on weapon tables, whatever those weights might actually represent.

(If you’re really bothered by this oddness, fake a solution with a silly patch: All weapons that include a scabbard actually have a weight one row lighter than the weights given in the books… but also enjoy an invisible mod called Scabbarded, which grants +1 Dam Add row, +1 ST row. Don’t ask why. Just enjoy the face that these weapons once again behave as expected.)

About those unbalanced parries…

The above reworking of the hatchet asserts that as a heavy-headed Axe/Mace weapon, the hatchet should have some degree of impaired Parry, not the Parry 0 of a balanced baton or shortsword. To which one might respond, “Yeah, sure, it’s not a balanced weapon – but maybe the hatchet gains a normal Parry 0 for being so light.” Well, yes, that makes sense to me as an explanation for the seemingly-odd Parry 0. But “light” means nothing if not in comparison to something – i.e., ST.

You can see where this is going: the “U” Parry is fine as a rule, but I see zero reason why high enough ST in excess of weapon ST shouldn’t lessen or even eliminate the “U” Parry (or my semibalanced “S” Parry). A proper rant can come later. For now, note that if we give all hatchets a properly slow Parry 0U (or my Parry 0S if you like that), but then let sufficient extra ST compensate for the unbalanced slowness, then little fighters with barely the ST to wield a hatchet will suffer those slowed parries, while combatants with more reasonable ST (i.e., most PCs who pick up a hatchet) will regain the Parry 0 that hatchets have (rather unfairly) enjoyed all along. Sensible!

The same would of course apply to the hatchet-like knobbed club and sickle, too. And then even bigger axes, and, yes, even polearms. If you’ve got big enough muscles, you’ll be able to overcome any “U” Parry. This is how things should work.

More on that another day, maybe! But for now, you’ll find some (old) forum discussion of the topic here.

More weapons! Plus…

I’ll add more GLAIVE Mini designs later – and will add your designs, if you care to submit ’em. In the meantime, if you want lots more new melee weapons, check out GURPS/DFRPG resource: New weapons. The entries there aren’t built using GLAIVE Mini; they’re just shoehorned by feel into the “gaps” in existing weapon tables (e.g., a “medium katar” shoved in between the regular katar and large katar). But you can, of course, try rebuilding those new entries using GLAIVE Mini, and the results should match up pretty well…

Also coming soon: A great big GLAIVE Mini spreadsheet!