[CONAN] Weapon Proficiency

[Supplement Four]

Here's a question fer ya.

Let's say you've got a Cimmerian Barbarian, and he's using a hunting spear as a weapon. That's a Simple Weapon. That's no problem because the Barbarains are given the Simple and Martial weapon Feats for free.

What happens when your Cimmerian Barbarian goes to Pictland and picks up a Pict hunting spear, which is a Primitive Weapon.

Does the Barbarian suffer the penalty for not being proficienct with the weapon? Technically, the rules say, "Yes".

 

[Jeraa]

Where does it say that? Not in the 1st edition or 2nd edition book. Primative is just a quality - it doesn't effect what the weapon is. A simple weapon is still a simple weapon, weather it is a normal version, a primative one, or a high quality one. Nothing says the quality of the weapon changes what kind of weapon it is (Simple/martial/exotic).

No, the barbarian doesn't have a non-proficiency penalty with a Primative hunting spear. The rules don't say that, or even hint at it.

 

[Supplement Four]

No, the barbarian doesn't have a non-proficiency penalty with a Primative hunting spear. The rules don't say that, or even hint at it.

A character is only proficient with weapons for which he has feats. Barbarians are proficient with all Simple and Martial weapons (pg. 42 Core rulebook, 2E).

"A character who uses a weapon with which he is not proficient takes a -4 penalty on attack throws." (Pg. 143 Core rulebook, 2E). Though, the Barbarian has the Versatility ability that cuts this down to a -2 penalty.


Ahh...I think I just found my error....

Since the Simple, Martial, and Exotic weapons are all lumped together, by category, on their own sepearate table, I thought that Primitive Weapons were also a separate category. You need Feats to be proficient with any of the Simple or Martial or Exotic weapons, so I thought you needed a Feat to be proficient with primitive weapons.

"Primitive" weapons aren't a proficiency category. They're a quality rating.

Man, I'm so glad I posted this....thanks for making me look harder at that!