27 October 2017

Weapons for Halflings and other small sized creatures

The Known World holds a bit of a distinction among the major D&D campaign settings; it's the only one with a detailed, developed Halfling homeland central to the campaign world. Sure, Forgotten Realms has a Halfling nation, but it's way off the beaten path in a corner of Faerun pretty much ignored by the setting material. Other worlds, like Greyhawk, just throw Halflings in as an afterthought, giving little or no thought to where they came from.

Taking that into consideration, it makes sense that the Hin, and their nation, militias and "military" (limited as it is) would craft weapons of their own, rather than just borrow from their human neighbors. With that in mind, I put together the following chart, modified from the D&D Basic Set:

WeaponDMGHands Cost  Notes
Hand Axe 1d4 3 gp
Battle Axe 1d6 5gp
Hin Crossbow 1d4 20gp May be used 1 handed by larger creatures, Known as a "hand crossbow" to humans and dwarves. Ammo cost is 6gp for 30 quarrels.
Short Bow 1d6 25gp
Hin Bow 1d4 18gp Too small for use by larger creatures. Ammo cost is 3gp for 20 arrows.
Hin Dagger 1d2 2gp Silvered version costs 20gp
Hin Greatblade 1d8 15gp Basically the same thing as a human normal sword
Hin Sword 1d6 1 Hand 10gp Basically the same thing as a human Short Sword
Hin Smallblade 1d4 5gp Basically the same thing as a human Dagger.
Hin Mace 1d4 3gp Usable by Clerics
Light Club 1d2 1gp Usable by Clerics
Hin Halberd 1d8 4gp
Sling 1d4 2gp Same as human version. Ammo cost is 1gp for 30 stones, or they may be foraged (DM discretion on availability) at the rate of 1d20 per hour.
Short Spear 1d4 1            2gp Also known, among humans, as a javelin
Hin Battlehammer 1d4 3gp Usable by Cleric
Hin Smallspear 1d2 1gp Too small to be used as a missile weapon by larger creatures, may be used by those folk as an improvised stabbing weapon though. Human original is found in the Expert Set.
Shortstaff 1d4 1gp The Shortstaff is about 3.5 to 4 feet long. Human original is found in the Expert Set.
Hin Hilt-and-a-half Sword (aka Hin Bastard Sword) 1d4+1 (one Handed)

1d6+1 (two Handed)
1 or 2 8gp Human original is found in the Companion Set.
Hin Fork (Hin Trident, among mariners) 1d4 2gp Human original is found in the Companion Set.

The Hin versions of the Bola, Blackjack, Net and Whip, from the Companion set are effectively the same weapons as their Human counterparts.

There are no Hin versions of the Blowgun or Heavy Crossbow, from the Companion set. In addition, the Hin are a little less deviously innovative with weapon variants than their Human neighbors, and the only common Pole Arm type found in the Shires is the Hin Halbard, listed above.

Likewise, the Hin are not common practitioners of artillery or siege warfare, and these machines are not usually found within the Shires. Where Catapults and Ballistas are found, they are identical to their Human equivalents, except that when the crew is made up only of Hin, one extra crewman is required per machine.

The basic rule, derived from the D&D 3rd edition Arms & Equipment Guide supplement, is, take the normal, human version (aka "medium sized weapon"), decrease the range by 1/2, rounded up, and drop the damage down to the next lower die type (so 1d6 damage becomes 1d4, etc). Price is roughly 1/2 of the human version, rounded up. This should suffice for a quick conversion of any nonstandard weapons you've added to the lists in the rulebooks.