The Composite Blade
That's quite a blade you have there, why don't you let me hold it for you?
-- last words of an anonymous elf to a dwarven gladiator
Composition:
Belonging to the new age, where metal is already too scarce to forge entire swords of it, the composite blade uses two flat blocks of obsidian (or other material as agafari wood) and little metal leaves protruding between them. Thus the name "composite".
The leaves are made of any scrap of metal, while the entire structure holding them together - the two pieces of obsidian - are tied with giant hair. The obsidian pieces have channals etched into their surface, so that the hair which holds the blade together would run through them and could not be trivially or accidentally cut while parrying another sword.
Size and shape:
The size of the sword is variant. "It depends on whom you wanna gut, master, a troll or a pixie?" one craftsmen said. With that the case, the size of the blade could be from 15 inches all the way up to 80 inches, ie, from dagger-sized to bastard-sword-sized. Shape is also variant, so both straight and curved blades are possible. Due to unique layer-design the blades are exclusively two-sided.
Statistics:
The cost of the weapon reflects the requirements for precise workmanship and scraps of metal that could be better used elsewhere.
The fact that the "edge" is made of metal allows wielder to inflict damage as per table, with no penalties. Metal leaves are razor sharp. Due to the precise workmanship needed to craft such a weapon the wielder also has no attack roll penalties.
The high damage values of the weapon are a direct result of it's construction. If a person is slashed with a composite blade, he will not have a single deep gash, but quite possibly 5 or 6 of them, one very close to the other, as no leaves are directly one behind another. Also, the gashes will often be erratic, and some pieces of flesh will be torn out rather than cut. This weapon leaves quite a mess to the healers due to this very fact. It is a brutal weapon for a brutal world.
Usage and over-usage:
As any non-metal weapon, this one is vulnerable to breakage. Every time a composite blade produces maximal damage, it has a 5% chance to break. But due to it's unique construction it does not. If breakage occurs consider some of the metal leaves distorted and malformed, and some other fallen out, changing the balance of the weapon, resulting in a -1 penalty on both attack rolls and damage. The damage to the blade is cumulative.
Maintaince:
Sharpening of such a blade is neigh-impossible due to the composite nature of the leaves, as each leaf would have to be taken out and sharpened separately. To repair it, one opens it and all the leaves are thrown out and are replaced with new ones.
A weapon will need to be carefully deconstructed by a smith and the leaves will have to be replaced in order to fix it. The cost of such repair depends on the damage: a weapon with a -1 penalty costs 1/4 of it's value to be fixed, while a weapon with -2 penalty costs 1/2 of it's value to be fixed. After all - the metal leaves are the most expensive part of it. Do note however that the metal leaves will not be avaiable in all cities. While in Tyr they may be easy to obitain, in other parts of Athas that will be up to DM's discretion.
If this article gets grades, any grades at all then I'll have some incentive to go on with new interesting weaponry, but all this silence greatly confuses me. Did I write something wrong? 
I was going to do a followup, a weapon called "Gnomish auto-backstabber", imported by the Githyanki from Krynn during the invasion and adapted to the Athas setting using defiler magic, but since there seems to be no audience...
Dunno!As for my opinion....
Well, to be honest, I had to actually give it a couple tries. Basically you've got yourself a pretty simple weapon design (one that matches up well with a number of other athasian weapons), but, whereas most entries have been written in no more than a few short paragraphs, yours is A FREAKIN' PAGE AND A HALF MAN!!!!!!! :D
Anyhow, this just seems like a lot of effort for something so simple. Not saying it's not for Athas, just that a simpler presentation might grab a little more attention.
Also, you'll probably want somebody with a good hand at writing, to help ya' out some, as there seems to be a lot of little things that stand out as shabby writing IMO.
Sorry this might seem like harsh criticism, but that's not the intention. Just keep it up and it'll come together.
Your reference to trolls and pixies, seems out of place for athas. Unless you were trying to set a green age athas tone (since all the trolls and pixies were killed in the cleansing war), but of course metal wasn't scare in the green age.
The rules seem overly complicated for a simple weapon, and I have trouble visualizing it from your description. I think you can do better :D
Belonging to the new age, where metal is already too scarce to forge entire swords of it, the composite blade uses two flat blocks of obsidian and little metal leaves protruding between them, much like a hamburger.
Hamburger?!
Anyhow, this just seems like a lot of effort for something so simple. Not saying it's not for Athas, just that a simpler presentation might grab a little more attention.
As you can see, even such a simple weapon, with page and a half to explain it still fails to light a spark in some people. *sigh* ya yer right. I'll use pictures next time.
Also, you'll probably want somebody with a good hand at writing, to help ya' out some, as there seems to be a lot of little things that stand out as shabby writing IMO.
No need to appologise, I always appreciate constructive criticism!
Your reference to trolls and pixies, seems out of place for athas. Unless you were trying to set a green age athas tone (since all the trolls and pixies were killed in the cleansing war), but of course metal wasn't scare in the green age.
The rules seem overly complicated for a simple weapon, and I have trouble visualizing it from your description. I think you can do better :D
The referance to trolls and pixies comes directly from RaFotDK, where young Hamanu, while the battle against trolls still raged, took the composite longsword from his captain after beating his head into a pulp with a club. At the time of the Clensing wars, metal indeed rapidly started to get rarer.
As for visialising, visualise it here:
I hope this cleart is up?
Hamburger?!
Yes, as in layers. One layer of obsidian, one layer of metal scraps, and then close it with another layer of obsidian. Tie it all together with some giant hair. Voila, your first composite blade. Check image above for clarification.
Anyway, please read it now again and see if it makes any more sense to you now. Thanx in advance!
You'd be better off using bone or wood, with obsidian or metal scraps for the blade.
Obsidian's not the material to be using for the "bread" of this particular sandwich. Obsidian's basically volcanic glass, and wouldn't be all that good at absorbing the shocks of combat.
You'd be better off using bone or wood, with obsidian or metal scraps for the blade.
Indeed! I have thought about this myself but couldn't figure out why Lynn Abbey used it in the first place. I assume It's because of the weight, but it does seem odd, doesn't it?
Well, it's composite, and the metal leaves are the ones doing damage, so I can safely say that you can construct the rest from anything you wish with no penalties to the weapon performance.
Yes, as in layers. One layer of obsidian, one layer of metal scraps, and then close it with another layer of obsidian. Tie it all together with some giant hair. Voila, your first composite blade. Check image above for clarification.
I understood the description. What I reacted to was the use of the word hamburger in a weapon description.
I understood the description. What I reacted to was the use of the word hamburger in a weapon description.
Bah, I'm not an native-English peaker, and I sometimes stumble with the words. :D I threw that out and clarified it quite a bit, I hope.
Indeed! I have thought about this myself but couldn't figure out why Lynn Abbey used it in the first place. I assume It's because of the weight, but it does seem odd, doesn't it?
Well, it's composite, and the metal leaves are the ones doing damage, so I can safely say that you can construct the rest from anything you wish with no penalties to the weapon performance.
I'm increasingly convinced, that Dark Sun Obsidian, or at least Urikite Dark Sun Obsidian, is Super Special Magic Obsidian that isn't as brittle as actual real life Earth obsidian. Maybe they have Psions with cunning techniques to give it extra strength or something.
[I find the Elven Longblade to be too good for the same reason, but that's another story entirely]
I think the concept of the weapon is nice, but one thing really bugs me: why is the damage actually better than a similiar weapon made from pure steel? The fact that the weapon will break 0.6% of the times it scores damage (for a composite longsword, increase/decrease for other weapons) doesn't justify this at all imo.
That's what I tried to explain - as it has numerous metal leaves on the sides of the weapon, each of these leaves makes it's own little wound, which run in parallel with each other, and often at odd angles. The result is not only a lot of very deep gashes but also some flesh is torn out rather than simply cut. A normal metal (or other) weapon usually makes only a single gash that's much easier to cure (simply patch it up with needle & thread) than the horrible wounds (mutilations) this weapon does.
To compensate I tried to increase the weight of the weapon and to introduce strength requirements, but it was voted down quickly.
How about making it an exotic weapon proficiency. That would counterbalance the increased damage. ;)
Excellent! I'll update it now.
I'm increasingly convinced, that Dark Sun Obsidian, or at least Urikite Dark Sun Obsidian, is Super Special Magic Obsidian that isn't as brittle as actual real life Earth obsidian. Maybe they have Psions with cunning techniques to give it extra strength or something.
Thats what I am starting to think, which is why I tried to get the community to work with me on making a presitge class about a obsidian smith that uses psionics to get the most out of obsidian......
Back on topic, i like the idea, but I too am in favor of replacing the obsidian with wood or bone....
[I find the Elven Longblade to be too good for the same reason, but that's another story entirely]
The Elven Longblade has a metal equivalent in generic D&D - the Elven Thinblade. The Elven Thinblade originally appeared in Dragon Magazine. Both are exotic weapons, so I fail to see the issue.
Thats what I am starting to think, which is why I tried to get the community to work with me on making a presitge class about a obsidian smith that uses psionics to get the most out of obsidian......
It's a very narrow concept and more fitting to an NPC. Would anyone play it? In a way, Craft Arms and Armor already covers enhancing weapons with psionics. You could also create a low level psionic power that is used to strengthen obsidian during weapon crafting - increasing the weapon's hardness.
The Elven Longblade has a metal equivalent in generic D&D - the Elven Thinblade. The Elven Thinblade originally appeared in Dragon Magazine. Both are exotic weapons, so I fail to see the issue.
Yeah you're right, for some reason I thought the Elven Longblade was a Martial Weapon. The need for a feat makes it properly balanced of course.
Seems as simple as that. A macahuilt is considered an obsidian weapon even though its maybe less than 10% obsidian, so a metal macahuilt would be considered metal as well, for a fraction of the price.
Yeah you're right, for some reason I thought the Elven Longblade was a Martial Weapon. The need for a feat makes it properly balanced of course.
For Elves it is treated as a Martial Weapon. That's probably the source of your confusion.
megatherion's composite blade seems to me to be a metal macahuilt, i.e. a blade of wood with metal teeths sticking out of it.
Seems as simple as that. A macahuilt is considered an obsidian weapon even though its maybe less than 10% obsidian, so a metal macahuilt would be considered metal as well, for a fraction of the price.
Just what I was thinking. The composite sword could be stated as something as simple as a macahuilt:
Composite Sword 150 Cp 1d8 1d10 19-20/x2 8 lb. Slashing
Composite Sword: A composite sword is a sword crafted using two piece of bone, obsidian or wood bound together using giant's hair rope, with small, sharp pieces of metal protuding from between them to form a serrated edge on the two opposite sides of the weapon. These weapons are swung like the scimitar, though composite swords tend to require more maintenance. The composite sword is mostly found in the Sorcerer-Monarchs' armories, equipping the intermediate ranks of their templarate.