Draft:Rapier

Omega 0.90.4

Rapier)Base damage rating8Base hit bonus+13Normal attack typeThrustingHands1Weight20

A rapier is a light, one-handed thrusting weapon. It trades some of the epee's accuracy for more damage while retaining access to a selected riposte.

Generation

Julie's sells a fully identified, uncursed +0 rapier for 500 Au. It is fixed stock, not a rare rotating offer. Random treasure and the pawn shop can also supply it, with its item level 3 affecting ordinary random acceptance.

Acquirement is another source. The generated weapon rolls its own blessing and enchantment; blessing the scroll grants selection, not a guaranteed blessed rapier.

Description

The normal attack selected with a rapier is a thrust. It adds a Dexterity-based hit bonus while retaining the character's ordinary Strength contribution to damage. A lunge spends two maneuvers for different hit and damage bonuses. Previous combat actions remain saved when changing weapons, so equipping a rapier does not by itself replace a cut with a thrust.

A riposte costs two maneuvers. A correctly located defense must first stop an incoming attack, then a separate hit roll determines the counterattack. That counter uses current hit without the normal thrust's additional Dexterity bonus. It is neither an automatic hit nor an extra attack on every exchange.

The rapier can be thrown or used to tunnel. Its normal throw follows current character combat values; the spare rapier's +13 is not a separate throwing-accuracy bonus. Thrusting doubles its base damage contribution to a tunneling check, but always attempts weapon damage on the one-in-twenty tunneling mishap. A striking tool avoids that particular hazard.

Strategy

Compare a rapier with the weapon you already have. Relative to an epee, an equally enchanted rapier gains two damage points, loses two points of accuracy and weighs five more, while Julie's price rises from 100 to 500 Au. That is a modest damage purchase, not an unqualified upgrade.

The estoc adds three more damage points for one fewer point of accuracy, five more weight and another 500 Au. A spear offers damage 10 for only 100 Au but is heavier and three points of accuracy less accurate than the rapier. Dexterity and the target's defense determine how much you value accuracy; preserve a well-enchanted rapier rather than replacing it solely for a larger damage number.