Mace needs to be a bit more special

As I ran thru the melee weapons list from RoT and I see Mace doesn’t have a special quality. They are the only one with out anything. And their stats do not jump out any better then the others.

To encourage characters using it, I thought of adding the Disorient quality to it. Concussive makes sense, but War Hammer has it. Plus only Cestus has the Disorient quality.

Do you think this could overpower this weapon? Should I just make one up called Club or Morgenstern ?

Thanks

Stun could be great for a mace.

The stock mace is fairly balanced. It is a baseline +3 damage, melee(Light) weapon. The reason it is balanced, relative to the other +3 damage weapons is cost. It is by far the cheapest weapon available, with that high of a damage rating. It also has a very low rarity.

Now, I agree that mechanically, I wouldn't touch the mace if cost wasn't an issue.

4 minutes ago, Edgookin said:

The stock mace is fairly balanced. It is a baseline +3 damage, melee(Light) weapon. The reason it is balanced, relative to the other +3 damage weapons is cost. It is by far the cheapest weapon available, with that high of a damage rating. It also has a very low rarity.

Now, I agree that mechanically, I wouldn't touch the mace if cost wasn't an issue.

Yes, adding a quality to it would also make the weapon priced go up, around the same as a axe.

You might use the book stats for a basic club and then add Stun or Disorient for a proper mace (for a bit higher cost).

I wouldn't get to in a hurry to spool up stats on basic weapons, it takes away opportunities to provide players with rewards in the form of better stuff. Just ask yourself, do you want all maces to be better, or just want your player or your character to have a better one? If you're a player and you're wanting an @$$ kick option/stats for your favorite basic weapon, just remember, I'll be hitting you in the face with them as well.....

59 minutes ago, SavageBob said:

You might use the book stats for a basic club and then add Stun or Disorient for a proper mace (for a bit higher cost).

Is the basic Club in the Genesys Core Book? Could not find it...

40 minutes ago, Larry Ho-Teep said:

Is the basic Club in the Genesys Core Book? Could not find it...

No, that's what I meant. Rename their mace to "club" and introduce a better version called "mace."

1 hour ago, Larry Ho-Teep said:

Is the basic Club in the Genesys Core Book? Could not find it...

I believe a club is so primitive, it would fall under TABLE I.6–5: IMPROVISED WEAPONS and simply pick the size of the stick you are using.

If you want to upgrade it, I would keep the qualities low. So perhaps Disorient, but only Disorient 1, not 3 like another blunt weapon in Terrinoth (Warhammer? dont' recall don't have the book in front of me).

I actually was more concerned with its lack of a benefit when used against highly armored opponents, which was one of its design features. A mace could cause crushing damage without actually penetrating armor. Without having to create a complex new quality (1 point of damage gets through for every 2 points soaked by worn armor?), you could simply add Pierce 1.

Not a complete expert, but I'm pretty sure the actual use of a real-life mace is not as a fancy metal club, but as anti-armor weapons. The mace and the war hammer (real ones; in Realms of Terrinoth, they call a military pick) were pretty similar in purpose. So maybe you could merge the two weapons into one.

But if you want to go with the fancy metal club route, Disorient is useful enough.

11 minutes ago, Sturn said:

If you want to upgrade it, I would keep the qualities low. So perhaps Disorient, but only Disorient 1, not 3 like another blunt weapon in Terrinoth (Warhammer? dont' recall don't have the book in front of me).

I actually was more concerned with its lack of a benefit when used against highly armored opponents, which was one of its design features. A mace could cause crushing damage without actually penetrating armor. Without having to create a complex new quality (1 point of damage gets through for every 2 points soaked by worn armor?), you could simply add Pierce 1.

Yeah, maybe I should read before writing a new post.

As an aside, the Genesys core explicitly recommends never setting Disorient below 2, as Disorient 1 is redundant; you can just spend 2 advantages to add a setback on a character's next check without the quality.

He has a purple lightsaber, he's already pretty **** extra.

Ok, great comments. Based on the feedback, I think I’ll have those weapons for my Genesys campaigns:

Thoughts?

Just noticed your picture in your OP. That's not a true mace, but a morning star. In game terms I wouldn't make it the same as a mace. I would probably give it better Piercing.

I agree that a mace, at least a flanged mace, would be more accurately represented by Pierce 1 than Disorient. Maces were meant to deliver crushing damage through armour, especially when articulated plate armour was effectively immune to swords. That said, there's no reason at all why you can't have multiple types of a similar weapon available, with different properties.

Historically, maces should have some kind of ongoing damage when used against heavy armor. The flanges tore small holes in the armor and caused the sharp edges to turn inward, constantly cutting into the wearer.