I don't have my books handy, so I can't recall if this is something I read in a publication, or from one of the devs in the O66 podcast, but:

Aren't there some rules for improvised weaponry? Just grabbing a random object and using it, or trying to construct something from random items? I could've sworn there was, but I'm not sure.

I seem to recall one of the devs saying something about it definitely having the Inferior quality, and likely having a rule where if enough negative results are rolled, the weapon could flat out break.

If there aren't any RAW about the subject, what are your ideas on how to rule this? I've got some ideas, namely the ones mentioned above, but I'm curious what others think about how it should play out.

I'm also AFB so I can't remember the specifics, but you're right. Pretty much any improvised weapon has the Inferior quality, and using such a weapon usually adds +1 to the person's Brawn for damage if it's one-handed, +2 if it's two-handed (maybe). And it's the GM's call whether the weapon is Brawl or Melee.

Wasn't there something about it possibly breaking? I seem to recall that factor isn't part of Inferior, but again, not sure.

2 minutes ago, KungFuFerret said:

Wasn't there something about it possibly breaking? I seem to recall that factor isn't part of Inferior, but again, not sure.

That, I don't recall, but it follows the overall scheme of things. Certainly on a Despair, maybe on three or four Threats.

Depending on the object, I might give it a couple condition points—if you're braining someone with a solid metal candlestick or something, it might get damaged a step but still be serviceable as a weapon. If you're full-on smashing a wooden chair over somebody's head, though, then any damage to the object would result in it exploding into splinters. Not because that's how chairs necessarily work in real life, but because it's what you expect would happen in the movies.

I'd say having an improvised weapon break as the result of a Despair is a good way to go, based upon the suggestion chart for spending Advantage/Triumph/Threat/Despair has an option to damage a proper melee weapon by one step on a Despair result. I suppose you could also count it as a 3 Threat result as well, if you want improvised weapons to have a greater chance of breakage.

Don't recall if there's any specific rule though, given that I think only once in all the sessions I've run or played has somebody made active use of an improvised weapon.

Not all improvised weapons are going to be fragile. If you're in a construction site and grab a spanner (or just a piece of space rebar), its not going to break under almost any stress a human (or similar being) can put on it by swinging it around.

17 minutes ago, Donovan Morningfire said:

I'd say having an improvised weapon break as the result of a Despair is a good way to go, based upon the suggestion chart for spending Advantage/Triumph/Threat/Despair has an option to damage a proper melee weapon by one step on a Despair result. I suppose you could also count it as a 3 Threat result as well, if you want improvised weapons to have a greater chance of breakage.

Don't recall if there's any specific rule though, given that I think only once in all the sessions I've run or played has somebody made active use of an improvised weapon.

3 minutes ago, HappyDaze said:

Not all improvised weapons are going to be fragile. If you're in a construction site and grab a spanner (or just a piece of space rebar), its not going to break under almost any stress a human (or similar being) can put on it by swinging it around.

This is mainly for a Genesys game I'm cooking up for a future date, that is replicating a video game setting, where the weapons are very much cobbled together flotsam, with little to no structural integrity, and breaking is something that happens regularly. So it will be something of a constant issue they have to deal with. I know that in reality, stuff doesn't break that easy, but nothing about these games line up perfectly to reality anyway, so I don't really care. Given how many other things we ignore with the suspension of disbelief to enjoy the franchise, I have no issues adding one other thing to that list.

EotE p212. Improvised weapons are Small, Medium, or Large (one handed, two handed, or bigger than a chair); have a +1, +2, or +3 damage rating; Crit 5; Medium and Large are Cumbersome 2 and 4 respectively. They are all Inferior, so generate 1 Threat automatically. The GM can use 2 Threat or 1 Despair to break them so they become useless.

1 hour ago, HappyDaze said:

If you're in a construction site and grab a spanner (or just a piece of space rebar), its not going to break under almost any stress a human (or similar being) can put on it by swinging it around.

I'm not sure I'd call those items "improvised", just use the stats for a club or baton, though you could still toss on the Inferior quality.

2 hours ago, whafrog said:

EotE p212. Improvised weapons are Small, Medium, or Large (one handed, two handed, or bigger than a chair); have a +1, +2, or +3 damage rating; Crit 5; Medium and Large are Cumbersome 2 and 4 respectively. They are all Inferior, so generate 1 Threat automatically. The GM can use 2 Threat or 1 Despair to break them so they become useless.

I'm not sure I'd call those items "improvised", just use the stats for a club or baton, though you could still toss on the Inferior quality.

A piece of space rebar was never intended to be a weapon, ergo any weaponizing of it is improvised. The same applies to picking up a chunk of concrete (or a sizable rock) and using it to bash-in somebody's skull.

Any rules or guidelines for throwing the medium or large items? And what skill?

Granularity, pedantics, and semantics about verbiage and rules aside, improvised weapons are items that are not going to stand up for long being used as weapons. The only difference between a baton, length of rebar and a pipe are that they're spelled with different letters. A little common sense goes a long ways...

3 minutes ago, 2P51 said:

Granularity, pedantics, and semantics about verbiage and rules aside, improvised weapons are items that are not going to stand up for long being used as weapons. The only difference between a baton, length of rebar and a pipe are that they're spelled with different letters. A little common sense goes a long ways...

A baton is designed to be used as a weapon and, if made correctly, is balanced for the same. That doesn't necessarily apply to a pipe or piece of rebar, so there is more difference than 'spelling' here. Your condescending suggestions of using common sense might be better received if you used some common courtesy (and if you're posts were as 'sensible' as you seem to think they are).

3 minutes ago, HappyDaze said:

A baton is designed to be used as a weapon and, if made correctly, is balanced for the same. That doesn't necessarily apply to a pipe or piece of rebar, so there is more difference than 'spelling' here. Your condescending suggestions of using common sense might be better received if you used some common courtesy (and if you're posts were as 'sensible' as you seem to think they are).

Telling someone they're being pedantic and not using common sense when they're being pendantic and not using common sense isn't discourteous, it's accurate. The level of specificity you're ranting about on this topic isn't necessary.

Alright chill out, right now. The level of silliness in getting into a pis*ing contest about the definition of a fictional improvised weapon, in a fictional game setting, when compared to reality, is itself so ridiculous, that I would like to think any mature, rational person wouldn't need to descend into bickering about it. Whether they started it or not.

However, this is a Star Wars fan site, so I can't assume people won't take it to that extreme. So just stop it, right now.

42 minutes ago, 2P51 said:

Telling someone they're being pedantic and not using common sense when they're being pendantic and not using common sense isn't discourteous, it's accurate. The level of specificity you're ranting about on this topic isn't necessary.

The fact that you think I'm ranting shows that you have no idea what you're talking about.

33 minutes ago, KungFuFerret said:

Alright chill out, right now. The level of silliness in getting into a pis*ing contest about the definition of a fictional improvised weapon, in a fictional game setting, when compared to reality, is itself so ridiculous, that I would like to think any mature, rational person wouldn't need to descend into bickering about it. Whether they started it or not.

However, this is a Star Wars fan site, so I can't assume people won't take it to that extreme. So just stop it, right now.

9 minutes ago, HappyDaze said:

The fact that you think I'm ranting shows that you have no idea what you're talking about.

1 hour ago, TheShard said:

Any rules or guidelines for throwing the medium or large items? And what skill?

Well, we know grenades count as Ranged (Light), so you could probably count the small items as the same. They might qualify because you can throw them one-handed.

So you might consider using Ranged (Heavy) if you would have to throw them with two hands. But that's not without argument, since throwing something like an end table would be more a matter of Brawn than Agility. So you might consider Athletics for the skill.

In any case, I'd keep Inferior on there, and maybe treat the improvised weapon as having Cumbersome 2 or 3 (depending on whether it's medium or large) and throw a setback die or two on there if the character's Brawn isn't up to snuff.

As for the rebar question, I'd still treat it as Inferior, but maybe not allow it to break short of anything but a Despair.

Just now, CaptainRaspberry said:

In any case, I'd keep Inferior on there, and maybe treat the improvised weapon as having Cumbersome 2 or 3 (depending on whether it's medium or large) and throw a setback die or two on there if the character's Brawn isn't up to snuff.

Improvised weapons already have Cumbersome as part of their stat line.

Sounds like a case for brawn-ranged heavy

6 hours ago, TheShard said:

Any rules or guidelines for throwing the medium or large items? And what skill?

I'd probably just use Athletics.