From the depths of my hdd: D&D3/d20 Monk Weapons

Foreword: I have recovered some old files while tidying up my hard drives, stuff from the old days when I was into Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition. What follows is an article I originally meant to submit to Dragon magazine (when it was still a print magazine!) detailing new weapons for D&D3/d20 System. Ehi, somebody still plays that stuff! I guess this works alright with Pathfinder or with any D&D variant which has “monks” as a class. The statistics given are for “3.5” rules – for “3.0” rules just ignore the “Dmg (S)” column and instead assign each weapon a size. I’m sure you can easily adapt the table to whatever version of D&D you’re using. These weapons were never playtested (but, if you want my opinion, most such material released in magazines wasn’t, either).

New Weapons for Monks

All of the weapons described in this article are exotic weapons, requiring a character to acquire the appropriate Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat or suffer a -4 penalty on attack rolls. Besides, all of these weapons are considered “special monk weapons”, but only in the hands of a proficient character: thus, a monk character wielding any of these weapons and being proficient with it can use it as part of a flurry of blows.

Hollow staff: A 5’ long staff fashioned from bamboo wood, very stout despite being hollow inside and thus lighter in weight compared than a common quarterstaff. Like the quarterstaff, you can wield it as a double weapon. Alternatively, and unlike the quarterstaff, being so light you can grip it very close to its end and brandish it like a long club: in this case it counts as a reach weapon and you can strike at opponents 10 feet away with it, but you can’t use it against adjacent foes. Switching from wielding the hollow staff as a double weapon to wielding it as a reach weapon, or vice-versa, takes a “draw weapon” action for any character but a proficient monk; a monk proficient in the hollow staff can instead make the switch as a free action.

[Note: if you’re using my variant weapons rules from this other article, you could treat the hollow staff as a variant quarterstaff, instead of a separate exotic weapon (the only effective difference being that a nonproficient user could still pick up a hollow staff and use it as it was a standard quarterstaff).]

Hornet knife: A small, triangle-shaped throwing dagger, resembling an oversized shuriken. Since it is not designed for melee, you are always treated as nonproficient with it if you use a hornet knife as a melee weapon. Although they are thrown weapons, hornet knives are treated as ammunition for the purposes of drawing them, crafting masterwork or otherwise special versions of them and what happens to them after they are thrown.

Serpentspire sword: This sword resembles a straight-edged rapier with the long handle and cross-shaped hilt of a bastard sword. Its very flexible blade twists and waves almost like a snake, hence its name. It is a favoured weapon of certain master swordsmen from distant lands who employ an exotic, flamboyant style of swordplay: they juggle the sword from their left to their right as they duel and occasionally they grip it with both hands. You can use the Weapon Finesse feat to apply your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier to attack rolls with a serpentspire sword sized for you, even though it isn’t a light weapon. In order to attack with a serpentspire sword as part of a flurry of blows, a monk must be wielding only one such weapon and have her other hand free.

Tonfa: These L-shaped, stout wooden sticks are often used in pairs and make for an effective parrying weapon. One wields them by gripping the shorter, thinner bar in the palm and keeping the longer, thicker bar parallel to the forearm: thus one performs parries with the protected forearm in the style of an unarmed fighter, but rotates the weapon forward to strike with it as a club. A proficient character wielding paired tonfas gains a +1 shield bonus to AC when fighting defensively, taking a total defense action or employing the Combat Expertise feat.

Unbalanced axe: There once was a martial artist of unsurpassed mastery, but possessing little muscle strength in his arms, who sought out a weapon which would substitute the former for the latter. He designed an oddly bent axe, no larger than a typical handaxe but considerably heavier, meant to be swinged around in circular motions at high speed, then driving its mass with a skilled flick of the wrist as it drops. So unwieldy is the unbalanced axe that it always imposes a -1 penalty on attack rolls. Besides, a monk can only use unbalanced axe attacks in a flurry of blows if he wields two such weapons and makes all of his attacks with those (mixing no unarmed strikes in the routine). Despite being considered a “light weapon” for most purposes, the unbalanced axe can’t be used in a grapple.

New exotic weapons	Cost	Dmg (S)	Dmg (M)	Critical	Range Increment	Weight	Type
Light Melee Weapons
Tonfa	2 gp	1d4	1d6	x2	—	2 lb.	Bludgeoning
Unbalanced axe	25 gp	1d6	1d8	x3	—	5 lb.	Slashing
One-Handed Melee Weapons
Serpentspire sword	40 gp	1d4	1d6	18–20/x2	—	2 lb.	Piercing or slashing
Two-Handed Melee Weapons
Hollow staff (as a double weapon)	15 gp	1d4/1d4	1d6/1d6	x2	—	2 lb.	Bludgeoning
or hollow staff (as a reach weapon)		1d4	1d6	x2
Ranged Weapons
Hornet knives (5)	2 gp	1d3	1d4	x2	10 ft.	2 lb.	Piercing