Melee Weaponry

World of Darkness - Armory

Melee weaponry seems a bit — outmoded. In this day and age, guns rule the day, and have for hundreds of years. Why run headlong at an opponent with a battle-ax when he’s going to cut you in half with a .50 caliber machine gun? And so, the question persists, why use melee weaponry at all when somebody out there probably has something bigger and meaner?
First, remember that melee weapons don’t necessarily mean swords and daggers. A gang might rough up a convenience store clerk with bats and crowbars, one whore might slash another’s face with a switchblade and a father might hunt his frightened wife and child through an abandoned hotel with a fire ax.
Second, don’t discount improvised weapons. The majority of found weapons are for close quarters combat. A burgled homeowner might bludgeon the intruder with a Tiffany lamp, and a serial killer might attack his victims with a hacksaw. When a character is caught in a sudden and unexpected fight for his life, he might not have a gun handy, but might have a brick or a steak knife within reach.
Third, consider that this is a game about terrible beasts, bloodsucking fiends and enchanted madmen. Vampires cannot be easily hurt by bullets, so they often resort to melee weapons to settle disputes. (Also, some Kindred are older than firearms, and still prefer to answer matters with iron and steel as opposed to hot lead. Vampires are creatures of antiquity, and even the younger fiends learn to eschew guns.) Werewolves shrug off bullet wounds as if they were flea bites, and while werewolves have the natural weapons of tooth and claw, the Uratha also make use of mystically endowed knives and swords. Mages, too, follow ancient traditions, and with old magic comes old things such as enchanted daggers or cursed swords.

Knives and Daggers

Knives have been used in combat for thousands of years. Ancient Egyptians fought with stone blades. Aztecs sacrificed the willing with knives made of obsidian. Archeologists refer to the period of 1,800–500 BC in Scandinavia as the Dolktid, or Dagger Period. Far older as well as still seeing use in modern combat, knives and daggers have seen greater use than swords in combat. Below is a representative catalog of knives and daggers that could see use in a World of Darkness game.

Daggers of the Schutzstaffel

Artifacts from the Third Reich enjoy an odd popularity in modern nights. Collectors (be they genuine historians or neo-Nazi zealots) have made the trade of these goods an industry unto itself. Collectors collect, trade and sell ceremonial plates, uniforms, medals, even items plundered from the concentration camps. The weapons of the Nazi regime are also popular collector items — anything from oft-used Luger pistols to the never-used swords of ceremony. One niche market, however, is the trafficking of SS (Schutzstaffel) daggers.
The daggers of this elite unit of German soldiers, with their silver handles and ivory inlays, were unlike the ceremonial weapons granted to officers. These daggers were functional knives and not just for presentation, and, by all evidence, saw frequent use against unarmed opponents.
The daggers of the Totenkopfverbände, the Death’s Head unit of the SS, are of particular value. The majority of these daggers are engraved with the SS motto Meine Ehre Heißt Treue (“My Honor is Loyalty”). Perhaps the most important historical connection for these daggers is their relation to Germany’s Night of the Long Knives, whereupon Hitler seized power by eliminating his rivals, killing 300 to400 of his political enemies in a single night. The Nazis made these daggers instrumental in these murders.
Some say that these weapons are cursed. Few can explain why, and those who believe this rarely experience the same effects as others with similar claims. Many have reported that poltergeist-like effects occur where the dagger is stored — mirrors fly from walls, windows open and then close so hard they break, plates rattle and shatter. Some say they have even witnessed the daggers themselves hovering in the center of the madness, like the eye of an invisible storm. Others report no such incidents, and instead suggest that stranger, quieter things happen when in possession of the blades. A few have heard the weapons talking to them, whispering barely audible messages that may or may not be in German. One collector claimed that the dagger instructed him, in a perfect Austrian dialect, how to use it to “slice open a door between worlds.”

Swords

Originally, swords were little more than long knives with blades of copper and bronze. With the technological advances of iron smelting, however, swords became more powerful and practically ubiquitous. By 500 BC, swords were the primary hand-to-hand weapon of most warriors, be they Roman soldiers or barbarian berserkers. History and legend are replete with a number of famous and magical swords — Arthur’s Excalibur, Siegfried’s Balmung and Caesar’s Crocea Mors. For nearly a millennium, swords remained the dominant weapon of the warrior class and the wealthy. However, the advent of gunpowder would change all that, and by the 16th century, swords began a slow fade. They’re still produced in this modern age, but mostly as items of vanity or ceremony.

Masamune and Muramasa

In the 14th century, two blacksmiths lived, both of whom were renowned for their forging of legendary katanas. The eldest was Masamune, who legend tells was an honorable man with a good heart. His blades were strong, with the steel folded over so many times that no other blacksmith has been able to replicate the resilience of his swords. It’s said that Masamune designed his weapons with peace in mind, and that each sword was imbued with a spirit of honorable protection.
The younger of the two blacksmiths was Muramasa, who was the pupil of the elder Masamune. Muramasa was unlike his teacher, however. Where his teacher was kind, Muramasa was cruel. Where his master was evenhanded, Muramasa was ill tempered. Muramasa’s blades were invested with bloodthirsty anger. While he did not have the skills to make his blades as strong as his teacher’s, his katanas surpassed Masamune’s swords in pure sharpness.
One myth that best exemplifies this says that one can differentiate between the craftwork of the two smiths by placing the swords in a slow-moving stream. Leaves floating upon the current gravitate toward the Muramasa blade, and are neatly sliced in half regardless of the water’s direction. The leaves, however, will never touch Masamune’s sword — they always float gently around the steel, passing by untouched.
Rumor suggests that the blades of these master craftsmen are still available today, held by powerful and wealthy collectors. Masamune’s blades have a +2 to Durability, and also offer the wielder a +3 to Defense. The evil blades of Muramasa, on the other hand, offer no such honorable protection. Instead, his blades grant the wielder a +2 to all attack rolls, and all attacks are subject to the 9 again rule. The Cost of these blades, if they even truly exist, cannot be measured in mere Resources. Some suggest that the cost is taken from the user’s soul. And besides, it’s probably just a story, anyway.

Blunt Weapons

Blunt weapons are the simplest and most straightforward weapons available to characters. One character might bludgeon another with a wooden board, a crowbar, a combat mace, a nightstick or a walking stick. The functions of the blunt weapon are to cause bruises, break bones and crack heads.

Chain Weapons

Generally speaking, chain weapons consist of a blunt end or blade at one end of a long chain. The chain itself can function in a number of ways. It can bind an opponent, choke him or act as a long-distance delivery of the bladed or blunt end.
Anybody can pick up a chain weapon, but using it effectively is a whole other matter. Without proper movement (learned through training), a chain weapon is an unpredictable tool. Swinging it wildly around provides only chaos, and an unskilled wielder is as likely to bind or cut himself as he is to harm his adversary.
Unless otherwise noted, chain weapons require at least one point in the Fighting Style: Chain Weapons Merit (found on p. 209). If a character does not meet this requirement, she takes a –2 penalty to use the chain weapon in combat.

Polearms

A polearm is, simply, a weapon mounted upon a long pole. Spears are daggers atop a pole, and halberds are axes.
Polearms — specifically the spear and quarterstaff — have been used as hunting and fishing weapons for thousands of years. Over time, however, the advantage a polearm provides in combat became clear. With a polearm, a warrior may keep his opponents at a greater distance while still doing harm to them. The foe cannot close in to make an attack, but the warrior with the spear or the staff can still stab, slash or pummel the foe from afar. It is for this reason that, unless otherwise noted, all polearms grant the bearer a +1 Defense.

Ghosts of the Sohei

The naginata was the favored weapon of the sohei warrior-monks of feudal Japan. The Buddhist monks remained prominent for nearly 700 years, until their demise in the late 16th century. These battle-minded holy men fought viciously against any perceived oppression against them or the farmers of the countryside. The sohei were not solitary monks, but instead acted as mobs of warriors amassing in the country, rioting with their naginatas whenever they perceived a threat to Buddhism or to their own power. Their sense of justice was clouded by fierce wrath, and many suggest that caused their eventual downfall.
Today, farmers in the countryside say the sohei can be seen today as spectral mobs traveling across the land, each with a rusted naginata at the ready. Some believe the sohei seek to end oppression, and claim to have also seen them in Tibet, gathering in the quiet snowy hollows of the mountains. Others claim that they are simply disturbed and angered, unable to properly leave the Wheel of Samsara, and that their taste for death grows night by night.

Axes and Hammers

Axes and hammers were tools before they were weapons, but over time, their value in battle became clear. While generally unwieldy, axes and hammers could bring tremendous damage in the hands of the strong. Hammers could break bones and crumple armor, while axes could cleave through the vulnerable joints in mail suits, thus lopping off arms, legs, even heads. Axes and hammers may not have required the finesse of a proper swordsman, but these brutal devices did not demand that level of grace to draw blood.

The Labrys

The labrys is an ancient Minoan-designed battleax. Often crafted from bronze or gold, these axes are considered works of great beauty, and upon them are scribed intricate mazes meant to symbolize the Labyrinth of Crete. Legend includes these axes in a number of apocryphal tales, putting them in the hands of the Amazon warrior women, Hercules, the Minoan Minotaur and even the African god Shango, whose ax brought thunder and ill weather.
The strangest and most recent tale regarding the labrys concerns a number of these axes unearthed in an archaeological dig of caves near Knossos. Reportedly, the archeologists who uncovered the weapons (of which there were 13, said to be found in a bodiless tomb) seemed obsessed with the artifacts, particularly with the intricate mazes etched upon the ax-heads, which seemed to defy solution. Eventually, members of the dig team stole the artifacts and vanished. The axes, and the archaeologists, remain missing to this day, and no one knows what will happen when the tiny labyrinths are solved.

Miscellaneous Weapons

Some weapons fail to find a home in larger categories. Often, strange archaic weapons or the modern weapons of self-defense fall into this hodge-podge category. Below are some of these variant weapons.

Blade Sharpening

Anything with an edge can be sharpened. Whether it’s a paring knife or a bastard sword, it can be made to fillet fish, cut paper in two and sink deeper in a foe’s flesh.
In this case, assume that the statistics below for all edged weapons are for weapons in a normal, moderately sharpened state. Meaning, as an optional rule, they can be sharpened further. Storytellers, determine whether you wish to allow blade sharpening in your chronicle. If you do, it’s only fair to allow certain antagonists to avail themselves of it, as well.
An edged weapon cannot be given more than a +1 bonus through sharpening. A blade can become only so sharp — it’ll never be able to split tank barrels in half or splice water molecules. However, the better the sharpening device, the longer the edge will hold. For every point of Cost incurred in purchasing the sharpening device, assume that the blade maintains its improved edge for five points of damage inflicted by the weapon. So, a whetstone (Cost •) would allow a knife to maintain its better edge (+1 to attack) until the knife has caused five points of damage on an opponent or object. A nice kitchen knife sharpener (Cost ••) would grant 10 points of damage with the bonus, and an industrial grinder with diamond abrasives (Cost •••) will allow for 15 points of damage until the blade loses its superior edge.