MSRD:Melee Weapons

This material is published under the OGL 1.0a.

Melee Weapons

Melee weapons are used in close combat, and they are generally among the simplest types of weapons. The feat that provides proficiency with these weapons varies from weapon to weapon; some are considered simple weapons (covered by the Simple Weapons Proficiency feat); others are archaic (Archaic Weapons Proficiency) or exotic (Exotic Melee Weapon Proficiency).

A character’s Strength modifier is always added to a melee weapon’s attack roll and damage roll.

Melee Weapons Table

Melee weapons are described by a number of statistics, as shown on Table: Melee Weapons.

Damage: The damage the weapon deals on a successful hit.

Critical: The threat range for a critical hit. If the threat is confirmed, a weapon deals double damage on a critical hit (roll damage twice, as if hitting the target two times).

Damage Type: Melee weapon damage is classified according to type: bludgeoning (weapons with a blunt striking surface), energy (of a specific type), piercing (weapons with a sharp point), and slashing (weapons with an edged blade). Some creatures or characters may be resistant or immune to some forms of damage.

Range Increment: Melee weapons that are designed to be thrown can be used to make ranged attacks. As such, they have a range increment just as other ranged weapons do—but the maximum range for a thrown weapon is five range increments instead of ten.

Any attack at less than the given range increment is not penalized for range. However, each full range increment causes a cumulative –2 penalty on the attack roll.

Size: Size categories for weapons and other objects are defined differently from the size categories for creatures. The relationship between a weapon’s size and that of its wielder defines whether it can be used one-handed, if it requires two hands, and if it’s a light weapon.

A Medium-size or smaller weapon can be used one-handed or two-handed. A Large weapon requires two hands.

A Small or smaller weapon is considered a light weapon. It can be used one-handed and, as a light weapon, is easier to use in a character’s off hand.

Weight: This column gives the weapon’s weight.

Purchase DC: This is the purchase DC for a Wealth check to acquire the weapon.

Restriction: None of the following melee weapons have restrictions on their purchase.

Table: Melee Weapons

Weapon	Damage	Critical	Damage Type	Range Increment	Size	Weight	Purchase DC	Restriction
Simple Weapons (require the Simple Weapons Proficiency feat)
Brass knuckles	1	20	Bludgeoning	—	Tiny	1 lb.	5	—
Cleaver	1d6	19–20	Slashing	—	Small	2 lb.	5	—
Club	1d6	20	Bludgeoning	10 ft.	Med	3 lb.	4	—
Club, spiked	1d8	20	Bludgeoning, Piercing	—	Med.	8 lb.	5	—
Dagger, punching	1d4	20/x3	Piercing	—	Tiny	2 lb.	5	—
Gauntlet	*	*	Bludgeoning	—	*	2 lb.	5	—
Gauntlet, spiked	1d4	20	Piercing	—	Tiny	2 lb.	6	—
Ketch-all pole*	1d4*	20	Bludgeoning	—	Large	8 lb.	11	—
Knife	1d4	19–20	Piercing	10 ft.	Tiny	1 lb.	7	—
Mace, heavy	1d8	20	Bludgeoning	—	Med.	8 lb.	5	—
Mace, light	1d6	20	Bludgeoning	—	Small	6 lb.	4	—
Metal baton	1d6	19–20	Bludgeoning	—	Med	2 lb.	8	—
Pistol whip	1d4	20	Bludgeoning	—	Small	—	—	—
Quarterstaff*‡	1d6/1d6	20	Bludgeoning	—	Large	4 lb.	3	—
Rifle butt	1d6	20	Bludgeoning	—	Large	—	—	—
Sap	1d61	20	Bludgeoning	—	Small	3 lb.	2	—
Shortspear	1d8	20/x3	Piercing	20 ft.	Large	5 lb.	5	—
Sickle	1d6	20	Slashing	—	Small	3 lb.	3	—
Stun gun1	1d3	20	Electricity	—	Tiny	1 lb.	5	—
Tonfa1	1d4	20	Bludgeoning	—	Med	2 lb.	6	—
Archaic Weapons (require the Archaic Weapons Proficiency feat)
Battleaxe	1d8	20/x3	Slashing	—	Med.	7 lb.	11	—
Bayonet (fixed)1	1d4/1d6	20	Piercing	—	Large	1 lb.	7	—
Cutlass*	1d6	19–20	Piercing, Slashing	—	Small	3 lb.	11	—
Falchion	2d4	18–20	Slashing	—	Large	16 lb.	12	—
Flail, heavy*	1d10	19–20	Bludgeoning	—	Large	20 lb.	8	—
Flail, light*	1d8	20	Bludgeoning	—	Med.	5 lb.	7	—
Glaive†	1d10	20/x3	Slashing	—	Large	15 lb.	9	—
Greataxe	1d12	20/x3	Slashing	—	Large	20 lb.	12	—
Greatclub	1d10	20	Bludgeoning	—	Large	10 lb.	6	—
Greatsword	2d6	19–20	Slashing	—	Large	15 lb.	13	—
Guisarme*†	2d4	20/x3	Slashing	—	Large	15 lb.	9	—
Halberd*†	1d10	20/x3	Piercing, Slashing	—	Large	15 lb.	10	—
Hatchet	1d6	20	Slashing	10 ft.	Small	4 lb.	4	—
Lance, heavy	1d8	20/x3	Piercing	—	Med.	10 lb.	7	—
Lance, light	1d6	20/x3	Piercing	—	Small	5 lb.	6	—
Longsword	1d8	19–20	Slashing	—	Med	4 lb.	11	—
Machete	1d6	19–20	Slashing	—	Small	2 lb.	5	—
Maul	1d10	20/x3	Bludgeoning	—	Large	20 lb.	10	—
Naginata†	1d10	20/x3	Slashing	—	Large	15 lb.	13	—
Pick	1d4	20/x4	Piercing	—	Small	4 lb.	6	—
Pickaxe	1d6	20/x4	Piercing	—	Med.	6 lb.	7	—
Ranseur†	2d4	20/x3	Piercing	—	Large	15 lb.	9	—
Rapier	1d6	18–20	Piercing	—	Med	3 lb.	10	—
Saber*	1d8	19–20	Slashing, Piercing	—	Med.	4 lb.	11	—
Scimitar	1d6	18–20	Slashing	—	Med.	4 lb.	12	—
Scythe	2d4	20/x4	Piercing, Slashing	—	Large	12 lb.	7	—
Spear	1d8	20	Piercing	—	Large	9 lb.	6	—
Straight razor	1d4	19–20	Slashing	—	Tiny	0.5 lb.	4	—
Sword cane1	1d6	18–20	Piercing	—	Med	3 lb.	9	—
Sword, short	1d6	19–20	Piercing	—	Small	3 lb.	10	—
Trident	1d8	20	Piercing	10 ft.	Med.	5 lb.	7	—
Wakizashi	1d6	19–20	Slashing	—	Small	3 lb.	11	—
Warhammer	1d8	20/x3	Bludgeoning	—	Med.	8 lb.	9	—
Exotic Melee Weapons (each requires a specific Exotic Melee Weapon Proficiency feat)
Axe, orc double*‡	1d8/1d8	20/x3	Slashing	—	Large	25 lb.	15	—
Chain1	1d6/1d6	20	Bludgeoning	—	Large	5 lb.	5	—
Chain saw	3d6	20	Slashing	—	Large	10 lb.	9	—
Flail, dire*‡	1d8/1d8	20	Bludgeoning	—	Large	20 lb.	15	—
Hammer, gnome hooked*‡	1d6/1d4	x3/x4*	Bludgeoning, Piercing	—	Med.	6 lb.	15	—
Kama	1d6	20	Slashing	—	Small	2 lb.	5	—
Katana	2d6	19–20	Slashing	—	Large	6 lb.	12	—
Khopesh*	1d8	19–20	Slashing	—	Med.	12 lb.	11	—
Kukri	1d4	18–20	Slashing	—	Small	1 lb.	5	—
Nekode*	1d4	20	Piercing	—	Tiny	2 lb.	8	—
Ninja-to*	1d6	19–20	Slashing	—	Small	3 lb.	10	—
Nunchaku	1d6	20	Bludgeoning	—	Small	2 lb.	3	—
Scourge*	1d8	20	Slashing	—	Med.	2 lb.	6	—
Shikomi-zue	1d8	20/x3	Piercing	—	Large	5 lb.	12	—
Sword, bastard*	1d10	19–20	Slashing	—	Med.	10 lb.	15	—
Sword, two-bladed*‡	1d8/1d8	19–20	Slashing	—	Large	15 lb.	16	—
Three-section staff1	1d10/1d10	20	Bludgeoning	—	Large	3 lb.	4	—
Urgosh, dwarven*‡	1d8/1d6	20/x3	Slashing, Piercing	—	Large	15 lb.	15	—
Waraxe, dwarven*	1d10	20/x3	Slashing	—	Med.	15 lb.	15	—
War fan*	1d6	20/x3	Slashing	—	Small	3 lb.	12	—
See the description of this weapon for special rules. †Reach weapon. ‡Double weapon.

---

Back to MSRD > Equipment > Weapons

This page is protected from editing because it is an integral part of D&D Wiki. Please discuss possible problems on the talk page.

Open Game Content (place problems on the discussion page).

This is the Modern System 3.5 Reference Document. It is covered by the Open Game License v1.0a, rather than the GNU Free Documentation License 1.3. To distinguish it, these items will have this notice. If you see any page that contains MSRD material and does not show this license statement, please contact an admin so that this license statement can be added. It is our intent to work within this license in good faith.