the-sunken-reach/docs/WEAPONS.md

Weapons

How weapons work in this app: the campaign's weapon pool, how a character comes to hold a weapon, weapon levels, and how attack and damage numbers are worked out.

This describes the code as it stands. The formulas live in backend/src/game/calculations.js; the built-in list is backend/src/game/data/weaponsLibrary.js. Related: ITEMS.md, SPELLS.md, CHARACTERS.md.

Contents

1. The basics
2. The weapon pool
3. The built-in library
4. Giving weapons to characters
5. Weapon levels
6. How damage grows
7. Attack and damage numbers
8. Starting weapons
9. Weapons as rewards and for sale
10. Permissions
11. What is not modelled
12. The complete weapon library

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1. The basics

• Every campaign has its own weapon pool. A weapon exists in one campaign only.
• A character never owns a free-standing weapon: it holds a copy of a pool entry, with its own quantity, level and equipped flag.
• The DM runs the pool and decides who gets what. Players can only equip and unequip what they hold.

2. The weapon pool

The pool is the "Weapons" part of the campaign page (DM only). It lists each weapon as a short row: its name, base damage, starting level and what it does while equipped. The list has a search box, shows ten to a page, and clicking a row opens the weapon's pop-out, which shows everything below and is where it is changed.

Field	What it is
Name	Free text, up to 80 characters
Base damage	Dice such as 1d8 or 2d6 — the damage at the weapon's starting level
Damage type	Free text: slashing, piercing, fire…
Attack ability	Strength, Dexterity, or Finesse (whichever of the two is higher for the wielder)
Starts at level	1 to 9. The lowest level this weapon can be (section 5)
Growth	Standard, Powerful or Legendary: how fast the dice climb per level (section 6)
Starting option	Whether a brand-new character may pick it in the builder (section 8)
Properties, range	Stored for library weapons (light, thrown, 20/60 ft…). Shown in the weapon's pop-out, and not used anywhere
Effects	What it does to whoever has it equipped: bonuses and penalties to the sheet's numbers, and a note. Works exactly as for items (ITEMS.md, section 5)

• Adding: by hand with "+ Add Weapon", or from the library. Both open in a pop-out. A weapon added by hand opens its own pop-out straight away, to set what it does; "+ Add another weapon" at its top goes straight back to an empty form.
• Effects: under "While equipped" in the weapon's pop-out, saved with "Save Effects". A defending blade can give +1 AC, a heavy maul −5 speed. They count only while the weapon is equipped, and do not change its own attack or damage.
• Changing: starting level, growth and the starting-option tick box are changed in the pop-out, and saved as they are changed. Name, damage, type and ability cannot be changed on screen once created (the API accepts it); remove and re-add instead.
• Removing: "Remove from campaign" at the foot of the pop-out, after a confirmation. This takes the weapon away from every character holding it and off every encounter's reward list. There is no undo.
• The same weapon can be added twice; nothing stops duplicate names.

3. The built-in library

"📚 From Library" offers 41 weapons to copy into the pool:

Category	Count	Examples
Simple melee	10	Club 1d4, Dagger 1d4, Mace 1d6, Spear 1d6
Simple ranged	4	Shortbow, Light Crossbow, Dart, Sling
Martial melee	18	Longsword 1d8, Rapier 1d8, Greataxe 1d12, Greatsword 2d6
Martial ranged	5	Longbow, Heavy Crossbow, Hand Crossbow
Paired	4	Paired Daggers 2d4, Paired Shortswords 2d6, Paired Scimitars 2d6, Paired Handaxes 2d6

Paired weapons. A character has one weapon equipped at a time (section 4), so fighting with a weapon in each hand is not two weapons: it is one weapon made as a pair, whose damage is both blades. The library has four, and a DM makes others the same way with "+ Add Weapon" ("Twin Hammers", 2d4 bludgeoning).

A weapon added from the library arrives with starting level 1, Standard growth, and not ticked as a starting option. Change those in the table afterwards. Every library weapon is listed in section 12.

Each library weapon can be added once. A weapon the pool already has by that name is left out of the library list, and comes back if the pool's weapon is renamed or deleted.

4. Giving weapons to characters

On a character's sheet, the DM picks a weapon from the pool and clicks Give.

• It arrives at the weapon's starting level, quantity 1, unequipped.

• Giving a weapon the character already holds adds to the stack; the stack keeps the level it has. A character holds one stack per weapon, so two copies of the same weapon at different levels is not possible.

• The DM can take a weapon away with ✕ on the sheet.

• The owning player, or the DM, ticks Equipped. While the character is in a battle in progress, a player can only change it as the battle begins or on their own turn after their attack has landed (ENCOUNTERS.md, section 5); the DM always can.

• Only what is equipped counts. A weapon has to be equipped to be used in an encounter, and gear only gives its effects while equipped. What is not equipped stays in the pack: still the character's, still listed on the sheet and in the character panel, but not in hand.

• There is a limit on how much can be equipped at once, set per campaign in Campaign Settings ("Equipped at once"):

  Setting	Starts at	Means
  Things equipped at once	2	Weapons and items together
  Of which weapons	1	So: one weapon, or one weapon and one item, or two items

  Armor and shields are items and count toward the limit. With the starting numbers a character can have a weapon and a shield, or a weapon and armor, but not all three; a DM who wants armor, shield and weapon together sets the first number to 3.

• Putting something on when the limit is reached is refused, with a message naming what is already equipped. Take something off first.

• Equipping can be changed at any time, including in the middle of an encounter, by the owning player or the DM: on the sheet, or in the character panel (the 🧙 button, or "🎒 Inventory" on the character's encounter card).

• Lowering the limits takes nothing off anyone. A character with more on than the new limit keeps it until they change what they have equipped.

• Everything arrives unequipped: gear from the DM, from a reward, bought, or given by another character.

Passing a weapon on. A character's owner (or the DM) can give a held weapon to another character in the campaign from the "Give to Another Character" card on the sheet. Some or all of the stack moves: it leaves the giver and arrives with the recipient at the giver's level, unequipped. If the recipient already holds that weapon, their stack grows and keeps its own level. A recipient below the weapon's level holds it but cannot use it yet.

5. Weapon levels

This is a house rule of this app, not standard D&D.

• Each held copy has a level from 1 to 9. Two characters can hold the same weapon at different levels.
• Only the DM changes a copy's level, with the level picker beside it on the sheet. Each option shows the damage at that level.
• A copy can never go below the pool entry's starting level. Raising a pool entry's starting level lifts any copies below it and unequips them.

Who can use it. A character must be at least the copy's level:

Character level	Can use weapons of level
1	1
2	1–2
5	1–5
9 and above	1–9

A weapon above its holder's level is still held, but it shows "Requires level N", cannot be equipped, and so is never on its holder's encounter card. The character panel lists it, marked "needs level N". If the DM levels a weapon past its holder, or lowers the character's level, it is unequipped automatically.

6. How damage grows

The dice in the pool are the damage at the weapon's starting level. Each level above that moves the dice up a fixed ladder, in the smallest steps dice allow:

Rung	Dice	Average
1	1d4	2.5
2	1d6	3.5
3	1d8	4.5
4	1d10	5.5
5	1d12	6.5
6	2d6	7
7	1d6+1d8	8
8	2d8	9
9	1d8+1d10	10
10	2d10	11
11	1d10+1d12	12
12	2d12	13
13	3d8	13.5
…	adding a die each time the current dice max out

Every rung is +1 average damage over the last, or +0.5 where a die is added.

Growth sets how many rungs a weapon climbs per level:

Growth	Rungs per level	A 1d6 weapon at levels 1, 2, 3, 4	At level 9
Standard	1	1d6, 1d8, 1d10, 1d12	2d10
Powerful	2	1d6, 1d10, 2d6, 2d8	1d10+2d12
Legendary	3	1d6, 1d12, 2d8, 1d10+1d12	4d12

A weapon with a higher starting level counts from there: a 2d6 greatsword that starts at level 3 with Standard growth is 2d6 at level 3, 1d6+1d8 at level 4 and 2d8 at level 5.

• At its starting level a weapon always shows its dice exactly as typed.
• Dice that are not on the ladder (1d4+1, 2d4+2) climb from the highest rung that is not stronger than them: 2d4+2 (average 7) continues from 2d6.
• Dice the app cannot read (free text such as "special") never change.

7. Attack and damage numbers

Number	Formula
Attack bonus	Ability modifier + proficiency bonus
Damage	The dice at the copy's level + ability modifier

• The ability modifier is Strength, Dexterity, or the higher of the two for a Finesse weapon.
• The weapon's level changes the dice only, never the bonuses.
• Every character is treated as proficient with every weapon.

These numbers appear on the character sheet, in the quick-stats drawer, and on the character's card in an encounter.

8. Starting weapons

In the builder's equipment step a new character can pick weapons that are:

• ticked as a starting option in the pool, and
• starting level 1 (a new character is level 1).

Starting weapons and starting items share the campaign's "starting items" allowance. They arrive at level 1, unequipped.

9. Weapons as rewards and for sale

On an encounter the DM can line up a weapon as a reward, at a chosen level (not below its starting level) and quantity, and later award it to a character. Awarding adds it to what the character holds, exactly as giving it on the sheet would. See ENCOUNTERS.md.

The DM can also put a weapon up for sale, at a level, a price (in gold, silver, copper or cash) and an optional stock. An NPC can sell it, wherever that NPC is met, or an encounter can sell it itself. Players see what is for sale and buy it in an NPC quest that is in progress: the price leaves their purse and the weapon joins what they hold, unequipped. See NPCS.md, section 5, and ENCOUNTERS.md, section 10.

10. Permissions

Action	DM	Owning player	Other players
See the pool	Yes	Only what their own character holds, plus the starting options while they have a character to build	The same, for their own character
See the built-in library	Yes	No	No
Add, change or remove pool entries	Yes	No	No
Give a weapon from the pool, or take one away	Yes	No	No
Give a held weapon to another character	Yes	Yes	No
Put a weapon up for sale	Yes	No	No
Buy a weapon that is for sale, in a quest in progress	Yes, for any character in it	Yes, if the character is in it	No
Change a held weapon's level or quantity	Yes	No	No
Equip or unequip	Yes	Yes, if the character can use it	No
See a character's weapons	Yes	Yes	Yes

11. What is not modelled

• Weapon proficiency by class (everyone is proficient with everything)
• Properties: two-handed, versatile, light, reach, loading, thrown (a two-handed weapon counts as one thing equipped, like any other)
• Range and ammunition
• Critical hits, advantage, and rolling the attack itself (use the dice roller)
• Magic bonuses to a weapon's own attack or damage, such as +1 weapons (use a higher level or growth instead)
• A price on the weapon itself (a price is set each time it is put up for sale), and weight

12. The complete weapon library

Every weapon "📚 From Library" offers. Base damage is the damage at level 1. Properties and range are carried into the campaign but not shown or used. "While equipped" is the weapon's effects and note, which are carried in too.

This list is written from the app's own data by npm run docs:lists (in /backend). Re-run it after changing the data; do not edit the list by hand.

Simple Melee (10)

Weapon	Base damage	Type	Attacks with	Properties	Range	While equipped
Club	1d4	bludgeoning	Strength	light	—	—
Dagger	1d4	piercing	Strength or Dexterity (finesse)	finesse, light, thrown	20/60 ft	—
Greatclub	1d8	bludgeoning	Strength	two-handed	—	—
Handaxe	1d6	slashing	Strength	light, thrown	20/60 ft	—
Javelin	1d6	piercing	Strength	thrown	30/120 ft	—
Light Hammer	1d4	bludgeoning	Strength	light, thrown	20/60 ft	—
Mace	1d6	bludgeoning	Strength	—	—	—
Quarterstaff	1d6	bludgeoning	Strength	versatile (1d8)	—	—
Sickle	1d4	slashing	Strength	light	—	—
Spear	1d6	piercing	Strength	thrown, versatile (1d8)	20/60 ft	—

Simple Ranged (4)

Weapon	Base damage	Type	Attacks with	Properties	Range	While equipped
Light Crossbow	1d8	piercing	Dexterity	ammunition, loading, two-handed	80/320 ft	—
Dart	1d4	piercing	Strength or Dexterity (finesse)	finesse, thrown	20/60 ft	—
Shortbow	1d6	piercing	Dexterity	ammunition, two-handed	80/320 ft	—
Sling	1d4	bludgeoning	Dexterity	ammunition	30/120 ft	—

Martial Melee (18)

Weapon	Base damage	Type	Attacks with	Properties	Range	While equipped
Battleaxe	1d8	slashing	Strength	versatile (1d10)	—	—
Flail	1d8	bludgeoning	Strength	—	—	—
Glaive	1d10	slashing	Strength	heavy, reach, two-handed	—	—
Greataxe	1d12	slashing	Strength	heavy, two-handed	—	—
Greatsword	2d6	slashing	Strength	heavy, two-handed	—	—
Halberd	1d10	slashing	Strength	heavy, reach, two-handed	—	—
Lance	1d12	piercing	Strength	reach, special	—	—
Longsword	1d8	slashing	Strength	versatile (1d10)	—	—
Maul	2d6	bludgeoning	Strength	heavy, two-handed	—	—
Morningstar	1d8	piercing	Strength	—	—	—
Pike	1d10	piercing	Strength	heavy, reach, two-handed	—	—
Rapier	1d8	piercing	Strength or Dexterity (finesse)	finesse	—	—
Scimitar	1d6	slashing	Strength or Dexterity (finesse)	finesse, light	—	—
Shortsword	1d6	piercing	Strength or Dexterity (finesse)	finesse, light	—	—
Trident	1d6	piercing	Strength	thrown, versatile (1d8)	20/60 ft	—
War Pick	1d8	piercing	Strength	—	—	—
Warhammer	1d8	bludgeoning	Strength	versatile (1d10)	—	—
Whip	1d4	slashing	Strength or Dexterity (finesse)	finesse, reach	—	—

Martial Ranged (5)

Weapon	Base damage	Type	Attacks with	Properties	Range	While equipped
Blowgun	1	piercing	Dexterity	ammunition, loading	25/100 ft	—
Hand Crossbow	1d6	piercing	Dexterity	ammunition, light, loading	30/120 ft	—
Heavy Crossbow	1d10	piercing	Dexterity	ammunition, heavy, loading, two-handed	100/400 ft	—
Longbow	1d8	piercing	Dexterity	ammunition, heavy, two-handed	150/600 ft	—
Net	-	special	Dexterity	special, thrown	5/15 ft	—

Paired (4)

Weapon	Base damage	Type	Attacks with	Properties	Range	While equipped
Paired Daggers	2d4	piercing	Strength or Dexterity (finesse)	finesse, light, paired	—	A dagger in each hand: takes both hands.
Paired Shortswords	2d6	piercing	Strength or Dexterity (finesse)	finesse, light, paired	—	A shortsword in each hand: takes both hands.
Paired Scimitars	2d6	slashing	Strength or Dexterity (finesse)	finesse, light, paired	—	A scimitar in each hand: takes both hands.
Paired Handaxes	2d6	slashing	Strength	light, paired	—	A handaxe in each hand: takes both hands.