BLADED WEAPONS:
KNIFE (4 ep)Place/Time of Origin: Virtually any place, at least 2 million years ago by humanity's ancestors
Type of Damage: Piercing, Slashing
Typical Make: Hard metal (usually steel, stone in pre-historic cultures) with a plastic handle
Manner of Use: Wielded single-handedly to stab vital organs or slice arteries
Typical Wielders: Common street thugs & rapists, ninjas, martial artists, virtually any common criminal will AT LEAST possess this as a weapon
Variants on Design: Concealed with snap-out blade, attached via string, various shapes & sizes based off of use as a tool & culture of origin (like the Malaysian Kris and it's curved blade), may have serrated or saw-like edges, "Swiss Army Knife" containing multiple extra tools (more ep)
Famous Wielders: Thugs in comics & movies, Fighting monkeys, Hong Kong Gangster-Heroes
Stats: Strike 1, Mighty, Improved Critical, Thrown (4 Equipment Points)
Non-Stat Bonuses: Can be Concealed more easily than most weapons, can be explained away as a mere tool, actually USEFUL as a tool, can be part of a Swiss Army Kit.
-The common Knife is THE thug weapon of choice, as well as a superfluous weapon used by most "assassin" type Supers. The weapon should be standard issue for all goons & military thugs, though 'costumed' goons tend to have more firepower (guns or weapons related to the villain's gimmick, like Stun Blasts or something). It's hardly the most devastating thing ever, and gives no bonuses for range, but is notable for hitting the 'sweet spot' more often (Improved Critical), and is more regularly used as a throwing weapon than any other type of hand-held weapon not originally designed for that purpose. Note that the multitude of knife-types out there are all pretty much the same cutty thing, whether it's a samurai's ritual-suicide-tool Tanto, or a Scottish Dirk. Any bigger and you get a Sword or Machete, the Knife's daddies.
Modifications for Superhuman Use: "Vibro-Knives" and the like are common in futuristic sci-fi worlds, possessing greater Strike power and often Penetrating as well. Swords, the Knife's big brother, is nonetheless used far more often for any Super-character.
Maximizing Knife Guy: Being a small, weak weapon, Knives are good for already-fast guys. Super-speedy types with high Improved Critical, Takedown Attack & more, with a high Initiative. Most elites will go for the Sword instead, so making Knife Guy unique is dependant on cranking up the speed.
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STANDARD SWORD (4 ep)Place/Time of Origin: 3rd Millennium, B.C.
Type of Damage: Piercing, Slashing
Typical Make: Hard steel with a metal handle; flat, two-edged blade
Manner of Use: Wielded with one hand to stab vital organs or slice arteries
Typical Wielders: Raiders, Elite fighters, Soldiers in modern poor countries (Machetes)
Variants on Design: Varying lengths, widths & hilt designs.
Famous Wielders: Norse Raiders, Pirates' Cutlasses
Stats: Strike 3, Mighty (4 Equipment Points)
-Your regular "Boring" sword, this is the one mass-produced, non-pretty, and usually given to whatever raiders you needed. This is hardly a standard infantry weapon- those are nearly always polearms, especially once real tactics were developed. But for your crazy invaders, these are fine. No frills, just three ranks of Strike and the Mighty Feat.
Modifications for Superhuman Use: See Longswords.
Maximizing Sword Guy: As a prototypical weapon, most swords count the same way. A +3 boost to damage is enough to make most reasonably strong guys nearly make their PL caps, so be wary. Because of the tendency of M&M stats to 'even out' accurate guys with power guys a little more than in 'real comics'-time, it's pretty easy to make a +3 weapon Caps-threatening. So focus on your standard Combat Feats, Improved Critical, etc. Takedown Attack is always good. Usually go towards the 'accurate' side than the 'power' side, because it's less bad if you get disarmed (most Combat Guys have high Attack Bonus anyways, but losing +3 to Strength kinda sucks).
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LONGSWORD (6 ep)Place/Time of Origin: Europe, 1350s
Type of Damage: Piercing, Slashing
Typical Make: Hard steel with a wooden or metal handle, flat, two-edged blade
Manner of Use: Wielded with one or two hands to stab vital organs or slice arteries
Typical Wielders: Knights, elite swordsmen of wealthy background
Variants on Design: Varying lengths, widths & hilt designs, Bastard Swords (slightly mid-length hilt, allowing for only part of the second hand).
Famous Wielders: King Arthur, most any English knight, Dirk the Daring (Dragon's Lair), Female Captain Britain, The Black Knight (Ebon Blade), Jedi Knights (laser version)
Stats: Strike 3, Mighty, Penetrating 2 (6 Equipment Points)
-A standard Longsword is THE weapon for those of Knightly virtue, and are probably the most common ones used by rich men in Medieval-style campaigns. Modifications exist for basically every culture on Earth (most using identical stats to the longsword- since there's just not that much statistical variation in weapons available for a superhero-type RPG), and variations of the sword are near-universally recognized as the gentlemanly, glorious, symbols, much more than the simple spear or axe. I've given the statted up Longsword here 2 ranks of Penetrating to make it slightly better than your typical minor Sword as it appears in the main book, though that one is valid for your typical poor Gothic or Norse invaders. THIS is a weapon of finer upgringing.
Note: Hardly the clumsy, weak weapon that Japanophiles would have you believe, the sword is every bit as capable as cutting crap to pieces as the fabled Katana, it's just less pretty and more cheaply made, so is a tad clunkier. Still, it's only three bloody pounds.
Modifications for Superhuman Use: Since swords are so brutally common, one can equip them with either extra ranks of Penetrating, or simply make them Devices of their own, with immense powers like Fire Blast, Ice Snare, Lightning, etc. The sky's really the limit here.
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KATANA (7 ep/9 ep)Place/Time of Origin: Japan, 1300s.
Type of Damage: Slashing
Typical Make: Hard steel with handle covered in ray-skin, single-edged blade.
Manner of Use: Wielded with one or two hands to slice opponent's vital points.
Typical Wielders: Only the Samurai class of noblemen.
Variants on Design: Varying lengths, widths & hilt designs. Often used with a Wakizashi.
Famous Wielders: Miyamoto Musashi, Haohmaru (Samurai Shodown), Leonardo (TMNT), Sephiroth (FF VII), Every Anime Character Ever (seems like it), White dorks in North America
Stats: Strike 3, Mighty, Improved Critical, Penetrating 2 (7 Equipment Points)
States With Wakizashi: Strike 3, Mighty, Improved Critical, Penetrating 2; Split Attack AP: Shield 1 (9 Equipment Points)
Non-Stat Bonuses: A symbol of good breeding & elitism in Japanese history, but brings with it a stigma (only samurai were allowed to use swords, so you better have a good explanation if you're caught with one in Ancient Japan).
-The Katana is the most fabled of all melee weapons, noted for it's beauty, cutting power and lethality. Of course, the mythic status of it's properties have attained ridiculous levels (it's really no more dangerous in combat than a well-made European Longsword as far as cutting power goes), as well as their users, the Samurai. In real life, an English Knight is no clunky piece of target practise for super-elite Samurai warriors; both guys are fundamentally the same: high-class, trained-from-birth warriors who can easily move around in their big pieces of armour and knock the crap out of each other. In fact, both guys are as likely to be slovenly or poor fighters. It's ALL based on the guy. The Katana's key advantage is it's curved shape making it a very quick cutter, giving it that rank of Improved Critical the Longsword lacks.
Modifications for Superhuman Use: See Longswords. The number of fabled Japanese swords in Video Games & fiction would take longer to describe than I could possibly make time for, so yeah, just about anything fits.
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BROADSWORD (10 ep)Place/Time of Origin: Scotland & Germany, 16th Century
Type of Damage: Piercing, Slashing
Typical Make: Hard steel with a wooden or metal handle
Manner of Use: Wielded with two hands to stab vital organs or slice arteries
Typical Wielders: Knights, elite swordsmen of wealthy background
Variants on Design: Varying lengths, widths & hilt designs.
Famous Wielders: Cloud Strife (FF VII), William Wallace, German Knights, Scotsmen (Claymores)
Stats: Strike 3, Mighty, Extended Reach, Penetrating 5 (10 Equipment Points)
Non-Stat Bonuses: Sheer size & scariness. Relatively hard to carry around, though, and impossible to fight on horseback. Close quarters makes it kind of a pain. Has the advantage over a polearm-wielder.
-Broadswords (a more colloquial expression- different types are varied across multiple countries) were invented to deal with those annoying pikes; these monstrosities were used to break the pikes, and then nail the guys USING them. Surely a manly, awesome weapon. Much clunkier than a usual sword, it was used by a highly-armoured elite troop, so it didn't matter so much; not alot was going to hurt him once it inevitably hit. It's Penetrating Ranks mean it's going to knock the living crap out of anyone wearing anything other than Full-Plate Armour as well, and it's got a bit longer reach than the Longsword/Katana.
Modifications for Superhuman Use: See Longswords.
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RAPIER (5 ep)Place/Time of Origin: Europe, 16th Century
Type of Damage: Piercing for the most part (Sabres are Slashing)
Typical Make: Hard steel with a metal hilt, ornately designed in a protective manner to cover the hand.
Manner of Use: Wielded with one hand to deftly dodge, parry and stab at vital organs
Typical Wielders: Elite swordsmen, gentlemen, duelists, competitive sportsmen
Variants on Design: Varying lengths, widths & hilt designs. Sabres have a slicing edge.
Famous Wielders: The Three Musketeers, Inigo Montoya & Westley, Zorro
Stats: Strike 2, Mighty, Improved Critical 2 (5 Equipment Points)
Non-Stat Effects: Great for breaking through tiny cracks in the defense, but not for banging & clanging against bigger weapons. Very difficult to disarm or hurt the wielder's hand thanks to the large hilt.
-Rapiers (among them Sabres, Epees, and more) are the REAL gentleman's weapon, less effective in true warfare, but much better for city police and swashbuckling handsome, debonaire types. They just look so damn COOL. Far less powerful or durable than regular war-swords, they can find the sweet spot much easier, gaining an extra rank of Improved Critical.
Modifications for Superhuman Use: See Longswords.
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SAI (Pair) (5 ep)Place/Time of Origin: Okinawa
Type of Damage: Bludgeoning (converted in Pop Culture to Piercing)
Typical Make: Hard steel in a three-pronged fork-shape, rounded or sharp ends, with long handles.
Manner of Use: Wielded two-handed as disarming and thrusting weapons, held around the centre to strike with the knuckle.
Typical Wielders: Ninjas, Okinawan defenders, monks
Variants on Design: Sharp or Rounded ends.
Famous Wielders: Elektra Natchios, Raphael of the Ninja Turtles, Gabrielle in Xena's later seasons, Mileena (Mortal Kombat)
Stats: Strike 1, Mighty, Split Attack, Improved Disarm, Thrown (5 Equipment Points)
Non-Stat Effects: Could be explained away as a tool in Okinawa, ideal for grapplers & defensive fighters. Can grapple & fight at the same time without unarming it, unlike most weapons.
-A cool-looking defensive weapon, the Sai (both singular and plural, as I've learned, so they're not called "Sais" when paired) were modified by Japanophile extraordinare Frank Miller into stabbing implements of death in his "Daredevil" run, and pop culture took note. Thus, you've got an array of people using this once blunt-ended weapon as basically a pair of knives. But hey, Rule of Cool insists that it works. Basically Knives with Split Attack & Improved Disarm attached to them, it's a great defender's weapon.
Modifications for Superhuman Use: Not many.
Maximizing Sai Guy: Much like Knife Guy, but focus on Disarming, Tripping, Grappling, etc.
