The Campaign Builder's Guild

The weapon I saw was definitely a katana.

@limetom: Yeah, that's sort of what I remember finding.

I've made shuriken simple weapons in my games, but I hadnt' considered changing the threat range. I'd rather not do that, as that would make them very deadly in the hands of a high strength character.

As for exotic weapons in my games, the list has become very small. Currently, there are no light exotic weapons (as all of the "monk" weapons were moved to simple, except the nunchaku, which is martial [light flail]), the bastard sword/war saber (katana)/war axe are the current one-handed, and there are several two handeds (mostly the double weapons). I will be adding chains and other exotics.

Even though current schemes say that a 1d8 18-20/x2 one-handed exotic katana that can be wielded in two hands as a martial weapon is balanced (compare to waraxe, and bastard sword), I'd rather see those three weapons have something more unique to them. The spiked chain and whip are good exotic weapons because they can do something other weapons can't. The exotic weapons out of Complete Adventurer were good as well, because they were unique.

QuoteI've made shuriken simple weapons in my games, but I hadnt' considered changing the threat range. I'd rather not do that, as that would make them very deadly in the hands of a high strength character.

Why not just give them that rule, but say that you cannot apply you str bonus tothem (which would make sense since you need a more significant amount of mass to have the throwing strength mean much). This would also make them more useful to low str characters like rogues, etc

No to all points, except Xev's middle paragraph and the second to last sentence of his last paragraph.

Very deadly?  They can't do that much damage in the first place, so even with a multiplier of 3, it doesn't help much.  I think anyone exclusively using Japanese weapons would use the yumi, which has the ability to deal twice the amount damage at a much greater range.

Even comparing it to the dart, its balanced.  The dart does 1 die higher damage baseline and has a larger range increment.

Dropping the Strength bonus to them isn't a good idea either.  It wouldn't help low Strength-characters, because they'd loose any Strength bonus they would normally gain.

A further change I would make to them, after rereading their description, is that they can be used as both ranged an melee weapons, to fit more with how one would normally use them.

As for the bastard sword being exotic, the only reason it is exotic is for using it in one-hand.  People seem to forget that you can use it as a two-handed martial weapon without penalty.

And using a bastard sword two handed as a martial weapon means you're using a 1d10 weapon rather than a 2d6 weapon; not a good prospect. Spending a feat to gain +1 damage (1d8 is 4.5 average, 1d10 is 5.5 average) is worse than spending one feat for +2 damage (weapon specialization); again, while current balance scheme says it's okay, I haven't really felt comfortable spending that feat with my fighters in a very long time.

My point about shuriken is that I don't think they could really deal x3 damage. If anything, I'd be more prone to giving them 19-20 range, because they're very sharp, but even then. A flat damage and 20/x2 is perfectly fine with me; they have an advantage over darts because they are ammunition and don't require quickdraw to draw.

I didn't say handling the bastard sword that way was the best way of doing it, just that you can use the bastard sword without penalty and without burning a feat.  (Please discuss your weapon system elsewhere.  I don't think a thread on Japanese weapons is a place to discuss the bastard sword.)

Let's compare what the different critical ranges mean, rather than their mechanics for a second.  A multiplier higher than x2 means that the weapon strikes harder when it scores a critical hit, though it is not necessarily easier to hit with.  A weapon with a threat range of greater than 20 means that the weapon is more prone to cause a serious injury.

Going off of these, which is how I went about this entire process, the shuriken is not prone to cause serious injury.  When it strikes perfectly (i.e. a critical hit), it can do some serious damage.  

Exempli gratia: On R. Lee Ermey's show, Mail Call, he took several throws at a watermelon with a shuriken.  Several missed, several hit.  Of those that hit, most either stuck in the surface, still exposed or went in, but didn't go out through the other side.  One, however, went all the way through.  I'd defiantly call that last instance a critical hit in D&D terms, and by his 10 or so other throws, I'd say that it doesn't threaten easier than other weapons, but it defiantly has the capacity to deal a substantial amount of damage when conditions are optimal.

Therefore, a multiplier of x3 seems much more logical than an expanded threat range of 19-20/x2.  My decision stands.  

I'm not going to break your arm, if you disagree, you don't have to use it.  I'm just going off of experience and research, translating them to D&D terms as best I can.

No problem. But I thought plants were immune to critical hits ... heh.

I guess that would work, but similar lines could be drawn from crossbows (which are traditionally statted as 19/x2).

The only reason I brought up the bastard sword was because it can be compared to the katana. Both can be wielded one-handed as exotic weapons, even if you give the katana a 1d8 18-20/x2 damage (making it slightly weaker than the falchion). As an exotic weapon, it deals slightly more damage than the scimitar, but you will get a larger damage increase with Weapon Specialization (Scimitar).

My point is that the katana would benefit from a special ability, to warrant someone spending a feat on it's use; aside from a simple +1 damage bonus.

I think I see what you're trying to say, but in this case, I've completely divorced the katana from the bastard sword.  Unlike the bastard sword, the katana was almost always used two-handed.  The number of one-handed wielders was probably less than 1% in historical terms.

Furthermore, my version of the katana is no longer exotic, it is a martial weapon.  A new feat would be needed to use it one-handed.

You also have to think about the difference in the way that a japanese sword and a european sword are held.  European swords are held much like a baseball bat.  A japanese sword fighting grip is holding of the handle with the bottom three fingers and place the index and fore finger in a looser and more fluid grip.  This is from the experience of a person who has taken classes in sword fighting in both styles.  I am no expert but it was a wonderful means of exercise and I recommend it to anyone who is bored with common routines.  Also this is why the Japanese Yakuza cut off the tip of the pinky as a means of apology and punishment.  It weakens the sword grip of the individual and forces them to rely on the group in a greater capacity.  That is the basis for the finger cutting.  I usually don't bother to weigh in on this particular discussion when it pops up but due to some recent research thought I might add the real life reason that all japanese swords are considered exotic weapons in my games unless the character takes the cultural package granting them as martial.  I have cultural packages that change access to weapons, armor, gear, and their price as well as opening up feats, guilds, and classes to them.  No european culture knight wearing roman armor wielding a katana in my games.  That image alone make me laugh.