Revised and New Weapons

Crossbows

Every time I look in the AD&D Players Book at the damage for crossbows, I cringe. These beastly weapons were made with the intent to penetrate English plate armor. As such, I have revised the stats on crossbows for my campaigns...

The hand crossbow is unchanged as far as the AD&D 2nd Ed. Players Handbook stats go. The medium crossbow is a new type of crossbow scaled between light and heavy, and the heavy crossbow has been modified so that if it takes an extra round to crank it, it will be more worth the effort!

Hammers

Hammers are another under-rated weapon in AD&D. The dwarves in my campaigns have taken a renewed interest in using hammers now. This is something that is tried and true in my campaigns, perhaps it will be useful in yours...

Warhammer: 4gp, 6 lbs, Medium, spd 4, d4+1/d4 dmg
Battlehammer: 8gp, 9 lbs, Medium, spd 8, d6+1/d6 dmg
Battlesledge: 15gp, 15 lbs, Large*, spd 11, d10/d8 dmg
*Dwarves w/ 16 Str or better can wield these

It seemed only fair that the hammer have the equivalent of the great axe or two handed sword available to use. I never took the Lucern Hammer seriously, and thought the Battlesledge much more satisfactory.

New Weapon Pair: Catch & Snap

This is a two-weapon set. One weapon is specialized in catching bladed weapons, the other is weighted to break caught sword blades or wooden pole/shafts.

Here are the stats for the two seperate weapons...
Catcher: 50gp, 5 lbs, Medium, spd 5, d6+2/d6 dmg
(The catcher has to be made of fine quality hardened steel to hold up under much use, hence the high price tag - extra damage is dealt to small/medium creatures due to the sawtooth action)
Snapper: 20gp, 7 lbs, Medium, spd 7, d6/d4 dmg
(The snapper is a battlehammer with more weight in the head of the hammer making for a harder swing. The weight is focused much like an axe, forward of the end of the hammer, to have a better chance of snapping a blade or shaft. The higher cost reflects the craftmanship in getting the balance right.)
To properly use these weapons, one must:
1. obtain proficiency in both weapons
2. obtain two weapon style (like the AD&D 2nd Edition Fighter's Handbook style specialization
3. be a ranger (which negates the 2nd requirement above) or put a nonwpn. proficiency slot into ambidexterity to get rid of the off-hand penalty.
Once these requirements are fulfilled, the PC can do the following...
1. When a sword or spear is wielded at the PC, the PC can make a parry roll (try to hit AC of wielding character) - if successful, the wielding character must save vs. paralysis, with a bonus or penalty for the level difference (Ex: A 3rd level fighter is parrying the sword of a 2nd level fighter. The 2nd level fighter must save vs. paralysis at -1 (penalty)). If the save is failed, the weapon is trapped.
2. If the PC has an attack remaining, he/she can opt to use the hammer to try for a break on the trapped weapon. The weapon makes a saving throw vs. crushing blow with the same bonus or penalty as before for the paralysis save. If the weapon fails the save, it is snapped or severed.