“ I've never been happy that almost every player picks long sword and greatsword, so I made a special chart to make them more unique. I use this in OSR and Pathfinder. I use 20 only as crit threat(Pathfinder speak),double damage.
dagger +2 to hit, D4 damage
short sword +1 to hit, d6 damage
long sword, threatens critical(see below) on 19-20, D8 damage
battle axe, ignores one Damage resistance( some monsters have resistance to damage in the form of knocks damage off before you do actual damage)(scale at higher L?) D8 damage
Mace, 0ne damage on a miss(Scalable?) D8 damage (Ok , should prob only be vrs Metal armor but not looking for that kind of complexity)
spear D6 damage, d12 damage vrs large creatures
great sword 2d6 damage
military pick d6 damage, x3 damage( triple dice damage) on crit(20)
great axe D10 damage, +3 to confirm crit ( in pathfinder if you roll a 20 you then reroll your attack and if you hit the targets AC, you get a critical multiplier)
quarterstaff(2 handed) D6 damage +1 bonus to AC (to the better)
Etc.”
“ The air had grown chill the minute they descended into the strange valley, which was unmarked on any of their maps. It was so strange here, devoid of animal life and completely silent. The horses were nervous the entire journey through the vale. As they set about to collect firewood for the campfire they could hear their own voices as dim echoes through the eerie silence.
The food didn't taste anything that evening and their sleep was cold and troubled by nightmares. While they are clearing camp the next morning, one of them stumbles over a piece of stone jutting out of the ground nearby the horses. On closer inspection there seems to be runes engraved into the polished surface. The symbols true meaning is no more known among mere mortals and if they decide to dig deeper, they will discover that it is an ancient altar buried within the soil.
Any historically oriented party member will recognize the largest symbol to be the insignia of the powerful warlock who ruled this realm several centuries ago. At their departure from the area, something will seem amiss with one of the party members and all will remember the stories of the warlock's thousand curses.”