Weapon Group: Light Blades
Pictured here: 1) throwing dagger or kunai, 2) kerambit, 3) dagger, 4) sica, 5) kukri, 6) swordbreaker or jitte, 7) sickle, 8) deer horn knife or crescent moon knife, 9) kama, 10) short sword, 11) wakizashi, 12) hook swords or tiger head dāo, 13) machete or oxtail dāo, 14) sword cane, 15) rapier or straight-backed dāo, 16) punching dagger or katar, 17) manople, 18) tri-bladed katar, 19) sai, 20) urumi, and 21) butterfly swords or double dāo.
Less obtrusive than weapons such as longswords, axes, or spears, light blades have a reputation that attracts users who prize skill over brute strength, being seen as the provenance of dandies and rogues. Many of them often feature in the teachings of monastic orders whose focus is on grace, agility, and self-reliance. Whatever their position they may occupy in one's imagination, the staggering ubiquity of them means that they are far and away the most common weapon type.
BLADE BOOT
Damage: 1d4, x2
Type: Light martial piercing
Special: Finesse
Description: Blade boots come with a spring-mounted knife in the toe of the boot that pops out when triggered by the right combination of toe presses. You can use a blade boot as an off-hand weapon. Releasing the knife is a swift action; rearming it is a full-round action. When the blade is extended, you treat normal terrain as difficult and difficult terrain as impassable.
Cost: 25 gp
Weight: 2 lbs
BUTTERFLY SWORD [DOUBLE DĀO]
Damage: 1d4, 19-20/x2
Type: Light martial slashing
Special: Blocking, finesse, monk
Description: This pair of short, matching swords is treated as a single weapon in the same way that a weapon with the "double" quality is. The blades are kept nested as a single item which can be drawn at the same time and separated as a free action. Their thin, broad blades extend just a foot in length. A butterfly sword has a large, metal D-shaped guard that provides effective protection to a skilled user.
Cost: 20 gp
Weight: 1 lb
CHAKRAM
Damage: 1d6, x2
Range: 30 ft
Type: Ranged martial slashing
Special: Finesse
Description: The chakram is a flat, open-centered metal discus with a sharpened edge. You can wield the chakram as a melee weapon, but it is not designed for such use; you take a –1 penalty on your attack roll with the weapon and must succeed at a DC 15 Reflex save or cut yourself on the blade (half damage, no Strength modifier). You do not need to make this save if wearing heavy armor.
Cost: 1 gp
Weight: 1 lb
DAGGER
Damage: 1d4, 19-20/x2
Range: 10 ft
Type: Light simple piercing or slashing
Special: Finesse
Description: "Dagger" is the catch-all term for most fighting knives. Its blade is usually less than a foot long, and can be curved or straight, with one edge or two. Dagger designs vary widely, and can have many different names. You get a +2 bonus on Sleight of Hand skill checks made to conceal a dagger on your body.
Cost: 2 gp
Weight: 1 lb
DEER HORN KNIFE [CRESCENT MOON KNIFE] [DUCK BLADE]
Damage: 1d4, x3
Range: 20 ft
Type: Light exotic piercing
Special: Blocking, finesse, monk
Description: This flat, metal weapon consists of two joined crescent-shaped blades overlapping to form a hollow center with four projecting points. One side of the center is wrapped to serve as a grip while the other acts as a guard. Deer horn knives are traditionally used in pairs.
Cost: 10 gp
Weight: 3 lbs
HOOKED SWORD [TIGER HEAD DĀO]
Damage: 1d6, x2
Type: Light martial slashing
Special: Disarm, finesse, monk, trip
Description: Always forged in pairs, a so-called "married" pair of hooked swords is treated as a single weapon in the same way that a weapon with the "double" quality is. These solid metal blades end in curved hooks, while the hand guards are hammered into outward-facing spiked crescents, with both the crescent and the tip of the hilt sharpened for combat. Normally, this weapon has the "disarm" special quality, but, as a free action, a trained wielder can interlock the hooked ends to create a single, one-handed form of the weapon that inflicts damage as if it were one size category larger and gains the "trip" special quality. When joined in this fashion, the wielder chooses which of the two blades expresses its enchantments, though they can change this as a swift action (by switching which of the two blades they are holding). Joined blades can be separated as a free action.
Cost: 6 gp
Weight: 1 lb
HUNGA MUNGA
Damage: 1d6, x2
Range: 15 ft
Type: Ranged martial piercing
Special: Finesse
Description: This heavy iron dagger is intended for throwing but can also be used as a melee weapon. Though the basic three-blade design is most common, hunga mungas can take a wide variety of forms.
Cost: 4 gp
Weight: 3 lbs
KAMA
Damage: 1d6, x2
Type: Light exotic slashing
Special: Finesse, monk, trip
Description: Similar to a sickle—and still used to reap grain in the rice paddies of the Empire—a kama is a short, curved blade attached to a simple handle, usually made of wood. It is sometimes also referred to as a kai, and is frequently used in pairs by martial artists.
Cost: 2 gp
Weight: 2 lbs
KERAMBIT
Damage: 1d3, x3
Type: Light martial slashing
Special: Deadly, finesse
Description: This small, curved pull dagger has a metal loop at the base of its handle, allowing it to be secured with a pinky or worn on a string tied in the hair. While relatively small, the curved blade can create brutal wounds and its nasty reputation that has earned it the nickname of the "throat-cutting knife." Wielders gain a +2 bonus on Sleight of Hand checks made to conceal a kerambit on their body.
Cost: 2 gp
Weight: —
KUKRI
Damage: 1d4, 18-20/x2
Type: Light martial slashing
Special: Finesse
Description: A kukri is a curved blade about 1 foot in length and weighted heavily towards the point, allowing it to strike blows more akin to an axe than a sword.
Cost: 8 gp
Weight: 2 lbs
MACHETE [OXTAIL DĀO]
Damage: 1d6, 19-20/x2
Type: Light martial slashing
Special: Finesse
Description: This is a wide, single-edged blade about 2 feet in length. Considered indispensable in the wilderness, it can be used to hack through dense vegetation, dismantle an animal's carcass, chop and prepare firewood or tent poles, and it even functions as a weapon. A character proficient with a machete gains a +1 circumstance bonus on Survival checks to get along in the wild.
Cost: 10 gp
Weight: 2 lbs
MANOPLE
Damage: 1d8, x2
Type: One-handed martial piercing or slashing
Special: Blocking, disarm
Description: This rigid, fingerless gauntlet has three blades projecting from the gauntlet’s hand. The central blade is straight and double edged, while the side blades are curved like the prongs of a sai. You can’t use the hand on which a manople is worn for anything else. A manople takes a full-round action to don, but gives you a +10 bonus to your CMD against disarm attempts.
Cost: 17 gp
Weight: 4 lbs
PUNCHING DAGGER [KATAR]
Damage: 1d4, x3
Type: Light simple piercing
Special: Finesse
Description: A punching dagger’s blade is attached to a horizontal handle that projects out from the fist when held.
Cost: 2 gp
Weight: 1 lb
RAPIER [STRAIGHT-BACKED DĀO]
Damage: 1d6, 18-20/x2
Type: One-handed martial piercing
Special: Finesse
Description: Similar in length to a longsword, the rapier is both thinner and lighter.
Cost: 20 gp
Weight: 2 lbs
SAI
Damage: 1d4, x2
Type: Light exotic bludgeoning
Special: Disarm, finesse, monk, sunder
Description: A sai is a metal spike flanked by a pair of prongs used to trap an enemy’s weapon. When wielding a sai, you get a +2 bonus on combat maneuver checks to sunder an enemy’s weapon. Though pointed, a sai is not usually used for stabbing. Instead, it is used primarily to bludgeon foes, punching with the hilt, or else to catch and disarm weapons between its tines. Sais are often wielded in pairs.
Cost: 1 gp
Weight: 1 lb
SHORT SWORD
Damage: 1d6, 19-20/x2
Type: Light martial piercing
Special: Finesse
Description: Less obtrusive than full blades but more esteemed than mere daggers, short swords are among the most common weapons found in society, and are commonly seen as sidearms on almost every citizen in the Empire. Their two-foot blades can be curved or straight, single- or double-edged, and wide or narrow. Hilts may be ornate or simple, with crossguards, basket hilts, or no guard at all. Such weapons are often used on their own, but can also be paired as a matched set, or used in conjunction with a dagger or longer sword.
Cost: 10 gp
Weight: 2 lbs
SICA
Damage: 1d6, x2
Type: Light exotic slashing
Special: Finesse, performance
Description: This blade is a smaller, lighter version of the curved shotel. Proficient wielders gain a +1 bonus on attack rolls against opponents using bucklers, light shields, or heavy shields.
Cost: 10 gp
Weight: 2 lbs
SICKLE
Damage: 1d6, x2
Type: Light simple slashing
Special: Finesse, trip
Description: Originating as a farming tool used for reaping grain, this one-handed weapon has a blade with a strong curve that can easily catch an opponent’s limb or armor. Its blade can be either smooth or serrated, and some fighting sickles are sharpened on both sides near the point, making it easier to hook into an opponent’s flesh.
Cost: 6 gp
Weight: 2 lbs
STARKNIFE [WIND AND FIRE WHEELS]
Damage: 1d4, x3
Range: 20 ft
Type: Light martial piercing
Special: Finesse
Description: Similar to the bulkier chakram, a starknife can be thrown or used as a weapon in melee combat, though without the risks of that larger and less elegant weapon.
Cost: 24 gp
Weight: 3 lbs
SWORD CANE
Damage: 1d6, x2
Type: One-handed martial piercing
Special: Finesse
Description: This slender, rapier-like blade lies within a bamboo container that serves as both its scabbard and hiding place. You can draw the blade as a swift action (or a free action if you have the Quick Draw feat). The weapon grants the wielder a +4 circumstance bonus to Sleight of Hand checks to hide the blade as a normal walking stick and to Bluff checks made to convince observers that the weapon is harmless. These bonuses decrease to +2 if the observer is permitted to handle the weapon.
Cost: 45 gp
Weight: 2 lbs
SWORDBREAKER DAGGER [JITTE]
Damage: 1d4, x2
Type: Light exotic bludgeoning
Special: Disarm, finesse, sunder
Description: A common fixture of guardsmen and civic patrols, this blunted dagger is used to disarm or sunder enemy blades by catching them in the grooves on the back of the blade and using your weapon as a lever. If the wielder is trained in the use of this weapon, the bonuses provided by the "disarm" and "sunder" special qualities increases to +4.
Cost: 10 gp
Weight: 3 lbs
THROWING DAGGER [KUNAI]
Damage: 1d4, x2
Range: 20 ft
Type: Light simple piercing or slashing
Special: Finesse
Description: A dagger specially weighted to be thrown greater distances at the cost of some of its cutting power. You get a +2 bonus on Sleight of Hand skill checks made to conceal a throwing dagger on your body.
Cost: 2 gp
Weight: 1 lb
TRI-BLADED KATAR
Damage: 1d4, x4
Type: Light exotic piercing
Special: Finesse
Description: Where most punching daggers boast a single thick blade, the tri-bladed katar features a fan of three splayed razor edges. Any effects that apply to a punching dagger also apply to a tri-bladed katar.
Cost: 6 gp
Weight: 2 lbs
URUMI
Damage: 1d8, 18-20/x2
Type: One-handed exotic slashing
Special: Distracting, finesse, monk
Description: Commonly known as a whip sword, this deadly weapon is fashioned from one or more 5-foot-long, razor-sharp blades of flexible steel, almost like a metal cat-o'- nine-tails. The weapon is wielded by whipping the blades at one’s opponent. The coiled blade is fine and flexible enough to be worn as a belt, and its wielders often carry the blades wrapped around themselves in this fashion.
Cost: 30 gp
Weight: 6 lbs
WAKIZASHI
Damage: 1d6, 19-20/x3
Type: Light exotic slashing
Special: Deadly, finesse
Description: Smaller versions of the famous katana, these short, slender blades are about 2 feet long. They share many similarities with their larger cousins, including their masterful craftsmanship and their role as a status symbol.
Due to the unusual method of their manufacture—purposefully beginning with lower-quality metal that is then folded in a quasi-religious process to purify it—few weaponsmiths have the knowledge necessary to produce them, artificially inflating the weapon's price. Because this level of skill is both rare and prized, it is almost impossible to find wakizashi that are not also of masterwork quality, driving the cost of ownership even higher. This, in combination with a drive for aesthetic perfection amongst the secretive, cloistered artisans, has led to the wakizashi being regarded more often as a piece of art rather than an actual tool for battle. As a result, the possession and use of such a weapon is considered a violation of imperial sumptuary law without a special dispensation from authorities. On the other hand, those who can openly bear such arms will often do so to display their status, even if they are wholly untrained in the sword's use.
Cost: 250 gp
Weight: 2 lbs