4: WEAPON
RPGs with a lot of combat often have characters gain signature weapons, and in something with a fantasy element they’re often magical and often swords. Excalibur, Durendal, Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. Luke’s father’s lightsaber. Connor MacLeod’s katana and trenchcoat combo in modern New York, which thanks to concealment rules became a popular choice in Shadowrun and Vampire.
The bigger the universe, the more a variety of options are encouraged. Look at the signature weapons of Marvel heroes and what each says about them. Spider-Man uses restraining webbing. Captain America’s shield has as much symbolic weight in who wields it as Thor’s hammer. Hawkeye is an expert sniper, Black Widow is too but prefers to fight at close quarters. Wolverine can put his blades away but can never put them down.
Buffy’s signature weapons are a stake and a boot to the face, and she likes a crossbow as well, but her most dramatic fight is with swords.
Guns can have the same kind of symbolism in Westerns and Western-inspired fantasy like Supernatural and Wynonna Earp, and the paladin Gunslingers of The Dark Tower, but bring their own symbolic weight as well.
And they don’t let you get as close, as I discussed last year.
I absolutely lean in to this at times myself. I’ve written a YA novel about a girl finding the Sword in the Stone in the present. The Watch House had a season about a magic sword and borrowing from that my longest running tabletop Buffy character was the wielder of a legendary example too. My Relics playtest character forged the first sword and was at one point Hephaestus.
Bonus round:
Search - I make players roll notice checks a lot. Not for things they need to find for the plot to advance, though.
Reward - Experience Points, in-character rewards, and what else... sweets?
Figure - Figures mostly mean miniatures, but what would an action figure of your character come with? I use miniatures even more rarely than maps, though I made a set for the final episode of TWH, having previously made custom action figures for birthdays and Christmas.
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