Expanded Weapons List for Asian Fantasy D&D Campaigns
Study the blade, hurt yourself waving around an Urumi
An ornate kris. Picture from Wikimedia Commons, Semar_Kris_(alt).jpg: Crisco 1492
One of the core concepts behind my current D&D campaign is what the core setting does for Medieval Europe, I can do for Middle Ages Asia: plunder the time period for fantasy role-playing ideas. In so doing, I have taken a holistic approach. So many fantasy RPGs set in Fantasy Asia are really set in Fantasy Japan, which is unnecessarily limiting. As such, on this weapons list you will see rules for katanas along with the Indonesian kris and Indian bagh nakh, all in one big amalgamation of RPG goodness, just as the rapier stands proudly beside the halberd in the base game.
Every weapon should be roughly equivalent to your standard D&D weapon stats, and if they are slightly more powerful they have some kind of drawback listed under the Special Rules section. That said, the bigger focus is to support the fantasy of using these weapons: if a player wants to wield a katana, they probably want to feel like they are in a Kurosawa movie: as such, limbs should be flying. If you are a DM, read (and feel free to edit) the rules carefully to ensure nothing unbalances your table. Names in parentheses are alternate weapons from different regions similar enough to have the same stats.
Simple Weapons
Simple Ranged Weapons
Martial Weapons
Martial Ranged Weapons
Special Weapons
Weapons with special rules are described here.
Bagh Nakh
On a successful grapple check the target takes 1D6 piercing damage.
Guandao
The Guandao requires a strength score of 15 or higher and a dexterity score of 14 or higher to wield effectively. If the user has less than 14 dexterity, they have disadvantage on attacks made on creatures within 5 feet of them. If they have less than 15 strength or are not proficient in wielding the guandao, they have disadvantage on all attacks.
Katana
The Katana requires a dexterity score of 15 or higher to wield effectively. If the user has less than 15 dexterity or is not proficient in wielding katanas, they have disadvantage on all attacks, and the weapon is damaged on a critical failure. If the katana is used by a wielder who is proficient, has a dexterity score of 15 or higher, and scores a critical hit on a creature with limbs smaller than 1ft. in radius, they roll a d20, and on a 10 or above they can chop off one of the creature’s limb of their choice, excluding the head.
Demonstration of a rope dart. Picture from Wikipedia, Eric Shou-Li Yao.
Meteor Hammer/Rope Dart
Once thrown, the weapon can be recalled to your hand using a bonus action, as long as the rope is still attached.
Swordbreaker Jian
The user must decide whether to use either the metal club-like shaft (1D6 Bludgeoning) or the sharp end (1D6 Piercing). On a critical hit with the shaft, the wielder can choose to instead attack the targets weapon, breaking non-magical simple weapons and reducing the effectiveness (-1 to hit until repaired) of non-magical martial weapons by damaging their edges. A magical swordbreaker jian could perhaps break a magical weapon.
The utterly terrifying dual-wielded urumi in use. Picture from Wikipedia, Angampora.
Urumi
On a critical failure to hit the attacker takes 1d6 slashing damage. This is negated for weapons that are somehow magically or spiritually bonded to the wielder.