Martial Arts Weapons

There are a few weapons specifically designed for use in the martial arts. Most of these weapons were originally improvised from common tools, but have been refined to function as extensions of a martial artist’s body. Chapter Seven includes a list of these weapons.

A martial arts weapon functions normally in most respects. A character chooses it and learns to use it as he would any other weapon. A martial artist armed with a martial arts weapon can use his style’s special abilities even if they normally require him to be unarmed. The martial artist can employ the weapon in combat to avoid provoking attacks of opportunity and other penalties associated with being unarmed. For example, a character proficient in style A martial arts could use a nunchaku in each hand, inflict 1d6 points of normal damage with each hit, and avoid attacks of opportunity. A character proficient in style B could use a nunchaku and still claim his Armor Class bonus if he is unarmored; the character could use the nunchaku to perform his free block without the –4 penalty for being unarmed.

Martial artists are still subject to the normal nonproficiency penalties when using martial arts weapons. Nonspecialist martial artists still provoke attacks of opportunity if they make unarmed attacks while armed with a weapon, even a martial arts weapon. For example, a kick from a character proficient in style B could provoke an attack of opportunity even if the martial artist was holding a nunchaku at the time.

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