Weapon Groups (POSP)

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Many weapons are categorized into groups, either tight groups, or broad groups. Often a weapon will be part of a tight group, and that tight group will in turn be part of a broad group. A character's proficiency with a weapon or group will often convey weapon familiarity with other related weapons.
Table 49 illustrates weapons in their various tight and broad groups. Note that there is significant overlap in many categories—a broadsword is listed in the ancient, Roman, and medium tight groups because it can be used in a variety of cultures and styles.
If a character knows several different fighting styles (explained later in this chapter) he can use a weapon in any of the styles he knows. If he has only learned one style, however, his proficiency only applies when he uses that weapon with the appropriate style.
==Table 49: Weapon Groups==
As noted in previous chapters, weapons can be classified into tight and broad groups. All weapons in a tight group are considered to be related to one another; a character proficient in one automatically has familiarity with the rest. Note that a weapon proficiency includes stone or bone versions of the same weapon.
In the listing below, broad groups are noted in bold type, and tight groups are in italics.
Axes, Picks, and Hammers
Axes: battle axe, hand/throwing axe, hatchet, two-handed axe, sword-axe, mace-axe
Picks: horseman's pick, footman's pick, pick
Hammers: war hammer, maul, sledge
Unrelated: adze
Bows
Short bow, composite short bow, long bow, composite long bow
Clubs, Maces, and Flails
Maces: footman's mace, horseman's mace, mace-axe
Clubs: club, great club, war club, ankus, morning star
Flails: horseman's flail, footman's flail
Crossbows
Hand crossbow, light crossbow, heavy crossbow, pellet bow, cho-ku-no
Daggers & Knives
Dagger, stiletto, jambiya, main-gauche, parrying dagger, knife, katar
Lances
Light, medium, heavy, jousting
Polearms
Spear-like polearms: awl pike, partisan, ranseur, spetum
Poleaxes: bardiche, halberd, voulge
Bills: bill, bill-guisarme, glaive-guisarme, guisarme-voulge, hook fauchard
Glaives: glaive, fauchard, naginata, nagimaki, fauchard-fork
Beaked: bec de corbin, lucern hammer
Unrelated: military fork, tetsubo, lajatang
Spears & Javelins
Spears: spear, long spear, awl pike
Javelins: javelin, pilum, dart
Unrelated: harpoon, trident, brandistock
Swords
Ancient: broadsword, sapara, khopesh, sword-axe, short sword
Roman: broadsword, drusus, gladius, spatha
Middle Eastern: short sword, scimitar, great scimitar, tulwar
Oriental: cutlass, katana, wakizashi, no-dachi, ninja-to
Short: short sword, gladius, drusus, sapara, dagger, tulwar
Medium: broadsword, long sword, cutlass, sabre, falchion, estoc
Large: bastard sword, claymore, two-handed sword, great scimitar, no-dachi
Fencing weapons: rapier, sabre, main-gauche, parrying dagger
Chain & Rope Weapons
Chain, kau sin ke, kusari-gama, kawanaga, chijikiri
Martial Arts Weapons
Sai, jitte, nunchaku, sang kauw, three-piece rod, bo stick
Firearms
Hand match weapons: arquebus, hand gunne
Matchlocks: arquebus, caliver, musket
Wheellocks: arquebus, belt pistol, horse pistol
Snaplocks and Flintlocks: musket, belt pistol, horse pistol
If a weapon does not appear in the preceding listings, it belongs to no weapon group. For example, weapons such as the bolas, the boomerang, or the mancatcher are so unique in their employment that nothing even comes close to being similar.