Dagger (weapon)
The dagger, also a dirk, kirpan and tanto, is a fighting knife between 11 and 18 in. long, usually double-bladed and designed to be used for stabbing, thrusting and hurling. They are usually made of hard iron or steel, with a pommel and a minimal guard, tapering to a point with a blood gutter along the flat side of the blade (not for actually draining blood, but as part of the method for bladesmithing). Daggers are a favoured weapon of illusionists and mages, and to a lesser extent for bards, druids, monks and thieves.
Combat
| Bow | Point Blank |
Short | Medium | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dagger | 2 | 3-5 | 6-9 | 10-12 |
Damage from the dagger is 1-4, adjusted by strength. When hurled, the weapon's range is poor. Hitting with a hurled dagger can be improved by a high dexterity.
At 16 oz., or 1 lb., the dagger is a very light weapon, one that is more easily concealed than most — though not as easily as the short knife, which does less damage. It can be used with one hand and takes 1 action point to draw it from a character's belt. If a roll to hit produces a fumble, the dagger will break on a 1 in 6. It's too short a weapon to be used effectively from horseback, unless it's thrown.
The dagger is a hereditary weapon for characters raised in the Rhineland. It's favoured among persons whose progenitor is an assassin, fence, guildmaster thief, gypsy, miner or rat catcher. This grants a +1 bonus to hit for these peoples.
Additional Footnotes
Daggers are commonly used by many creatures and races as a weapon, including dryads, erinyes, homonculi, locathah, mites, naga and sea hags.
The sage ability main-gauche enables the use of a dagger to parry attacks in place of a shield.
The dagger of venom is a magic item that injects a fatal poison when a critical hit is rolled.
