I've seen RPG weapons lists run the gamut in terms of detail. Some, like FATE, might not even provide stats for weapons, assuming it's just part of a character's combat roll, while others, like Shadowrun, have stats for different iterations of the same model of pistol over decades. In my head, I tend to bin systems into three categories (assuming they provide stats for weapons and combat at all):

• 1: Broad functional categories, usually based on rough damage instead of weapon design. Examples - Remnants, which simply has light (one-handed dual-use items like hammers or knives), medium (one-handed weapons like swords and maces), and heavy (two-handed swords, spears, axes) weapons, and mech weapons are distinguished solely by their damage number. Spirit of the Century doesn't track weapons, but it does divide guns into rifles (with a range of 3) and everything else (with a range of 2). Weapons will have very few stats, typically some kind of damage number and possibly range, but no special traits or abilities (or such traits will be left to negotiation between player and GM).
• 2: Design/form specific categories, without distinguishing between examples within that category. Example - Cyberpunk RED, which has medium, heavy, and very heavy pistols, but uses generic assault rifles, shotguns, and submachine guns. Melee weapons are sorted into light, medium, and heavy. Weapons will usually have different damage and range (if non-melee) stats. This is the level where traits such as being two-handed or capable of autofire are usually distinguished, and you may see more specific differentiation such as rate of fire. This is also the level at which I usually see guns or other ranged weapons start tracking ammunition.
• 3: Statlines represent specific, in-universe models or designs of weapons. As highlighted above, Shadowrun has multiple iterations of the Ares Predator pistol, and other weapons are referred to by in-universe brand name and often have lore attached to them. Weapons will have a number of detailed stats, including damage, armor penetration, reach or range, rate of fire/attack speed, ammunition count/reload speed, and probably specific traits or an in-depth modification system.

Now, obviously, not every system fits into these categories and some are in between them. I'd consider Dungeons and Dragons a 2.5 - it breaks Martial swords down into shortsword, longsword, greatsword, rapier, scimitar, and sometimes falchion, but doesn't differentiate between different types of longsword. I would call the FFG 40k RPGs a 2.5 as well, with both generic 'bolt pistols' and specific models of bolt pistol present. I'm not personally familiar with a system I would consider a 1.5, but I think it would probably be something that categorizes systems by a limited number of traits without referencing specific designs - something like Medium Precise Melee for a rapier or Heavy Slow Ranged for a big crossbow.

As always, it seems, the tradeoff when you move the detail slider seems to be differentiation vs preservation of player/creator effort. More specific weapons allow for characters with otherwise superficially similar weapons to play out differently (my hunting rifle and your shotgun are very different weapons), but it requires tracking more stats for players. Category 3 results in big, meaty gear lists - which some players like and which cause other players to zone out - and it offers a new way to deliver setting-specific lore and flavor, but it also makes balance more difficult. The more guns you make the more likely some of them are just objectively better than others, or you're spending design effort and space on vendor trash, and players are either forced to trawl through reams of gear for the best items or just accept whatever seems best at first glance.

Conversely, simpler weapons make gameplay smoother - Remannt's weapons all have damage measured in MoS + X, so if you're using a medium weapon, you know your damage is your margin of success +2 every time. However, two characters with medium weapons - whether those are battleaxes, maces, or rapiers - are going to fight functionally identically, except if one of them has a ranged weapon. If your game features tactical combat, I also think it limits the challenges you can pose to your players. If your game doesn't have different ranges for shotguns and sniper rifles it gets harder to make a close quarters tunnel fight feel different from open field.

What level of detail do you use - and what level do you think is best for different types of games or genres? Does your fantasy game need to track swords by Oakeshott typology? Should your cyberpunk game track revolvers and automatics separately, or is 'pistol' fine?

As a footnote, I think a very similar category system could be applied to armor, but I rarely see armor go past 2.5. Maybe people just find it less interesting to get into detail on armor or other defensive gear?

I'm writing a tabletop RPG called DRAKE and I'm willing to replacing coin counting with an abstract Wealth score. Coins still exist as an alternative, but this is the "loose" option i am likely to migrate to.

I'd love critical feedback: Is it intuitive? Where does it break? Can you exploit it?

Wealth

In DRAKE, money isn't counted in coins but as Wealth, a number from 0 to 12. Your character sheet has twelve boxes, and your Wealth is the number of boxes filled in. Wealth 0 means broke. As a rule of thumb, each point of Wealth means roughly twice as much fortune as the one below.

Every two points of Wealth form a Standing, which describes how you live.

Wealth	Standing	Settled	On the road
0	Broke	You have nothing left and live off what others give you.	You have only what you carry on your body.
1–2	Destitute	No roof, you live off alms and opportunities.	A few coins, you eat what you find.
3–4	Hard-up	A small room, simple work, every meal is counted.	The bare essentials for adventuring, you usually sleep on straw or under the open sky.
5–6	Comfortable	Your own home, a trade, enough for daily life.	Decent gear, a bed at the inn is a given.
7–8	Well-off	A house with servants, savings, reputation.	Your own mount, good gear, you can buy favors.
9–10	Rich	Several houses or a business that runs without you.	You travel with an entourage, your own wagon or ship.
11–12	Immeasurable	Lands whose inhabitants owe you taxes.	You travel like a royal court, wherever you arrive, people make room.

Income and Expenses. Anything that increases your Wealth is Income: wages, pay, loot, sale proceeds. Anything that decreases it is an Expense: purchases, wages you pay, shares you give away. Income fills in boxes, Expenses erase them.

Value. Every item, service and Income has a Value on the same scale as your Wealth. Nothing has Value 0, the cheapest things have Value 1. Something with Value 7 costs a person with Wealth 7 their entire fortune. If you can afford something casually, your Wealth is 4 higher than its Value. The tables in this chapter are guidelines, so that anything can be roughly sorted in. What Value something has is ultimately up to the GM.

Starting Wealth. A new character starts with Wealth 3 and the bare essentials for adventuring, unless their backstory says otherwise.

Expenses

What an Expense costs depends only on the gap between its Value and your Wealth. However, an Expense can never cost more Wealth than its Value.

Value of the Expense	Cost
Above your Wealth	not possible alone
Equal to your Wealth	everything, you're broke
1 below	3 Wealth
2 below	2 Wealth
3 below	1 Wealth
4 or more below	not noticeable

Example. Bors has Wealth 2. A club (Value 1) would cost him 3 according to the table. Since the club only has Value 1, it can cost him at most 1. Bors pays 1 and has Wealth 1 afterwards.

Example. Rhea has Wealth 7, her Standing is Well-off. Plate armor (Value 7) would cost her everything. Chain mail (Value 6) costs her 3 Wealth, leaving her with 4. A luxurious room (Value 4) costs her 1, a meal (Value 1) isn't noticeable.

Large quantities. Things that aren't noticeable individually (Value 4 or more below your Wealth) usually stay free. Only when you buy a conspicuously large amount does it cost 1 Wealth in total. How much counts as "a lot" depends on the gap. When in doubt, the GM decides.

Value below your Wealth	1 Wealth is only charged for	Example
4 to 6	supplies for a journey or a group	Bors (Wealth 5) buys torches (Value 1) for his whole group and their companions
7 to 9	a hall full of people	someone rich (Wealth 9) buys the whole tavern a round of beer (Value 1)
10 or more	an entire settlement	someone immeasurably rich (Wealth 12) feeds a village at the harvest festival

Multiple purchases. If you buy several things at once, you pay for each one separately, always from most expensive to cheapest. Every purchase lowers your Wealth, so the next one costs correspondingly more. Rhea (Wealth 9) buys something with Value 7 and something with Value 5. The expensive one costs her 2, leaving her at 7. The cheaper one then costs her another 2, and she ends at 5. Anything that wouldn't be noticeable on its own is handled by the quantity rule.

Splitting. If you split your Wealth with someone, you divide it into two halves, each with a Value 1 lower. Rhea (Wealth 7) gives half to Bors. She now has 6, and Bors receives an Income with Value 6. Each half can be split again. The same applies to Income that several people receive: tomb loot with Value 7 becomes two shares of Value 6 or four shares of Value 5, or 6, 5 and 5 for three people. Value 1 can't be split further.

Shared purse. What no one can afford alone, the group can pay for together. Whoever contributes puts their entire Wealth into a shared purse, for which they count as an Income of that Value (see Income). Two characters with equal Wealth make 1 more, four make 2 more. The purse pays like a character, and whatever remains can be split again. Four characters with Wealth 5 pool to 7. If they buy something with Value 7, they're all broke. If they buy a pack horse (Value 6), it costs the purse 3, leaving it at 4, which is split into four shares of Value 2.

Income

What Income gets you depends on where your Wealth stands compared to its Value.

Your Wealth	Result
Below the Value	your Wealth rises to the Value
Equal to the Value	1 more
Above the Value	not noticeable

Example. Bors (Wealth 3) completes a regular job with Value 6 and has Wealth 6 afterwards. The next job of this kind raises him to 7. A third one gets him nothing, he has outgrown that kind of work. If he finds loot from a tomb (Value 8), he rises to 8.

Selling. A sale is an Income with the Value of the item. Bors sells captured plate armor (Value 7) and rises to 7 if he's below that. Buying and reselling never makes a profit: Rhea (Wealth 7) buys chain mail (Value 6) and drops to 4. If she sells it again, she rises to 6, one point below where she started.

Multiple items. If you sell several items together, you combine their Value into a single Income just like with the shared purse, as long as it makes sense to offer them together. Two items of equal Value make 1 more, four make 2 more, eight make 3 more. Unequal Values are combined step by step. Bors sells two captured basic weapons (Value 3), that's an Income with Value 4. If he adds leather armor (Value 4), it becomes Value 5.

Relics are valued by their power. They can be bought and sold, but they're rarely found in a shop. Anyone looking for one, or for a buyer, needs contacts or an adventure.

Value	Income examples
1	alms, a tip
2	a day's wage, an errand, a small favor
3–4	a small job, loot from a highwayman
5–6	a regular job, loot from a hideout
7–8	a dangerous job, loot from a tomb
9–10	a treasure find, ransom, a bounty on a leader
11–12	a royal reward
Above 12	a dragon's hoard

Wages and Hiring

Wages are an Expense or Income that repeats at the end of each job period. Every hired person has a wage Value, as listed in the table below.

Whoever hires someone has an Expense of that wage Value at the end of each job period. Multiple hirelings count as separate Expenses. Rhea (Wealth 7) hires a mercenary (wage 4) and pays 1 per job period for it. A bodyguard (wage 5) costs her 2 per job period, a porter (wage 2) doesn't register in her Wealth.

Whoever works for wages receives an Income of their wage Value at the end of each job period. Bors (Wealth 3) serves as a mercenary (wage 4). After the first job period he has Wealth 4, after the second 5, after that his wages get him nothing more. Living off wages gets you at most one point above them.

Wage Value	Hirelings
2	farmhand, porter, messenger
3	guard, militia soldier, guide
4	mercenary, journeyman, scout
5	veteran, bodyguard, master craftsman
6	captain, mage
7	warlord, court mage

Edge cases

Broke. Your Wealth never drops below 0. With Wealth 0 you can't buy anything, since every Expense costs more than you have. You live off alms and favors until an Income lifts you up again.

Rock bottom. With Wealth 1, even a meal (Value 1) costs everything. You buy it and are broke afterwards.

The top. Your Wealth never rises above 12. An Income with a higher Value brings you to 12. Anything worth more than 12, like a castle, can only be obtained through a shared purse or as the goal of an adventure.

Coins and Wealth

DRAKE has two systems for money: coins, which are counted exactly, and Wealth, as described in this chapter. The group decides at the start of the campaign which one to use. Any equipment list with coin prices can be translated into Values using this table. Use the first row whose limit the price doesn't exceed.

Value	Price up to about
1	20 coins
2	40 coins
3	80 coins
4	150 coins
5	300 coins
6	600 coins
7	1,200 coins
8	2,500 coins
9	5,000 coins
10	10,000 coins
11	20,000 coins
12	40,000 coins
Above 12	more

Plate armor for 1,200 coins thus has Value 7. If a group switches systems, it converts its characters' fortunes into Wealth using the same table.

Value list

The entries are guidelines. Anything not on the list is sorted in by the GM using the Value rule or the coin table.

Value	Food, lodging, travel	Gear	Weapons and armor	Magic	Animals and property
1	meal, beer, simple room, passage on a wagon	torch, candle, rope, blanket, waterskin	club, sling	aether light for one night, fortune-telling at the market, reagents. A relic that only becomes useful with creativity.	chicken
2	a day with good food and a bed	backpack, lantern	dagger, spear, sturdy clothing		goat
3	a week of rations		basic weapons, gambeson	a relic of insignificant power	pig
4	fine cuisine, luxurious room, passage on an airship	work clothes, simple tools	leather armor	magical identification
5	a month at an inn	craftsman's tools	superior weapons, studded leather	simple alchemy like healing potions, a simple catalyst for a ritual	donkey, cart
6		luxurious clothing, alchemist's kit	chain mail, minor magical items	a relic that's desirable in specific situations	pack horse
7			masterwork weapons, plate armor, scale armor, magical weapons and armor	complex alchemy, an anchor focus like a rune blade or aether staff, having a curse broken	riding horse, covered wagon
8		a fully equipped workshop		an aether core as a catalyst, commissioning a magic trap. A relic that's desirable in many situations.
9	a month of luxury				warhorse
10	your own kitchen with staff	library, laboratory	powerful magical weapons and armor	a master focus, a permanent enchantment on a building such as a ward line, a ritual by a court mage	townhouse
11			legendary weapons and armor	a relic the wrong people would kill for	ship
12	a royal household		equipment for an entire troop	an aether core for an airship	estate
Above 12		academy, temple construction		a ritual affecting an entire island. A relic that can tip the balance of the world for a moment.	airship, castle, dominion

What I'd especially like feedback on:

• Is the expense ladder (everything / 3 / 2 / 1 / not noticeable) intuitive at the table?
• Do you see exploits, especially with splitting, shared purses or selling?
• Is starting at Wealth 3 too harsh?
• Would you use this over counting coins? Why or why not?

Thanks in advande!

P.S.: translated via AI

Any events that require timing or an initiation order are called Critical Events. They are played out on a wheel that is presented to the entire table.

Event Wheel Image

Concepts

• Wedges - Make up the Slices of the Wheel
• Time Tracker - A token used to keep track of whose turn it is.
• Round - When the time tracker makes a full revolution of the event wheel, this is one round.
• Character/Enemy Token (2) - This tracks player turns and the other player's status effects. They can be anything as long as they are unique to the other characters, small, and identical to each other.
• Characters have attributes with polarities (Static Polarity (SP) + Dynamic Polarity (DP)). Each one represents a varied approach to the attribute. 
  • They also define certain Stats - Stats that pertain to the base mechanics of the Critical Event are: 
    • Speed (SP) (Finesse + Fluidity) - Determines a character’s starting Wedge on the Wheel 
    • Action Points (AP) (Stability + Wisdom) - Determines how many actions a character can take on their turn.
• Turn - Once the time tracker reaches a player token, this is all the actions a player can make before waiting for the time tracker to reach their token again. The number of actions is dictated by the character's AP level.
• Rings -Make up the Layers of the Event Wheel 
  • Inside to Outside: 
    • Downed Ring - 0 HP [Once a Player Character, Party NPC, or Fight Boss hits 0, their token moves to this ring in the wedge they hit 0]
    • Wedge ID Ring - Gives a numerical value to each wedge, used mainly for initiative order
    • Time Tracker Ring - The Time Tracker progresses around this ring. 
    • Prep Ring - This ring is used for actions that are two-phase [ie. spells and ranged attacks]
    • Action Ring - This ring is where character tokens start and advance along as they take actions.
    • Effect Ring - This is the ring that, once a status effect is inflicted upon a character, tracks the time when the next effect occurs. [ie. character is poisoned, and it does -1 HP / Round; each time the Time tracker reaches that player's effect token, they take 1 damage to HP]

Note: Fluidity and Stability are opposing polarities, meaning a character cannot max out both speed and action points.

Operation Outline

• All characters place their tokens on the action ring in the wedge corresponding to their Speed
• The GM places the Time Tracker on the 12 wedge of the Time Tracker ring. 
• The Time Tracker then moves clockwise around the 12 wedges. When it reaches a wedge occupied by one or more character tokens, those characters take their turn.
  • Player characters go first, then party NPC’s and allies, then the Fight Boss, then other enemy NPCs. In the event of a tie, the tie-breaker goes to character polarity values: the player with higher Fluidity, then Volatility, then Finesse.
• On a character's turn, they choose actions which have corresponding AP costs. The character acts, spending the Action Points (AP) in their turn, then immediately advances their character token clockwise around the wheel by the number of wedges equal to the AP spent. They can then continue this process until they run out of AP for their turn.
  • Players can only perform an action that they have enough AP to perform. Ex: A player who has a low AP may not be able to perform a Heavy Melee attack that costs 6 AP.
• A character can choose to perform a two-phase action, such as a ranged attack, which requires aiming and shooting. The character announces the ranged attack and shifts their token to the prep ring; they advance their character the required wedges to execute the prep phase; they perform a difficulty check to see if the prep phase succeeds; if it does, they use AP to execute the attack. They move to the action ring and move forward the amount the action requires (usually 1 AP)
  • Unlike single actions like melee attacks, two-phase actions can be split across two turns, allowing a character to perform a powerful action like a massive spell that takes considerable AP to prepare. The downside is that being in a prepared state leaves the character vulnerable. If they are attacked and have to defend themselves or have to move to avoid a hazard, the preparation is canceled, and the character moves their token to the action ring, and the attack automatically fails.
• A character can also choose to perform a reactive action. They include:
  • Going on the Defense: Allows 1 extra reaction per turn.
  • Setting a trap/prepared conditional action. It allows characters to act out of turn. They advance their character the number of wedges the action requires and move to the prep ring. Ex. drawing a bow to fire at, or getting in a ready stance for an enemy getting ready to walk through a doorway. This allows a character to prepare an action before a condition is met. In this case, the character would spend the AP for the action, and then execute the check for success when the enemy walked through the door. Note that the character must be able to complete the full action in one turn, and pay the full AP cost upfront.
• Actions and Reactions:
  • The character taking their turn is the actor; their target character is the reactor.
  • Characters are allowed 1 reaction between turns. A character can use AP during their turn to Go on the Defense, which grants them an extra reaction between turns.
  • Reactions are resolved as Contested Checks using applicable Defined Skills (such as Parry, Dodge, or Shield Block):
    • Dodge / Evasion: Roll Fluidity + static Defined Skill Credits vs. the attacker's strike total.
    • Parry / Block: Roll Finesse or Brute + static Defined Skill Credits vs. the attacker's strike total.
• Action Costs
  • Action costs are set by the type of action (attacks are set by the weapon type) the character is taking.
    • Light Actions (2 AP): Ex. Quick attacks that trade speed for damage. [Swift jabs, rapier thrusts, quick-draw pistol shots]
    • Normal Actions (4 AP):  Ex. Standard attacks. [Broadsword swings, crossbow shots, standard martial strikes.]
    • Heavy Actions (6 AP): Ex. Massive impact but are slower. [Warhammer swings, heavy zweihander cleaves.]

Example (Note: all actions require checks; this is not fully illustrated for this example)

Characters:

• Jim (Heavy Hitter): AP = 11, Speed = 4; Joe (Quick Attacker): AP = 4, Speed = 11; Bob (Enemy Boss): AP = 6, Speed = 8
•  Character tokens placed on wheel: Joe is at 11, then Bob at 8, and last Jim is at 4
• The Time Tracker is placed at 12; it moves clockwise and reaches Joe at 11. Joe uses a dagger twice (2 x 2 AP) to deal 1 damage to Bob. [1 hit and 1 miss] This moves Joe's token forward 4 wedges to wedge 7
• The time tracker moves forward to Bob at wedge 8. Bob is a powerful mage, but with low AP, requires splitting the spell into two turns. Bob casts his spell, which requires 6 AP to prepare and 1 AP to execute, which is one more than his turn’s AP. Since spells are two-phase, he can split it over two turns since neither phase is over 6. He moves his token to the prep ring, performs the focus check [succeeds], and moves forward 6 wedges to wedge 2.
• The time tracker advances and comes to Joe at wedge 7. Taking advantage of Bob's prep state, he attacks with his dagger twice(2 x 2 AP) to interrupt the spell. Bob is forced to react and break his prep. Bob has to move his token to the action ring in wedge 2. Unfortunately, due to poor rolls on Joe’s part, both attacks miss. Joe’s Token moves forward to wedge 3.
• The time tracker advances to wedge 4, where Jim is. Jim is about 8 yards from Bob; he uses 1 AP to advance (movement speed = 2 yd x Speed/AP), uses 1 more AP to consume a potion that boosts his damage output, and pulls out his Heavy axe. He attacks Bob and gets a critical hit, dealing massive damage and putting Bob’s health to 0. This action consumed 8 total AP, and Jim advances around to the 8 wedge.
• Bob drops to the Downed Ring, and since he has no friends to revive him or defend him is left defenseless. 
• End fight state: At this point, the player's party (Jim and Joe) have the option to interrogate, execute, or leave the fight.
• Since they need info and the Time tracker advances to 3,  Joe is next up; he gets the option to interrogate Bob, but he isn’t able to get any information out of him.
• Being in the Downed ring, Bob isn't able to act, so the time tracker passes Bob.
• It advances around until it gets ot Jim. Jim is much scarier and is able to get the information out of Bob. And Jim and Joe decide to leave Bob wounded and alone. This ends the critical event.

Given the outlined system, I spent a fair amount of time tweaking and finding ways to exploit or break the system; however, I am that I missed an obvious exploit or whether a certain build may be the only option because of its superiority. I don't know if those cases exist, but I feel that I have reached a point where I may be too in the mechanics to see its flaws. I would love any feedback that anyone may have on this. Thank you.