This is not exactly a definitive rule on Weapon Damage. Offhand I can think of hundreds of systems and variants to handle damage to weapons and/or other equippment in HârnMaster. Whenever anyone works on this kind of rule, it is well to remember a maxim of game design: "More realism = More paperwork". In combat, this causes a special dilemma, since a "realistic feel" requires a reasonably fast pace. So if you increase the detailing, you loose the "feel" - you find yourself taking away as much "realism" with one hand as you gain with the other. Anyway for those of you who are willing to sacrifice a bit of speed for a bit more detail, here is an alternate Weapon damage system...
We are still getting complaints about the HârnMaster weapon damage system. Most of them seem to say that weapons break too easily. Another comment is that there is no provision for weapons to decline gradually; they are either fine or broken.
Perhaps the greatest fear of the medieval warrior was that of his weapons falling apart in his hands. Despite the complaints, we are not convinced that weapons break too easily, although we agree that cheap weapons do break easily. If a character is annoyed by weapons constantly crumpling in his hands, maybe it is time to spring for a decent weapon. Most medieval warriors spent more on weapons than on food. We never thought that professional soldiers would be using "average", off-the-shelf weapons. We thought they would beg, borrow and steal good weapons. The way HârnMaster works, good weapons hardly ever break.
We probably are not going to convince anyone, so we encourage people to use whatever weapon damage systems they want to. There is a gain in realism when you track damage to edge, point and/or quality each GM must decide for himself whether the gain is worth it. Only one of the weapons can be damaged on any given impact. The weapon with the lower WQ rolls first. If WQs are equal, the attacker rolls first. If, and only if, the first weapon is undamaged, the second weapon rolls.
Roll 3d6 (4d6 if opposing equipment is enchanted). Enchanted equipment only rolls if opposed by enchanted equipment. If the roll is less than or equal to WQ, the weapon is unaffected. If the result exceeds WQ by four or more, the weapon is immediately destroyed. If the result exceeds WQ by one, two or three, roll for weapon damage on the Minor Weapon Damage table.
Enchanted weapons cannot blunt they can only crumple and only if the opposing equipment is enchanted.
4-5: Blunt Secondary Aspect (if any) as for primary aspect above.
6: Reduce Quality. This represents a general decline in WQ. If WQ is reduced to zero, the weapon is destroyed beyond repair. This is the only minor damage sustainable by unbluntable weapons (such as shields and clubs).
CF: Weapon is destroyed (there is usually no charge for this
service).
MF: No effect
MS: Weapon restored to 1 point less than original WQ.
CS: WQ fully restored (to original WQ).