Quote from: Mishihari;1127726I dislike weapons speed systems that let a "fast" dagger attack before a "slower" long sword.  Maybe the weapon moves quicker, but the longsword will get first attack due to range unless the dagger manages to stay very close, which would seem rather difficult to do.

Agree.  Typical weapon speed options bug me so much that until recently I simply ignored it (or kicked the can down the road, knowing until I had other parts tested, it was somewhat academic).  Reach has similar problems.  

Right now, I'm playing around with a compromise that blends speed and reach from two factors into one number affecting initiative.  But then I modify the initiative based on a handful of maneuvers and circumstances.  One of those is that entering or leaving melee favors reach over speed.  A guy with a spear charging a guy with a dagger is probably going first (and getting a bonus to hit and damage, too).  But after the charge, we assume that the speed of the dagger and the reach of the spear roughly cancel each other.  We can visualize it as the dagger guy getting initiative means he maneuvered in close versus the spear guy getting initiative means he kept the distance he'd prefer, but as far as the system is concerned, that's abstracted.  

I know the abstraction has some holes, in that it is going to make daggers and rapiers still likely to have that unwarranted speed in some situations.  I do have most blades moving faster in general, though, not just the small ones. I think I can live with it, because with the damage a spear can do on a charge, the dagger guys is going to want to avoid that situation if at all possible.  Plus, daggers and swords are too iconic in a fantasy game to go too far in that sense.  That is, I'll let the players have the fun of going with the stereotype of fast daggers, as long as they still fear the spear guy.  We'll see how it works next play test.

With regards to one question from the OP, there's apparently a very big learning curve between different kinds of old weapons. One of the reasons a spear was a typical weapon for common soldiers is that it's not just effective but very basic to learn. Likewise, one of the advantages of the crossbow is that any idiot could use it, whereas bows were more difficult.