#are all elves born innately with the knowledge to wield a longsword? like

[narendur]

I think you would have to do it as an armor stat.

You could have a spell penalty, to represent how much armor restricts the fine motor skills required in spellcasting. If you want, you could even split it to be differently restrictive for somatic vs verbal vs component spells - like a closed helmet will muffle verbal spells, gauntlets fuck with finger wiggling, a chestplate doesnt have fucking pockets (but a robe absolutely does).

Or you could do the darksouls thing and have certain armor require a certain stat score. Like full plate requires a base 15 Str or something to run around in.

As for the sword vs staff/wand thing:

Stat staves to use an int or wis bonus instead of str or dex. Personally I would say staff & wand - wis, 1 handed sword & daggers - dex, 2 handed sword, spears, and axes - str, bows are str, etc. And then the stat layout of wizards will tend to make the staff actually better to use than the sword without proficiency. Staffs are most effective if you know where to hit, anyway.

Or you could say that certain tools can only cast certain classes of spell - staves and wands can cast anything, pointed blades can only cast evocation or transmutation, baubles can be the focus for divination, illusions or healing, etc.

Lastly, why don't you want proficiency bonuses to be significant? That is very much how tools and weapons work in the real world, and would 100% solve your problem here. Like I personally can swing a longsword, but I have rapier training so I am a lot more likely to actually cause damage and protect myself effectively with a rapier than with a longsword, even though a longsword does more damage on each successful hit.

Help me out here.

Can't-Believe-it's-not-D&D

System doesn't have proficiency rules for weapons and armor - you put it on if it makes sense for you, or don't if it doesn't.

Wizards going into battle typically don't carry swords and do not put on armor.

Why not?

Psych! The system does have proficiency rules for weapons and armor

It's just that "not proficient" is the default state and it's fine.

Proficiency is an extra thing "on top" - if you're proficient in swords but not proficient in axes, you'd still rather have a +1 axe than a sword

So the reason isn't "proficient with staff, not proficient with sword" - swords are better than staffs.

Oh also Elven wizards go into battle with longswords - they get longsword proficiency for being elves

So whatever makes wizards stay away from swords and armor isn't is simple as "metal interferes with magic" because clearly the elves don't give a fuck.

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