Once upon a time I wanted to make a very extended weapons list for . . . Runequest I think?

I finally settled on using this page. I essentially went through every link(or googled the ones without their own page for a visual) and decided if I wanted it or not then jot down a quick explanation of what it looked like and how it might be used mechanics-wise.

While the list may be daunting, you'd be surprised how much you can condense. You don't need all 10 'curved two-handed swords' partway down that link. Grabbing, tops, 4 of them would suffice.

The real issue is making sure that they are mechanically distinct. If you don't have enough stats to differentiate them, then more weapons won't make a difference. At best, it'd be good to group multiple weapons into the same statbase but have them visually(and thus culturally) different.

I'm a HUGE sucker for very large equipment/weapon/armor lists. You wouldn't believe the level at which I enjoy them. That said, I'm okay with there only being 4 different types of two-handed swords in a game. What I'd really like, on top of that, are small differences between them. Maybe one region makes Longswords that are very resilient(won't bend, won't dissolve in acid, or something) but weighs twice as much. Another region makes them half as light as a normal Longsword but will never crit. Another region is known for their brilliant designs, but are otherwise ordinary.

The nice thing about variations like this is that it isn't too much work to note them down. If a region is known for really decorated Longswords, their shortswords are probably known to be decorated as well.

It can play into worldbuilding in different ways too. PCs might notice the certain style of weaponmaking from a region has gone up in price sharply. Asking around about it will garner that the regions blacksmiths were enlisted by the government for huge orders-making private/trade orders put on hold. Or, hey, it could be as simple as demand is high and supply is low at the moment/in that area.

Finally, variations of the same weapon make it possible to stem wealth. If every shortsword is worth the same amount then giving the group of bandits shortswords could accidently make them rich. But "Village-Forged Shortsword" is much cheaper than "Castle-Forged Shortsword". It's probably more brittle and might even cause less damage in general(lower dice or minus' to damage?).

I could go on, but I'll stop while I'm ahead. If you need some help in any way on this little project and are at all interested in what I have said above I'd be happy to give input. I have many times more ideas than I could write down when it comes to itemization and if you give me specific likes/dislikes I could probably whip up a basic spreadsheet that you can form into a weapons list.