Disarm · Game Mechanic Compendium

Definition

A disarm takes one target’s weapon out of use for a bounded time, by knocking it loose, seizing it, or locking it out, while the target still moves and uses other abilities. Silence is the inverse, stopping spells and abilities but not weapon attacks. Stun is the full stop; Gloomhaven prints the two side by side, DISARM removing attacks and STUN all abilities and items. Breaking a weapon removes it for good. Disarming a trap acts on a device and shares only the name. Equipment loadouts covers what is equipped, which a disarm empties; inventory and encumbrance covers readying a spare weapon.

Behaviour

Spells make one creature let go. Manoeuvre forms replace a melee attack with a contest: opposed attack rolls in 3rd edition, a hit and a save in Unearthed Arcana. Where the weapon falls, the duration is the victim’s recovery cost, a turn in Wizard and a round in the Players Handbook and Unearthed Arcana. Timed forms run a clock: 10 seconds in World of Warcraft, 3.5 in Dota 2, the end of the target’s next turn in Gloomhaven. Counterplay includes saves, heavier weapons, and spares.

Variations

Knocked away (Unearthed Arcana, The Complete Fighter’s Handbook): the weapon lands at the victim’s feet or up to 10 feet away.
Timed lockout (World of Warcraft, Dota 2, Gloomhaven): the target cannot attack until a timer ends.
Disarm and seize (Dungeons & Dragons, 3rd edition): an unarmed disarmer takes the weapon.
Spell drop (The Fantasy Trip: Wizard, Players Handbook): the victim lets go with no weapon contest.
Unarmed disarm (Kingdom Come: Deliverance II): a move among locks and throws, close to grappling.
Reaction or proc (World of Warcraft, Gloomhaven): Riposte disarms after a parry; a modifier card disarms on a draw.

Gating

The first tabletop disarms are spells: Wizard spends strength from the shared pool, and Fumble holds a 4th level slot, while the 1978 weapons table lets some weapons disarm on a set attack score, a proc chance. Unearthed Arcana makes it a fighter’s attack, free but restricted by class, proficiency, and weapon length. The Rules Cyclopedia (1991) makes Disarm a fighter option from 9th level; 3rd edition opens it to anyone at the price of an attack of opportunity, which a feat removes. Video forms add timers: World of Warcraft pairs a 1 minute cooldown with 20 rage and a stance, and Dota 2 puts it on an item with mana and a 15 second cooldown. Gloomhaven gates it like any card, recovered by resting unless lost, and a perk’s modifier card disarms on a chance draw; Kingdom Come: Deliverance II asks only that the character fight unarmed.

History and provenance

The earliest cited ability whose sole effect is the disarm is Drop Weapon in The Fantasy Trip: Wizard (1978), coded as a board game because its rules present the MicroGame as one segment of a role-playing system. The Players Handbook of the same year has Fumble and a footnote on weapons capable of disarming; which appeared first is unconfirmed. Melee (1977) supplies dropped weapons and a pick-up option as antecedents; its fumble drop belongs to critical hits. Chainmail has no disarm, and RuneQuest (1978) and Chivalry & Sorcery (1977) remain unsurveyed. Unearthed Arcana (1985) gave AD&D a full procedure in Appendix R, Non-Lethal Combat (pp. 109–110), and 3rd edition (2000) standardised the opposed-roll manoeuvre. World of Warcraft (2004) is the earliest video instance cited.

Notable examples

Notable examples, in chronological order. Notes describe how the ability behaves in each game; gating is what limits its use there; the latest reference is a widely played game from 2020 or later.
Game	Year	Medium	Gating	How the ability behaves
The Fantasy Trip: Wizard Steve Jackson (Metagaming)	1978	Board & card	Mana	DROP WEAPON, an IQ 8 thrown spell, makes the victim drop whatever is in one hand, weapon or shield, though not a ring or amulet; it costs 1 ST, or 2 ST against a victim of basic ST 20 or more. The victim recovers the weapon with the pick-up option and can use it the next turn. ST is the pool every spell draws on.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Players Handbook Gary Gygax (TSR)	1978	Tabletop RPG	Spell slots, Proc chance	Fumble, a 4th-level magic-user spell at 1 inch per level for 1 round per level after a 4-segment cast, makes a creature employing weapons "awkwardly drop them"; recovery typically takes the whole next round, and a save halves efficiency instead. The weapons table marks weapons "capable of disarming opponent on a score required to hit AC 8".
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Unearthed Arcana Gary Gygax (TSR)	1985	Tabletop RPG	At will	Disarming, a non-lethal attack for fighters and cavaliers with a proficient one-handed weapon from knife to long sword, works only against a weapon of the same length or shorter. A hit deals no damage; the defender saves versus petrification or loses the weapon, which falls at its feet or 1 to 10 feet away, and recovering it takes a round.
Dungeons & Dragons, 3rd edition Wizards of the Coast	2000	Tabletop RPG	At will	Disarm replaces a melee attack, provokes an attack of opportunity, then uses opposed attack rolls (+4 two-handed, -4 light, +4 per size step). Success drops the weapon in the defender's square, or puts it in the hand of an unarmed disarmer; failure lets the defender try back. Improved Disarm removes the provocation. Values are from the 3.5 revision (2003).
World of Warcraft Blizzard Entertainment	2004	Video	Cooldown, Mana	The warrior's Disarm, used in Defensive Stance, costs 20 rage at 5 yards, lasts 10 seconds, and has a 1-minute cooldown in the Classic recreation; the talent Improved Disarm adds 2 seconds per rank. The rogue talent Riposte, usable after a parry, deals 150% weapon damage and disarms the enemy for six seconds.
Dota 2 Valve	2013	Video	Mana, Cooldown	Heaven's Halberd, a purchasable item, prevents one target from attacking for 3.5 seconds at 750 range, for 25 mana on a 15-second cooldown in the current patch; the target can still move and cast.
Gloomhaven Isaac Childres (Cephalofair Games)	2017	Board & card	Action cost, Per rest, Consumable, Proc chance	DISARM is a condition applied by ability cards and monster abilities; a disarmed figure "cannot perform any attack abilities on its turn", and the token is removed at the end of its next turn. A perk adds a DISARM card to a character's attack modifier deck, where it applies on a draw.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Latest Warhorse Studios	2025	Video	At will	Hand-to-hand combat, with locks, grips, and throws, gives a character who enters a fight unarmed the chance to "deftly disarm" an armed opponent, leaving that opponent exposed to bare hands or a drawn sword. The source is a pre-release publisher description that gives no timing or odds.

Provenance

Earliest documented use: The Fantasy Trip: Wizard (1978), board & card. Confidence: low. Wizard (1978) is the earliest cited text in which an ability's sole effect is the disarm: the DROP WEAPON spell makes the victim drop what is in one hand, and recovering it takes a turn. Wizard is coded as a board game because it is a two-player hex-and-counter MicroGame that its rules call one segment of The Fantasy Trip; tabletop-rpg is the losing value. The Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook of the same year has the Fumble spell, which also makes weapon users drop their weapons among other effects, and a weapons-table footnote on weapons capable of disarming; which of the two books came first in 1978 is unconfirmed. Melee (1977) is an antecedent, with dropped-weapon counters, a pick-up option, a fumble roll that drops the attacker's own weapon, and a hand-to-hand attack that can make the defender drop his, but no ability whose aim is to disarm. Chainmail (1972) has no disarm, and Men & Magic (1974), Greyhawk (1975), and the Dungeon Masters Guide (1979) print no disarm rule. RuneQuest (1978) and Chivalry & Sorcery (1977) remain unsurveyed and could hold an earlier rule, hence low confidence. The earliest cited video instance is World of Warcraft (2004).

Sources

Steve Jackson (Metagaming). (1978). The Fantasy Trip: Wizard. Rulebook Reference Pages, Spell Table, IQ 8 spells, Drop Weapon; Dropped or Broken Weapons; Bare Hands Attacks. Accessed 2026-10-24. The Drop Weapon spell, its ST cost, and recovery next turn; staffs affected by Drop Weapon and Break Weapon.
Gary Gygax (TSR). (1978). Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook. Rulebook Weapon Types, General Data, and 'To Hit' Adjustments, footnote, p. 38; Magic-User Spells (4th Level), Fumble, p. 77. Accessed 2026-10-24. The disarming-weapon footnote and the Fumble spell's dropped weapons and one-round recovery.
Gary Gygax (TSR). (1985). Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Unearthed Arcana. Rulebook Appendix R: Non-Lethal Combat, Disarming, pp. 109-110; Appendix T: Pole Arms, Ranseur. Accessed 2026-10-24. The full AD&D disarm procedure (class, weapon list by length, save versus petrification, landing distance, a round to recover).
Steve Jackson (Metagaming). (1977). Melee. Rulebook Rolling for a Hit (roll of 17); Hand-to-Hand Combat; Dropped Weapons, p. 18 per the contents. Accessed 2026-10-24. Antecedent; dropped-weapon counters, the pick-up option, fumble drops, and the grapple drop, without a disarm ability.
Aaron Allston (TSR). (1989). The Complete Fighter's Handbook. Rulebook Melee Maneuvers, Disarm (Disarm vs. Single-Handed Weapons; vs. Two-Handed Weapons). Accessed 2026-10-24. Disarm as a called shot, the 2d6-feet and d6-direction flight, and the partial disarm of two-handed weapons; the scan is a 1994 printing in a compilation file.
TSR. (1991). Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia. Rulebook Fighter Combat Options, Disarm, p. 104; Weapon Mastery special effects, Disarm. Accessed 2026-10-24. Disarm as a fighter combat option first available at 9th level, and the weapon-mastery disarm effect.
Wizards of the Coast. (2003). Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 System Reference Document, Combat II. Rulebook Combat II: Disarm; Grabbing Items. Accessed 2026-10-24. The opposed-roll disarm, the attack of opportunity, and the counter-disarm, in the 3.5 revision rather than the 2000 text.
Wizards of the Coast. (2003). Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 System Reference Document, Feats. Rulebook Feats: Improved Disarm. Accessed 2026-10-24. The feat that removes the attack of opportunity and adds a bonus.
Michael Lummis and others (BradyGames). (2004). World of Warcraft: Official Strategy Guide. Book Warrior talents (Protection, Improved Disarm); Rogue talents (Combat, Riposte); weapon tables (on-attack chance to disarm). Accessed 2026-10-24. Improved Disarm's added seconds per rank, Riposte's six-second disarm, and weapons that disarm on a chance.
Wowhead Classic database, Disarm (spell 676). Wiki Rage cost, range, duration, cooldown, and stance in the Classic recreation of patch 1.12.
Valve. Heaven's Halberd item data. Website Accessed 2026-10-24. The attack lockout, its duration, range, mana cost, and cooldown in the current patch, not those of 2013.
Isaac Childres (Cephalofair Games). (2017). Gloomhaven rulebook. Rulebook Conditions, DISARM and STUN, p. 22; character sheet perks. Accessed 2026-10-24. The DISARM condition wording and its expiry beside STUN; the attack-modifier route.
Warhorse Studios and PLAION. (2024). Kingdom Come Deliverance II, weapons and combat mechanics. Article Accessed 2026-10-24. The unarmed disarm within the hand-to-hand system, in a pre-release post of 18 October 2024.
Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren (Guidon Games). (1972). Chainmail, 2nd edition. Rulebook Jousting matrix; Man-to-man combat, parry and weapon breaking. Accessed 2026-10-24. Negative check; jousting results break lances and unhorse riders, and no result disarms.

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West, James, Jr. (2026). "Disarm." Game Mechanic Compendium, updated 2026-10-26. http://localhost:4321/abilities/disarm

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