Every job in FFZ has a weapon that is unique to them. The weapon carries a specific Attack Mode that helps that job deal with specific Defense Modes.
Weapon Categories
Axes
Axes are heavy chopping blades used by Trainers and Druids, mostly to help clear a path through the brush. They add to a character's Magick Power. This category includes sickles and small, curved blades of similar structure.
Bows
Bows are projectile weapons that fire arrows. As ranged weapons, they can attack from the back row without any damage reduction. Bows are employed by Hunters to kill their prey, and by Machinists who delight in the mechanical tension of it.
Daggers
Daggers are large knives, or small swords, used by cutthroats and assassins for their deadliness in close combat and their easy concealability. Daggers add to a character's Casting statistic. Sometimes, daggers are used in pairs, enabling the wielder to become a spinning whirlwind of bladed death. Thieves use daggers in their back-stabbing, while Ninjas employ short swords with their two-weapon style.
Darts
Darts are small weapons you throw, often in bundles. As ranged weapons, they can attack from the back row without any damage reduction. The category includes literal darts, but also other thrown weapons that value speed and accuracy, such as shuriken, boomerangs, throwing knives, throwing axes, or even cards or balls. Gamblers usually make use of sharpened playing cards, while Psychics form sparkling balls of mental force that they hurl.
Knuckles
Knuckles are weapons employed by those who fight bare-handed to add weight and power to their blows, and to protect their own hands. Knuckles add to a character's Magick Points. This category includes claws, gloves, wrist-guards, metal knuckles, and other forms of street-brawl equipment. Monks often enhance their blows with them, while Dancers use them in a graceful kind of attack.
Greataxes
Greataxes are immense, two-handed weapons that pack a lot of weight behind their chopping blade. Greataxes add to a character's Weapon Power. Breakers use them to chop through enemy protections, and Berserkers employ them because they are massive and cause heavy damage. This category also includes scythes and other large, heavy curved blades.
Instruments
Instruments are unusual weapons weilded by certain magickal jobs to attune their own vocalizations. They are sometimes used directly to hit an enemy, but more often are used along with magick to focus sound, damaging the enemy with a dissonant note. Minstrels of course, employ them with their songs, while Geomancers use horns and calls of the wild, and sacred bells.
Katana
Katana are heavy swords employed by nobles and knights with a two-handed fighting style. Katana add to a character's Weapon Power. They are usually massive and quite sharp, being designed by some of the worlds' best smiths. Katana are used by Samurai for their deadly damage, and by Dark Knights to intimidate their foes.
Rapiers
Rapiers are quick blades made for piercing an enemy, able to be weidled with grace and finesse. Rapiers add to a character's Casting statistic. They are commonly used by characters who value speed and accuracy over raw power. Jobs like Freelancer and Fencer make use of this capacity.
Rifles
Rifles are heavy two-handed guns used by Alchemists. They are slow weapons, but capable of great damage.
Rods
Rods are heavy-headed bludgeoning weapons often used as a symbol of power or faith. They tend to empower spellcasters rather than be simple beating tools, adding to a character's Magick Power. Devouts and Mystics make good use of them. This category includes hammers, flails, maces and other heavy things on short hafts.
Spears
Spears are blades and points on the ends of long poles, used by fighters who train with a military or who prefer to keep their distance. Spears add to a character's Accuracy. They are fairly long-range for melee weapons, useful to melee fighters that lack potent defenses. Dragoons and Scholars make use of them. This category includes forks, halberds, and other polearms.
Staves
Staves are long sticks of varying woods and substances used more to enhance magick than to physically attack. Staves add to a character's Magick Points. Astrologers and Wizards use them. This category includes other two-handed sticks such as poles.
Swords
Swords are the classic weapon, and they tow the middle range of many weapon traits, adding to their commonness. Swords add to a character's Accuracy. Soldiers make use of swords to unleash their special blade attacks, while Paladins employ them alongside shields for classic "sword and board" fighting.
Unorthodox Weapons
The FF series includes many more types of weapons than those included below. Those below are basically chosen to be broadly useful, each carrying its own identity and style, and being assigned to two jobs. It is possible to replace these weapons with other things — characters who fight with whips, or codexes, or gunblades, or nunchaku, for instance. The important thing to note about weapon categories is that they are linked to a class of support abilities that are, in general, fairly effective for the job that is proficient with the weapon. If you're designing a new weapon category, the easiest way to do it is to have it inherit support abilities from an existing weapon category. For instance, if you want to introduce gunblades as a samurai weapon, they can have the same abilities that katana do. If you'd like your wizards to use books to fight, they may have the same properties as staves.
If you'd like to create new support abilities for your new weapons, that is possible as well, but it can be more complicated, as it involves designing each support ability. You can also re-arrange existing support abilities into your new category, perhaps creating a more "pure" example of a job-dedicated weapon. The risk in this is that it diminishes the value of proficiency. Right now, every class of weapon includes abilities that aren't directly and obviously useful to every job that recieves proficiency with them. Using these powers creatively is part of the fun of finding new equipment, and part of the trade-off so that higher-ranked weapons aren't always clearly better than lower-ranked weapons. It's not directly unabalancing to create, say, a Codex class of weapons that just adds MP as support abilities, but you may see some diminished variety in that case. This isn't inherently bad, especially if you want to create a clearly 'optimal' weapon category for plot reasons (such as the gunblades in FFVIII), and as long as you keep the support abilities at the same level, it won't be "too powerful" (though some unexpected synergies may crop up). However, you should be aware that it may limit some of the variety in the game, which might reduce the number of interesting and unexpected tactics on the part of the players. Obviously, the wisdom of adding an "idea" weapon category will vary with what the campaign is trying to accomplish and the style of the group.
Adding individual weapons to the existing categories is quite a bit less significant of a change: adding a new dagger or a new dart is as easy as designing a new support ability, giving it a level, and including the weapon somewhere in the world.
