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Pandora
Learned Scribe
Germany
305 Posts |
 Posted - 19 Dec 2008 : 13:32:36
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quote:
Originally posted by Zanan
BTW, I never got my head around the line of (designer) thought that drow need to wield twinblades and spiked-chains. While these weapons are clearly as exotic as the drow, why would a race that is used to fight in limited spaces (Underdark tunnels and caverns, even inter House wars) use such large, ungainly and heavy weaponry? They would be - by default - masters of weapon finesse, expert rogues, swashbucklers and duelist ... perhaps with a touch of the mysterious hexblade and/or the evermoving and silent scout.
There isnt only the problem of weapon chain being "large" (although you can hit around the corner with it), but it is also a pretty loud weapon and doesnt fit the "silent drow image". It would work for shock troopers who dont care about noise though, because it can also be used as a climbing aid if you are really skilled.
The spear has pretty weak combat statistics IMO, because it should be pretty easy to use compared to other weapons. Swinging a sword is probably a lot more tiresome than just thrusting your spear forward and back - like a billiard queue. The game statistics have been like that for many editions and no one really dared to adjust them much. |
If you cant say what youre meaning,
you can never mean what youre saying.
- Centauri Minister of Intelligence, Babylon 5 |
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Ionik Knight
Learned Scribe
USA
222 Posts |
Posted - 19 Dec 2008 : 15:29:30
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quote:
The spear has pretty weak combat statistics IMO, because it should be pretty easy to use compared to other weapons. Swinging a sword is probably a lot more tiresome than just thrusting your spear forward and back - like a billiard queue. The game statistics have been like that for many editions and no one really dared to adjust them much.
The spear is not really used that way. In formation it's the mass of the unit marching forward (and holding it up in the proper position is a real muscle builder) that does the trick.
In solo combat it is used much more dynamically: to parry, to trip, to feint. Any one using it with as a billiard queue will be dead meat.
I think the sword is one of the easiest to use weapons (that and the club); I believe that's why it has been so popular through the ages. |
Fools to right of them,
Jesters to left of them,
Clowns in front of them
Pun'd and parody'd. |
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Darkhund
Acolyte
34 Posts |
Posted - 19 Dec 2008 : 19:17:30
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| Its also easier to make a sword, than most other weapons, so thats another reason for common use. |
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yargarth
Seeker
USA
58 Posts |
Posted - 21 Dec 2008 : 06:50:43
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| its all about unarmed. easy to make and use :p |
"You take a step, then another. That's the journey. But to take a step with your eyes open is not a journey at all, it's a remaking of your own mind."
-Orson Scott Card
Ender in Exile |
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Ionik Knight
Learned Scribe
USA
222 Posts |
Posted - 22 Dec 2008 : 01:32:00
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quote:
Originally posted by yargarth
its all about unarmed. easy to make and use :p
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Fools to right of them,
Jesters to left of them,
Clowns in front of them
Pun'd and parody'd. |
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dwarvenranger
Senior Scribe
USA
428 Posts |
Posted - 22 Dec 2008 : 01:42:25
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quote:
Originally posted by yargarth
its all about unarmed. easy to make and use :p
Until the first time you run into something you really don't want to touch  . |
If I waited till I knew what I was doing, I'd never get anything done.
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Brynweir
Senior Scribe
USA
436 Posts |
Posted - 22 Dec 2008 : 01:49:15
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quote:
Originally posted by yargarth
its all about unarmed. easy to make and use :p
How about take and use? Cause I was playing opposite a character who could have taken my arms off and beaten me to death with them - as I teased about on more than one occasion  . Not the smartest thing to do, but .
And not to stray too far from the topic, I would like to try that crazy orcish double-headed waraxe-thing just once, even if it's not sensible.
Okay - what I'd really like to try is a Ronin double bladed throwing knife, but that's neither here nor there . |
Anyone who likes to read something that's really dark and gritty and completely awesome ought to read The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks. You can check out a little taste at www.BrentWeeks.com I should probably warn you, though, that it is definitely not PG-13 :-D
He also started a new Trilogy with Black Prism, which may even surpass the Night Angel Trilogy in its awesomeness.
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yargarth
Seeker
USA
58 Posts |
Posted - 22 Dec 2008 : 05:51:44
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quote:
Originally posted by dwarvenranger
quote:
Originally posted by yargarth
its all about unarmed. easy to make and use :p
Until the first time you run into something you really don't want to touch .
thats why gloves were invented. |
"You take a step, then another. That's the journey. But to take a step with your eyes open is not a journey at all, it's a remaking of your own mind."
-Orson Scott Card
Ender in Exile |
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GoCeraf
Learned Scribe
147 Posts |
Posted - 22 Dec 2008 : 06:42:31
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Had a DM who threw a marilith with three two-bladed swords at us.
That... ah... that was intense. |
Being sarcastic can be more telling than simply telling. |
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ranger_of_the_unicorn_run
Learned Scribe
USA
292 Posts |
Posted - 22 Dec 2008 : 20:35:04
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quote:
Originally posted by GoCeraf
Had a DM who threw a marilith with three two-bladed swords at us.
That... ah... that was intense.
I just can't picture how it is physically possible for her to use all of the swords at once without getting her weapons all in a tangle... |
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GoCeraf
Learned Scribe
147 Posts |
Posted - 22 Dec 2008 : 20:44:40
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1 2
1 2
3 3
Where each pair of numbers denotes one weapon. The marilith used one weapon in the middle and upper right arms, one in the middle and upper left arms, and one in the lower right and left arms.
I raised the same question. To be honest, I'd my six arms being tangled if I used a weapon in each (and got my tail in there from time to time).
In fact, the marilith was a modified version of the one in the Silver Skeleton adventure by Wizards. We took her out by dropping a tower on her. |
Being sarcastic can be more telling than simply telling. |
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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3737 Posts |
Posted - 22 Dec 2008 : 20:59:38
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quote:
Originally posted by Jakk
quote:
Originally posted by Dagnirion
-I've always felt that the rules for Two-Weapon Fighting (especially at lower levels) were annoying to the point that it is just easier to stick with more traditional weapons, wielded in a more traditional manner.
I agree with you there... I personally think that the penalties for two-weapon fighting are excessive, after having discussed the issue with several members of the SCA who practice the style. I also think that weapon weights for many of the heavier weapons, especially the heavier bludgeoning weapons and many of the two-handed weapons, are unrealistically heavy. If anyone else out there has wielded a period-accurate greatsword or heavy mace, I suspect they will agree with me. They're heavy, but it's mostly size and balance that makes them unwieldy in one hand rather than weight... but I digress.
In our group, the basic penalties for two-weapon fighting are -4/-6, not -6/-10. Ambidexterity (which still exists) accomplishes the same thing as having a light off-hand weapon; in short, it allows you to treat a one-handed off-hand weapon as a light weapon. Two-Weapon Fighting alone reduces the penalties to -2/-4. Ambidexterity or a light off-hand weapon reduces the off-hand penalty by 2, to -2/-2 when combined with Two-Weapon Fighting. Greater Two-Weapon Fighting reduces the penalties to 0/-2, or 0/0 with Ambidexterity or a light off-hand weapon. Ambidexterity also allows you to apply your full Strength modifier to attack and damage rolls with your "off" hand, and using a two-handed weapon allows you to apply double your Strength modifier to damage rolls as long as you are proficient with the weapon. Using a one-handed weapon with two hands only allows 1.5 Strength modifier for damage, because the weapon is not designed to be used two-handed... unless you are a size smaller than the weapon is designed for, as in the case of a halfling or gnome wielding a longsword.
-Unless you are a Fighter, or have some other way of gaining the abilities of the Two-Weapon Fighting feats, there's plenty of other feats that are probably more important than T-W F. |
(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know)
Elves of Faerūn
Vol I- The Elves of Faerūn
Vol. III- Spells of the Elves
Vol. VI- Mechanical Compendium |
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Razz
Senior Scribe
USA
749 Posts |
Posted - 27 Dec 2008 : 18:10:55
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Of course I use them, I try to make my FR game as close to anime-style as possible considering me and my friends are huge anime dorks. Huge weapons, exotic weapons, description of acrobatic stunts and maneuvers made by 5th-level characters normally impossible by anyone IRL...where's the fun without all of that?
Though, I think double weapons are pointless if you don't house rule that both ends deal x1 1/2 Strength bonus. I've always thought it was dumb that if you used both ends, you only receive normal Strength and half Strength for each side, respectively. I changed it to x 1 1/2 Strength bonus for both sides to make it worth doing over TWF. |
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Nerfed2Hell
Senior Scribe
USA
387 Posts |
Posted - 27 Dec 2008 : 19:03:19
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quote:
Originally posted by Dagnirion
-Unless you are a Fighter, or have some other way of gaining the abilities of the Two-Weapon Fighting feats, there's plenty of other feats that are probably more important than T-W F.
Probably... but when making characters, I rarely think about what's important and focus on what I think would make the characters interesting. |
Some people are like a slinky... not good for much, but when you push them down the stairs, it makes you smile. |
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BARDOBARBAROS
Senior Scribe
Greece
581 Posts |
Posted - 31 Dec 2008 : 18:21:13
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Yes
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BARDOBARBAROS DOES NOT KILL.
HE DECAPITATES!!!
"The city changes, but the fools within it remain always the same" (Edwin Odesseiron- Baldur's gate 2) |
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dwarvenranger
Senior Scribe
USA
428 Posts |
Posted - 31 Dec 2008 : 19:42:45
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quote:
Originally posted by Nerfed2Hell
quote:
Originally posted by Dagnirion
-Unless you are a Fighter, or have some other way of gaining the abilities of the Two-Weapon Fighting feats, there's plenty of other feats that are probably more important than T-W F.
Probably... but when making characters, I rarely think about what's important and focus on what I think would make the characters interesting.
I would say that you are then focusing on what's important  . After all, it's not the feats that make a character, it's their story. |
If I waited till I knew what I was doing, I'd never get anything done.
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Ghost King
Learned Scribe
USA
253 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jan 2009 : 23:07:52
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quote:
Originally posted by dwarvenranger
quote:
Originally posted by Nerfed2Hell
quote:
Originally posted by Dagnirion
-Unless you are a Fighter, or have some other way of gaining the abilities of the Two-Weapon Fighting feats, there's plenty of other feats that are probably more important than T-W F.
Probably... but when making characters, I rarely think about what's important and focus on what I think would make the characters interesting.
I would say that you are then focusing on what's important . After all, it's not the feats that make a character, it's their story.
Completely agree.
~Ghost King~ |
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Razz
Senior Scribe
USA
749 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jan 2009 : 23:12:45
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quote:
Originally posted by dwarvenranger
quote:
Originally posted by Nerfed2Hell
quote:
Originally posted by Dagnirion
-Unless you are a Fighter, or have some other way of gaining the abilities of the Two-Weapon Fighting feats, there's plenty of other feats that are probably more important than T-W F.
Probably... but when making characters, I rarely think about what's important and focus on what I think would make the characters interesting.
I would say that you are then focusing on what's important . After all, it's not the feats that make a character, it's their story.
But the feats do help fill in story gaps or help flesh out a character's story. There was an article in Dragon Magazine some years back that actually presented that idea in full detail, it was really well written and developed article. |
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Nerfed2Hell
Senior Scribe
USA
387 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jan 2009 : 23:30:40
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| They can definitely help fill in story gaps... and if you use them that way, then you make characters like I do. I've dealt with the min/max type players though that discount feats altogether as useless waste because there are better feats availble. They usually ended up just making different variations of the same character whether they thought so or not. |
Some people are like a slinky... not good for much, but when you push them down the stairs, it makes you smile. |
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Topic |
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Do you use Double Weapons?
