Is the whip a broken useless weapon?

[Bigwilly]

What he said

Ahem!

Whips from EN Arsenal is pretty good if you want to play a whip-wielding character. Lots of interesting options from different types of whips to prestige classes to ... Go buy it and find out the rest for yourself.

Bigwilly

 

[Grishnak]

On another note, the spike chain is pretty similar to the whip, but does real damage and can also strike adjacent squares adding more fuel to the fire regarding the inadaquecies of the whip. Too bad I hate the idea of my character wielding this weapon.

Master of chains is what your looking for if you want to used the spiked chain gets some cool abilities and depending on the situation can really excell. Its a PrC in Sword & Fist if I recall correctly.

 

[Desdichado]

Hey, Josh, is this the character for my game? Give me a call or send me an e-mail -- I'll work something out. I actually don't have the 3.5 PHB, I'm still running with my 3e and SRD printouts, so I wasn't aware of any issues with the whip not working well anymore, but I agree, a whip character would be pretty cool.

We do have a fighter who's specialty is the spiked chain in that group, but he's actually not going to be there on Friday anyway. And besides, it sounds like you want the whip as a secondary weapon. I don't think there'll be too much overlap. He does pretty well with using it for the Improved Trip, though, which allows him to take an AoO against the guy going down. If you have a whip and a second weapon with Improved Trip, you should be able to go with the same routine.

 

[Keoki]

Wny not use a bladed whip?

 

[reanjr]

On another note, the spike chain is pretty similar to the whip, but does real damage and can also strike adjacent squares adding more fuel to the fire regarding the inadaquecies of the whip. Too bad I hate the idea of my character wielding this weapon.

I think it works out best to ignore the picture of the spiked chain in the PHB as a horrible mixup in understanding. If you make it a long, thin chain, with a small, spiked ball on the end, the weapon becomes way better.

IMO.

P.S. I was recently creating weapon creation rules. I found that the spiked chain was perfectly balanced using those rules. I almost scrapped the rules. The idea that the spiked chain is balanced just clashes with all that I hold dear. But I've now come to accept it. And, with my reimagination of what the thing looks like, I've come to terms with the weapon.

I still think its for munchkins (defined as those players whose style differs from my own ), though

 

[drnuncheon]

2. It provokes a opportunity attack similar to a ranged weapon. OK, that's really bad since there goes the use of improved trip and striking the adjacent opponent with the off handed rapier.

I can help with this one at least. "The only movement you can take during a full attack is a 5-foot step. You may take the step before, after, or between your attacks."

So, from 10' away, whip trip, then 5' step and stab with that lovely +4 for prone opponents.

J

 

[Asmor]

I think it works out best to ignore the picture of the spiked chain in the PHB as a horrible mixup in understanding. If you make it a long, thin chain, with a small, spiked ball on the end, the weapon becomes way better.

Personally, I think that as illustrated in the PHB, the spiked chain is very cool. Maybe not practical, but still cool. To be totally honest, a long, thin chain with a spiked ball on the end sounds kind of boring. If you're gonna go that route, might as well just change it to bludgeoning damage and call it a manriki gusari, which is an actual historical weapon consisting of a chain with weighted ends.