sword mage question !

[Evenglare]

SO with sword mage warding you get to add +3 to your ac when you are wielding a weapon with one hand. The long sword is a one handed weapon, however it is versatile so you can use 2 hands. Does this make your swordmage warding only +1 as indicated by the rules when you wield a two handed weapon?

 

[Caliban]

SO with sword mage warding you get to add +3 to your ac when you are wielding a weapon with one hand. The long sword is a one handed weapon, however it is versatile so you can use 2 hands. Does this make your swordmage warding only +1 as indicated by the rules when you wield a two handed weapon?

Yup. However, it is a free action to switch between 1-handed and 2-handed grips, so you can take a 2-handed grip, attack, and then switch back to a 1-handed grip before the end of your turn.

If you do this, your AC is lowered by 2 only when making the attack (which could matter if the target has an immediate interrupt power that triggers on your attack).

 

[Morgan_Scott82]

SO with sword mage warding you get to add +3 to your ac when you are wielding a weapon with one hand. The long sword is a one handed weapon, however it is versatile so you can use 2 hands. Does this make your swordmage warding only +1 as indicated by the rules when you wield a two handed weapon?

It depends on how you wield the longsword. A Swordmage wielding his longsword in two hands gets a +1 bonus to AC from Swordmage Warding, while a swordmage wielding a longsword in one hand gets the full +3 bonus to AC.

This of course raises other questions since its not quantified what type of action it is to change your grip on a weapon, which has lead some to assert that you can start your turn, grab the sword with two hands make your attack, let go with one hand, and end your turn. I don't care for this kind of "have your cake and eat it too" approach.

Bottom line talk to your DM, or if you are the DM, decide how you want this to work in your game.

 

[Caliban]

Answer

20. I wield a longsword. When I change from one hand to two (or vice versa), what type of action is that?

Changing the number of hands you are using to hold a weapon can be done as a free action.

 

[Herschel]

The other question raised is right from the power's description itself (FRPG Page 26):

"While you are conscious and wielding either a light blade or a heavy blade, you MAINTAIN a field of magical force around you.

This fiels provides a +1 bonus to AC, or a +3 bonus if you are wielding a blade in one hand and have your other hand free (not carrying a shield, an off-hand weapon, a two-handed weapon, or anything else).

If you become unconscious, your Swordmage warding disappears. You restore it by taking a short rest or an extended rest."

This looks like if the warding is interrupted, that benefit goes away until you take a rest period (short or extended). So it matters not that changing from one to two and back are free actions, but the one hand warding is not MAINTAINED when you do so. So you are back at the +1 until you take a rest to re-establish your warding.

 

[Majushi]

Actually. The rule pretty obviously states that the warding only disappears when you're unconcious.

That's the only thing that gets rid of it...

 

[Herschel]

You don't lose the full warding, but you aren't maintaining the free hand which is the +2 bump and where the interpretation comes in. If you are attacking with two hands, the weapon is being used two-handed thereby negating the "extra" +2 in my and many others' view. To some it appears as rules lawyering shenanigans while to others it looks like a progression instead of a whole.

 

[Caliban]

You don't lose the full warding, but you aren't maintaining the free hand which is the +2 bump and where the interpretation comes in. If you are attacking with two hands, the weapon is being used two-handed thereby negating the "extra" +2 in my and many others' view. To some it appears as rules lawyering shenanigans while to others it looks like a progression instead of a whole.

If that's how you want to change it for your game, that's your call.

But the text pretty clear. There is one sword mage warding that you are maintaining. It's not two different wardings - a +1 warding and +3 warding that you are switching between.

As long as you maintain the warding, it's gives either +1 or +3 depending how whether or not your off-hand is empty. There is no "maintaining the free hand" interpretation possible- that's pretty clearly something just made up to rationalize a change in how the class works.

 

[Herschel]

You're the one rationalizing what's essentially a free Weapon Focus feat. And that's fine. But your interpretation is not any more correct than mine is.

This is the internet, have an opinion and back it up. Don't be surprised when someone has a different opinion and backs it up. The world isn't full of robots eating vanilla ice cream.

 

[Beckett]

You're the one rationalizing what's essentially a free Weapon Focus feat. And that's fine. But your interpretation is not any more correct than mine is.

This is the internet, have an opinion and back it up. Don't be surprised when someone has a different opinion and backs it up. The world isn't full of robots eating vanilla ice cream.

He did back it up- with a quote from the FAQ.