D&D 5E The best solution for longswords

[jaelis]

How does this fix longswords?

AFAIK the 'broken' thing about longswords is that people feel rapiers are better. So make rapiers a little worse.

 

[ExploderWizard]

It makes 'rapier' a description a player can apply to their weapon, not a class of game mechanics.

I usually condense my weapons table down to the mechanics and then let the player choose to call them whatever they want. Is there a need to have both the 'dagger' and 'dart' on the weapons table? Nope, they are essentially exactly the same. So I just instead list a weapons as a 1d4 Simple piercing weapon (light, finesse) and let the player who selects it define it how they want. What this gets us is more interesting and varied weapons in the character's hands. No one with Simple proficiency ever fights with a sickle because it is only 1d4 slashing and there is an applicable and better 1d6 Simple slashing weapon available. But if someone wants to fight with 'sickles', then they can select the 1d6 Simple slashing weapon (aka 'handaxe') and just call them sickles.

Same with the longsword/rapier situation. There is a single 1d8 Martial weapon (finesse) on my chart that is nominally called the 'longsword'. It is available for the Rogues and Elves (and others with proficiency) who wish to use them. But when they select it, if they want to call it a 'rapier', or 'cutlass', or 'sabre', or 'elven thinblade' or any other name they can come up with... that's up to them. Likewise, you can also select a 1d8 Martial weapon (Versatile 1d10) that is also nominally called a 'longsword' or 'battleaxe', and a player could take it and call it a 'bastard sword', or 'broadsword', or 'hand-and-a-half sword' or 'flail' or 'warhammer' or 'falchion' whatever they want to too. Entirely up to them.

Ok. Can the player decide to use piercing or slashing damage? The reason I asked is because the longsword is slashing only and the rapier is piercing only, so if you removed one from the game then damage type availability would change.

 

[jaelis]

Still I'd love a Versatile Weapon focused Feat.

I've offered this to my players, but no one has taken it yet...

Strongarm Fighter
Prerequisite: Strength 13 or higher
You can make powerful blows with a large one-handed weapon.
- Increase your Strength score by 1 to a maximum of 20
- When attacking with a versatile weapon held in one hand, roll damage as if you were wielding the weapon with two hands.

 

[ExploderWizard]

I've offered this to my players, but no one has taken it yet...

Strongarm Fighter
Prerequisite: Strength 13 or higher
You can make powerful blows with a large one-handed weapon.
- Increase your Strength score by 1 to a maximum of 20
- When attacking with a versatile weapon held in one hand, roll damage as if you were wielding the weapon with two hands.

I would take that in a heartbeat.

 

[DEFCON 1]

It still leaves me wondering why elves and rogues are training in longswords, seems like a waste of time, especially for rogues.

Maybe elves are just bored with their long lifespans and are looking for a way to add a small extra risk to themselves - hidden elven deathwish

I think it is because during the design and playtesting of the game... in both the weapons chart and the tool proficiencies they pulled in from another edition or made up a really quick mock up of the rules, inserted them into the playtest documents, and then forgot to actually go over them again. If at any point another pass had been made... they probably would have picked up on the fact that Elves and Rogues have proficiency in a weapon no one would ever use, and there was a tool (musical instruments) that provided the exact same functionality as a skill (performance) but only made it applicable in a much smaller number of cases-- cases that were barely ever going to show up in the first place.

At least in Xanathar's they tried to make Tools a little more applicable to everybody. But the weapons chart is still pretty borked with unnecessary duplication and demarcation.

 

[snickersnax]

It makes 'rapier' a description a player can apply to their weapon, not a class of game mechanics.

I usually condense my weapons table down to the mechanics and then let the player choose to call them whatever they want.

So if I'm using a "baseball bat" two-handed in your world it would be a simple blunt weapon (versatile).... I'm assuming a d8 (like a quarterstaff)?

 

[snickersnax]

AFAIK the 'broken' thing about longswords is that people feel rapiers are better. So make rapiers a little worse.

I would have thought the broken thing about longswords is that they suck when used two-handed compared to one-handed when using the appropriate fighting style. And there is no use for a rogue to be proficient in them (rogues don't have proficiency in rapiers, so a rapier/longsword comparison doesn't really apply).

 

[Tony Vargas]

5) Everything is fine: game balance

maintainedirrelevant.

 

[snickersnax]

I've offered this to my players, but no one has taken it yet...

Strongarm Fighter
Prerequisite: Strength 13 or higher
You can make powerful blows with a large one-handed weapon.
- Increase your Strength score by 1 to a maximum of 20
- When attacking with a versatile weapon held in one hand, roll damage as if you were wielding the weapon with two hands.

Isn't the problem with versatile weapons on the two-handed usage side?

1-H versatile weapon plus dueling (d8+2 damage plus use a shield): average 6.5
2-H versatile weapon plus GWF (d10, reroll 1s and 2s, but keep second roll , plus no shield): average 6.3 damage

 

[BookBarbarian]

I've offered this to my players, but no one has taken it yet...

Strongarm Fighter
Prerequisite: Strength 13 or higher
You can make powerful blows with a large one-handed weapon.
- Increase your Strength score by 1 to a maximum of 20
- When attacking with a versatile weapon held in one hand, roll damage as if you were wielding the weapon with two hands.

I probably wouldn't either. Not that it isn't good, it just isn't Versatile to me.

I would prefer a feat with a good reason to wield a Versatile weapon in one hand and also in two hands.