trip, whip and twf

[moritheil]

I don't really wan to get into 5 pages of arguments, but I'll just add that I've always played by the way Jeff seems to interpret things. Ignoring the abiguously worded rules, just think about it realistically. Why should simply holding a weapon in your off-hand give you a penalty if you're not using it? Holding a shield, a torch, or a lantern in your off-hand doesn't give you a penalty, unless you decide to hit someone with it. Why should holding a dagger be different?

Uh . . . thinking about it realistically, I can't see how holding a heavy object in one hand that disrupts your balance would not make it more difficult to strike quickly and effectively. Weapons are generally heavy things, much heavier than torches. As for shields, that's kind of goofy, but presumably your shield training allows you to use a shield in conjunction with your regular attack without penalty. You're right to point out that daggers are not really very heavy, but I don't think you can say the same for broadswords, scimitars, etc.

Also, the argument that you completely ignored is centered around the idea that the wording is NOT ambiguous. But then, I suppose you're too busy to read it, or something, so you won't read this either, right?