D&D 5E Katana in 5th edition - finesse?

Henrix · Dec 31, 2014

The distinctions between one, two and one-and-a-half handed swords is basically academic. Apart from occasional weird weapons most were used the way the situation required, not dictated by the weapon.

The katana is one example, but so are most mediaeval swords.

Lindybeige has some good points about it.

[video=youtube;iF_kxAqS_8k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF_kxAqS_8k[/video]

(He's far from always right, but has many good points. I like his videos about torches, and figthing styles in movies.)

Leowen · Dec 31, 2014

Anything Lindybeige is awesome by default.

ParadoxCTRL · Nov 6, 2017

JonWake said:
If a longsword isn't finesse, neither is a katana. A katana is usually heavier than a longsword. A katana is also more blade heavy than a longsword.

This is actually incorrect in many ways, although I do realize this post is very old I feel obligated to correct as for I use this website to get answers new questions or not. Anyway Katana average around 1.2kg or 2.64lbs, Longswords on the other hand average around 1.45kg or 3.19lbs. Either way we can see from other weapons such as the Shortsword and Scimitar which are finesse weight very light the scimitar weighing about 2lbs at the same length of both Katana and Longsword and Shortsword being around 2.5lbs but being around 10 inches shorter. With all this said I would say yes, Katana are finesse thank you for reading.

~Owen

ClaytonCross · Nov 7, 2017

I modeled the Katana off a mix between the long sword and short sword so that it could be a "monk"/ninja weapon for martial arts.

Katana (Counts as shortsword)
Damage 1d6 slashing
Finesse, light, versatile 1d8

The damage doesn't really matter much because, monks over ride the damage with martial arts, rogues could just use a rapier one handed and get most of thier damage from backstab not the weapon they are using, Fighters could just use a rapier one handed or longsword for the same damage while holding a shield, and if your two weapon fighting its a 1d6 just like a shortsword you could use exactly the same way. So this is basically just flavor.

Just know the part of the Katana that makes it so cool is the samurai.

Azzy · Nov 7, 2017

ParadoxCTRL said:
This is actually incorrect in many ways, although I do realize this post is very old

Yes, it's 3 years old. Don't necro old threads. It's morally wrong and you should feel bad for doing so.

I feel obligated to correct as for I use this website to get answers new questions or not. Anyway Katana average around 1.2kg or 2.64lbs, Longswords on the other hand average around 1.45kg or 3.19lbs. Either way we can see from other weapons such as the Shortsword and Scimitar which are finesse weight very light the scimitar weighing about 2lbs at the same length of both Katana and Longsword and Shortsword being around 2.5lbs but being around 10 inches shorter. With all this said I would say yes, Katana are finesse thank you for reading.

I also feel obligated to correct you that the katana is no more or less "finesseable" than European longswords or greatswords (or, indeed, many other melee weapons).

The whole "finesse" weapon property is just a rules kludge to allow characters without high Strength scores to be able to be as effective with (some) melee weapons as characters with high Strength scores because D&D unrealistically has always used Strength to add to an attack's accuracy when using melee weapon for some reason or other even though it's a poor decision.

So, is really want to be realistic you should add the finesse property to many more weapons.

Guest 6801328 · Nov 7, 2017

ParadoxCTRL said:
This is actually incorrect in many ways, although I do realize this post is very old I feel obligated to correct as for I use this website to get answers new questions or not. Anyway Katana average around 1.2kg or 2.64lbs, Longswords on the other hand average around 1.45kg or 3.19lbs. Either way we can see from other weapons such as the Shortsword and Scimitar which are finesse weight very light the scimitar weighing about 2lbs at the same length of both Katana and Longsword and Shortsword being around 2.5lbs but being around 10 inches shorter. With all this said I would say yes, Katana are finesse thank you for reading.

~Owen

You joined enworld in order to necro this thread?

Cap'n Kobold · Nov 7, 2017

ParadoxCTRL said:
This is actually incorrect in many ways, although I do realize this post is very old I feel obligated to correct as for I use this website to get answers new questions or not. Anyway Katana average around 1.2kg or 2.64lbs, Longswords on the other hand average around 1.45kg or 3.19lbs. Either way we can see from other weapons such as the Shortsword and Scimitar which are finesse weight very light the scimitar weighing about 2lbs at the same length of both Katana and Longsword and Shortsword being around 2.5lbs but being around 10 inches shorter. With all this said I would say yes, Katana are finesse thank you for reading.

~Owen

You might want to check the date on a thread before replying to it, and starting a new thread rather than bumping a very old one.

Bear in mind that the historical longsword is considerably (over a foot) longer that a katana. As swords go, the katana is very short for a two-handed weapon.
Comparing swords of more similar length, such as an arming sword, the katana is a similar weight, but feels very blade-heavy due to the lack of distal taper. Most sabres and scimitars are thinner, lighter, and feel much more 'alive' in the hand due to this weight-distribution difference.
(Not necessarily an issue, since blade-heavy is a pretty good balance for a blade used for cutting down from horseback, or in both hands. But not really fitting with D&D's definition of finesse.)

Azzy said:
Yes, it's 3 years old. Don't necro old threads. It's morally wrong and you should feel bad for doing so.

This as well.

I also feel obligated to correct you that the katana is no more or less "finesseable" than European longswords or greatswords (or, indeed, many other melee weapons).

The whole "finesse" weapon property is just a rules kludge to allow characters without high Strength scores to be able to be as effective with (some) melee weapons as characters with high Strength scores because D&D unrealistically has always used Strength to add to an attack's accuracy when using melee weapon for some reason or other even though it's a poor decision.

The unrealism of the abilities used in D&D's combat system, and whether it is or isn't a poor decision, is very much a matter of many different opinions.

So, is really want to be realistic you should add the finesse property to many more weapons.

I find it doesn't make much sense from a realism point of view for a lot of stuff. It does however allow generation of effective characters based from some forms of media, such as anime. Not all D&D characters take inspiration from gritty historical realism.

Frankie1969 · Nov 7, 2017

aarduini said:
I still say it makes no sense to give the elf proficiency with longswords rather than scimitars.

Most importantly, elves need to DUAL WIELD those scimitars.

Curmudjinn · Nov 7, 2017

ParadoxCTRL said:
This is actually incorrect in many ways, although I do realize this post is very old I feel obligated to correct as for I use this website to get answers new questions or not. Anyway Katana average around 1.2kg or 2.64lbs, Longswords on the other hand average around 1.45kg or 3.19lbs. Either way we can see from other weapons such as the Shortsword and Scimitar which are finesse weight very light the scimitar weighing about 2lbs at the same length of both Katana and Longsword and Shortsword being around 2.5lbs but being around 10 inches shorter. With all this said I would say yes, Katana are finesse thank you for reading.

~Owen

The finesse quality, in general, doesn't fully make sense from a realistic angle, but that's why this is fantasy. As for your incorrect correction, the D&D longword is actually a war sword/arming sword in the real-world. A longsword is actually a hand-and-a-half(bastard) sword. That is why your weights are incorrect.
A true war/arming sword is slightly lighter and far more weight-balanced than katana.

Curmudjinn · Nov 7, 2017

Azzy said:
Yes, it's 3 years old. Don't necro old threads. It's morally wrong and you should feel bad for doing so.

I also feel obligated to correct you that the katana is no more or less "finesseable" than European longswords or greatswords (or, indeed, many other melee weapons).

The whole "finesse" weapon property is just a rules kludge to allow characters without high Strength scores to be able to be as effective with (some) melee weapons as characters with high Strength scores because D&D unrealistically has always used Strength to add to an attack's accuracy when using melee weapon for some reason or other even though it's a poor decision.

So, is really want to be realistic you should add the finesse property to many more weapons.

LMAO. When a lurker joins to rez an ancient thread to tell someone they are wrong and has incorrect, opinionated facts. Hallelujah!

D&D 5E Katana in 5th edition - finesse?

Henrix

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