D&D 5E I hate rapiers. Do you?

  • Thread starter Thread starter lowkey13
  • Start date Start date

Do you like the way 5e has handled rapiers?

  • Absolutely not! I hate, hate, hate the way 5e has handled rapiers.

    Votes: 50 21.6%
  • I dislike 5e rapiers so much I have houseruled a nerf on them.

    Votes: 17 7.4%
  • I like rapiers, and I eat paste.

    Votes: 89 38.5%
  • I only participate in polls with leading questions.

    Votes: 75 32.5%


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I rather like rapiers. Probably because I prefer more overland/town adventures, so the "stab Orcus with a fencing weapon" isn't really a problem. Also, my players tend to go with a concept and the mechanics are secondary, so a functional rapier just means that their swashbuckler doesn't suck down the rest of the party.

Now, do I love the 5E handling of the rapier? No. But I don't hate it, either. It's a dex-based long sword. The end. I don't actually see it as a fencing weapon (in the modern sense). It's still a big-boy weapon, whether that means an elven blade or just a broadsword. I'd actually use the long sword stats for a katana.
 

I don't object to a one handed d8 finesse weapon that isn't light, in fact I would like there to be one that is slashing and one that is piercing (can't see one that is bludgeoning?). I just really dislike the name rapier as it feels anachronistic as compared to the other weapons and my concept of the game.

I'm thinking of renaming the current scimitar as a "cutlass" and making the scimitar a one handed d8 weapon that isn't light and that does slashing damage.

I'm less certain what to call "the piercing weapon" - rapier makes some sense but I dislike it. Maybe longsword and call the current longsword a broadsword? Feels a bit more AD&D ish.
 


The rapier is only a symptom. The issues driving it's popularity are the dominance of Dex, the need for a finesse weapon to do Sneak Attack damage and the fact that it's the sole finesse weapon that does d8 damage. Hell, I've got a Strength-based barbarian/swashbuckler that uses a Rapier because A) he's a swashbuckler! and B) he can do Sneak Attack damage with it. Don't blame the playa, blame the game.
 



Yeah, the idea of having a dueling weapon against heavy armored foes, mindless beast, creature as large as a barn is laughable. I did a lot of fencing once and I can tell you that the main reasoning behind the finess weapon being able to to as much damage as a heavier weapon against an armored adversary; that your PC hits between the plates, is strange. There's no way a fighter with a rapier is able to pinpoint 4 times in 6 seconds the small breach in the armor while the foe is defending himself.

Anyway, in my head canon Scimitars are Sabers and Rapiers are Broadswords, longswords are Arming sword, two-handed swords are Longsword.
 

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