D&D General Here's What A 5' Square Actually Looks Like

Over on imgur, a user called DoofusDad created a real-life five-foot square to illustrate what it actually looks like.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

True. Like all classifications, the term "rapier" changes based on era and region. Terms are so loose in D&D that rapier can easily encapsulate multiple styles of swords, I just can't envision a modern fencing epee that many people think of as a rapier as being used for anything but tournaments.

So it's just how I envision it.

Sure, but I don’t think very many people think of that when they hear rapier in the context of an actual weapon. They think of movies.

 

[S'mon]

Sure, but I don’t think very many people think of that when they hear rapier in the context of an actual weapon. They think of movies.

Maybe I've been watching too much ScholaGladiatoria et al, but I certainly think of a Rapier as the big heavy 16th century stabby thing people called rapiers (rapiers weigh at least as much as medieval arming swords), not an epee - epees are derived from smallswords, which are a completely different weapon than historical rapiers.

AFAICS the 5e PHB illustration shows something like an actual Rapier, not an epee. Just like the 5e PHB Longsword appears to describe something like an actual Longsword (as the term is currently used) rather than an arming sword.

Edit: Also when I google for images of Rapier just now, I see all pics of actual rapiers, not an epee/foil in sight!
Edit 2: While D&D Rapier turns up 5E - The D&D rapier: What is it?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Maybe I've been watching too much ScholaGladiatoria et al, but I certainly think of a Rapier as the big heavy 16th century stabby thing people called rapiers (rapiers weigh at least as much as medieval arming swords), not an epee - epees are derived from smallswords, which are a completely different weapon than historical rapiers.

AFAICS the 5e PHB illustration shows something like an actual Rapier, not an epee. Just like the 5e PHB Longsword appears to describe something like an actual Longsword (as the term is currently used) rather than an arming sword.

You know that rapiers ranged in length and weight over the course of a couple centuries, right?

Even at the same time, weight and length varied quite a lot. Spaniards and French dualists had quite different preferences for length, and the Spanish Circle school used blades made for cutting and thrusting for quite a bit longer than the French and even mainstream Spanish duelists.

Also, a small-sword is a kind of rapier.

Anyway, a rapier can represent any of those things, but more people are going to think Pirates of the Carribean and Princess Bride than anything else when they see “rapier” in the PHB.

 

[S'mon]

Also, a small-sword is a kind of rapier.

Tell that to Matt Easton!

Like I said, if you Google Rapier, you see images of a bunch of actual Rapiers, mostly reproductions being sold by various companies. Not a smallsword or epee in sight.

I dunno about 'most people', at least most people who care - in 1985, yes, people would hear 'rapier' and think of a fencing foil. Not sure about now.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Tell that to Matt Easton!

Like I said, if you Google Rapier, you see images of a bunch of actual Rapiers, mostly reproductions being sold by various companies. Not a smallsword or epee in sight.

I dunno about 'most people', at least most people who care - in 1985, yes, people would hear 'rapier' and think of a fencing foil. Not sure about now.

I don’t know where you’re getting fencing foil from in anything I said. Did you watch pirates of the carribean? Even the swords in princess bride are pretty decent replicas of later rapiers.

And yes, most people are going to read rapier in the phb and think of weapons from movies. Even if we try to keep a gate we’ve no business keeping, and only count people who are already into fantasy and/or gaming, most of them will picture the classic movie musketeer/zorro weapon, not an arming sword or side sword.

 

[S'mon]

I don’t know where you’re getting fencing foil from in anything I said. Did you watch pirates of the carribean? Even the swords in princess bride are pretty decent replicas of later rapiers.

And yes, most people are going to read rapier in the phb and think of weapons from movies. Even if we try to keep a gate we’ve no business keeping, and only count people who are already into fantasy and/or gaming, most of them will picture the classic movie musketeer/zorro weapon, not an arming sword or side sword.

Now I have no idea what you're talking about. If the rapiers in those films are rapiers, then what's the problem?

 

[Arvok]

Looks about right for the space a human-sized creature can control in close combat.

Really wish D&D would make the switch to metric. Especially cause you could make squares meters and then it would be 1-1. Maps would be a bit smaller, but I think that’s a worthwhile change.

D&D is (supposed to be) a medieval fantasy game. Why would you want to drop a medieval measurement system in lieu of a modern one? Measuring distance in feet and weight/mass in pounds and ounces helps maintain the medieval feel.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Now I have no idea what you're talking about. If the rapiers in those films are rapiers, then what's the problem?

Idk man, you replied to me. What was the problem then?

 

[Charlaquin]

D&D is (supposed to be) a medieval fantasy game. Why would you want to drop a medieval measurement system in lieu of a modern one? Measuring distance in feet and weight/mass in pounds and ounces helps maintain the medieval feel.

Same reason the game uses a decimalized currency system. It’s more convenient.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Now I have no idea what you're talking about. If the rapiers in those films are rapiers, then what's the problem?

To get more specific and make a real response, the "problem" was never on my end, far as I can tell. I was just noting that rapier covers a decent range of swords of varying weight, length, bulk, and efficacy in cutting vs stabbing. The idea that there is a single "rapier" that is the correct or real rapier simply isn't accurate, but more importantly doesn't matter because DnD isn't a medieval earth IRL simulator, it's a game of vaguely psuedo-medieval-unless-the-campaign-is-something-else fantasy.

My wife's dual wielding Paladin started out with a rapier and handaxe, because I houseruled that rapiers could be used to dual wield without the feat, and the rapier made the most sense as a close-to-the-hilt balanced one-handed sword like the one we imagined her using.

My gnome rogue's "rapier" is a weapon made of bone with an obsidian leaf shaped blade similar to the attached image, but longer with a slightly thinner blade that comes to a more distinct taper. Spear and scimitar both didn't make sense to me and my buddy who DMs that campaign, so we stuck with rapier.

The weapons are statistics with a name meant to evoke the vague general sort of thing you can use the stat line to represent.