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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nazhkandrias" data-source="post: 3386875" data-attributes="member: 50521">OK, there seems to be a bit of a debate as to what qualifies a weapon as exotic. My view on qualifications for categories - SIMPLE- Simple to make and obtain, inexpensive - any commoner could get their hands on one.- Little finesse required - doesn't take much finesse to thrust with a spear or bash with a club.- Not specifically designed for any real purpose - specialized weapons are more at home in the hands of specialized military units, no commoners.MARTIAL- Require some level of talent to make, quality is a factor; might take a little bit, but not too long, to obtain - Any fool can find or make a spear, but a flail is something that might be difficult to craft, and possibly even illegal to buy. Usually only given to soldiers or adventurers.- A certain degree of skill required - swords are martial because there is a complicated fighting style involved in their use, with blocks, counters, and different fighting styles.- Usually excels or is designed for a specific purpose - Ranseurs disarm well, rapiers allow for fast dueling, flails disarm and trip like no other.EXOTIC- Very elaborate, often difficult to make; near impossible to obtain, as they are not in common military use, and few have the skill to make them - A scimitar is a finely tuned and sharpened weapon, but it doesn't require nearly as much attention to weighting and detail as a spiked chain. Usually only in the hands of smart-shopping adventurers.- High degree of skill required - Probably takes years of training. Using a bastard sword takes months or years to get used to the weight's impact on fighting style, spiked chains are incredibly difficult to safely wield, and two-bladed swords are more of a danger to the untrained user than to the enemy.- Very specialized or unusual traits - few weapons have qualities more unusual than those of a spiked chain or gnome hooked hammer.So, in conclusion, it can be assumed that a character proficient with an exotic weapon can use it effectively, through weeks or even months to years of training. A spiked chain user can direct the weapon like an extension of their body, snapping it around with great expertise and not hitting anything they don't want to, and a bastard swordsman doesn't even feel the extra weight.Back to the issue of spiked chain, as I feel very strongly about it - proficiency assumes a natural knack combined with intense training. The chain isn't blindly swung about, it is manipulated by snapping it forward, propelling it like a missile, not smashing sideways with it. A skilled user can smash a fly in midair ten feet away and snap it around several times, bringing it back and snapping it until momentum is negated. And you don't hold the spikes, it has grips. Proficient users know what they're doing and could probably lob it over an ally's head to hit an enemy directly behind them (not suggesting this be put into the game).Spiked chains are no more overpowering than a Dwarven Waraxe combined with a Tower Shield.</blockquote>

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