D&D 5E Bastard Sword Idea

[UngeheuerLich]

That is a Great idea! Could be Heavy though.

Why think so small. You could make it 2d8 heavy and finesse. And also light. So you can wield two of them with dex and great weapon mastery.

 

[BookBarbarian]

Why think so small. You could make it 2d8 heavy and finesse. And also light. So you can wield two of them with dex and great weapon mastery.

Naw, that's the Katana, mate.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Naw, that's the Katana, mate.

My bad. I thought the katana was 2d12.

Sent from my GT-I9506 using EN World mobile app

 

[Coroc]

Forgive me if this is dredging up an old topic, I didn't see another thus far so I wanted to see if this would be a plausible idea for the traditional bastard sword.

1d10 / Slashing / Heavy, Special, Versatile (1d12)

Special: STR 15 required to use one-handed, else attacks are made at a Disadvantage. You are not at a Disadvantage when using the Versatile property while below the STR requirement. The weapon is still considered Heavy, regardless of STR.

I loved the idea of wielding the sword one-handed (see: Aragorn) back in 3.0/3.5 and was disappointed when I found it "missing" in 5e (I believe the Longsword versatility was supposed to be a nod toward this). While we no longer possess official exotic weapons or exotic weapon proficiency I believed a STR requirement would fulfill the gap nicely and I hope to find a consensus.

Thoughts or Criticism?

Nah that would be the TRUE longsword, which should have 1d8 /1d12 versatile, and normally only used in one hand in an emergency if you ride a horse or need a shield.
It is a bit shorter than a great sword but still could be 1m40

The bastard sword (or 1 1/2 hander) which is better suited for use in 1 hand
should get the 1d8/ 1d10 versatile stats. It features a slightly shorter handle and blade length than a longsword.

Your base idea is great, but if you houserule it do it the correct way and do not add to the
**** mismatch that D&D has on weapons and armor.

Examples of very bad reality match:

Leather armor (Did exist but in another way that people imagine this)
Studded Leather armor (did not exist)
Ring mail (did not exist)

War hammer being versatile (no, no, a war hammer is a weapon of 40-60 cm in length have fun wielding that in two hands) what you really need instead is a poleaxe, that 1 looks a bit like a war hammer but has about 1m20 in length and it is intended to be used wit h2 hands, and a bec de corbin which is a polearm with a war hammer head on it, it has reach and a often a spear spike like a halberd)

Quarterstaff being versatile and doing as much damage as a greatclub or spear (1st you cannot wield a staff in 1 hand unless its length is < 1m30 2nd it then should not do more damage than a club

Rapier being light, in fact it is heavier than an arming sword (broad sword, 1 handed use only) which would be 1d8 slashing, it weighs up to 1.5 kilograms. Finesse for that one still ok though since it is a designated fencing weapon.

 

[schnee]

Just buff up longsword damage to 1d10(1d12 versatile). No reason that longsword and rapier have same damage.

Maybe it's my AD&D, and maybe it's just my old tables, but I am SO TIRED of every single martial character owning a Longsword. Only a Longsword. Always a Longsword. I don't want it buffed back up to be the only optimal sword & board choice based on mechanics.

I understand the impetus, I have my own quibbles, i.e. historical scimitars usually look too thick or long to be a 'light' weapon, tridents should have *some* benefit over a spear, etc. but I've embraced the 5E 'defaults' as a bit of a return to Basic.

When you create simplicity, you necessarily smash differences flat, and that benefits some weapons and hurts others. No matter what you do, in a system with fewer levels of differentiation, something will always rub the wrong way. There will always be two weapons that are on the same 'level' that shouldn't be.

I'd personally just leave it alone, but it won't break the game if you do your thing. It'll just make a Greataxe not worth having. Will you be able to resist fixing that, too?

 

[aco175]

I like the idea of adding another property such as pommel smash (1d4 bludgeoning). I may make it a fighter only maneuver though, and uses a bonus action since it is basically another attack. I'm not sure if adding another attack will slow things down though. I'm not sure on just making it automatically do the damage either.

 

[Azzy]

That is a Great idea! Could be Heavy though.

Typo on my part, I meant to type 2d4.

But I saw what you did there.

 

[Triumph_Fork]

Keep the Bastard Sword but change the negative circumstances to this:

"If thou wieldst a bastard sword like an idiot (aka: 1 handed) you take disadvantage on all attack rolls and Persuasion (Charisma) checks because you are obviously not wielding a sword properly... plus thou looks like a douche."

If you include that, I'm sure you could balance it!

 

[jaelis]

This feat would work:

Strongarm Fighter
Prereq: Str 13
Gain +1 Strength
When attacking with a versatile weapon, you use the two-handed damage die even when wielding the weapon with one hand.

 

[Coroc]

I like the idea of adding another property such as pommel smash (1d4 bludgeoning). I may make it a fighter only maneuver though, and uses a bonus action since it is basically another attack. I'm not sure if adding another attack will slow things down though. I'm not sure on just making it automatically do the damage either.

https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.ne...Rightly.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150926150056

Unscrew the pommel and throw it to end him rightly ROFLMAO

google this for more hilarity