Broadsword

[Cam Banks]

"Broadsword" was not in common use until the late 18th century, long after the Renaissance had ended.

My good man, we don't refer to it as the Renaissance any longer. How gauche. Real historians refer to it as the beginning of the early modern era. I'm sure you will agree.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[Liquidsabre]

Personally I'd make it 2d4 crit range 20/x3 it's a broader sword so I'd equate that to be a wee bit more like an axe in a sense.

 

[Aaron2]

"Broadsword" was not in common use until the late 18th century, long after the Renaissance had ended. It was coined to refer to swords similar to the "Scottish" model, which were considered "broad" not only in comparison to gentlemen's smallsword (weapons we would recognize as a "rapier" having been out of fashion for at least a century) but also were fairly "broad" of blade in comparison to the newer fashion of cavalry sabre favored by the English military (although the old Dragoon swords were every bit as stout as the Scottish, making them also "broadswords").

What date are you using for the end of the Renaissance? The earliest broadsword I know of is from the early 1600s (in the Royal Armories of London). That's well within the time period for rapiers. If the term "broadsword" wasn't in use then, what were these weapons called?


Aaron

 

[Grazzt]

Darn...

Why take a longsword when I can take a halberd.. why take a halberd when I can take a spiked chain... why take anything because of anything. For flavor of course.

I miss broadswords...

You don't have to miss them. You can always assign the stats, then include them in your campaign, and there ya go....the return of the broadsword.

 

[Adonis]

null

 

[Aaron2]

My good man, we don't refer to it as the Renaissance any longer. How gauche. Real historians refer to it as the beginning of the early modern era. I'm sure you will agree.

Sorry, I didn't get that email. Guess I should have joined the RealHistorian Yahoo group.


Aaron

 

[Dogbrain]

What date are you using for the end of the Renaissance? The earliest broadsword I know of is from the early 1600s (in the Royal Armories of London). That's well within the time period for rapiers. If the term "broadsword" wasn't in use then, what were these weapons called?

At that period, they would have been called either a "sword" or a "short sword". G. Silver, Gentleman (late 1500s), preferred "short sword", while Swetnam (early 1600s) used "sword" or "short sword". Both would have specified whether it had a "closed" hilt or not. Swetnam would have used "back sword" if the weapon had only a single edge. The problem is that Victorians back-dated their own terminology willy-nilly.

 

[Wippit Guud]

Would introducing a 2d4 (19-20/x2) weapon be an absolute disaster? It'd be a bit like the current Greatsword vs. Greataxe situation with two-handers. Do people out there see themselves taking the 1d8 alternative. Average damage isn't everything; killing in one wack is sometimes important too.

Of course not, Rule 0. We have an entire board of house rules for just this instance. I don't think it's be overkill at all.

But I didn't write 'core rulebook 1'

 

[Storm Raven]

The real question that should be asked is: what would the inclusion of the hypothetical weapon known as the broadsword add to the game? Right now, D&D categorizes "swords" into some fairly broad categories, and has applied labels to those categories for ease of reference. To break them down:

a one-handed, light, straight bladed piercing sword - shortsword
a one-handed, straight-bladed slashing sword - longsword
a one-handed, curved slashing sword - scimitar
a one-handed, straight-bladed piercing sword - rapier
a two-handed, straight-bladed slashing sword - greatsword
a two-handed, curved slashing sword - falchion

And so on. But these are just terms used to describe weapons with certain characteristics in common, and subsume a broad category of items that had different names, but generally similar characteristics. What is being described as a "broadsword", to my mind, should fit in the "one-handed, straight-bladed slashing sword" category, and hence, I wouldn't see a real need to include a new weapon designated as the "broadsword", just call your weapon a broadsword and use the "longsword" stats.

 

[Woas]

You don't have to miss them. You can always assign the stats, then include them in your campaign, and there ya go....the return of the broadsword.

Yeah.. maybe I'll give it a go. Throw my players for a loop. I can see it now..

Me: As you search the room, you find a BROADSWORD in a barrell.

Player: A what? A broadsword?! Glee