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Message: <blockquote data-quote="eamon" data-source="post: 5235054" data-attributes="member: 51942">No offense intended; but (as opposed to what you say next) this is nonsense.  Do you expect a specialist swordfighter to be barely affected by the loss of weaponry?  How are you going to pan-fry a fish without a pan?  How do you intend to post to enworld without a network?  How did David kill Goliath?Tools matter.  They really do.  Characters are more important than their tools not because tools don't matter, but because characters choose the right tools for the right job.  If you're playing a humanoid (as in tool-using rather than bipedal) creature, then your dependance on tools is not a weakness; it's a strength: the farm-boy that goes on to slay the dragon doesn't do so in a boxing match: he uses the right tools (Vorpal weapon X) in the right way (with talent, strength and experience), at the right time (not before he has that experience, and with every tactical advantage possible).The problem is not that D&D PC's depend on tools.  For some campaigns, the dependance on magic tools is problematic, but we have inherent bonuses to deal with that problem.  Tool-dependance isn't a problem, but the fact that these characters - smart and skillful enough to be able to fight the good fight against foes far more powerful than they by virtue of their skill at arms - these smart tool-users can easily be outwitted simply by disarming them.  Which of course brings me to the next you say: something I can only agree with wholeheartedly:The disarming problem is a combination of three factors:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Weapon Dependance</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Ability to neuter weapons</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Lack of backup weapons.</li> </ol>Fix any one of those three factors, and the problem disappears.  Fixing weapon dependance doesn't make sense (though it would be reasonable to ensure that both PC's and monsters play by the similar rules - i.e. use house-ruled/inherent bonuses for PC's just as for monsters so that losing a sword has roughly the same impact on either - a +3 to attack and about twice the damage die, or conversely use greater penalties for monsters).However, using backup weapons makes perfect sense in-game, and nicely resolves this issue: it's a terrible option to disarm someone if that person can just draw a different weapon, if the alternative is to run past all your allies (provoking OA with CA) and then off a cliff.  And it doesn't even require a house rule!</blockquote>

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