D&D General Druids and Path Dependency: Why the Scimitar Helps Illuminate D&D

[Charlaquin]

Kopesh is an axe blade weapon though not a sickle blade,

Are we talking about the same thing?

 

[Tonguez]

Are we talking about the same thing?
View attachment 262271

Yes, Kopesh were developed from the epsilon axe and it is the outer curve edge that was used to cut not the inside (which was used as a hook however) - the Kopesh is in fact the opposite of a sickle bladed weapon where the inside cresent is the cutting edge

as opposed to the Dacian Falx which was sickle bladed

 

[Charlaquin]

Yes, Kopesh were developed from the epsilon axe and it is the outer curve edge that was used to cut not the inside (which was used as a hook however) - the Kopesh is in fact the opposite of a sickle bladed weapon where the inside cresent is the cutting edge

View attachment 262273

as opposed to the Dacian Falx which was sickle bladed
View attachment 262274

I see what you’re saying, but a scimitar’s cutting edge is on the outside too. At least a khopesh is actually shaped like a sickle.

 

[TerraDave]

How many days I mean welcome back!

The curved sword wielding bard population had gotten totally out of control.

 

[Audiomancer]

The […] bard population had gotten totally out of control.

Fixed it for you.

 

[arakasi]

Apparently he’d never herd of Khopesh

The man could spout off the differences between 15 different pole arms,each with different mechanics, but he gave up on swords after "short sword, long sword, really big sword, sword bigger than a long sword but not as big as a really big sword, curved sword"

 

[Nikosandros]

Apparently he’d never herd of Khopesh

At some point, he must have. The khopesh was included in Unearthed Arcana and druids were allowed to use it.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I’m not sure path dependency is really an issue for swapping out the scimitar for a sickle now. There’s just no real knock-on effect to removing it from the druid. I see path dependency as more akin to the difficulties of changing armor to damage reduction rather than being harder to hit or replacing Vancian casting, for example. There’s just too many other things that would need to change for these to happen and the question of the game still feeling like D&D. That’s not the case with a druid using a scimitar or not.

So I was going to address this before being interrupted by the Snickers-deprived.

You raise a great point- I am not using path dependency here in the sense that we often think about it; in other words, that the cost of switching is so high that superior alternatives are not utilized. Instead, I am thinking of it in the more banal sense ... that history matters, and that the decisions of the past had necessary and crucial effects upon the present.

When it comes to the very nature of class identities in D&D, I think that there is a fair amount of path dependency. Some classes, such as Druids, are a prime example of this. They aren't really represented in fantasy literature. They aren't really a part of the general time period of even the generously-expanded general D&D medieval/Renaissance range. They aren't based on an accurate representation of the past- and but are instead a very specific misconception that had a great amount of currency in the 60s and 70s.

In many ways, Druids are essentially D&Disms. The very markers we associate with Druids (shape changing, no metal armor, scimitars, even the specific spells) were all set out when the class started, and absent those signifiers, the "class" doesn't exist.

Now, this was going to be the first part of a three part series (the next one to contrast the Ranger, and the third to g deeper into the difference with non-crunch rules like the "no armor") but it's apparent I'm not going to start threads for a while.

 

[TwoSix]

In many ways, Druids are essentially D&Disms. The very markers we associate with Druids (shape changing, no metal armor, scimitars, even the specific spells) were all set out when the class started, and absent those signifiers, the "class" doesn't exist.

Now, this was going to be the first part of a three part series (the next one to contrast the Ranger, and the third to g deeper into the difference with non-crunch rules like the "no armor") but it's apparent I'm not going to start threads for a while.

 

[Laurefindel]

Why is she holding onto the blade?

She isn’t using the scimitar, she’s trying to sell it to you.

She is one of the sexy “lovely assistants” parading weapons on the stage at Blade Expo 1363. It’s , hum, somewhere in Golaron…