Exotic WP w/o martial WP

[hong]

Question. If I have a cleric who (for some reason or other) decides to take Exotic WP (bastard sword), and I then use my bastard sword two-handed, do I take a -4 nonproficiency penalty because I'm not proficient?

 

[Archer]

The exotic prof. would cover the weapon in all forms of use.

 

[Xahn'Tyr]

Sword, Bastard: A bastard sword is too large to use in one
hand without special training; thus, it is an exotic weapon. A
Medium-size character can use a bastard sword two-handed as a
martial weapon, or a Large creature can use it one-handed in the
same way.

Heh, I suppose it does say that it is a martial weapon when used 2-handed. And as a cleric you are not profficient with martial weapons. That is just silly though. I think any sane DM would rule that your EWP:Bastard Sword lets you use it both one handed and two handed. That bit above is no doubt meant as clarification rather than exception.

 

[Thendruil]

-Technically-, you'd have to have both EWP Bastard Sword and MWP Bastard Sword to swing it one or two handed... But thats me being nitpicky... *s*

 

[Christian]

Personally, my ruling would be that, for weapons that can be used both with MWP and EWP (like the bastard sword and the dwarven waraxe), the MWP is a prerequisite for the EWP feat. So for a clerict to get EWP to use a bastard sword one-handed, he would have to first take a MWP to use it two-handed.

Of course, I'm the Bastard DM from HELL (TM).

 

[Archer]

The rules do not say it is a martial weapon when used two-handed, they say if you have martial weapon proficiency then you can use this exotic weapon 2-handed without penalty but you wouldn't want to because a real 2-handed weapon is better.

 

[hong]

Personally, my ruling would be that, for weapons that can be used both with MWP and EWP (like the bastard sword and the dwarven waraxe), the MWP is a prerequisite for the EWP feat. So for a clerict to get EWP to use a bastard sword one-handed, he would have to first take a MWP to use it two-handed.

Of course, I'm the Bastard DM from HELL (TM).

S'cool. Counting the responses here and on UNsenet, I now have "yes", "no" and three varieties of "maybe".

 

[kreynolds]

Question. If I have a cleric who (for some reason or other) decides to take Exotic WP (bastard sword), and I then use my bastard sword two-handed, do I take a -4 nonproficiency penalty because I'm not proficient?

I'd say yes. A bastard sword is a special weapon in that you need 2 different feats to fully utilize it.

 

[Xahn'Tyr]

Exotic Weapon Proficiency [General]

Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +1 or higher.

Benefit: The character makes attack rolls with the weapon
normally.

Normal: A character who uses a weapon without being proficient
with it suffers a -4 penalty on attack rolls.

Note that it does not list "Marital Weapon Proficiency" as a prerequisite so we can ignore that particular house rule for this argument.

If you take this feat with a Bastard Sword, then you can "make attack rolls with the weapon normally." So when you attack with a bastard sword, you will make your attack rolls normally (ie. no -4 to hit penalty). This would cover both 1 handed and 2 handed use, just like it would with any other weapon. If you took "Martial Weapon: Longsword", you would be able to use a longsword either 1 or 2 handed without penalty. There is nothing here that overrides that.

Now, the special Bastard Sword rules says that you cannot use it one handed without penalty unless you take the EWP feat. You have done that, so you can use it one handed without penalty. The text of the EWP feat covers the 2 handed situation as well if you consider the Bastard Sword part to be a clarification (for folks with MWP, but not EWP), rather than an exception to the feat rule (in other words, it is just adding information rather than overriding what is already written).

 

[Zhure]

I'd surmise the EWP lets you use it one-handed and two-handed.

As a Medium weapon, a Medium creature could use it two-handed even if he lacks the martial weapon proficiency necessary to do it normally. Having the EWP: Bastard sword means you're proficient with the weapon and taking a -4 to choke up on it would be silly.

Greg