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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FormerlyHemlock" data-source="post: 6629488" data-attributes="member: 6787650">D&D damage has fewer variables than real-life weapons damage, so damage dice differences are easy to detect. I give you the following hypothetical document, written in-character. (My Burly Guy was Str 14, my Average Guy was Str 10.)The efficacy of the rapier: a treatise on weaponryAbstract: By comparing the results of repeated application of rapiers and shortswords to a restrained test subject, it is determined that rapiers are substantially more effective than shortswords at reducing test subject to a point of unconsciousness.Methodology: Test subject is an orcish warrior condemned to death for atrocities. Every morning at nine a.m., a volunteer appears in the orc's cell with a weapon where the orc is tied up. The restrained orc is taunted by an elf until murderously enraged, at which point the experimenter begins slowly counting as the volunteer proceeds to stab the orc into unconsciousness. The orc is then stabilized with a medical kit and left to heal for twenty-four hours to regain his full strength, and the time-to-unconsciousness is noted. There are two volunteers, both guardsmen trained in the use of rapier and shortsword fighting techniques. One volunteer is burly and muscular, the other is physically average. Volunteers alternate on different days, and every other volunteer appearance alternates weapons.Results: After ten experiments per volunteer/weapon combination, the following averages appear.Burly guy, short sword: 4.0 roundsBurly guy, rapier: 3.2 roundsAverage guy, short sword: 6.2 roundsAverage guy, rapier: 4.9 roundsConclusion: Rapiers offer a substantial advantage in effectiveness over shortswords for both burly and average physiques, reducing time-to-unconsciousness by approximately 20% across the board.Further research: It is assumed that weapons which are effective at rapidly producing unconsciousness will have a similarly faster killing speed under combat conditions, but further funding is required to empirically validate this conjecture.[Edit: whoops! Just noticed I forgot to translate "rounds" into in-character "seconds". Multiply results by six. -Max]</blockquote>

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