Halfling Rogues - Are they at a Disadvantage?

[ForbidenMaster]

I didn't look up the longsword. You're right. It's versatile.

So okay, I get that it's not an oversight by WotC. They wanted halflings to be able to use weapons like scimitars one handed.

I'm just left saying... What the heck? Never before could small characters use weapons that big one handed. It's a definite change in game logic from all the previous editions.

I'm just not diggin it. I don't like these kinds of changes that are made for game balance when they are so illlogical. Why can't humans use greatswords one handed?

Bah. Visions of Monkey Grip dancing in my head....

First of all halfings are slightly bigger than they were previously, but over all all they really did was get rid of the second table for small creatures and get rid of ridiculous d3. Mechanically it all pretty much works the same as it did in 3ed.

In 3ed if you were small and you wanted to use a d6 with 19-20/x3 you used a longsword, which is the equivalent to a normal short sword. In 4ed you just use a normal sized short sword. Its that simple.

As for why humans cant use greatswords in one hand is for the same reason a halfling cant use a longsword in one hand. The weapons are just to big. Why cant a human lift a car and wield it in one hand? It just doesnt work.

 

[SDOgre]

As for why humans cant use greatswords in one hand is for the same reason a halfling cant use a longsword in one hand. The weapons are just to big. Why cant a human lift a car and wield it in one hand? It just doesnt work.

But a halfling can use a scimitar one handed? Why doesn't that just not work?

 

[ForbidenMaster]

But a halfling can use a scimitar one handed? Why doesn't that just not work?

Because halflings are big enough that they can wield it proficiently without taking a penalty. Its a one handed heavy weapon, so obviously its going to be on the upper end of their abilities, but they can still use it as a human would, at least mechanically.

 

[JohnSnow]

I didn't look up the longsword. You're right. It's versatile.

So okay, I get that it's not an oversight by WotC. They wanted halflings to be able to use weapons like scimitars one handed.

I'm just left saying... What the heck? Never before could small characters use weapons that big one handed. It's a definite change in game logic from all the previous editions.

I'm just not diggin it. I don't like these kinds of changes that are made for game balance when they are so illlogical. Why can't humans use greatswords one handed?

As others have said, halflings just aren't that short anymore. The average halfling, according to 4e, is 4' tall. FYI, that's only a bit taller than a Tolkien hobbit (they averaged 3'9"), so it's hardly a HUGE change.

On the other hand, 3e halfings were really short, so it's a big change from that.

When I first took up swordfighting about 5 years ago, one of the guys in my group was a 12-year-old kid. He'd been fighting since he was 8 and had a fair amount of experience. When he first started, he was about 4 feet tall, and used a rapier that was only a little bit shorter than average.

From what I hear, he was a bit awkward when he started...but he was a child, rather than a short full-grown adult. So I have no problem with Halflings using short swords, scimitars, rapiers, or any other one-handed weapon.

Just assume that halflings buy slightly smaller weapons, but the damage difference just isn't appreciable.

 

[Saitou]

But a halfling can use a scimitar one handed? Why doesn't that just not work?

Because otherwise, Halflings wouldn't have any one-handed Heavy Blades. It's not that much of a stretch.

Also, see post above for insight into "small" weapons.

 

[beeflv30]

One of my players seems to do well with his halfling rouge. I think it has to do with the fact he mainly uses shuriken with sly flourish. Melee he does not go in for so much, so you may have a point.

 

[Surgoshan]

In the terrasque battle thread, one of the characters was a dagger-wielding rogue who consistently did more damage than the fighter. I believe he did more damage than any other character when he had combat advantage.

Don't diss the daggers. They're more effective than you might think.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Take your damage bonus (dex, weapon focus, power attack etc). Add 2 to it if you take backstabber.
Divide it by the [w] in the power you're going to use.
Subtract the result from 15.

If you need that roll or more to hit a foe with a shortsword, then you will do equal or more average damage using a dagger.

If you want to decide between dagger and rapier, subtract from 18 instead of 15.

Additional modifiers applied by powers (blinding and stunning targets for instance) push the decision towards using a dagger. It would be a bit foolish to use blinding barrage with any other weapon, because damage caused is not really the main goal of the power (blinding foes for your action-point backstab, then your next goes backstab is)

 

[Stalker0]

Rapier/Dagger is a great TWF choice for a rogue. Use the rapier when you want big damage, use the dagger when you want special effects. And no TWF penalties!!

 

[Spatula]

I made a halfling rogue because I thought it would be a classic fit. In use the fact he's using a dagger to hit is a big disadvantage.

Halflings can use any weapon that rogues are proficient with. In fact, of the martial classes, rogue is the only one that does not penalize a halfling character WRT weapon damage.

EDIT: so others already answered that. Regarding the greatsword thing, humans can't effectively use 2H swords in 1H because those swords are as long as a human is tall. Your "average" scimitar is not as big as a 4e "not-quite-half" halfling, I don't think. Although ultimately I think they can use scimitars in one hand in order to give them a decent weapon for sword-n-board characters or TWF rangers. Which is to say, for balance reasons.

And dwarves have always been able to use the same weapons as humans, despite being a full foot shorter. Strangely you don't see many complaints about that...