Help with the bastard sword.

[mirivor]

Alright... I have the distinct pleasure of playing a Dire Human Werewolf. This template, while awesome, presents some difficulties for my character, such as the size difference between his human and hybrid forms.

So I tried to think of a weapon that would suit his particular needs and came up with the fairly obvious bastard sword, a medium weapon that can, with the appropriate feat, be wielded in one hand by a medium creature.

So, my question is can my hairy dude, having the Exotic Weapon Bastard Sword feat, wield a large bastard sword as a two-handed weapon while in his human, I.E. medium, form? It smells legal, but I want to make sure. The rules say that increasing a weapon's size one step increases the effort required to wield it, thus the large bastard sword would be a two-handed weapon for a medium sized creature with the Exotic Weapon Bastard Sword feat, and unwieldable by someone without it... Right?

Later!

 

[Eluvan]

Not by the strict rules, no. There's nothing to say so. I guess it would kind of make sense though - you'd have to see if you could convince your DM to houserule for you.

 

[Carpe DM]

Use Monkey Grip. That should solve it.

best,

Carpe

 

[Nifft]

Personally, I'd allow it, if you took the Exotic Weapon proficiency and had the sword custom made to act as a Large Bastard and a Medium Greatsword.

Using any off-the-shelf weapon would result in a -2 penalty for using a wrong-sized weapon, but only in one of your forms.

I'd also allow a +1 enhancement bonus equivalent special ability that let your sword shift from being a Medium bastard sword to being a Large bastard sword.

-- N

PS: Or a Large falchion, if you are son of the dog-demon.

 

[mirivor]

Unfortunately, Monkey Grip won't do anything for me. See, the real question is, does the bastard sword's special rules for wielding one-handed come into effect before or after taking my feats into consideration. I would say after... otherwise the Exotic Weapon Bastard Sword feat would be worthless. So. that means that my man can wield a bastard sword in one hand... I have the EWBS feat. Now given the rules, I can wield a weapon designed for a creature one size larger than me, so long as I can wield it with two hands. So, for instance, a Large creature can wield his Bastard Sword with one hand using EWBS. That means that a medium creature could wield the same weapon with two hands as long as he has the EWBS feat, right? If not, why?

My other option is to simply wield a medium great sword.... but that would be so cliche.... LOL!

 

[Hypersmurf]

Ah, the bastard sword

The FAQs seem to have real trouble with the bastard sword.

The 3E Main FAQ addressed the question of 'Can you wield it in one hand without the EWP feat' in two different sections. In one place, it said 'Yes, at a -4 penalty'. In another, it said 'No, without the feat you can't wield it in one hand at all'. One of those answers also said that a halfling with the feat could wield it in two hands.

The 3.5 FAQ, on the other hand, takes an even more amusing run at it. "Yes, the PHB says it's a one-handed weapon... but that's not true. It's really a two-handed weapon. Just ignore that pesky PHB."

Go FAQ!

Judging by the PHB, I'd agree with you - a Medium creature with EWP Bastard Sword can wield a Large Bastard Sword in two hands (at a -2 penalty for inappropriate size). In fact, that's what I say any time anyone says "Has the Fullblade been done for 3.5?" In 3.5, as far as I'm concerned, the Fullblade is a Large Bastard Sword.

Just ignore the FAQ on this issue ("It's not really a one-handed weapon"!?) - and on pretty much anything dealing with 3.5 Weapon Size, since it seems apparent that Skip really doesn't 'get' the new sizing system - and it all works out just fine.

-Hyp.

 

[hong]

Alright... I have the distinct pleasure of playing a Dire Human Werewolf. This template, while awesome, presents some difficulties for my character, such as the size difference between his human and hybrid forms.

I'm kinda having difficulty visualising a dire human. Where do the two heads go?

 

[mirivor]

I could tell you, but I don't want to offend anyone's sensibilities....

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

The real fun starts when you, as mentioned, Monkey Grip it to use one-handed in your Medium form.

 

[Tetsubo]

There is a +1 weapons enhancement called Sizing (I think) that would solve this problem...