Large Sword questions....

[Seig Warheit]

Ok.... My friends and I have had some debates about large swords and what their stats should be.... I don't have much of a clue, but we have large arguments anyway.... He was saying something lke Cloud's Buster Sword would require me to have a couple of feats to use. He was saying 2d8 19-20 x2..... Isn't that a bit low? I think it should be higher.... Wouldn't Larger sword = more damage or at least higher critical? lend me your opinions....

Also with a Greatsword.... I know you're probably think I'm some sort of power player, but I'm not... I just thought that it would be possible to wield two greatswords at once if your not large, and you have a high enough strength.... (I'd say level 10 plus characters should be able to do it with required feats and properly designed swords and high Str) We were playing a game where we were all paragons, and I had a 35 Strength and Dex.... Shouldn't I, as a Deity Rank zero at least be able to wield two greatswords when I've taken all of the Two Weapon fighting feats, including Perfect Two Weapoon fighting, which reduces negative in the off hand to zero? Am I missing something here?

Thanks in advance...

 

[shilsen]

Ok.... My friends and I have had some debates about large swords and what their stats should be.... I don't have much of a clue, but we have large arguments anyway.... He was saying something lke Cloud's Buster Sword would require me to have a couple of feats to use. He was saying 2d8 19-20 x2..... Isn't that a bit low? I think it should be higher.... Wouldn't Larger sword = more damage or at least higher critical? lend me your opinions....

Check table 7-4 and pg.114 of the PHB (in 3.5, that is) to answer your question. Larger weapons do cause more damage, but the critical is unchanged. Naturally, the amount of damage depends on what kind of weapon it is. For example, a large greatsword does 3d6 while a large dagger does 1d6 (same as a medium shortsword).

Also with a Greatsword.... I know you're probably think I'm some sort of power player, but I'm not... I just thought that it would be possible to wield two greatswords at once if your not large, and you have a high enough strength.... (I'd say level 10 plus characters should be able to do it with required feats and properly designed swords and high Str) We were playing a game where we were all paragons, and I had a 35 Strength and Dex.... Shouldn't I, as a Deity Rank zero at least be able to wield two greatswords when I've taken all of the Two Weapon fighting feats, including Perfect Two Weapoon fighting, which reduces negative in the off hand to zero? Am I missing something here?

Thanks in advance...

No, you shouldn't be able to, according to the rules and for reasons of balance. That being said, if you really want to use two greatswords at once, talk to your DM about it and see if he won't allow it, perhaps with the Monkey Grip feat (which normally doesn't allow a large weapon to be used in the off-hand).

 

[Seig Warheit]

Ok.... That makes a little more sense. 3d6 sounds right to me...

Ok, the Monkey Grip Feat I know about, and he requires me to have it in order to wield a larger sword such as the Buster Sword... But it works for wielding weapons in the off hand? I didn't know that... Well.... maybe we can smooth something out...

Can weapons be made lighter? The heaviness was an issue with him...

 

[xazil]

You can wield a large greatsword with monkeygrip to get the massive sword effect. Although if you have power attack just power attacking for 2 all the time is statistically better in most cases than using a large size greatsword over a medium sized one (extra d6 damage versus extra 4 damage).

If you have the powerful build race ability that both Goliaths and Half-Giants share you could use a pair of large longswords (greatsword damage) with all the usual two weapon penalties.

 

[nimisgod]

Or two large bastard swords (2d8)...

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

Ok.... That makes a little more sense. 3d6 sounds right to me...

Ok, the Monkey Grip Feat I know about, and he requires me to have it in order to wield a larger sword such as the Buster Sword... But it works for wielding weapons in the off hand? I didn't know that... Well.... maybe we can smooth something out...

Can weapons be made lighter? The heaviness was an issue with him...

Oh, this is easy. Well, not that easy. Several assumptions:

Postulate # 1: That there is a 1-handed version of the Jovar, which we'll call the Zeusar for a bad pun. That would be d8/18-20 x2. (Note that the Jovar is one of the few good things from the Planar Handbook)

Postulate # 2: That we're playing a half-giant, goliath, or some race released in a future supplement with the Powerful Build ability.

Postulate # 3: That the part of the Sun Blade ability that changes an exotic one-handed weapon's burden into a light martial weapon (itself a not-entirely stable interpretation of the rules) is a +1 ability. That is suggested somewhere on Andy Collins' (I think) website.

Postulate # 4: That you're playing in an epic game, have Monkey Grip, and can take Wield Oversized Weapon.

So, buy yourself twin Gargantuan +whatever Balanced Keen "Light"bladed Mithral Zeusars. That's 4d6/15-20 x2 goodness, which count as shortswords for the purpose of two-weapon fighting. Granted, they weigh 26 pounds each, but they feel like they're two pounds when you're swinging them around (because, hey, "light"blade and all). Besides, you're strong. And, well, they cost 15,300gp each before enchantment, but you're epic, and have money coming out the wazoo.

Alternately, if you're not a rogue, or don't feel like defending postulates # 1 & # 3 to your DM, you take your Gargantuan +whatever Balanced Keen Mithral Jovar, wield it two-handed, and do 6d6/15-20 x2 damage. Again, it weighs 52 pounds, but dang it, you're strong, and it needs the weight for structural integrity. Or something. And, hey, 30,300gp before enchantment for a sword that weighs that much isn't asking much.

Hrm...ooo, slap the Half-Minotaur or Half-Ogre templates from Dragon # 313 onto your character, increase your size category to Large (but still keeping Powerful Build, so you can use Huge Weapons), and slap those babies up to Colossal (6d6/15-20 x2 for the Zeusars, and 8d6/15-20 x2 for the Jovar).

Okay, I'm starting to scare myself.

Brad

 

[Seig Warheit]

Whoah. That's scary stuff... I think I'll print this out and show him. Where do you find jovars again? I need to look that one up.

 

[Darklone]

Dang, can I get these half-mino and half-ogre templates from somewhere else?

 

[Painfully]

Half giants are in the XPH, and the 3.5 SRD as well now. They are medium creatures that can use large weapons without penalty.

I'm quite enjoying my half giant barbarian ranger at the moment, and although his AC can become vulnerable depending on the conditions, I like the ability to do the extra damage for large weapon, extra strength bonus for a two-handed weapon, and power attack on top of all that, for some serious head chopping action. Joy!

Somehow, weilding two greatswords screams power gamer to me. Maybe it makes sense if you have four arms or something though, but thats just me.

 

[Darklone]

Wielding two greatswords is balanced by the TWF drawbacks. A guy with a bigger twohanded weapon is more dangerous