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<blockquote data-quote="Persiflage" data-source="post: 5268802" data-attributes="member: 73597">Well, here's my interpretation...&nbsp; If you're just &quot;holding&quot; a weapon in your off-hand, it might just as well be a lantern, an ornamental clock or a banana for all the game effect it has.&nbsp; The penalties associated with two-weapon fighting (whether or not you actually suffer any) are because wielding two weapons is hard.&nbsp; It requires extra timing and concentration, and it's all about the intent to involve the contents of your off-hand in your attack and defence patterns.&nbsp; &quot;Holding&quot; something is not &quot;using&quot; it unless explicitly stated or implied by the nature of the item, so you don't get use-activated effects but you don't suffer any penalties either.By the very definition you quoted, if you're &quot;wielding&quot; a weapon in your off-hand, you have the opportunity to take extra attacks.&nbsp; That's what wielding a weapon in your off-hand means.&nbsp; Even if you don't *take* the extra attacks, you are still wielding the weapon, still get the use-activated effects, can still make AoO's with your off-hand and suffer the penalties for wielding an off-hand weapon.If you're just &quot;holding&quot; the weapon, you can't do any of the above, in my opinion at least.&nbsp; You're avoiding the penalty by not trying to take into account the movements of your other hand, so in my book you don't threaten with your off-hand either.&nbsp; It's the difference between fencing with a rapier only, or fencing with a rapier and a main-gauche.&nbsp; If you're fencing with your off-hand behind your back, it doesn't matter if you've got a dagger in it, you're still only fencing with a rapier because you're not concentrating on using your other hand.I'm sure other people's mileage will vary significantly, but I've always liked to make the distinction clear.&nbsp; If a player is wielding an off-hand weapon, they're wielding it until the start of their next turn, with all that implies.&nbsp; If they're &quot;holding&quot; an off-hand weapon, then it's not ready to be brought to bear, doesn't grant use-activated effects (unless otherwise stated), can't be used for AoO's and doesn't impose a penalty.&nbsp; I'm aware that this is a significant simplification versus real-world examples, but so is the entire fighting system and I'm cool with that&nbsp; <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

[QUOTE="Persiflage, post: 5268802, member: 73597"] Well, here's my interpretation... If you're just "holding" a weapon in your off-hand, it might just as well be a lantern, an ornamental clock or a banana for all the game effect it has. The penalties associated with two-weapon fighting (whether or not you actually suffer any) are because wielding two weapons is [I]hard[/I]. It requires extra timing and concentration, and it's all about the intent to involve the contents of your off-hand in your attack and defence patterns. "Holding" something is not "using" it unless explicitly stated or implied by the nature of the item, so you don't get use-activated effects but you don't suffer any penalties either. By the very definition you quoted, if you're "wielding" a weapon in your off-hand, you have the opportunity to take extra attacks. That's what wielding a weapon in your off-hand [I]means[/I]. Even if you don't *take* the extra attacks, you are still wielding the weapon, still get the use-activated effects, can still make AoO's with your off-hand and suffer the penalties for wielding an off-hand weapon. If you're just "holding" the weapon, you can't do any of the above, in my opinion at least. You're avoiding the penalty by not trying to take into account the movements of your other hand, so in my book you don't threaten with your off-hand either. It's the difference between fencing with a rapier only, or fencing with a rapier and a main-gauche. If you're fencing with your off-hand behind your back, it doesn't matter if you've got a dagger in it, you're still only fencing with a rapier because you're not concentrating on using your other hand. I'm sure other people's mileage will vary significantly, but I've always liked to make the distinction clear. If a player is wielding an off-hand weapon, they're wielding it until the start of their next turn, with all that implies. If they're "holding" an off-hand weapon, then it's not ready to be brought to bear, doesn't grant use-activated effects (unless otherwise stated), can't be used for AoO's and doesn't impose a penalty. I'm aware that this is a significant simplification versus real-world examples, but so is the entire fighting system and I'm cool with that :) [/QUOTE]

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