NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="James Gasik" data-source="post: 8955995" data-attributes="member: 6877472">So I encountered an odd rules quandary in 2e, and figured, hey, there's an active 2e thread, maybe I can ask it here.The long running 2e game I'm in hasn't had a face-to-face session in years, but I'm still bluebooking what my characters do by writing short stories that I give to the DM.  Having finally established a keep, my Fighter now has attracted followers, and the DM gave me permission to design my lieutenant.I decided to make a character using the Gladiator Kit from the Complete Fighter's Handbook.  As an aside, I've always felt this was one of the most balanced sourcebooks in the 2e era, but, well, you'll see.Just note that it is highly unlikely that this character will ever see a game table or that their stats matter, this was mostly a "for fun" project, but I'm still confused by the rules here.The Gladiator gains free specialization in one of several traditional weapons, one of which includes the Cestus.  Now, in a live game, I'd never look at this weapon twice, but as I'm writing a work of fiction, the idea of a brawler Fighter sounded cool.  Until I read it's description:[ATTACH=full]277346[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]277347[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]277348[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]277349[/ATTACH]So if I'm reading this correctly, a Cestus specialist can: *gain +1 to hit and +2 to damage, and gain an additional 1/2 attack per turn.*can elect to use Two Weapon Fighting with a pair of Cesti for an additional attack at no penalty if they specialize in the Two Weapon Fighting Style or gain Ambidexterity.*can add the benefits of Punching Specialization, gaining an additional +1 to hit and damage per proficiency slot devoted to this style (as Fighters can continue to do every 3 levels when they gain a new weapon proficiency slot), as well as a bonus attack if one hand is holding nothing+*can gain a further +2 to hit if they have the Tumbling Non-Weapon Proficiency.+: I'm not sure if having an armored glove is intended to count as "holding something in that hand for the purposes of Punching Specialization or not; the fact that the weapon's description suggest Two Weapon Fighting and/or Punching Specialization makes this especially unclear.So is this the hidden "god tier" weapon of 2e?  Because I'm looking at a possible reading of the rules that says you can have, at 1st level, +4 to hit, d4+3 to damage, and 7/2 attacks per turn with a chance to KO foes, irrespective of your actual Strength score!  Obviously, finding magical Cesti is somewhat up in the air at higher levels, but this strikes me as being especially good.  Curious if I missed something/how other DM's would rule this interaction.</blockquote>

Verification