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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Caeleddin" data-source="post: 2230053" data-attributes="member: 31912">POL - I feel your pain. Wait until you get a Half-Giant Ranger with two large longswords And walk into battle doing 6x 2d6+strength at level 11......  As for the Bastard Sword (how I HATE that accursed name), I would say that it is a 2hd weapon. Therefore, a small character cannot use it, period. You can use it EFFECTIVELY in one hand as it is not fully in the 100% 2hd weapon category, if you train in it and has the strength to do it (thus the feat and the Str requirement), if you are medium sized. Historically, the Bastard Sword is the Broadsword. I don't know what Gary Gygax was smoking when he came up with it, but the long heavy blades that the medieval knights used was the Broadsword, not the Longsword (IIRC, historically, the longsword as described in D&D never really existed). They used it one handed, but it took a LOT of training as the blade was designed with a "forward balance"TM (ie., the balance point of the sword is on the blade side of the crosspiece). This meant that when you smack someone with it when mounted, it created an extra drag towards the arc of the swing and when you hit someone, it will go in harder because of the forward balance. Try smacking something while holding a baseball bat near the middle where the balance is, and smacking the same thing while holding it at the grip and you will see what I mean about the extra force, then use it in a two handed grip and you will see what they are trying to say with the whole one-handed, two-handed nonsense. The feat represents the training needed to effectively stop and manouevre the Broadsword in one hand and the Str means that you can actually stop it and reverse it as needed without needing a complete circle to do so. My other rant about weapons in D&D is that their Scimitar is a Sabre. Their Falchion is the Scimitar. As protrayed in the 3.5 Player's Handbook, that is *mutters*</blockquote>

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