Quickdraw uses

[brightgoat]

Here's a quick question.

Let's say I had a rapier in my fighting hand, and a hand crossbow in my off hand, no shield. I'm just holding the crossbow, not using it to fight, so it shouldn't create a penalty.

If I have the quickdraw feat, should I be able to swap the weapons as a free action? So basically, can I do this?

RD 1: Load xbow (m.e. action), fire crossbow (std action), swap xbow into off-hand(free action), draw rapier (free action)

later in RD 1: AOO with Rapier

RD 2: Switch weapons from hand to hand (free action), Load xbow (m.e. action), fire crossbow (std action), Switch weapons from hand to hand again (free action).

Seems to me that this is the only way to make quickdraw equal to other feats like Power Attack or Cleave.

Could I do it if I were wearing a bucker?
How about a small shield?

Thanks for your opinions.

 

[Dimwhit]

My thought is this:

For your Round 1 actions, I would allow them.

For your Round 2 actions, I'm a little iffy on letting you load your crossbow when you have a rapier in the other hand.

I don't think you could do all this with a small shield. A buckler, sure, but I probably wouldn't allow the AC bonus with it for that round, since you're using both arms too much for attacking and not for defense.

 

[AuraSeer]

Seems to me that this is the only way to make quickdraw equal to other feats like Power Attack or Cleave.

All feats are not supposed to be equal. If Quick Draw is less 'useful' than Power Attack, that's fine. There's no reason to pump up the feat.

This works just like the power continuum of spells. Some first-level spells are 'better' than others; nearly all mages would prefer magic missile to erase. That doesn't mean you need to tweak erase until it's as powerful as MM.

Getting back to the scenario you outline, I don't think it would work in any case. You need two hands to load a crossbow. If the rapier is in your off hand, you'd need to drop it or put it away before being able to reload.

Even putting that aside, I probably wouldn't allow swapping hands as a free action. You only have two hands, so it's difficult to switch items quickly without putting one down. Quick Draw wouldn't help, since swapping hands is not at all the same as drawing a weapon from a sheath.

 

[Murrdox]

Technically this may be a house rule, since the only "by the book" definition of how many free actions you get in a round is simply by "dm's call"... I usually limit my players to one free action of any given type during their turn.

For example, if pulling a potion out of your potion belt is a free action, you're only allowed to do that once. If you pull 2 out, it becomes a MEA.

Saying a short phrase is a free action, saying 2 short phrases becomes a MEA.

I usually don't limit dropping items - you can do that as many times as you have items in your hands to drop.

Similarly, for this situation, I would allow you to switch your weapons as a free action the first time, but if you want to do it again, it becomes a MEA.