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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hriston" data-source="post: 6790973" data-attributes="member: 6787503">I think of the D&D longsword as encompassing the medieval longsword (when it is feasible to wield it with one hand), and the bastard sword/hand and a half sword.  Are you saying that, historically, the longsword was never wielded with one hand? If so, I was unaware of this fact. It certainly isn't represented that way in medieval fantasy fiction. If so, then what you are referring to is a D&D greatsword, in which case I wonder even more why you say the rapier requires more strength to wield. Could it be that strength and dexterity are physiologically not as separate as the rules make them out to be?Actually, my initial reaction to the inclusion of rapiers on the 5e weapons list was to ban them entirely from my games. I like to keep things medieval, and the rapier is too distinctively early modern for my taste. I then compared the 5e weapons to the 1e weapons, however, and I noticed the broadsword was missing, so I substituted it back in in place of the rapier. It's about as modern, I know, but the sanctioning from 1e makes it more palatable. Besides, I have a rogue player in my group, and I felt bad about taking away his 1d8 finesse weapon. He doesn't use one now anyway (he dual-wields shortsword and dagger), but I've told him broadsword is an option, and use it in place of rapier whenever it comes up. My rationale for the substitution is that both swords were developed from the medieval arming sword/knightly sword, which I take to be the basic form of the D&D shortsword, and that in the process both swords would have lost their light property as they gained an increase in potential damage. The basic idea, however, is that the shortsword, and its decendants are finessable. The swords themselves, or my attribution of the finesse property to them? If it's the former, perhaps you share my dislike for modern weapons in D&D. If it's the latter, I think I've explained why I've included the basket-hilted broadsword, and would just like to clarify that I put the basket-hilted backsword in a separate category. Sabres and other backswords, I would classify as D&D scimitars. This category includes the cutlass, which was mentioned up thread, and also has both the light and finesse properties, but again, I generally don't have such modern weapons in my games, so it's usually represented by the scimitar itself, or maybe the falchion. I agree that level of granularity doesn't exist, but I take the opposite approach in representing the effect of companion weapons on AC. I don't think it generally warrants an increase of even one point, especially if I consider a dagger's effectiveness in blocking missile fire. Companion weapons don't come close to the effectiveness of a shield in this case, not even bucklers.</blockquote>

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