Really, what good are daggers?

[Emirikol]

Daggers are easily concealable.
Daggers are easy to use.
Daggers are cheap to make.
Daggers are useful as tools (try cutting a bound friend free with your greatsword!)
Daggers are found everywhere
Daggers make a great off hand weapon
Daggers are light weapons even to small characters. (and speak not of the nonsense printed in the Revision. If elven sized daggers making for good hobbit-sized shortswords is good enough for JRR Tolkien, it's good enough for me)

Cheap and easy doesn't bring monsters down. Characters that put the other party members in danger by being ineffective are not welcome in most parties, regardless of their 'coolness' and 'concealability.'

jh

 

[Emirikol]

Alright. That does it. I'm setting out to make my next PC the BEST damn dagger weilder you've ever seen. A reall bad-as$, a knife fetishist and razor lover.

You'll see. Just you wait, Mr. "I'm hating on daggers" person.

Don't forget to make that same character with a throwing axe

jh

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

The thing about daggers is that they don't have to be a character's primary weapon. For instance, I had a cleric character who used a greatsword. From first to sixth level, he carried a greatsword and a dagger as his only weapons. Since he usually would be casting healing spells or engaging in melee, he never suffered much from his lack of a decent ranged weapon. However, on a couple of occasions, he did find himself with no useful spells to cast and nobody in melee range. At that point, he could either draw and throw his dagger or draw and load his crossbow (which he didn't have). Drawing and throwing the dagger was more effective since he could actually attack with it on that round.

Would a throwing axe have been better. Sure. . . if he were proficient in it. Would a javalin have been better for ranged attacks? Sure but he very rarely needed to make ranged attacks and the dagger is useful as a tool or in grapples as well.

That cleric bought a masterwork crossbow since then. (The cost isn't as much of a factor at 7th level as it is at 3rd). However, he'll keep his dagger. And it's at least as likely to be used (and useful) as his crossbow is.

Cheap and easy doesn't bring monsters down. Characters that put the other party members in danger by being ineffective are not welcome in most parties, regardless of their 'coolness' and 'concealability.'

jh

 

[CaptainCalico]

What good are daggers? They are the most versatile weapon for the price: melee and ranged attacks; piercing and slashing damage; STR bonus damage for both melee and ranged attacks; possibility of DEX to hit for both if you take Weapon Finesse; you can carry one or you can carry twenty.

Our current party has a Rogue with Quick Draw and Flick of the Wrist (S&S) – he can go from “No problem here, officer,” to “Quick! Hide the body!” in one round.

Would I equip a character with a dagger as their only weapon for a dungeon-crawl? No. Do any of my characters leave the house without at least one dagger? Heck no!

 

[Wraith Form]

Don't forget to make that same character with a throwing axe

jh

[ notices Emirikol's sig line ] Oh yeah? Well Conan used a dagger.

So nyah.

 

[Celtavian]

re

I can't believe you've never watched a movie with some guy sitting around eating at the table with nothing but a dagger to cut his meat, bread or cheese. You haven't seen a guy cut a length of rope in a movie with a dagger? You haven't seen a person cut their captured buddy free with a dagger?

I can't even believe you asked why there are daggers in D&D. Talk about a person who isn't using their imagination and is focusing a little too much on game statistics.

A dagger is one of the most useful implements any adventurer carries. Its a weapon as well as a tool. Any character I make carries a dagger. To me there like the American Express slogan should be used for the dagger "Don't leave home without it."

 

[Wraith Form]

I can't even believe you asked why there are daggers in D&D. Talk about a person who isn't using their imagination and is focusing a little too much on game statistics.

WOW.

He (Celtie-boy) sounds really (like, genuinely) pissed. That might be a slightly inappropriate reaction to a somewhat tongue-in-cheek question about imaginary items (based upon real-world tools) in a fantasy role-playing game.

ZOIKS.

Damn, Emirikol--where's the love for daggers, brother? You upsettin' people here!

 

[Celtavian]

re

WOW.

He (Celtie-boy) sounds really (like, genuinely) pissed. That might be a slightly inappropriate reaction to a somewhat tongue-in-cheek question about imaginary items (based upon real-world tools) in a fantasy role-playing game.

ZOIKS.

Damn, Emirikol--where's the love for daggers, brother? You upsettin' people here!

Pissed? What the heck are you talking about? Surprised is more like it.

I always thought it was fairly obvious why a dagger was in D&D. The knife aka dagger is a standard staple in Fantasy, Western, Historical, and Military fiction, not to mention still used by Spec Ops, Soldiers and Outdoorsman around the world. A knife is an extremey useful tool as well as a handy weapon in a pinch.

Hell, I have several laying around in my kitchen

 

[Scarbonac]

As far as the concealment ability of a dagger goes, I remember hearing about an AD&D 1st Edition wizard PC who had so many throwing daggers concealed on various parts of his body (strapped to all four limbs, secret sheath on a belt, hidden inside belt pouches, equivalent of a "shoulder holster," etc.) that his DM granted him an AC bonus on the theory that many weapon strikes were bound to hit a concealed dagger rather than the wizard's flesh!

Johnathan

Huh, I allowed that IMC, many moons ago; a female magic-user (ouch, that dates me) would loot as many knives and daggers from the slain foes of the party as she could, and had them strapped all over her. In combat she would stand a bit back and throw knives and daggers (her decent DEX helped quite a bit) when she ran out of spells. She usually made the party ranger look silly cos she would hit more regularly, do more damage and slay more enemies (low-level party, usually facing orcs, goblins, kobolds, hobgoblins, gnolls and ogres) than he did.


It was sad and funny at the same time.

So, anyway, she had so much steel strapped to her (and she was a real petite flower, 5' tall) that I let her have an AC bonus.

Crazy character, though; she went insane and fell in love with a kobold.


On the value of the dagger: looks like all the good points ( ) have been made. Useful as a tool, as a backup ("last resort") or main weapon, makes a good eating utensil, is unlikely to raise suspicions, is lethal, does piercing/slashing damage, can be used to bonk people on the head or slug them in the gut (with the pommel), is easily concealed, can be used as a melee or missile (thrown) weapon, is finesse-able and is a common historical, fictional and present-day weapon that can look very cool.

Every character whom I've run in 21+ years who could, always had a dagger, and many times that weapon spelled the difference between life and death.

 

[Norfleet]

That, and it's very hard to open your mail, eat your food, and clean your fingernails with a mace.