Should Scimitars be finessable in 3.5?

[LGodamus]

well the tag line says it all....I was reading the weapon equivalancy charts in the arms and equipment guide, and it says that scimitar is the equivalent of the european sabre....IMO the sabre is a definite finesse weapon almost as much so as a rapier.

 

[Ranger REG]

I thought the scimitar is an Arabian/Persian weapon.

 

[LGodamus]

it is but just as bastard sword is the equivalent of a katana, scimitar is the equivalent of a sabre....

Sorry if I didnt make that clear.

 

[Harlock]

I think your logic is fairly good in your first post. A sabre is pretty close to the rapier in terms that we think these days. The problem arises in that a sabre and what we think of as a rapier these days isn't what D&D 3.x assumes it to be. A sabre is fine for slashing in D&D (and piercing as well in real world terms), but a D&D rapier is piercing. In game terms I always try and think of it more like a foil for fencing. If you check out the pictures in the PHB you see they had a different idea than what I do. They show a scimitar that looks a lot like a sabre while their rapier is fairly cutlass looking. As far as A&EG I cannot really comment on that as I do not own the book.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

I sense that somebody's Drizzt clone PC isn't quite as L33T as he would like it to be.

 

[coyote6]

From a game mechanic point of view, sure, why not? The only real differences between rapiers & scimitars is price and damage type. You could have a character finessing a vorpal scimitar, but the issues with that situation are more due to the vorpal ability than the ability to substitute one's Dex mod for Str mod on attack rolls.

From a reality check POV, I have no idea how "realistic" it might be. But I wouldn't have a problem with it.

Heck, let 'em finesse a battleaxe!

 

[shurai]

If it were my game, I'd probably let people finesse scimitars since I don't think it would be particularly game-breaking. After all, a character can get exactly the same thing with a rapier, except for the change of damage type. It's true that slashing is probably superior to piercing for the D&D game, but I'd probably allow it anyway since I don't see it as being very extreme.

As far as realism goes, I'd say it's probably true that a person could learn to use a one-handed, curved, single-edged cutting sword in the way Weapon Finesse intends, so sure. I've seen people use Chinese broadswords (called dao) in very much the way you describe, so it doesn't phase me much.

-S

 

[Utrecht]

Question - from a game mechanic perspective - does it really hurt to have ANY weapon be finnessible?

Afterall, you do not apply the dex bonus to damage and you are spending a feat to get the +x - overall seems balanced to me.

 

[Umbran]

A sabre is pretty close to the rapier in terms that we think these days.

I dunno about that. I'm not a huge weapons-afficionado, but the concepts fo them in my mind are not anywhere near the same.

A rapier is a fencing weapon, almost exclusively for thrusting. A saber (as in "cavalry saber") is primarily a weapon used from horseback, it can be used for thrusting, but it's main damage potential comes from the single long slashing edge.

The pictures in the PHB are, unfortunately, nigh useless. I think they were drawn in the same way that the front covers of novels are gone - with at best only a passing glance at what it's actually representing.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

Yeah, I think Scimitars ought to be finessable.