D&D 3E/3.5 The bastard sword in 3E

[MoonZar]

Hello,

As many peiople said, the two hand factor is handle with the 1.5 str bonus when u use two hand.

If you change the dice of damage of weapon, you'll make the bastard useless and you should simply remove it from your campaign if you don't like it.

 

[Numenorean]

My DM decided to try something different. He made the bastard sword do 1d8 when used one handed, and 1d10 when used two handed, and eliminated the feat requirement to use it one handed.

His logic was as it stood in the rules it made no sense why someone without a STR bonus would do the same damage with a bastard sword when used one handed or two handed?

I see where he is coming from. The only flaw comes from a game-min/max angle and that is why use a longsword then? You could make arguments on size, min STR required, etc? But still we will see how his new house rule works. Our group is not min/max types so I think it will workout with us.

I always thought the reason why they did how they did it was to agree with pure rules mechanics, but the reality was lacking. I mean lets be honest, a bastard sword is not a difficult weapon to wield (I'm 5'10", 200#, athletic and strong) in one hand ... but a flail on the other hand ... I could understand making that an exotic weapon that required a feat to use

I will say this, the bastard sword, like the ranger class, are two things that are hard to get right in a fantasy game system. I think the one game system that did them both well was the old ICE RoleMaster system ("Rollmaster"), but thats an entirely different beast

 

[S'mon]

I see where he is coming from. The only flaw comes from a game-min/max angle and that is why use a longsword then?

Bastard swords cost more & weigh more, and being longer are harder to conceal - which would be enough to keep longswords around (as a back-up weapon, maybe) - I think your GM's rule is a good one to model reality without unbalancing the game.

Edit: If I run Castles & Crusades I'll use this rule.

 

[swordsmasher]

Bastard Swords can be used 1 handed without a feat, you just take a penalty.

I rarely ever used the bastard sword, until one of my player's recently triec something. he took the Exotic Weapon feat for the bastard Sword, then snagged Oversized Two-Weapon fighting feat for it.

Now he is wielding two Bastard Swords, and basically nothing can touch him before he dices it

 

[Tony Vargas]

I like S'mon's house rule, the minimum damage bonus when you use a weapon two-handed occured to me, too, but I never implemented it.

For the OP, another option might be to count the bastard sword as a longsword when used one-handed, and a greatsword (or maybe give it d12 damage) when used with two. That gives it a little more of a reason for existing (in effect being able to switch between a longsword and a greatsword or back again without dropping or drawing).

 

[S'mon]

For the OP, another option might be to count the bastard sword as a longsword when used one-handed, and a greatsword (or maybe give it d12 damage) when used with two. That gives it a little more of a reason for existing (in effect being able to switch between a longsword and a greatsword or back again without dropping or drawing).

2d6 or 1d12 seems a bit overpowered - everyone would use bastard sword. Given that switching from 1h to 2h use is a free action I think 1d8 1-h 1d10 2-h is the best approach, it's also pretty much the 1e rule (in 1e was 1d8 1-h 2d4 2-h, greatsword did 1d10).

 

[Numenorean]

2d6 or 1d12 seems a bit overpowered - everyone would use bastard sword. Given that switching from 1h to 2h use is a free action I think 1d8 1-h 1d10 2-h is the best approach, it's also pretty much the 1e rule (in 1e was 1d8 1-h 2d4 2-h, greatsword did 1d10).

I agree. Allowing it to do equivalent to a two handed sword, 2d6, is a bit overpowering. Plus there's the realism factor, a bastard sword IS NOT a two handed sword. The bastard is a lot close to the size of a longsword than it is a two handed sword.

1d8 1h
1d10 2h

no feat, seems best so far.

 

[Numenorean]

BTW here's a decent website if you want to read about swords, how they handle, what they look like, etc ...

http://www.myarmoury.com/reviews.html