D&D General The rapier in D&D

[zarionofarabel]

Well, no, fighting a dragon is obviously nuts. But if I were going to do it, I wouldn't pick something that is as close to useless as I can imagine.

Tell that to my old couch, and the wall that was behind it.

You see, I own a real rapier. It is modeled on a 17th century Spanish design, and is forged from high carbon steel.

When I first received my rapier I was so excited I decided to test it out. My friend who was with me that day I got it suggested I stab my couch cushion to try it out. In my excitement I put the full weight behind the thrust. The blade not on pierced the cushion, but passed all the way through the couch and far into the drywall behind it, with the tip slightly emerging from the second piece of drywall on the far side of the wall in my bedroom. My friend laughed so hard he had to sit down. Suffice to say rapiers are very effective weapons. Like someone else said, they became the primary melee weapon for a long time for a reason. Plus, being able to slip a slim blade between a Dragon's scales into the soft flesh underneath would probably work better than smashing a broadsword against said scales.

Besides, technically, all melee weapons in D&D should use DEX as their primary attribute when determining if you can hit a target or not, as DEX is supposed to include one's hand-eye coordination. STR could still be used to modify damage, but having it modify to-hit doesn't really make sense. Same as how STR should factor in to the use of bows as you need to be fairly strong to effectively use a (non-compound) bow.

 

[pawsplay]

Presumably you're poking around trying to find an artery not too deep under the scales somewhere? A tiny little exacto knife in the wrong place can leave a human in serious trouble, presumably the same principle applies to dragons?

Don't bring an exacto knife to a lucerne hammer fight.

 

[pawsplay]

Suffice to say rapiers are very effective weapons.

Yes. In a duel. But historically they saw little action in mass combat.

Besides, technically, all melee weapons in D&D should use DEX as their primary attribute when determining if you can hit a target or not, as DEX is supposed to include one's hand-eye coordination.

No, not at all. Finesse weapons were probably just a bad idea in the first place, but feat-gating them at least kept things less silly. Your real steel rapier is going to be a lot more deadly in the hands of a Marine than a world-class origami folder.

 

[Piperken]

It was meant to let people play as swashbucklers, scientifically proven to be the sexiest of all melee combatants. It should probably not be present when the archetype is not otherwise supported (like by having the swashbuckler rogue subclass in the 2024 PHB).

Bards likewise, have even more sexyfuntimes when a rapier is at their side!
(@Snarf Zagyg )

 

[Aurel Guthrie]

This thread is a good reminder that serious simulation is a terrible idea for D&D fantasy. You'll die.

Yes, I think people forget that d&d (at least its modern iteration) is a heroic fantasy game, and there's got to be a good amount of suspension of disbelief.

 

[Piperken]

...Frankly, I think that in order to fight dragons, except for exceptionally small ones, you should have some kind of fantasy ordinance, like ballistas with magical or blessed bolts or something like that, and large weighted nets to hamper its ability to fly, and otherwise a whole host of special gear...

Classic is classic.

 

[zarionofarabel]

Yes. In a duel. But historically they saw little action in mass combat.

I don't think fighting a Dragon would be akin to a mass combat. I also think that most D&D combat is far closer to a duel than fighting in formation.