D&D (2024) The rapier problem

[Olrox17]

rapier is exclusive 1Handed weapon, I don't see how you could 2Hand it with effectiveness.

Yes, but the off-hand is used for balance and support in rapier combat, there clearly is a benefit in keeping an hand free. The versatile feature would be a simple way to represent this.
Of course, you could make a unique feature for the rapier that increases your damage die if you keep a hand free while attacking with a rapier, but that is functionally identical to what versatile already does.

 

[Horwath]

Yes, but the off-hand is used for balance and support in rapier combat, there clearly is a benefit in keeping an hand free. The versatile feature would be a simple way to represent this.
Of course, you could make a unique feature for the rapier that increases your damage die if you keep a hand free while attacking with a rapier, but that is functionally identical to what versatile already does.

only benefit of a free hand is that you have a free hand.

if case you need to hold something or someone(grapple) or you need to climb or manipulate something.

if you are fighting with rapier, you are better with a broken beer bottle in your off hand than a free hand, if only combat is concerned.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

Armor type

A few categories yield a +2, no modifier, or a + 2.

People go mad over not maxing attack stars so a mere -2 will move people toward hammers vs. plates or plate like hide. Same with maces.

I know I know “too complicated.” But really not a big hassle if you want to mix up weapon types

 

[Horwath]

Armor type

as much as I would like to have those things and have various armors have different damage reduction vs different damage types, it would slow down the game to a crawl.

those things work best in videogames as the game runs those calculations in the background instantly.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

as much as I would like to have those things and have various armors have different damage reduction vs different damage types, it would slow down the game to a crawl.

those things work best in videogames as the game runs those calculations in the background instantly.

I would prefer damage reduction but a simple +|- 2 is not onerous and would I think encourage a broader array of medieval weapons.

Another issue is that attack stat (singular) is another issue.

An average of str and dex would be better for most melee attacks…

 

[Olrox17]

only benefit of a free hand is that you have a free hand.

if case you need to hold something or someone(grapple) or you need to climb or manipulate something.

if you are fighting with rapier, you are better with a broken beer bottle in your off hand than a free hand, if only combat is concerned.

That doesn't sounds right to me. I'm no fencing expert, but from what little I've seen the combat style usually employs a buckler, a parrying dagger or a free off-hand, and again, from the few pictures and videos I've seen, the techniques used might be impaired by an otherwise fairly useless broken bottle in the off-hand.
I won't go into further detail on a topic I'm no expert about...but I'd also point out that, in pop culture, the rapier user usually fights with an empty off-hand. Instead, the D&D rules reward the usage of bulky medieval shields with rapiers, which just looks wrong, IMO.

 

[Horwath]

That doesn't sounds right to me. I'm no fencing expert, but from what little I've seen the combat style usually employs a buckler, a parrying dagger or a free off-hand, and again, from the few pictures and videos I've seen, the techniques used might be impaired by an otherwise fairly useless broken bottle in the off-hand.
I won't go into further detail on a topic I'm no expert about...but I'd also point out that, in pop culture, the rapier user usually fights with an empty off-hand. Instead, the D&D rules reward the usage of bulky medieval shields with rapiers, which just looks wrong, IMO.

there are moments in fencing when blades "bind" and you are close to your opponent, then a broken bottle across the neck or face is better than a punch, and dagger would be even better as you can block with dagger, you cannot with a hand: I guess you can block once with a hand, but it is not recommended.

 

[Olrox17]

there are moments in fencing when blades "bind" and you are close to your opponent, then a broken bottle across the neck or face is better than a punch, and dagger would be even better as you can block with dagger, you cannot with a hand: I guess you can block once with a hand, but it is not recommended.

Perhaps having the rapier in the game at all is a mistake, without also having the rest of the gear it's usually employed with (buckler, parrying dagger).

 

[Vael]

I do wish Scimitars were more accessible to Rogues and Bards. I end up going Shortsword, though, to dual-wield without feats.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Rapiers have blades that are longer than 3 feet, they are not the modern fencing foil, which is based off of the Smallsword.

Empty off hands can be used for unarmed attacks like grapples or shoves or disarms.