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<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 7155751" data-attributes="member: 996">Well, or maybe you were?&nbsp; Or were using a variant and now remember it as the 'right' way?&nbsp; Dueling memories, and all, who knows?IIRC (and I played 1e much more heavily than 2e, so may be mixing bits of 'em up):&nbsp;Were negated completely on the primary hand by a high enough DEX, and could get as low as -1 on the off-hand.&nbsp; &nbsp;I thought size categories of weapons was a 3e thing, maybe it was 2e C&amp;T first?&nbsp; Anyway, the list was even more limited in 1e, and you'd typically use a /pair/ of such weapons - a pair of hand-axes or daggers in 1e, shortswords and maybe a few others in 2e - to maximize the impact of weapon specialization.&nbsp; &nbsp;You can be hitting exactly as well as with the 1 weapon and shield, the second weapon being pure profit, even if it is still at a -1 or -2.&nbsp; What's more, if you're using paired specialized weapon, that bonus to damage applies to all your attacks, as did any bonus from % STR if you're so lucky (or had Gauntlets of Ogre Power), the nerf to off-hand weapon damage being introduced in 3.0...Now, I don't recall if it was official, but some DMs ruled just one bonus attack/round from the off-hand weapon, while others allowed a full attack routine with each - ...hmm... the actual rule at some point may have been a 1 step improvement 1 to 3/2 to 2 to 5/2 to 3, being the steps... or was that just/also the specialization perk... or maybe a weapon of speed?&nbsp; &nbsp; :shrug:&nbsp; ( I did have a 1e character who used an off-hand weapon, was specialized in the primary weapon which just happened to be 'of speed,' and even got boots of speed, so, I could easily be mixing up which came from what...)Anyway, it got ridiculous.I mean, % STR must have seemed ridiculous to the old guard that started with Chainmail &amp; 0D&amp;D - you could have a 1st level fighter with a +3 to hit dishing out 7-16/9-24 (far cry from all weapons doing a die of damage).&nbsp; Then we got specialization, another +1 to hit and +2 damage, then double-specializing +3/+3, and at some point specialization upped your attack progression, then you layer on paired weapons for even more attacks with all those same bonuses, and, you prettymuch had the high-water-mark of melee brokedness for quite a while, if not ever.&nbsp; That's what itterative attacks and nerfed TWF in 3.0 were in reaction to.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 7155751, member: 996"] Well, or maybe you were? Or were using a variant and now remember it as the 'right' way? Dueling memories, and all, who knows? IIRC (and I played 1e much more heavily than 2e, so may be mixing bits of 'em up): Were negated completely on the primary hand by a high enough DEX, and could get as low as -1 on the off-hand. I thought size categories of weapons was a 3e thing, maybe it was 2e C&T first? Anyway, the list was even more limited in 1e, and you'd typically use a /pair/ of such weapons - a pair of hand-axes or daggers in 1e, shortswords and maybe a few others in 2e - to maximize the impact of weapon specialization. You can be hitting exactly as well as with the 1 weapon and shield, the second weapon being pure profit, even if it is still at a -1 or -2. What's more, if you're using paired specialized weapon, that bonus to damage applies to all your attacks, as did any bonus from % STR if you're so lucky (or had Gauntlets of Ogre Power), the nerf to off-hand weapon damage being introduced in 3.0... Now, I don't recall if it was official, but some DMs ruled just one bonus attack/round from the off-hand weapon, while others allowed a full attack routine with each - ...hmm... the actual rule at some point may have been a 1 step improvement 1 to 3/2 to 2 to 5/2 to 3, being the steps... or was that just/also the specialization perk... or maybe a weapon of speed? :shrug: ( I did have a 1e character who used an off-hand weapon, was specialized in the primary weapon which just happened to be 'of speed,' and even got boots of speed, so, I could easily be mixing up which came from what...) Anyway, it got ridiculous. I mean, % STR must have seemed ridiculous to the old guard that started with Chainmail & 0D&D - you could have a 1st level fighter with a +3 to hit dishing out 7-16/9-24 (far cry from all weapons doing a die of damage). Then we got specialization, another +1 to hit and +2 damage, then double-specializing +3/+3, and at some point specialization upped your attack progression, then you layer on paired weapons for even more attacks with all those same bonuses, and, you prettymuch had the high-water-mark of melee brokedness for quite a while, if not ever. That's what itterative attacks and nerfed TWF in 3.0 were in reaction to. [/QUOTE]

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