D&D 5E (2024) What, exactly, is a 5e "scimitar"?

[aco175]

Used to love this artifact.

The end all of discussion.

or

 

[Bill Zebub]

I use it for any one-handed single-edged sword, such as a falchion or a seax.

I do think of the seax as more of a stabbing weapon, but then again I don’t care much about historical accuracy. (But I will die on the hill of metallurgical accuracy…)

 

[Yaarel]

For a nonmagical weapons table to be meaningful, I prefer to have a reallife analogue in mind, better yet a historical one. But there seems to be none for the "scimitar" the 5e Weapons Table describes.



Compare the "falchion". Most falchions come from the Renaissance Period. The artwork from illuminated manuscripts can sometimes be highly stylistic thus the shapes and lengths of the blades might not exist in reallife. That said, here are some examples of weapons called "falchions" in Renaissance artwork from the latter 1400s. (The image is unsourced but is in a credible context in a forum discussion.)

Three of the six appear to be normal sabers. One looks like a stylized saber. One looks like it might be a reuse of a damaged saber. The one at the right seems realistic and its blade looks unusually broad.



"Falchions" are rare during the Medieval Period. But a few survive, such as the Thorpe falchion found in England and dating to the 1300s.

View attachment Thorpe Falchion 1300s England.webp

This medieval falchion might only weigh about 2 pounds, but corrosion causes uncertainty.

Even so, its bladelength is roughly 32 inches, thus compares to a "normal" viking/knightly "sword". Importantly, the blade is designed to be heavier near the tip in order to "chop" like axe.

For the same reason that no D&D axes have the "finesse" property (namely, to easily wield by small precise hand motions), this reallife falchion seems to lack the finesse property. It also seems to lack the "light" property (namely, to be normally used in the offhand as a second weapon). The 5e "scimitar" disresembles this reallife blade.



Elmslie has the following typology for medieval single-edged curved swords. He calls these swords a "messer", the German word for a "knife". They start off like meat cleavers for chopping but soon look more like Mongol and Turkic cavalry sabers.

All of these messer/falchion blades have a length from 24 to 33 inches. They are the lengths of normal swords. All of them are for wide arcs of arm swings. None are for agile "finesse" movements. None seem suitable for the offhand.

In sum, I am not finding any reallife examples that compare to the 5e version of a "scimitar".

 

[Yaarel]

Compare the khukuri. It seems to match the description of a curved single-edged shortsword for slashing, with light and finesse properties.

The weapon relates to the nation of Nepal along the Himalayan mountain range. English sometimes refers to it as the kukri.

Note the use of the khukuri as an offhand weapon. In the mainhand, is a modern talwar sword, which earlier is long like a saber, but the modern version could be short like a cutlass.

The khukuri is a medieval weapon apparently in use since the 600s.

The khukuri seems to match the 5e stats: martial weapon, 1d6 slash, light, and (maybe?) finesse.

But I would never call the khukuri a "scimitar".

 

[Yaarel]

One can call the modern "cutlass" a "scimitar", in the sense of single-edge blade curving (backward).

The cutlass evolves from the renaissance falchion. It is a favorite "pirate" weapon, because it is a utilitarian tool that can cut thru rope and such, while also being an effective sword for fighting in cramp ship spaces. The cutlass seems agile, thus benefit from the "finesse" property.

Also, fighting with two cutlasses is a thing.

Note, the cutlass bladelength is about 24 inches, which is the upper cusp of a shortsword. At least some versions of cutlasses are agile and effective in the offhand.

I think the best way to characterize the 5e "scimitar" is a modern pirate sword. Namely the cutlass.

 

[Minigiant]

A D&D scimitar is a light sabre, thin falchion, thin cutlass, or any other scurved light blade.

It's the support the dual wielding dervish or pirate fantasy,

 

[bedir than]

The khukuri seems to match the 5e stats: martial weapon, 1d6 slash, light, and (maybe?) finesse.

But I would never call the khukuri a "scimitar".

Also, because their cutting edge is on opposite sides of the blade

 

[Yaarel]

A D&D scimitar is a light sabre, thin falchion, thin cutlass, or any other scurved light blade.

It's the support the dual wielding dervish or pirate fantasy,

Yeah, even tho the "pirates of the Caribbean" are modern from the 1600s onward, they have found their way into D&D fantasy well enough.

Despite being modern, the "cutlass" is a reallife weapon that can match the 5e Weapons Table stats.

 

[Sepulchrave II]

There are plenty of 16th-17th century Ottoman weapons which could plausibly do. See the sword of Shah Abbas I (middle panel, far right).

Same swords but from a different angle; one-handed swords with straight edges on the far right should give a good sense of the size of the central scimitars:

 

[Minigiant]

Yeah, even tho the "pirates of the Caribbean" are modern from the 1600s onward, they have found their way into D&D fantasy well enough.

Despite being modern, the "cutlass" is a reallife weapon that can match the 5e Weapons Table stats.

D&DD uses bizarro arms and armor and infected all fantasy since.

Any nonfirearm weapon or armor from 0BC to 1700AD is a "Standard Fantasy" weapon or armor. Legioaires vs Ninjas vs Knights vs Pirates vs Kung Fu Monks.