Where are the rapiers?

[Quantarum]

I'm not a big fan of rapiers. Being more renaissance weapons than medieval I could never untangle them mentally from the genres that made them famous. Every time I see a bell guard I think Zorro (maybe cause I was a huge fencing nut as a teenager). I prefer my own rogues to use daggers and "big knives".

-Q.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

What about rogues then using arming swords? They are the ancestor of the side-sword (cut-and-thrust) which then would evolve into the rapier.

 

[The Ubbergeek]

Dude, rogues ninjas don't use rapiers! They use shuriken!

This is Dungeons and Dragons, not Chevaliers and Peasants.

It's about time D&D get more decentralised culturaly from european stuff as ever default... Or at least, much more fantasy world. Fantastic, not based on specific cultures.

 

[Scholar & Brutalman]

I prefer my own rogues to use daggers and "big knives".

-Q.[/QUOTE

This. While 3e Rogues used rapiers a lot, I'd always seen the dagger as the thief weapon. I'm happy to see the 4e rogues get an attack bonus with their petit stabbies.

 

[Ultimatecalibur]

I'm kinda expecting the "light blade" family to look like this:

Weapon      Prof.     Damage   Range    Cost 	Weight 	Category   Properties
Shuriken     *         d2      **ft     ** gp 	* lb. 	L.Blade     Throwing
Dagger       *         d4      **ft     ** gp 	* lb. 	L.Blade     Throwing
Shortsword   *         d6       --      ** gp 	* lb. 	L.Blade
Rapier       *         d8       --      ** gp 	* lb. 	L.Blade     Keen

I put Shuriken in the family because the literal meaning in Japanese is "hand released blade" and this would allow them to sneak attack. The damage ratings for the Shuriken and Dagger are suppositions based of the Rogue Weapon Talent ability; the Shuriken's damage increase of d2 to d4 would necessitate the dagger get it's own benefit in order to compensate (i.e. +1 to hit).

The Rapier is a blind guess based on it being the "King" of the L.Blade family due to it's damage being the highest and the fact that it can critical on both 19 and 20 (for examples of abilities f his type check the 4e DDM abilities of B.Battlehammer and the Everfrost Ranger.

 

[HeinorNY]

I sort of thought that a rapier was a staple rogue weapon. Why would they not be skilled in a rapier? Does "Shortsword" Proficiency also include them? And if those proficiencies are for specific weapons, is 4e being reduced to just a dozen weapons?

I think the 4E rogue is all about concealable weapons instead of dexterous weapons, like the old and soon to be retired 3E rogue.

 

[HeinorNY]

NINJAS 1 x 0 PIRATES

 

[Pbartender]

You, my friend, fail at history.

I concur...

I was just recently thinking that the "Age of Exploration" -- especially the earlier years of it -- would be a great setting for D&D. It's an age that includes all the weapons an armors that come on the standard equipment list... It's got full-plate with two-handed greatswords, leather jerkins with rapiers, breastplates and pikes, small sword and shield, and so on. It includes bows, crossbows and early muskets. Most of the world has been discovered, but little of it truly explored or colonized (Points of Light!). Contact with far-off lands has been made, so cross-overs between far flung civilizations is feasible, if exceptionally unusual (a samurai, ninja or tribal savage in Europe is not entirely out of the question). Magic is powerful, rare and feared.

Plus, everyone who's an adventurer is traveling the world doing whatever it takes to get rich... pirating, mercenary work, treasure hunting, tomb raiding, killing locals and taking their stuff... all standard D&D adventure fare.

It's just about perfect.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

I concur...

I was just recently thinking that the "Age of Exploration" -- especially the earlier years of it -- would be a great setting for D&D. It's an age that includes all the weapons an armors that come on the standard equipment list... It's got full-plate with two-handed greatswords, leather jerkins with rapiers, breastplates and pikes, small sword and shield, and so on. It includes bows, crossbows and early muskets. Most of the world has been discovered, but little of it truly explored or colonized (Points of Light!). Contact with far-off lands has been made, so cross-overs between far flung civilizations is feasible, if exceptionally unusual (a samurai, ninja or tribal savage in Europe is not entirely out of the question). Magic is powerful, rare and feared.

Plus, everyone who's an adventurer is traveling the world doing whatever it takes to get rich... pirating, mercenary work, treasure hunting, tomb raiding, killing locals and taking their stuff... all standard D&D adventure fare.

It's just about perfect.

Agreed, except you'd have to explain how all the monsters work with a pre-modern society.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

I can just imagine a campaign where your hunting down the Beast of Gévaudan and it actually IS a werewolf