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View Full Version : [3.5] TV/40K/etc style sword in main hand gun/light crossbow in the other build?



Pika...
2010-09-18, 11:55 AM
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f173/celestialkin/TheBattle-1.png



Hi,

I have been reading my old Harlequins White Dwarf #105 magazine, and I kept marveling over the beautiful and imagination provoking images in it. Then I kept noticing a theme, which is reflected in their mechanics: The beautiful sword in one hand and a graceful gun/shurriken pistol in the other.

This I believe is a common theme in many settings/media/etc, and I am surprised I have never seen (or noticed) it being officially used as a build in D&D. Has it? If not, how would you build it?

I believe I may have even found a perfect equivalent to Cegorach: The Laughing God (god of the harlequins in 40K) in Erevan Ilesere (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erevan_Ilesere#Erevan_Ilesere). I even want to try rebuilding the Harlequins and their fluff for my D&D cosmology with Erevan being the "Great Fool" (aka another title for the Laughing God). Although his "battle adepts/clerics" (or just his holy knight-equivalent soldiers) wielding crossbows might be odd for an Elf god's holy divine casters and/or knight-equivalents...


Anyway, can you folks please help me out with some ideas? It would be much appreciated!


ps. Any ideas on how to make the Harlequins in my cosmology as bad-ass and amazing in combat (and fluff!!!) as the ones in 40K would also be appreciated!

Many Pikas in advance!

Partysan
2010-09-18, 12:12 PM
I think there are feats for rapier/handcrossbow in Drow of the Underdark.
No idea whether they're good, though.

JeminiZero
2010-09-18, 12:19 PM
I think the reason for the lack of such a setup in D&D, is that you tend to need both hands to do one thing well. In Melee, you need to wield a weapon 2-handed to get 1.5x strength bonus, and double power attack damage. In range, you usully require both hands to fire bows, or to reload crossbows.

While its not quite what you're looking for, Complete Scoundrel has rules for atteching Bayonets to bows/crossbows (under Surprise Weapons). This gives a ranged attacker a melee attack without needing to switch weapons, but at a -2 penalty.

jguy
2010-09-18, 12:22 PM
Random fact. Pirates would keep between 2 to 5 loaded pistols on themselves when boarding a ship. They would wield a sword in one hand and a 1-shot pistol in the other to give a point blank shot to their opponent.

This could easily work with a hand cross bow or a flint-lock pistol in D&D (pistols given stats in the DMG) while wielding a rapier or scimitar.

Grynning
2010-09-18, 12:40 PM
the feat from Drow of the Underdark is what you're looking for. It works specifically with the Hand Crossbow and Rapier, makes you able to *somehow* reload the hand crossbow without needing your other hand, and gives you a free attack with the bow if you hit with the rapier if I recall correctly. I believe it eliminates the AoO for using the hand crossbow in melee as well.

Also Drow work pretty well thematically for re-creating the Dark Eldar. Just a little refluffing, maybe switching their spell-like abilities for some psionics, and you're done.

Pika...
2010-09-18, 05:28 PM
Thank you!!!

That feat is just what I needed.

Siosilvar
2010-09-18, 10:05 PM
Assuming you can get a Quick-Loading (MIC, +1 enhancement for essentially a 100-round extradimensional "magazine") hand crossbow, a DFI bard should be rather effective with a rapier/crossbow combination.