Making a one-handed weapon light

[Dr.Epic]

Basically how do I make a one-handed weapon (namely the dwarven waraxe) a light weapon? I have a idea for a dwarf ranger that wields one in each hand. It'd be so cool: 1d10+str with each hand! YEAH!!! I love this idea and I'd have a ton of fun playing it. This is my type of character. Now, I can wield a one-handed weapon in each hand and make an attack with each but that -4 penalty is steep. I just want to know if there's anyway to make a weapon light because this idea of mine is so awesome to me I'd even be willing to make the character and have the -4 penalty.

[dragonsamurai77]

Basically how do I make a one-handed weapon (namely the dwarven waraxe) a light weapon? I have a idea for a dwarf ranger that wields one in each hand. It'd be so cool: 1d10+str with each hand! YEAH!!! I love this idea and I'd have a ton of fun playing it. This is my type of character. Now, I can wield a one-handed weapon in each hand and make an attack with each but that -4 penalty is steep. I just want to know if there's anyway to make a weapon light because this idea of mine is so awesome to me I'd even be willing to make the character and have the -4 penalty.

Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting makes the offhand weapon considered light for TWF penalties.

[JaronK]

Basically how do I make a one-handed weapon (namely the dwarven waraxe) a light weapon? I have a idea for a dwarf ranger that wields one in each hand. It'd be so cool: 1d10+str with each hand! YEAH!!! I love this idea and I'd have a ton of fun playing it. This is my type of character. Now, I can wield a one-handed weapon in each hand and make an attack with each but that -4 penalty is steep. I just want to know if there's anyway to make a weapon light because this idea of mine is so awesome to me I'd even be willing to make the character and have the -4 penalty.

Oversized Two Weapon Fighting is a feat that just lets you wield one handed weapons offhand.

It'll be 1d10+1/2 Str in the offhand though, and note that this character will need some ability to stay mobile (I'd recommend a level of Lion Totem Barbarian for pounce) and certainly won't be the strongest of characters. Strongarm Bracers will let you wield Large Dwarven War Axes in each hand if you want to go a bit more extreme with this.

JaronK

[herrhauptmann]

Oversized Two Weapon Fighting is a feat that just lets you wield one handed weapons offhand.

It'll be 1d10+1/2 Str in the offhand though, and note that this character will need some ability to stay mobile (I'd recommend a level of Lion Totem Barbarian for pounce) and certainly won't be the strongest of characters. Strongarm Bracers will let you wield Large Dwarven War Axes in each hand if you want to go a bit more extreme with this.

JaronK

If they're gold/platinum, they'll count as Huge Dwarven war axes. :D Magic of Faerun.

[Ryu_Bonkosi]

I was reading about a special material that makes one-handed weapons light weapons but it makes the weapon deal one size catagory of damage less. It was a fey weapon of some sort, I will look through my books and try to find it.

EDIT: Found it, DMG II, Feycraft Template, Pg. 275.

[Ashram]

If your DM allows Pathfinder, take the Double Slice feat; it gives you full Str on your offhand hits for TWF.

[Zaq]

I was reading about a special material that makes one-handed weapons light weapons but it makes the weapon deal one size catagory of damage less. It was a fey weapon of some sort, I will look through my books and try to find it.

Feycraft, DMG2 pg. 275.

[Ryu_Bonkosi]

I was reading about a special material that makes one-handed weapons light weapons but it makes the weapon deal one size catagory of damage less. It was a fey weapon of some sort, I will look through my books and try to find it.

EDIT: Found it, DMG II, Feycraft Template, Pg. 275.


Feycraft, DMG2 pg. 275.

I do believe you've been ninja'd.

[Zaq]

Rather hard to prove. Your edit and my post show the same timestamp. So, maybe, but maybe not.

The important thing is that the info's out there, right?

[Dr.Epic]

Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting makes the offhand weapon considered light for TWF penalties.

What book/page?

[Ryu_Bonkosi]

Rather hard to prove. Your edit and my post show the same timestamp. So, maybe, but maybe not.

The important thing is that the info's out there, right?

You are right good sir, as long as the information has been given it doesn't matter who gave it.

[The Dark Fiddler]

What book/page?

Complete Adventurer.

[FMArthur]

You could also have wielded a Small weapon in the offhand to make your penalties -2/-4 instead of -4/-4, but it's not especially desirable compared to just getting Feycraft or OTWF. If you are a variant kobold (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060420a) or have acquired Sleight Build somehow (I think it may be variant kobold-exclusive though) you could do that without penalty, effectively getting Feycraft for free*.


*: "Free" here means "the price of having to use a kobold in melee".

[Runestar]

Paizo had a custom feat in their age of worms module which lets you treat a weapon as light, but you cannot wield anything in your off-hand. Quite weak overall though.

[sonofzeal]

Paizo had a custom feat in their age of worms module which lets you treat a weapon as light, but you cannot wield anything in your off-hand. Quite weak overall though.
The only use I can see is allowing you to use a Greatsword inside a Grapple or when Swallowed Whole. It could be useful in campaigns where those are frequent enough, and enable a particular non-monk Grapple build. Still incredibly situational, but not useless.

[Dr.Epic]

What book/page?

Complete Adventurer.

I think you forgot something.

[zmasterofjersey]

I think you forgot something.

Page 111 for full feat.

[The Dark Fiddler]

I think you forgot something.

Is it really that hard to search the feat section for it? It's not that long, and it's in alphabetical order. My apologies for not having the book on hand.

[Runestar]

The only use I can see is allowing you to use a Greatsword inside a Grapple or when Swallowed Whole. It could be useful in campaigns where those are frequent enough, and enable a particular non-monk Grapple build. Still incredibly situational, but not useless.

It has to be a 1-handed weapon, IIRC. Basically, the only use was to make a weapon like longsword finessable.

[Curmudgeon]

I think you forgot something.
A handy general reference is WotC's online Feat Index (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/lists/feats), which has all those book name (abbreviated, alas) and page numbers listed.

[begooler]

I was reading about a special material that makes one-handed weapons light weapons but it makes the weapon deal one size catagory of damage less. It was a fey weapon of some sort, I will look through my books and try to find it.

EDIT: Found it, DMG II, Feycraft Template, Pg. 275.

Note that you treat a one-handed weapon as light for the purpose of the Weapon Finesse feat only. A feycrafted one-handed weapon would still be a one-handed weapon for the purpose of TWF penalties. Also, the damage die is reduced by one, so I'm not sure that jives with the OP's goal.

Shame, because a dwarf wielding fey weapons is kind of amusing.

Off Topic: So, I'm reading this description and wondering if it would be possible to have a feycrafted longsword, and power attack with it while at the same time using your DEX mod for attack rolls.
I'm pretty sure there's about eight reasons why you can't that I'm too stupid tired to comprehend right now.

[Feytalist]

Somewhat related, there is a weapon enhancement in Magic of Faerun that lets the weapon deal the damage of a weapon one size category larger. Hornblade, I think it was. Used to make small weapons deal medium damage, but I'm sure there's nothing in the description that forbids the use of making a medium weapon deal large damage.

[Knaight]

Somewhat related, there is a weapon enhancement in Magic of Faerun that lets the weapon deal the damage of a weapon one size category larger. Hornblade, I think it was. Used to make small weapons deal medium damage, but I'm sure there's nothing in the description that forbids the use of making a medium weapon deal large damage.

Its really a lot like Collision, except for completely pathetic.

[Darrin]

Somewhat related, there is a weapon enhancement in Magic of Faerun that lets the weapon deal the damage of a weapon one size category larger. Hornblade, I think it was.

Not hornblade. Heavy weapons (+7000 GP, Magic of Faerun p. 179) are made out of gold or platinum. It essentially turns a normal weapon into something similar to a bastard sword or dwarven waraxe: you get a -4 nonproficiency penalty unless you take Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Heavy {blah}). However, they don't get along well with Feycraft: "You can never use the Weapon Finesse feat with a weapon made of a heavy metal." (Works quite well with Oversize TWF, but... ouch, 14000 GP may do more damage to your pocketbook than your enemies.)

Heavy weapon damage is increased by the die type on a table, but there are some quirks to it. In most cases, it's the same as increasing the weapon by one size category, but a 2d6 weapon increases to 2d8 damage instead of 3d6, and a 2d8 weapon increases to 4d6 instead of 3d8.

[Allanimal]

Once you have your Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting feat and your Strongarm Bracers, take a look at the Exotic Weapon Master PrC. (Complete Warrior, p30). Pay special attention to the "Uncanny Blow" Exotic Weapon Stunt. Specifically the 2nd ability it grants. Yes, you read that right, you power attack for 2:1 with both of those waraxes. So what if you only get half-strength on the offhand. The PA offset should be worth it!

[herrhauptmann]

Not hornblade. Heavy weapons (+7000 GP, Magic of Faerun p. 179) are made out of gold or platinum. It essentially turns a normal weapon into something similar to a bastard sword or dwarven waraxe: you get a -4 nonproficiency penalty unless you take Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Heavy {blah}). However, they don't get along well with Feycraft: "You can never use the Weapon Finesse feat with a weapon made of a heavy metal." (Works quite well with Oversize TWF, but... ouch, 14000 GP may do more damage to your pocketbook than your enemies.)

Heavy weapon damage is increased by the die type on a table, but there are some quirks to it. In most cases, it's the same as increasing the weapon by one size category, but a 2d6 weapon increases to 2d8 damage instead of 3d6, and a 2d8 weapon increases to 4d6 instead of 3d8.
Ignore those sizing charts, they're from 3.0. Just use the ones out of the 3.5 PHB.
And you were ninja'd by almost 2 days.
Aptitude weapons (+1 cost) help deal with needing another feat to fight. It's in complete arcane or complete mage I think. But it has to be on both weapons. Aptitude only gives you proficiency with THAT weapon, even if you've got 5 others taht are otherwise identical that you'll be using at the same time.

[Feytalist]

And you were ninja'd by almost 2 days.

Heh, that's quite a ninja.

And hornblade isn't quite as you describe it. (Nor is it as I described it, to be fair.) I switched it around, it actually lets smaller characters use larger weapons without penalty at +1 enhancement. So it's similar to collision, yeah, but I like the hornblade fluff a bit more. Made by halflings for halflings, heh.

[Darrin]

Aptitude weapons (+1 cost) help deal with needing another feat to fight. It's in complete arcane or complete mage I think. But it has to be on both weapons. Aptitude only gives you proficiency with THAT weapon, even if you've got 5 others taht are otherwise identical that you'll be using at the same time.

Aptitude is in Tome of Battle (p. 148). I've never seen it suggested that it could be used with Exotic Weapon Proficiency... but it looks like it might work, so long as you did have EWP (something).

[Xtomjames]

Two simple answers: Resize the weapon, while you will reduce the actual damage that the axes do, by shifting any one handed weapon down by a size category as defined in the arms and armament guide you can make them a light weapon. The same goes for two handed weapons shifting them down one size category makes them one handed and shifting them again makes them light. Instead of incurring penalties to rolls you penalize the overall damage of the weapon instead.

Answer two: make it out of Mithral. Mithral reduces weight in weapons as well as armor. The head of a battleaxe can be made out of mithral and thus you can treat it as a light weapon as it reduces a weapon's weight by one step, or essentially halving it.

A light weapon is any weapon below five pounds in game. Thus a battleaxe that is 6lbs normally when made out of mithral is only 3 lbs.

[Keld Denar]

If you cast Continual Flame on the end of your longsword, you have a one handed weapon light. Likewise, ~30% of all magical weapons shed light as a torch, so if you had a one handed magic sword, there is a decent chance that it is also a one handed weapon light. If you had levels in Drunken Master, you could bludgeon someone with a lantern. Your average hooded lantern would probably be one-handed, due to bulk, but probably wouldn't function very well as a lantern after attacking with it. OTOH, there is the very real posibility of immolating yourself, your foe, the surroundings, or all of the above.

In seriousness...

Two simple answers: Resize the weapon, while you will reduce the actual damage that the axes do, by shifting any one handed weapon down by a size category as defined in the arms and armament guide you can make them a light weapon. The same goes for two handed weapons shifting them down one size category makes them one handed and shifting them again makes them light. Instead of incurring penalties to rolls you penalize the overall damage of the weapon instead.
On top of dealing less damage, you would also suffer a penalty to hit.

Inappropriately Sized Weapons
A creature can’t make optimum use of a weapon that isn’t properly sized for it. A cumulative -2 penalty applies on attack rolls for each size category of difference between the size of its intended wielder and the size of its actual wielder. If the creature isn’t proficient with the weapon a -4 nonproficiency penalty also applies.

The measure of how much effort it takes to use a weapon (whether the weapon is designated as a light, one-handed, or two-handed weapon for a particular wielder) is altered by one step for each size category of difference between the wielder’s size and the size of the creature for which the weapon was designed. If a weapon’s designation would be changed to something other than light, one-handed, or two-handed by this alteration, the creature can’t wield the weapon at all.
So a small battle axe in the hands of a medium creature would be light, but it would suffer a -2 penalty due to the bolded section even though it is mechanically identical to a hand axe. It would be better to just USE a hand axe at that point in most cases.


Answer two: make it out of Mithral. Mithral reduces weight in weapons as well as armor. The head of a battleaxe can be made out of mithral and thus you can treat it as a light weapon as it reduces a weapon's weight by one step, or essentially halving it.

A light weapon is any weapon below five pounds in game. Thus a battleaxe that is 6lbs normally when made out of mithral is only 3 lbs.
Where did you get this rule? Weight has nothing to do with it. A dagger sized for a titan probably weighs 30 lbs, but is still light for that titan. A greatsword for a size diminuative creature probably weighs only a couple ounces, but is still 2-handed for that diminuative creature. There is no weight cut-off for weapons to be one catagory vs another.

[Prime32]

Why can't you just use handaxes?

[herrhauptmann]

Aptitude is in Tome of Battle (p. 148). I've never seen it suggested that it could be used with Exotic Weapon Proficiency... but it looks like it might work, so long as you did have EWP (something).
Whoops, I was thinking of skillful, not aptitude. The one that grants you cleric BAB with your weapon. Useful for the warhulking hurler.
Complete Arcane 144


Why can't you just use handaxes?
Awesomeness.

[Xtomjames]

If you cast Continual Flame on the end of your longsword, you have a one handed weapon light. Likewise, ~30% of all magical weapons shed light as a torch, so if you had a one handed magic sword, there is a decent chance that it is also a one handed weapon light. If you had levels in Drunken Master, you could bludgeon someone with a lantern. Your average hooded lantern would probably be one-handed, due to bulk, but probably wouldn't function very well as a lantern after attacking with it. OTOH, there is the very real posibility of immolating yourself, your foe, the surroundings, or all of the above.

In seriousness...

On top of dealing less damage, you would also suffer a penalty to hit.

So a small battle axe in the hands of a medium creature would be light, but it would suffer a -2 penalty due to the bolded section even though it is mechanically identical to a hand axe. It would be better to just USE a hand axe at that point in most cases.


Where did you get this rule? Weight has nothing to do with it. A dagger sized for a titan probably weighs 30 lbs, but is still light for that titan. A greatsword for a size diminuative creature probably weighs only a couple ounces, but is still 2-handed for that diminuative creature. There is no weight cut-off for weapons to be one catagory vs another.

Yes you still take a -2, but then again most DMs I know ignore this and we're not talking purely RAW here.

The second rule on weight actually has everything to do with it, if you read the Arms and Armaments section Size Category to Weight is crucial. In general for a Medium creature a light weapon is under 5 lbs. I was giving the general rule of thumb.

If you want specifics: Minuscule: light weapon is 1lb or less, one handed weapons are 2 lbs, two handed are 6 lbs anything above usually can't be lifted at all.
Tiny: light weapon is 2 lbs or less (double that of the tiny) one handed are 4 (again doubling the base range) and two handed is 8

Small & Medium is listed as anything below 5lbs for light weapons, 6-8 lbs for one handed and two handed is 8-15 lbs.

This is also notable in the PHB and any book that talks about size category.

If you want a light weapon that is medium size and it is a one handed weapon make it out of mithral or change it's size.

[Keld Denar]

Are we talking about the same game, D&D 3.5? Arms and Armaments? Wut?

Do you have page numbers to cite the things you are talking about?

I'm not familiar with the size Miniscule. My PHB lists Collosal, Gargantuan, Huge, Large, Medium, Small, Tiny, Diminuative, and Fine. Thats it.

Also, we DO discuss RAW here, 9/10 times, because RAW is the one thing we all have more or less in common to discuss. Its ok to bring up your house rules, but make sure you identify them as house rules so you don't confuse someone to think that your house rules are actual rules.

[begooler]

A light weapon is any weapon below five pounds in game. Thus a battleaxe that is 6lbs normally when made out of mithral is only 3 lbs.

Okay, I'll suspend my disbelief and pretend that somewhere there's a rule that a weapon's weight dictates what size category the weapon is as well as whether or not it is a light weapon...
Assuming what you're talking about exists, then this conclusion would be reasonable if...



Answer two: make it out of Mithral. Mithral reduces weight in weapons as well as armor. The head of a battleaxe can be made out of mithral and thus you can treat it as a light weapon as it reduces a weapon's weight by one step, or essentially halving it.

...if the entry on mithral in the DMG on page 284 didn't specifically say that the opposite of what you're saying here.



An item made from mithral weighs half as much as the same item made from other metals. In the case of weapons, this lighter weight does not change a weapon’s size category or the ease with which it can be wielded (whether it is light, one-handed, or two-handed).

[herrhauptmann]

The second rule on weight actually has everything to do with it, if you read the Arms and Armaments section Size Category to Weight is crucial. In general for a Medium creature a light weapon is under 5 lbs. I was giving the general rule of thumb.
********************
Small & Medium is listed as anything below 5lbs for light weapons, 6-8 lbs for one handed and two handed is 8-15 lbs.

So what do you think of the Minotaur and Goliath greathammers? 30 pounds for a medium sized person. So that's what? A 4 handed weapon? :smallbiggrin:
Then there's the gnome hooked hammer. 6 pounds, but a 2hander.


Are you perhaps quoting the 3.0 phb? Or a different game entirely?

[Feytalist]

Possibly he was talking about the Arms and Equipment Guide from 3.0? I honestly can't remember much of what was in there. 3.0 was weird.

[Optimator]

Making an axe out of mithral is absurd. Weapons have to be a little heavy, to have punch. Especially can-opener weapons like maces and axes.