Halflings and twf.

[Jlooney]

So I'm having a hard time finding somewhere that a half long can't use a long sword one handed. A player in my group wants to play a duel wielding fighter/rogue halfling with longsword and short sword.

His stats are good all around so so any help shutting it down AND optimizing it would be helpful. I need the second for his twin brother, a CE halling who also duel wields (think of the comic) who is going to show up.

Thanks in advance guys

[Yorrin]

So I'm having a hard time finding somewhere that a half long can't use a long sword one handed.
That's because halflings can wield longswords one handed. If it's not Heavy a halfling can wield it as well as anyone else.


His stats are good all around so so any help shutting it down... would be helpful
What a terrible stance. As a result I won't be providing any more help :smallyuk:

[Totema]

You want us to help you shut it down and optimize it? ...What does that even mean? :smallconfused:

[Malifice]

He cant sneak attack with a longsword. And its not a finesse weapon. Its almost certainly suboptimal.

[Rhaegar14]

He cant sneak attack with a longsword. And its not a finesse weapon. Its almost certainly suboptimal.

This. Plus, since it's not a Light weapon, he can't two-weapon fight with it unless he has the dual wielder feat.

As for shutting it down, why? If you're doing the evil twin trope it's pretty much IMPROVED by having them use the same combat style.

[Easy_Lee]

He can do it but he would be better off with a rapier + hand crossbow (crossbow expert feat), rapier + rapier (dual wielder feat), or just using two daggers and not worrying about the 2 to 4 missed points of damage per round.

That said and as the others have stated, there's nothing in the rules stopping him from doing this.

[Mr.Moron]

So I'm having a hard time finding somewhere that a half long can't use a long sword one handed. A player in my group wants to play a duel wielding fighter/rogue halfling with longsword and short sword.

His stats are good all around so so any help shutting it down AND optimizing it would be helpful. I need the second for his twin brother, a CE halling who also duel wields (think of the comic) who is going to show up.

Thanks in advance guys

As others have pointed out nothing in the rules prohibit it. I can understand the concern here, the image of a hafling using a big human-sized longsword 1-handed is kind of silly if you're not keen on running something with a look & feel like something out of WoW, Warhammer or Final Fantasy.

The easier path here is just to assume the longsword in question is a proportionally halfling-sized longsword that is not huge silly. That the game makes no mechanical distinction between can then just be assumed as level of granularity finer than what the abstraction is meant to deal with. It's a game contrivance we can accept for the purposes of an elegant & more fair rule set.

[Galen]

So I'm having a hard time finding somewhere that a half long can't use a long sword one handed. A player in my group wants to play a duel wielding fighter/rogue halfling with longsword and short sword.

His stats are good all around so so any help shutting it down AND optimizing it would be helpful. I need the second for his twin brother, a CE halling who also duel wields (think of the comic) who is going to show up.

Thanks in advance guys
First of all, I agree that coming from the perspective of "shutting it down" is terrible. However, rules-wise, there are two problems.

(1) in D&D 3.5, you could dual-wield a one-handed and a light weapon (eg. longsword and shortsword). In D&D 5e, you can't. Both weapons you dual-wield must be light. Unless you are willing to spend a feat on it, you can dual-wield two shortswords, but not longsword/shortsword.

(2) he can't sneak-attack with a longsword, so even if he could wield it, it's still recommended to stick to a shortsword.

[Joe the Rat]

It's been covered well enough here. If he's invested in the dual-wielding feat, he's nerfed himself pretty well: His primary weapon can't sneak attack, and the other, sneak-able weapon is smaller than necessary. Really, the only reason to go longsword is if he wants to be able to switch-hit to halfling two-hander. Which does not work with sneak attack at all.

Some twin blade alternatives:
Feat invested: Twin Rapiers is best for damage, and allows sneak attack on both. If he really wants the diversified attack types (slashing & piercing) rapier/scimitar is the best bet here.

No Feat(yet): Again, to keep with the "slash-and-pierce" model, scimitar/shortsword. More useful for the character, plus you get the whole "cool curved blade" thing.

"Screw sneak attack, I'm a strength-based mini-badass with Athletics expertise" model: Dual handaxes. In a pinch, you can throw 'em. Carry spares.

[Chronos]

Feat invested: Twin Rapiers is best for damage, and allows sneak attack on both.
To clarify, you can sneak attack on either, but not both. Sneak Attack is once per turn. Though if you get an attack with your reaction, that's probably on a different turn, and is again eligible.

[Rhaegar14]

To clarify, you can sneak attack on either, but not both. Sneak Attack is once per turn. Though if you get an attack with your reaction, that's probably on a different turn, and is again eligible.

That's true, but it's still somewhat more optimal to be able to sneak attack with both weapons, in case you miss with one.

[Joe the Rat]

To clarify, you can sneak attack on either, but not both. Sneak Attack is once per turn. Though if you get an attack with your reaction, that's probably on a different turn, and is again eligible.


That's true, but it's still somewhat more optimal to be able to sneak attack with both weapons, in case you miss with one.

Exactly. But that clarification is important for those coming out of 3.P.

I look at the 2nd weapon as a back-up attack for rogues. If the baddie would go down with another 3.5 points of damage, or if you missed on your first, use that Bonus action offhand. If you killed them or they're too tough, you have a few other bonus options via Cunning Action.