Finesse slashing weapons

[Aurthur]

Howdy, folks.

I have a player in my game (rogue) who asked me a good question the other day. He wondered if there's be a problem with him commissioning a custom weapon which was essentially a rapier but that did slashing instead of piercing damage. I looked through all the weapon lists and couldn't find a comparable finesse slashing weapon and (obviously) only found the less impressive scimitar or dagger options.

I eventually ruled that he could commission such a weapon and that practically it would represent a longsword without the versatile capability and be finesse (not light, though). Not sure if this would make waves down the line, but other than a few resistances, not sure if will cause impact.

I'm curious if other DMs have had similar situations and if they had any challenges with such rulings themselves? Or, if I simply missed a weapon that would solve this issue in the listings.

Thanks!

[ruy343]

You're absolutely right; and there's no reason why you couldn't do what you did. You're really only increasing their DPR by an average of 1 (per attack), so it's not the end of the world. It's no different than giving out a weapon that deals +1 damage, in that sense.

I've done something similar for a player who wanted to play a gnome ranger, but felt restricted by being a size category lower, and therefore unable to use a "heavy" longbow. I made up a magic item, "the longbow of tying", which functioned like a longbow in terms of damage, but could be made smaller for a small player. Problem solved.

[Millface]

Howdy, folks.

I have a player in my game (rogue) who asked me a good question the other day. He wondered if there's be a problem with him commissioning a custom weapon which was essentially a rapier but that did slashing instead of piercing damage. I looked through all the weapon lists and couldn't find a comparable finesse slashing weapon and (obviously) only found the less impressive scimitar or dagger options.

I eventually ruled that he could commission such a weapon and that practically it would represent a longsword without the versatile capability and be finesse (not light, though). Not sure if this would make waves down the line, but other than a few resistances, not sure if will cause impact.

I'm curious if other DMs have had similar situations and if they had any challenges with such rulings themselves? Or, if I simply missed a weapon that would solve this issue in the listings.

Thanks!

This won't have a negative effect at all, go for it! This is essentially just fluff, and my approach to that is to say yes as long as it doesn't change game balance. Your rogue basically wants a rapier that doesn't look like a rapier, it's a thematic thing, and that's always ok.

My BM Ranger had a dire badger, but his character was bear themed, he was even going to multiclass into a Bear Totem Barbarian, so I let him use the Badger's stats, but for all appearances his beast looks like a bear. Changes nothing in practicality, only conceptually. The answer to those questions to me is almost always yes.

[Ralanr]

Or refluff the rapier as a saber.

[Dimolyth]

Or refluff the rapier as a saber.

Or refluff rapier as thinblade (elven sword from Races of The Wild, 3e). Or refluff it as katana.

Slashing finesse weapons does exist already. You are not breaking any rule or obstacle of the system. I`d just double rapier`s market price for this weapon (with fixed weight) - to reflect its rarity and/or complexity of design.

[D.U.P.A.]

I am not really in favour to change such properties, because finesse weapons should be limited, otherwise there would be no point to have Str S&B fighting builds. About slashing whips and scimitars, there is a reason that Rogue is not proficient with it. You can however take a Weapon master feat or multiclass to gain proficiency.

[Ralanr]

I am not really in favour to change such properties, because finesse weapons should be limited, otherwise there would be no point to have Str S&B fighting builds. About slashing whips and scimitars, there is a reason that Rogue is not proficient with it. You can however take a Weapon master feat or multiclass to gain proficiency.

This would be the rare use of that feat.

[TheOOB]

I am not really in favour to change such properties, because finesse weapons should be limited, otherwise there would be no point to have Str S&B fighting builds. About slashing whips and scimitars, there is a reason that Rogue is not proficient with it. You can however take a Weapon master feat or multiclass to gain proficiency.

Rapier and Longsword are already identical in power, difference is LS gets versitile and is slashing, and rapier gets finesse and is piercing. Strength S&B builds are used because of armor, heavier armor requires strength. There are also lots of ability checks and even saving throws based on str.

I don't see anything wrong with a 1d8 finesse martial slashing weapon, or a 1d6 finesse light slashing martial weapon.

[D.U.P.A.]

With Dex build you can get a comparable AC too plus having other Dex benefits which are more plentiful than Str which I have already listen in other thread. There is light finesse slashing weapon, it is called scimitar. But the thing with rogue is that he is supposed to deliver fast precision attacks where piercing weapons excel at.

[Ralanr]

With Dex build you can get a comparable AC too plus having other Dex benefits which are more plentiful than Str which I have already listen in other thread. There is light finesse slashing weapon, it is called scimitar. But the thing with rogue is that he is supposed to deliver fast precision attacks where piercing weapons excel at.

It really depends on how realistic the game is trying to be. A 1d8 slashing finesse weapon doesn't seem broken or anything.

If it must be the longsword I'd argue it loses finesse when held with both hands.

[TheTeaMustFlow]

Yeah, I've used the Sabre = Rapier but slashing solution several times. Never known a GM to have a problem with it.

It also removes the various problems inherent in using the rapier as a battlefield weapon.

[ruy343]

I just want to add: I think that a small little change like this to increase the damage dice by one size category isn't broken. However, don't let a finesse character start using weapons that are much larger with bigger damage dice. There has to be a reason to be a strength-based character in the game, or else Dexterity will continue to grow in importance in your setting.

[D.U.P.A.]

Rogue will be dealing most of his damage with its sneak attack dice, so for example picking a weapon master feat to get heavy crossbow (and if any other higher damage die weapon) will matter a little. Even if using dagger you can be quite fine with rogue. However the problems are other classes, especially those designed for melee and heavy armor.