RagingKrikkit
2017-03-25, 05:31 PM
As any of you who study medieval weaponry or have experience with Historical European Martial Arts probably know, the core rules of 3.5 and Pathfinder feature several inaccuracies when defining sword types. For the benefit of anyone who didn't know that, I will make a quick rundown of the swords defined in the core rules of these systems to help your character's concept line up with their sheet.
Short Sword: Short swords cover the spectrum of short-bladed swords intended for thrusting, such as the gladius (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladius) and traditional Viking designs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_sword).
Longsword: This title is a misnomer, instead referring to dual-bladed, single-handed cutting swords such as the arming (or knightly) sword (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knightly_sword) and broadsword (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basket-hilted_sword).
Rapier: Rapiers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapier) are properly classified, but also include other thrusting swords of similar length to arming swords such as the estoc (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estoc)
Scimitar: In addition to scimitars (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scimitar), this category holds curved, single-handed cutting weapons such as the saber/sabre (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabre).
Bastard Sword: This is the proper home of the longsword (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longsword) and other cutting blades that can be wielded in one or two hands. Without other stat blocks, the Katana (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katana) would fall into this category.
Greatsword: This covers Zweihänders (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zweih%C3%A4nder) and other straight blades of over four feet in length, intended not so much to go around the enemy's guard as crash through it with the sheer force of the blow. Claymores (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claymore) run the gamut from this category down through bastard and into the longsword family.
Falchion: Falchions (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falchion) are typically a single-handed weapon that function as something of a midpoint between the longsword and scimitar categories, so while I can't readily think of any type of sword that mirrors this blade style, consider it a cover for long blades built for chopping rather than slashing.
Two-Bladed Sword: If anyone can actually find me a historical example of one of these being used in combat, I will be highly impressed, both with you and whoever carried it into battle.
And that covers the swords of core 3.5 and Pathfinder. Hopefully this will be useful information to somebody in creating a character or even just expanding your vocabulary when describing weapons without having to hunt down or create more stats.
Short Sword: Short swords cover the spectrum of short-bladed swords intended for thrusting, such as the gladius (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladius) and traditional Viking designs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_sword).
Longsword: This title is a misnomer, instead referring to dual-bladed, single-handed cutting swords such as the arming (or knightly) sword (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knightly_sword) and broadsword (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basket-hilted_sword).
Rapier: Rapiers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapier) are properly classified, but also include other thrusting swords of similar length to arming swords such as the estoc (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estoc)
Scimitar: In addition to scimitars (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scimitar), this category holds curved, single-handed cutting weapons such as the saber/sabre (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabre).
Bastard Sword: This is the proper home of the longsword (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longsword) and other cutting blades that can be wielded in one or two hands. Without other stat blocks, the Katana (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katana) would fall into this category.
Greatsword: This covers Zweihänders (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zweih%C3%A4nder) and other straight blades of over four feet in length, intended not so much to go around the enemy's guard as crash through it with the sheer force of the blow. Claymores (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claymore) run the gamut from this category down through bastard and into the longsword family.
Falchion: Falchions (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falchion) are typically a single-handed weapon that function as something of a midpoint between the longsword and scimitar categories, so while I can't readily think of any type of sword that mirrors this blade style, consider it a cover for long blades built for chopping rather than slashing.
Two-Bladed Sword: If anyone can actually find me a historical example of one of these being used in combat, I will be highly impressed, both with you and whoever carried it into battle.
And that covers the swords of core 3.5 and Pathfinder. Hopefully this will be useful information to somebody in creating a character or even just expanding your vocabulary when describing weapons without having to hunt down or create more stats.