Topic: Two weapon attacks

Am I interpreting the rules correctly here?
The rules say:  "Characters wielding two weapons attack as normal, and decide which weapon does damage if a hit is scored."

So does this mean anyone can fight two handed?  Do they get two attacks each round, but only one of them is allowed to hit?

Re: Two weapon attacks

The way I read it: if you have 2 weapons you make one die roll to hit, if successful you decide which weapon delivers the damage points. It seems like almost no rule at all.

A couple of lines for dual weapon combat seems a bit out of place next to the verbose discussion of 'grappling' immediately after.

In my experience, characters are far more likely to try fighting with two swords than strip down and oil up for a manly wrestling bout. But hey, that's just me.

It's not the years, it's the mileage.

Re: Two weapon attacks

I am considering having two weapon use having a defensive or offensive role.

On a player initiate they can choose to either use the extra weapon to defend, gaining a +1 AC bonus for melee only (no protection from missile fire) or they can use the weapon to attack. As per the rules there is 1 die roll but if the attack is successful a minor secondary weapon would give a + 1 bonus to the damage rolled and a small weapon + 2.

Balanced? Any ideas?

Re: Two weapon attacks

The entry was me having a bit of fun with certain "cinematic" assumptions. The rule basically says characters with two weapons are mechanically no different than characters with one weapon.

Re: Two weapon attacks

I agree the game does not need monster blenders that current incarnations of d&d can create. When a mid-level character can have 6 plus attacks it gets a bit silly.

Thats one reason why I will be retiring my 3.5 d&d books to the loft once the current campaign ends and use LotFP.

When players don't feel the need to role-play their characters because they replace it with "kewl powerz" it's time to move on back nearer to where my RPGing began with 1st ed AD&D.

Thanks Jim, for giving me an escape route smile

Re: Two weapon attacks

Jim wrote:
The entry was me having a bit of fun with certain "cinematic" assumptions. The rule basically says characters with two weapons are mechanically no different than characters with one weapon.

I write:
OK, I figured and hoped that I was over-complicating things. 

Thanks.

Re: Two weapon attacks

Here's what I'm hoping to go to the table with...

Two Weapon Combat
These rules replace the "Two Weapon Combat" rules on pg. 87 of the rules.

To get any benefit out of wielding a weapon in both hands, a character must have a Dexterity score of 11 or higher. A character receives a +1 to AC when wielding two-weapons and may choose which weapon to roll damage with on a successful attack.

For those with a Dexterity lower than 11, the original rule stands.

Essentially fighting with two weapons is no different than going into melee with a shield. This gels with my experience of going up against guys using a Florentine fighting style with a Quarterstaff

Two Weapon Fighting (Skill)
A character with a 13 or higher in Dexterity may take the Two-Weapon Fighting skill. It starts out as 1/6 like other skills. The Two Weapon Fighting skill can never exceed the character's Dex bonus. So a character with a 17 Dexterity can have 1/6 or 2/6 in Two-Weapon Fighting. But not 3/6. To use, Two-Weapon Fighting roll a d6 along with the attack die. If the attack is successful, check the d6. If the d6 is a successful skill roll, add the result to the damage of the attack.

So a Specialist with 3/6 in Two-Weapon Fighting rolls an 18 on his attack roll and a "2" on his Two-Weapon Fighting skill roll. Assuming an 18 was a successful attack, he would add +2 to his damage.

One cannot use the Two-Weapon Fighting skill and benefit from the Two-Weapon Combat AC bonus in the same round.

So someone who wants to forego the AC bonus to fighting with two-weapons can roll a six-sider along with their attack roll. If they roll a success on their Two-Weapon Fighting skill, they add the number on the six-sider to their damage.

I wanted to try to implement something easy. That held with the core assumptions of the game. And didn't step on any of the classes' specialties.