Absurdly Oversized Weapons [Archive] - Wizards Community

Absurdly Oversized Weapons [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Always-Late
06-06-05, 02:42 AM Okay, I'm a DM, and I like variant weapons. Now, I'm planning an encounter that relies heavily on intimidation to the point of total stupitidy. Like, just stupid. Okay, on with the real question: How can I get something to get the appearance of an absurdly oversized weapon? Of course, it doesn't have to do damage. I just like the idea of how a kobold holding a greatsword in each hand would look. Large greatswords. (Come on, wouldn't you be intimidated by something as tall as your knee holding a sword as big as you?) So, I'm looking for a mechanic on how to do this, without wasting feats.

This is for looks only, I couldn't care less if the greatsword was hollow and did 1 damage per attack with a -16 to hit. I was thinking I could make a hollow weapon with a tiny grip. Any ideas? Or is this just stupid?

Actually, I know it's stupid, but whatever.
DM Zoc
06-06-05, 02:56 AM The easiest way would be a kobold with the Titan major bloodline (Oversized Weapon feat) which allows you to use a weapon one size larger and with one step less effort. A small creature can thus use medium weapons in one hand instead of two. Granted the to-hit penalty is pretty nasty, but you could take the Oversized TWF feat and get rid of both penalties down to -2/-2. A few levels in Tempest and there are no penalties to hit.
Eaglos
06-06-05, 04:20 AM Now, how would you justify the Titan-Goblin mix? No goblin would want to mate with a Titan and vice versa :P

Your idea for a fake sword is a bit better. Alternatively (sp) you could cast an illusion over the sword?!
Mellowship Slinky
06-06-05, 04:29 AM Or you could, quite literally, have them be made out of paper-mache, for that whole "They're made of metal, no, really!" you could have them coated in a thin layer of silver foil.

You could probably just have the kobold taking the penalties for fighting with two one-handed weapons (as opposed to a one-handed and a light).

I can see the scene now:

"As you advance upon the fleeing kobolds, they suddenly stop and turn to face you, their laughter sounding absurdley like dogs barking. One kobold, wearing a crown made of the bones of small animals, is lifted onto the shoulders of the others; 'It is time that you fought our champion: RASHKASHAR THE MIGHTY!' The sea of kobolds parts, the barking laughter turning into howls of glee, as a kobold a head taller than his compatriots advances upon you, in each hand he weilds a wickedly sharp silver sword the size of a human greatsword..."

Players: "OMGWTF GREATSWORDS?"

"... he stops a dozen feet from you and shouts in draconic: 'I am Rashkashar the mighty! The most fearsome warrior in these caves. I will see your head roll from its shoulder and my blades will drink deep of your blood.' He swings each blade easily and stops in an attack position, the kobolds behind him fall silent."

Rashkashar, 3rd level fighter
Hit Dic: 3d10
Initiative: +4
Speed: 30'
Armor Class: 23 (+1 size, +4 dex, +5 chain shirt +1, +3 natural) Touch 15, flat footed 19
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/-1
Attack: Dagger +8 melee (1d3, 19-20x2), or Longbow +8 ranged (1d6, x3)
Full Attack: two "great"swords -9/-13 melee (special)
Space/Reach: 5ft/5ft
Special Attacks: "great"sword
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60', Light sensitivity
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +0
Abilities: Str10, Dex 18, Con 10, Int 13, Wis 8, Cha 10
Skills: Intimidate +6, Climb +6, Bluff +3, Craft(trapmaking) +3, Profession (miner) +1, Hide +8, Search +3
Feats: Improved Natural Armor (2), Combat Expertise(b), Weapon Finesse(b)

Combat: Rashkashar will only reluctantly wade into battle, pushing his entire BAB into combat expertise (+3 dodge bonus to standard and touch AC). He has not trained heavily in two weapon fighting, but his intention is not to hit. Each time he attacks with his "great"swords and misses the opponent must make a sense motive check augmented by their attack bonus against Rashkashar's bluff. If they succeed they are able to understand that Rashkashar is intentionally fighting poorly.

Rashkashar's "great" longswords: Exotic small one handed weapon, HP 5, hardness 2, damage 1(subdual), critical 20x2. He has a flask of alchemist fire in each sword.

"Great" weapons: "great" is a template that can be applied to one or two-handed melee weapon, these weapons are made of paper-mache, covered in metal foil, and painted to resemble a convincing facimilie of a real weapon (DC 30 spot check to notice).
A "great" weapon appears to be a weapon two size caterogies larger than it is (so a medium "great" longsword appears as a huge longsword), but becomes more difficult to weild (change the weapon type to exotic).
On a successful hit a "great" weapon deals one point of subdual damage to the target and automatically succeeds on a sunder attempt on itself, dealing 1d6 damage (a "great" weapon has hardness 2, HP x2 original weapon). Each hit reduces the DC of the spot check to notice that a "great" weapon is fake by 4. If the weapon's HP drops to 0 it breaks into pieces. On a roll of a natural 20, the weapon automatically sunders itself, sending a burst of paper mache, metal foil, and wooden support rods flying in all directions. Base price is cost of original weapon +350gp. "Great" weapons are considered masterwork but recieve no attack bonus.
"great" surprise: Some "great" weapons are constructed with a small chamber that can hold a single 1 ounce flask, which breaks open if the weapon does, this chamber can only be placed in the weapon during it's construction, and adds an extra 50gp to the base price.
Mellowship Slinky
06-06-05, 04:31 AM Okay ... I took that a little too far.
Nuntius128
06-06-05, 04:37 AM Now, how would you justify the Titan-Goblin mix? No goblin would want to mate with a Titan and vice versa :P

Phew, I hope not. That could get messy, fast.
DM Zoc
06-06-05, 05:59 AM Now, how would you justify the Titan-Goblin mix? No goblin would want to mate with a Titan and vice versa :P

Your idea for a fake sword is a bit better. Alternatively (sp) you could cast an illusion over the sword?!
Even a major bloodline is several generations off.

A titan may not mate with a kobold, but it might very well mate with a storm giant. The half-titan/half-storm giant might mate with a disguised Annis Hag, the offspring of which would not be above mating with a fair ogre. Of course, ogres often mate with humans (although that was much more common in 3.0 for some reason ;) ), so now you're down to a human who is one-quarter ogre and one thirty-second titan. Of course, humans often mate with elves, creating slightly shorter humans, and a few generations of mating with less-physically-active elves would dilute the ogre/giant/etc. blood enough to creature an elf small and scrawny enough to mate with a gnome. Of course, gnomes are natural enemies to kobolds, and certainly kobolds would not be above taking prisoners during a war and doing unspeakable things to them...
dragonseth
06-06-05, 09:45 AM Now, how would you justify the Titan-Goblin mix? No goblin would want to mate with a Titan and vice versa :P

I'll tell you how. Randomly, some wizard cast illusions on them. To the goblin, the titan looked like a goblin. And to the titan, the goblin looked like a titan. Pwnage. :D
Decree Of Boredom
06-06-05, 01:33 PM I'll tell you how. Randomly, some wizard cast illusions on them. To the goblin, the titan looked like a goblin. And to the titan, the goblin looked like a titan. Pwnage. :D

Size issues much?
dragonseth
06-06-05, 01:36 PM I'm thinking on that.
Edit: Before this goes any further, let's just drop it. Shall we? I see not good things in this thread's future.
Drachasor
06-06-05, 02:04 PM I'll tell you how. Randomly, some wizard cast illusions on them. To the goblin, the titan looked like a goblin. And to the titan, the goblin looked like a titan. Pwnage. :D

So close to a reasonable answer to the OP.....

The Goblins have a sorceror among them, those weapons are really short swords and/or daggers. Custom 2nd level spell to affect a number of weapons or other items, giving them the illusion of a similar, but much larger, item. Say it affects 1 item/caster level, duration 1 minute/level perhaps.

-Drachasor

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Always-Late 06-06-05, 02:42 AM	Okay, I'm a DM, and I like variant weapons. Now, I'm planning an encounter that relies heavily on intimidation to the point of total stupitidy. Like, just stupid. Okay, on with the real question: How can I get something to get the appearance of an absurdly oversized weapon? Of course, it doesn't have to do damage. I just like the idea of how a kobold holding a greatsword in each hand would look. Large greatswords. (Come on, wouldn't you be intimidated by something as tall as your knee holding a sword as big as you?) So, I'm looking for a mechanic on how to do this, without wasting feats. This is for looks only, I couldn't care less if the greatsword was hollow and did 1 damage per attack with a -16 to hit. I was thinking I could make a hollow weapon with a tiny grip. Any ideas? Or is this just stupid? Actually, I know it's stupid, but whatever.
DM Zoc 06-06-05, 02:56 AM	The easiest way would be a kobold with the Titan major bloodline (Oversized Weapon feat) which allows you to use a weapon one size larger and with one step less effort. A small creature can thus use medium weapons in one hand instead of two. Granted the to-hit penalty is pretty nasty, but you could take the Oversized TWF feat and get rid of both penalties down to -2/-2. A few levels in Tempest and there are no penalties to hit.
Eaglos 06-06-05, 04:20 AM	Now, how would you justify the Titan-Goblin mix? No goblin would want to mate with a Titan and vice versa :P Your idea for a fake sword is a bit better. Alternatively (sp) you could cast an illusion over the sword?!
Mellowship Slinky 06-06-05, 04:29 AM	Or you could, quite literally, have them be made out of paper-mache, for that whole "They're made of metal, no, really!" you could have them coated in a thin layer of silver foil. You could probably just have the kobold taking the penalties for fighting with two one-handed weapons (as opposed to a one-handed and a light). I can see the scene now: "As you advance upon the fleeing kobolds, they suddenly stop and turn to face you, their laughter sounding absurdley like dogs barking. One kobold, wearing a crown made of the bones of small animals, is lifted onto the shoulders of the others; 'It is time that you fought our champion: RASHKASHAR THE MIGHTY!' The sea of kobolds parts, the barking laughter turning into howls of glee, as a kobold a head taller than his compatriots advances upon you, in each hand he weilds a wickedly sharp silver sword the size of a human greatsword..." Players: "OMGWTF GREATSWORDS?" "... he stops a dozen feet from you and shouts in draconic: 'I am Rashkashar the mighty! The most fearsome warrior in these caves. I will see your head roll from its shoulder and my blades will drink deep of your blood.' He swings each blade easily and stops in an attack position, the kobolds behind him fall silent." Rashkashar, 3rd level fighter Hit Dic: 3d10 Initiative: +4 Speed: 30' Armor Class: 23 (+1 size, +4 dex, +5 chain shirt +1, +3 natural) Touch 15, flat footed 19 Base Attack/Grapple: +3/-1 Attack: Dagger +8 melee (1d3, 19-20x2), or Longbow +8 ranged (1d6, x3) Full Attack: two "great"swords -9/-13 melee (special) Space/Reach: 5ft/5ft Special Attacks: "great"sword Special Qualities: Darkvision 60', Light sensitivity Saves: Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +0 Abilities: Str10, Dex 18, Con 10, Int 13, Wis 8, Cha 10 Skills: Intimidate +6, Climb +6, Bluff +3, Craft(trapmaking) +3, Profession (miner) +1, Hide +8, Search +3 Feats: Improved Natural Armor (2), Combat Expertise(b), Weapon Finesse(b) Combat: Rashkashar will only reluctantly wade into battle, pushing his entire BAB into combat expertise (+3 dodge bonus to standard and touch AC). He has not trained heavily in two weapon fighting, but his intention is not to hit. Each time he attacks with his "great"swords and misses the opponent must make a sense motive check augmented by their attack bonus against Rashkashar's bluff. If they succeed they are able to understand that Rashkashar is intentionally fighting poorly. Rashkashar's "great" longswords: Exotic small one handed weapon, HP 5, hardness 2, damage 1(subdual), critical 20x2. He has a flask of alchemist fire in each sword. "Great" weapons: "great" is a template that can be applied to one or two-handed melee weapon, these weapons are made of paper-mache, covered in metal foil, and painted to resemble a convincing facimilie of a real weapon (DC 30 spot check to notice). A "great" weapon appears to be a weapon two size caterogies larger than it is (so a medium "great" longsword appears as a huge longsword), but becomes more difficult to weild (change the weapon type to exotic). On a successful hit a "great" weapon deals one point of subdual damage to the target and automatically succeeds on a sunder attempt on itself, dealing 1d6 damage (a "great" weapon has hardness 2, HP x2 original weapon). Each hit reduces the DC of the spot check to notice that a "great" weapon is fake by 4. If the weapon's HP drops to 0 it breaks into pieces. On a roll of a natural 20, the weapon automatically sunders itself, sending a burst of paper mache, metal foil, and wooden support rods flying in all directions. Base price is cost of original weapon +350gp. "Great" weapons are considered masterwork but recieve no attack bonus. "great" surprise: Some "great" weapons are constructed with a small chamber that can hold a single 1 ounce flask, which breaks open if the weapon does, this chamber can only be placed in the weapon during it's construction, and adds an extra 50gp to the base price.
Mellowship Slinky 06-06-05, 04:31 AM	Okay ... I took that a little too far.
Nuntius128 06-06-05, 04:37 AM	Now, how would you justify the Titan-Goblin mix? No goblin would want to mate with a Titan and vice versa :P Phew, I hope not. That could get messy, fast.
DM Zoc 06-06-05, 05:59 AM	Now, how would you justify the Titan-Goblin mix? No goblin would want to mate with a Titan and vice versa :P Your idea for a fake sword is a bit better. Alternatively (sp) you could cast an illusion over the sword?! Even a major bloodline is several generations off. A titan may not mate with a kobold, but it might very well mate with a storm giant. The half-titan/half-storm giant might mate with a disguised Annis Hag, the offspring of which would not be above mating with a fair ogre. Of course, ogres often mate with humans (although that was much more common in 3.0 for some reason ;) ), so now you're down to a human who is one-quarter ogre and one thirty-second titan. Of course, humans often mate with elves, creating slightly shorter humans, and a few generations of mating with less-physically-active elves would dilute the ogre/giant/etc. blood enough to creature an elf small and scrawny enough to mate with a gnome. Of course, gnomes are natural enemies to kobolds, and certainly kobolds would not be above taking prisoners during a war and doing unspeakable things to them...
dragonseth 06-06-05, 09:45 AM	Now, how would you justify the Titan-Goblin mix? No goblin would want to mate with a Titan and vice versa :P I'll tell you how. Randomly, some wizard cast illusions on them. To the goblin, the titan looked like a goblin. And to the titan, the goblin looked like a titan. Pwnage. :D
Decree Of Boredom 06-06-05, 01:33 PM	I'll tell you how. Randomly, some wizard cast illusions on them. To the goblin, the titan looked like a goblin. And to the titan, the goblin looked like a titan. Pwnage. :D Size issues much?
dragonseth 06-06-05, 01:36 PM	I'm thinking on that. Edit: Before this goes any further, let's just drop it. Shall we? I see not good things in this thread's future.
Drachasor 06-06-05, 02:04 PM	I'll tell you how. Randomly, some wizard cast illusions on them. To the goblin, the titan looked like a goblin. And to the titan, the goblin looked like a titan. Pwnage. :D So close to a reasonable answer to the OP..... The Goblins have a sorceror among them, those weapons are really short swords and/or daggers. Custom 2nd level spell to affect a number of weapons or other items, giving them the illusion of a similar, but much larger, item. Say it affects 1 item/caster level, duration 1 minute/level perhaps. -Drachasor