Post/Author/DateTime	Post
WeZil 11-27-05, 05:20 PM	Greetings fellows and what not. I am here to ask a question of y'all about the proper way to give a Strongheart Halfling Barbarian/Fighter the biggest weapon possible, utilizing what feats you can without it being illegal. I ask you because, while familiar with the setting, it is my friends that own all (and I mean all) the books, and I do not have regular access to them. As to why, well, here we go... First off, let me establish that we are not a serious bunch of RPers. We actually dick around and make joke characters all the time. After all, this is for good fun, and it's fun to play absolutely absurd characters with names like Erots Krej, the Favored Soul of Helm; Nazlaeh, the Cleric of Lathander; and Nahc Nomtih, the Half orc Monk. If you don't see the absurdity in those names, then spell them all backwards. you'll get it. Likewise, we don't allways play the "best race/class combo for the fit", though sometimes we do. And if we do, we try to spice it up. I'm not playing best race/class combo for fit. Today, i've decided to make a halfling barbarian that gets as upfront and personal as possible, and uses his high ride skill to ride on people that aren't expecting it (the Dutchess of a town, for example) and get in pickles. All of this is besides the point. Part of his character is wielding (and promptly throwing with the Throw Anything feat) the largest weapon he possibly can, utilizing the Monkey Grip feat. And that's why he is here. How can I get the largest possible weapon in my halfling's hand? And if you must know, my Halfling's name is going to be Thick McRunfast. +20 points to ANYBODY who gets that reference.
larry_the_titan 11-27-05, 05:39 PM	Which feat do you think we can reconmend when you use a 3.0 race and you dont tell us if you are playing 3.0 or 3.5.
WeZil 11-27-05, 05:45 PM	Which feat do you think we can reconmend when you use a 3.0 race and you dont tell us if you are playing 3.0 or 3.5. Sorry to lack clarification. We're using 3.5 rules in Forgotten Realms using a combination of the 3.0 to 3.5 manual conversion and some house rules. So 3.5
larry_the_titan 11-27-05, 06:19 PM	Here is the best I can come up with Monkey Grip in Complete Warrior 3.5 and medium Fullblade Arms and Equipment Guide 3.0. You would end up doing 2d8 damage but at a cost of a -2 to Attack. If you need information about either look around the boards. Both get complained about fairly often. If you want another size try getting a Balanced weapon.
ShinAkuma2 11-27-05, 06:30 PM	1) Taking penalties to hit in order to slightly increase your damage die really doesn't work out as favorably as you'd think. 2) A small bastardsword wouldn't fit in an ogre's nostril. It's as big as a halfling or a gnome. :P
WeZil 11-27-05, 06:39 PM	1) Taking penalties to hit in order to slightly increase your damage die really doesn't work out as favorably as you'd think. This isn't about having a good or effective character. This is about having a midgit with a very, very big weapon, and I will gladly take whatever penalties are associated with it for the sake of being a small guy with a big weapon. That's it. And besides, the +1 for being small helps offset the -2 for Monkey grip just a bit at least. But once again, this is not for effectiveness. THis is for cosmetics and RP only. 2) A small bastardsword wouldn't fit in an ogre's nostril. It's as big as a halfling or a gnome. :P That's why I'm asking you guys if you have any ideas on how to make htat ogre say "Oh god! Is that a sword/axe/bigweaponC floating through the tall grass towar- OH GOD MY FEET"
larry_the_titan 11-27-05, 06:56 PM	So far the math I have heard about the size of a fullblade it comes out to be about 5 1/2 feet long for just being a medium weapon. A large fullblade with the Balanced property could be wielded by a small creature if they had Monkey Grip. So just imagine 10 ft long sword being wielded by a 3 foot tall creature. But just remember that none of this works in RAW. But if you want to go further try getting your halfing to gain powerful build. I dont know how it could be done just talk it over with you DM. If you can get Him to approve the stacking of monkey grip and powerful build and get a huge balanced Fullblade which would do 4d8 damage and be about 20 feet long but still only have a range of 5 ft. That is as good as i can do but i just broke half the rules in D&D. So good luck.
WeZil 11-27-05, 07:00 PM	I already asked, and he won't even approve MOnkey Grip and Full blade. But Powerful Build? Hmm... I ask you this, how would one gain powerful build anyway? is there a class progression you can go with?
baalzamon999 11-27-05, 07:09 PM	See if you could find a half-giant template... Let's see, same size, gain Powerful Build,. +2 Str, +1 LA, I dunno.
WeZil 11-27-05, 07:14 PM	So far the math I have heard about the size of a fullblade it comes out to be about 5 1/2 feet long for just being a medium weapon. A large fullblade with the Balanced property could be wielded by a small creature if they had Monkey Grip. So just imagine 10 ft long sword being wielded by a 3 foot tall creature. But just remember that none of this works in RAW. But if you want to go further try getting your halfing to gain powerful build. I dont know how it could be done just talk it over with you DM. If you can get Him to approve the stacking of monkey grip and powerful build and get a huge balanced Fullblade which would do 4d8 damage and be about 20 feet long but still only have a range of 5 ft. That is as good as i can do but i just broke half the rules in D&D. So good luck. I'm not following your math, and something about that seems super dubious upon re-reading. And my DM isn't allowing for templates. So I guess that's out.
Vaalingrade Ashland 11-27-05, 07:38 PM	As your DM to go back to 3e weapon rules, take monkey grip and bust out with a Large, balanced great sword.
larry_the_titan 11-27-05, 07:40 PM	The only way that i can think of to gain powerful build would be to wish for it but if your DM wont allow it you cant gain it at all. And before that was all for the fun of it but without powerful build, monkey grip, Full blades, or Balanced weapons you cant do more Damage then 1d10 with a small Great sword by RAW. There is no Half Giant template either. Half-Giants are a Race in XPH.
MindWandererB 11-27-05, 08:47 PM	Monkey Grip is exactly like Powerful Build except that you get a -2 to all attacks. Monkey Grip is definitely the way to go here. My recommendations: Medium Greatsword. These suckers were up to 6 feet long, probably twice the height of your halfling. Medium Glaive: It's a sword on a stick. A 7-foot long stick. With a sword on top. Yeah. Medium Lance: First of all, it's absurd to even imagine a 3-foot tall halfling somehow manage to make a two-handed thrusting attack with a 10-foot long lance. But to add insanity to absurdity, if you are mounted, you can wield it with one hand. Get a riding dog to add insult to that insanity and absurdity. Then take TWF and dual-wield them. Edit: someone on another thread mentioned Monkey Gripping oversized Armor Spikes. I can't really imagine it, but your group sounds creative enough. Also consider Monkey Gripping a Medium Spiked Gauntlet. "Fear my Fist of Dooom!"
larry_the_titan 11-27-05, 09:33 PM	Monkey Grip is exactly like Powerful Build except that you get a -2 to all attacks. Monkey Grip is definitely the way to go here. My recommendations: Medium Greatsword. These suckers were up to 6 feet long, probably twice the height of your halfling. Medium Glaive: It's a sword on a stick. A 7-foot long stick. With a sword on top. Yeah. Medium Lance: First of all, it's absurd to even imagine a 3-foot tall halfling somehow manage to make a two-handed thrusting attack with a 10-foot long lance. But to add insanity to absurdity, if you are mounted, you can wield it with one hand. Get a riding dog to add insult to that insanity and absurdity. Then take TWF and dual-wield them. Edit: someone on another thread mentioned Monkey Gripping oversized Armor Spikes. I can't really imagine it, but your group sounds creative enough. Also consider Monkey Gripping a Medium Spiked Gauntlet. "Fear my Fist of Dooom!" The Thread starter has already stated that thier DM would not approve Monkey Grip. With out that your plans dont work. Also if the character tries to carry a larger weapon without a feat the character cant do any more damage then 1d10 with a small Greatsword. All of this is becuase on page 113 of the players handbook has the rules on Inappropriately Sized weapons. The problem comes with the fact that when a weapon increases in size (like small to medium) the grip of the weapon increases by one size (light weapon to one handed weapon and one handed weapon to two handed weapon). This is why these type of feats are so common now days because without them increasing a weapon size limits the damage below that of a Greatsword and still you will gain a penalty to attack of -2 for each size increase. Yes i know that how i just wrote that is confusing so i suggest you read the source.
KoreKore 11-27-05, 10:07 PM	there is a homebrew class on the boards called the juggernaut super strength core class which grants the powerfull buld ability if your DM allows the class I think it only takes one level.
MindWandererB 11-27-05, 10:08 PM	Actually, the OP wasn't clear on that. I thought that the particular combination of Monkey Grip and Fullblade was prohibited. If neither Monkey Grip nor the Fullblade are allowed, independently of one another, then you're right, and this character isn't liable to be a whole lot like the OP imagined it. A Glaive would be the best way to go, I think.
WeZil 11-27-05, 10:36 PM	Anything from the 3.5 rulebooks is allowed, so long as there are no problems with stacking, anything should be available. I appologize if that wasn't made clear.
Kendrick 11-27-05, 11:51 PM	Anything from the 3.5 rulebooks is allowed, so long as there are no problems with stacking, anything should be available. I appologize if that wasn't made clear. I still don't see you getting anything better than a medium greatsword (or other two handed weapon. Balanced is 3.0, the Fullblade is 3.0, and Powerful build is a racial trait used to make races intended for PCs large without giving them reach. There's no way to get Powerful Build except to play a character of the right race (Half-Giant and Goliath are the only ones I remember off hand).
jaelis 11-28-05, 12:28 AM	Well if it's really just for looks, you could carry basically as large a sword as your carrying capacity (and DM) allow. You just couldn't wield it as a weapon. You mentioned throwing it immediately anyway, I don't think you could use the Throw Anything feat, but you should still be able to use it as an improvised thrown weapon.