Post/Author/DateTime	Post
greendragon_256 12-05-07, 11:39 AM	Does anyone have the 3.5 stats for Broad Sword (damage, weight, cost, etc etc) i have been unable to find stats for a Broad Sword in 3.5. Thanks.
ObscureInfo 12-05-07, 12:17 PM	They got rid of it in 3E. Along with the cutlass, the dirk, and the katana. There were too many different kinds of swords in 2E and they were looking to simplify. Same is true of polearms. They only put so many in, when I remember back in 2E like 20 different ones. Such was the fate of the broadsword. The katana eventually got back in, by using the 'katana is basically a bastard sword' rule. Which is why the Complete Warrior samurai class gets EWP(bastard sword) for free at first level. I assume that most people who want a broadsword, just use the longsword stats and call it a broadsword. Same is true of the cutlass. It simplifies to a shortsword. Now you and I know these to be two totally different weapons, but that is where we are at.
greendragon_256 12-05-07, 12:36 PM	A lot of the changes didn't make any sense. This qualifies as one of them. Why they'd get rid of any weapons is beyond me. Thanks for the info.
Fabius Maximus 12-05-07, 12:55 PM	Actually, we still have the cutlass. It's in Stormwrack.
BananaB 12-05-07, 04:24 PM	There's the broad blade short sword in Complete Adventurer.
Salla 12-05-07, 05:03 PM	A lot of the changes didn't make any sense. This qualifies as one of them. Why they'd get rid of any weapons is beyond me. Thanks for the info. Many of the weapons simply weren't different enough to warrant different statistics. As stated, just take a longsword and call it a broadsword, and you're fine.
mogarth 12-05-07, 09:24 PM	There's the broad blade short sword in Complete Adventurer. well a broadsword isn't really broad its about the same width as many other types of swords. I think the longsword stats are fine for it.
Rulebook 12-06-07, 10:18 AM	we're gonna get a bunch of the big dogs come in here maybe and tell you about it... ill summarize them up somewhat. There is no such thing as a "Broadsword" its just a term some guys in the 19th century applied to some of the swords they found that were wider in the blade (maybe... dont count me on that) than the others around it. Its a longsword (which arent even longswords... but thats a different can of ravioli)
BENEVOLENT_DM 12-06-07, 12:34 PM	The term Broad Sword has been used to describe so many different swords. Describe what you are looking for. IMHO, the 3.5 rules describe Swords in the by the way they are used, and not by any historical name. short sword-straight short stabbing swords long sword- straight one handed two edged hacking swords great sword- straight two handed two edged hacking swords bastard sword- Just short enough to use one handed with a handle that accommodated two handed use. (Historically one handed use on horseback and two handed use when dismounted.) Scimitar- curved one handed slashing sword Falchion- curve two handed slashing sword
greendragon_256 12-06-07, 01:46 PM	long sword- straight one handed two edged hacking swords i'd say that works as a basic description.
1 ton ghost 12-06-07, 02:27 PM	there's something called the Chondathan Steel Sword (dumb name, i know) in FRCS. cutlass is also in there and sabre as well. i like the diversity but the "streamlining" and "simplifying" for the masses IMO seems to be dumbing down. that is, if you don't like the mod, don't use it. i keep plugging this, but it was an outstanding article. 2nd to last PRINTED Dragon mag. had a weapons/armors mod piece. basket hilts, added hardness, making armor lighter, etc. these should've been implemented in Comp.Warrior or Adventurer, but no... they trickle these out inch by inch and a bunch of seperate books, all the more to entice you into buying them all. D&D like crack i guess.
BENEVOLENT_DM 12-06-07, 03:12 PM	A lot of the changes didn't make any sense. This qualifies as one of them. Why they'd get rid of any weapons is beyond me. Thanks for the info. The problem with the huge amount of weapons that 2E had is that there just are not enough game mechanics to reflect a difference in game play. Already, there are weapons that are mechanically worthless in core. If they added more they would either be obsolete mechanically, or make one of the weapons in core obsolete.
Mindolin 12-06-07, 03:36 PM	Check the 3.0 Arms and Equipment Guide. It has a list of weapon equivalencies. Broadsword is a longsword.
sapient 12-06-07, 03:53 PM	It's not just that there aren't sufficient game mechanical representations to warrant so many different types of weapon - but that is one major reason of course. Even if there were inventive ways to produce different game mechanics WITHOUT leaving 50 - 75 % of the types as essentially sub-par versions of each other, all those different mechanics would not make any kind of sense. As has already been mentioned (by Rulebook and BENEVOLENT_DM), the names used are (most of the time) not designations that were actually in use. They are constructed i modern time, mostly by form. But the names that WERE used, was usually regional in nature and does not reflect differences of design as much as linguistic variation. If a certain type of weapon had a distinct name in a particular language - like "claymore" for a large, often but not exclusively used as two-handed, sword in Scotland - but is in all relevant aspects identical to other types from other countries, is that REALLY a valid reason to spawn a separate game mechanic variant? Even if you took a number of known types and classified them as separate weapons for game purposes, in reality the variation within that category would be a lot bigger then the differences used to separate them. That makes for a ludicrious and arbitrary system that makes no sense. The game mechanics would be based on completely false information, non-existent differences and should - in semblance of reality - take into account the differences of design within the types. The system used in 3.X is a lot more sound. It defines the broad types, depending on design and use. Everything else is "fluff". (Although the fluff that has been published has generated a lot of extra "crunch" as well, and thus bringing us closer to the arbitrary and sensless again...) If you want a particular type, because you like that particular name, the culture where it was used or some similar reason, then invent it. If you want a "Broadsword" to be a heavier and therefore pressumably more powerful variant of the Longsword, then replace the 1d8 with e.g. 1d6+2. The cap on damage is the same, 8, but there will be no lower value then 3, so the average damage would be higher (5,5 instead of 4,5). Voila! You have your broadsword.
braxius 12-06-07, 04:06 PM	the highland broadsword, (which i believe is the origin of the word) was simply a smaler version of the claymore. Designed for one handed use, it's most striking feature was it's basket hilt that contained a method of disarming the opponent, simply a pair of bars that caught the enemies blade. enough of the history lesson in game terms it is a long sword, possibly with a disarming bonus.
Tony Vargas 12-06-07, 09:36 PM	Does anyone have the 3.5 stats for Broad Sword (damage, weight, cost, etc etc)No, it was cut (npi). The Conan RPG has a d10 broadsword - but the weapons in that game are generally a little beaffier than in D&D. I like to use 2d4 (20/x2) one-handed martial slashing weapon for the Broadsword, and make it a lb heavier than the longsword. I think it nicely models the kind of heavy sword used with less finesse than a rapier or even longsword that the name tends to evoke in S&S literature. Plus, of course, the 1E broadsword did 2-8 damage. It is slightly weak by the numbers, so I also like to give it a few extra hps - heavier blade resisting sundering slightly better. Historical 'broadswords' are another matter, as the term originated when fencing had already become dominated, and was used to refer to any older, heavier sword, that would have been broader than a rapier, smallsword or longsword. (And longsword had multiple meanings, too). It can also refer to a basket-hilted one-edged sword (rather like a sabre, but with a straight blade). None of those are particularly interesting uses of the name in a fantasy game, though.
Johannixx 12-09-07, 12:27 AM	Add 5GP to the price of a longsword, and give it a bonus to resist being disarmed due to the protective basket hilt. Bam, there's your highlander's broadsword. If you mean a Conan-style broadsword, that's basically just a bastard sword. It's 'broad' compared to a rapier.