Post/Author/DateTime	Post
danzibr 03-14-07, 06:18 PM	I know they're good for off hand usage, but do they have any cons? Weapon Finesse also applies to them. Any more pros? Thanks in advance! Dan
StevenO 03-14-07, 06:58 PM	Cons: Easier to sunder or disarm and generally not as good at the same. No damage bonus possible from Power Attack. Generally do less damage than a One-handed weapon would do. Pros: Can be used with weapon finesse. Can be used as an off-hand weapon with reduced penalties (-2 form a 1HW) Can be used in tight spaces where a larger weapon may not. Note that many Pros are situational while the Cons are a little more common.
PoorHobo 03-14-07, 07:02 PM	Light weapons can also be used in grapple.
danzibr 03-14-07, 07:11 PM	Hmm... this is tough. Thanks to both of you for helping me out. Okay, so I'm making a class (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=808195) and they make their weapon out of lightning. And I imagine the mass of lightning is negligible, so for all practicle purposes, their weapon has no weight. Because of this they cannot apply a strength bonus to hit or damage, but because they're so light, in the sense of weight, I'm considering considering them light weapons for technical purposes. However, it is utterly ridiculous to be able to use a greatsword while grappling. In general, light weapons are small, but then the whole nigh massless thing comes into play. I'm thinking maybe saying: "Treat them as light weapons when determining penalties for two weapon fighting, but in all other cases treat the lightning weapon as a normal weapon of the same type." Does that cover everything? That way they can still Power Attack but not use them while grappling. Anything I missed? Thanks again! Dan
Lamorake 03-14-07, 07:14 PM	Sounds like a pretty cool class! Also, for ideas about how to allow a weapon formed from energy to function, check out the Soulknife (http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/psionicSoulknife.html)
danzibr 03-14-07, 07:19 PM	Sounds like a pretty cool class! Also, for ideas about how to allow a weapon formed from energy to function, check out the Soulknife (http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/psionicSoulknife.html) Ahh... thanks. I actually like the Soulknife quite a bit. You may have noticed quite a bit of the text from Lightning Weapon comes directly from Soulknife :P But hey, thanks for saying my class is cool. Dan
R4za 03-14-07, 07:38 PM	Make it a light weapon. If it's non-physical, you couldn't get a damage bonus from power attack any more than from a str bonus, you could use it with finesse because it's weightless, you could use it in grapple or tight spaces because you don't need room to swing it (even a greatsword) when simply holding it in the right direction forces it 'through' someone, and disarming it, sundering it or disarming with it would be impossible anyway. It all works out.
danzibr 03-14-07, 07:43 PM	Make it a light weapon. If it's non-physical, you couldn't get a damage bonus from power attack any more than from a str bonus, you could use it with finesse because it's weightless, you could use it in grapple or tight spaces because you don't need room to swing it (even a greatsword) when simply holding it in the right direction forces it 'through' someone, and disarming it, sundering it or disarming with it would be impossible anyway. It all works out. I like your thinking. It's logical. I see Power Attack as swinging really hard so you're basically sacrificing accuracy for more damage. And there you are right. And the grappling also makes sense. Besides, it's not that unbalanced to be able to use a greatsword in a grapple, is it? Doesn't seem that way... I mean, it's not going to make or break a game. Besides, even if I ruled against it they could simply reform their lightning weapon into the form of a light weapon they are proficient with. So yeah, thanks and I'll make those changes. Dan
mugguod 03-14-07, 07:45 PM	Pros: Just that they are light. Important for those of us who desire to keep our total carrying weight down (and movement maxed) One less lb. of equipment equals 50 more gold pieces you can carry home as plunder.
runestar 03-14-07, 10:19 PM	In this case, you might want to houserule that they get no penalties for TWFing, since their weapons have no mass.:)
Dead_Weasel 03-14-07, 10:26 PM	Gotta agree with R4za on this; also, the situation seems to me to be more analogous to a Pyrokineticist's Fire Lash (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/prestigeClasses/pyrokineticist.htm#fireLash) than to a Soulknife's Mind Blade (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/classes/soulknife.htm#mindBlade).