weapon focus tree question [Archive] - Wizards Community

weapon focus tree question [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
psiphre
05-23-07, 12:26 PM Can anyone think of a mechanical or balance issue with house ruling to allow a character to take the weapon focus tree and apply it to two weapons at once?

i.e.: A character in my game does rapier-and-dagger style TWF and wants to have Weapon Focus apply to both weapons.

Mechanically I can't see it as any different from WF:Dagger and fighting with two daggers (gain bonus to weapons in both hands) as long as he only gets the benefit of weapon focus while fighting with BOTH weapons; in other words, he wouldn't get the bonus for fighting with a rapier alone.

thoughts?
Warric
05-23-07, 02:27 PM Unearthed Arcana has a concept called weapon groups. You should check it out. Basically its a variant weapon proficiency system. It allows for feats like weapon focus and improved critical to be applied to any weapon in a given weapon group. Hope that helps.
Kouk
05-23-07, 04:09 PM Weapon Focus wouldn't really be focusing on a single weapon if you just allow it to apply to a fighting style. The Weapon Group variant is the way to go if that is what you want though.

Weapon-Specific Feats

A game master who uses this variant can rule that any feat that requires a character to choose a specific weapon to apply the feat's benefit to (such as Improved Critical, Weapon Focus, or Weapon Specialization) can instead be applied to a weapon group. The character must still meet the prerequisites for the feat.

Though this variant seems to grant a large benefit to the character, it really doesn't significantly improve the character's power level. Since a typical character only wields one weapon at a time (or two, with a different weapon in each hand), the character doesn't really become any more powerful in a typical fight.

It does mean that a character is more likely to benefit when new magic weapons are found, since he's more likely to be skilled in their use. That can actually be beneficial to a campaign, in that it allows the game master to include a wider range of interesting treasures that the characters actually use (rather than simply sell or trade).

The light weapon group includes daggers and rapiers.

This is part of the SRD as variant rules:http://www.d20srd.org/indexes/variantBuildingCharacters.htm

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
psiphre 05-23-07, 12:26 PM	Can anyone think of a mechanical or balance issue with house ruling to allow a character to take the weapon focus tree and apply it to two weapons at once? i.e.: A character in my game does rapier-and-dagger style TWF and wants to have Weapon Focus apply to both weapons. Mechanically I can't see it as any different from WF:Dagger and fighting with two daggers (gain bonus to weapons in both hands) as long as he only gets the benefit of weapon focus while fighting with BOTH weapons; in other words, he wouldn't get the bonus for fighting with a rapier alone. thoughts?
Warric 05-23-07, 02:27 PM	Unearthed Arcana has a concept called weapon groups. You should check it out. Basically its a variant weapon proficiency system. It allows for feats like weapon focus and improved critical to be applied to any weapon in a given weapon group. Hope that helps.
Kouk 05-23-07, 04:09 PM	Weapon Focus wouldn't really be focusing on a single weapon if you just allow it to apply to a fighting style. The Weapon Group variant is the way to go if that is what you want though. Weapon-Specific Feats A game master who uses this variant can rule that any feat that requires a character to choose a specific weapon to apply the feat's benefit to (such as Improved Critical, Weapon Focus, or Weapon Specialization) can instead be applied to a weapon group. The character must still meet the prerequisites for the feat. Though this variant seems to grant a large benefit to the character, it really doesn't significantly improve the character's power level. Since a typical character only wields one weapon at a time (or two, with a different weapon in each hand), the character doesn't really become any more powerful in a typical fight. It does mean that a character is more likely to benefit when new magic weapons are found, since he's more likely to be skilled in their use. That can actually be beneficial to a campaign, in that it allows the game master to include a wider range of interesting treasures that the characters actually use (rather than simply sell or trade). The light weapon group includes daggers and rapiers. This is part of the SRD as variant rules:http://www.d20srd.org/indexes/variantBuildingCharacters.htm