Author Topic: [3.P] Best mundane large two-handed sword  (Read 6544 times)

Offline ImperatorK

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[3.P] Best mundane large two-handed sword
« on: August 19, 2014, 11:13:22 PM »
What is the most effective/most expensive non-magical large two-handed sword that can be made within the rules? By best I mean a combination of special materials, weapon templates (feycrafted for example) and whatever else there is. By expensive I mean "do not worry about the cost and go to town".
If it's helpful in any way, the sword is for a character who has an ability similar in effect to the Wield Obersized Weapon feat. His natural form is large sized, but he's mostly in a medium sized form (it's less inconveniencing). He a Str fighter, but also has a decent Dex
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Offline wotmaniac

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Re: [3.P] Best mundane large two-handed sword
« Reply #1 on: August 20, 2014, 07:14:51 AM »
I don't know about all the extra stuff; but from some brute-force math hammering I did a while back, I do know this: as long as you have at least 10 points of static damage to add to the weapon die (strength, power attack, enhancement, whatever), the falchion is flat-out numerically superior for damage output from the perspective of "average over time". 
Less than 10, it's greatsword.

FYI (because reasons): for 1-handed it's scimitar/rapier ; for light it's kukri. (given same "extra damage" amount)
I'd be inclined to just go from there.

/2cp

p.s.
sorry I didn't really answer the actual question you were asking -- it's late, too tired to start pouring through things, and wanted to follow this thread.


EDIT: correction: everything I just said goes completely out the window with a STR-based beater taking a dip in to Exotic Weapon Master with a hand-and-a-half weapon (my guess, in that case, would be bastard sword -- war mace and war pick have that nasty -2 penalty that isn't worth it)
« Last Edit: August 20, 2014, 07:27:25 AM by wotmaniac »

Offline ImperatorK

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Re: [3.P] Best mundane large two-handed sword
« Reply #2 on: August 20, 2014, 10:54:56 AM »
Well, the character will be two-handing the large sword in his medium size, and one-handing in large size (switching to two-handing when serious).
I don't like that most feats and abilities specify that a weapon has to be appropriately sized for the character. :/ It screws over my concept. Or at least limits my options.
What's more worth it:
Large sword - gives slightly bigger damage dice and +5 ft. of reach or
Medium sword - potentially allows for Dex to damage (which this character has quite high, but smaller than Str).
« Last Edit: August 20, 2014, 10:58:28 AM by ImperatorK »
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Offline Rebel7284

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Re: [3.P] Best mundane large two-handed sword
« Reply #3 on: August 20, 2014, 11:04:41 AM »
Large sword does NOT give more reach. 

Offline ImperatorK

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Re: [3.P] Best mundane large two-handed sword
« Reply #4 on: August 20, 2014, 02:29:00 PM »
It does in my games. More specifically, two-handed weapons larger than appropriate for a character give him +5 ft. reach per size category.
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Offline Jackinthegreen

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Re: [3.P] Best mundane large two-handed sword
« Reply #5 on: August 20, 2014, 04:53:07 PM »
Which rules sources are you accepting?  Regular books, Dragon Mag, 2nd party like Dragonlance?

Offline wotmaniac

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Re: [3.P] Best mundane large two-handed sword
« Reply #6 on: August 20, 2014, 05:24:33 PM »
Fuck it -- why not go hog-wild with this ..... PLANAR METALS
Scroll down to Dwarven Blackrock, aka GodSteel.  Giant pile of stupid for the low, low price of +20k.

Offline Jackinthegreen

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Re: [3.P] Best mundane large two-handed sword
« Reply #7 on: August 20, 2014, 05:46:33 PM »
There are the various Masterwork+ items in Dragonlance War of the Lance page 25.  So a sword that's made as an Item of Legend would have a +5 enhancement bonus to attack rolls for +1500 steel/gold to the price.

Offline ImperatorK

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Re: [3.P] Best mundane large two-handed sword
« Reply #8 on: August 20, 2014, 06:23:24 PM »
Which rules sources are you accepting?  Regular books, Dragon Mag, 2nd party like Dragonlance?
I'm willing to look at anything (maybe other than homebrew) as long as it's reasonably balanced.

Fuck it -- why not go hog-wild with this ..... PLANAR METALS
Scroll down to Dwarven Blackrock, aka GodSteel.  Giant pile of stupid for the low, low price of +20k.
That's a cool book and something I was looking for for a long time. Thank you.
There are the various Masterwork+ items in Dragonlance War of the Lance page 25.  So a sword that's made as an Item of Legend would have a +5 enhancement bonus to attack rolls for +1500 steel/gold to the price.
Don't have that book, unfortunately.
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Offline Snowbluff

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Re: [3.P] Best mundane large two-handed sword
« Reply #9 on: August 20, 2014, 11:41:11 PM »
Well, if it's going to be a Falchion, you should probably make it out of Kaorti Resin for the x4 crit.

Add some DMGII templates:
Glory Born: +1 damage on charge.
Pitspawn: +2 to confirm crit (good for kaorti falchion)

And a bunch of others that are much more situational.
« Last Edit: August 20, 2014, 11:45:03 PM by Snowbluff »
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Offline Mithril Leaf

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Re: [3.P] Best mundane large two-handed sword
« Reply #10 on: August 21, 2014, 01:59:24 AM »
Why not a Kaorti Resin Jovar?
Better than a Falchion.
Mainly because it's a combo of one with a greatsword.

Offline ImperatorK

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Re: [3.P] Best mundane large two-handed sword
« Reply #11 on: August 21, 2014, 10:46:33 AM »
Where can I find Kaorti Resin? I know it's somewhere in Wizards Web Articles, but a link I found doesn't work due to their recent moving of the Archive. Nevermind, found it by adding "archive" before "wizards" in the http link.
Can Kaorti Resin be combined with Godsteel (from Planar Metals 3rd party book linked by Wotmaniac)? If not, I think Godsteel is better, because on top of getting all those other bonuses it also improved Crit Modifier by 1.
What about Elven Courtblade? It has lower damage, but the same crit range and it's finesseable. It also doesn't have that pesky line about having to be properly sized for you for the finesse to work. I'm pushing finesseableness, because the character this weapon is for has feats/abilities that allow him to add Dex (unfortunately insted of Str) and Int to damage, but only with finesse weapons. His Dex and Int are decent, so I think it's worth it. Besides, he also sometimes will lend his weapon to a character who actually has a better Dex than Str and decent Int.
« Last Edit: August 21, 2014, 12:06:35 PM by ImperatorK »
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Offline Craiconn

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Re: [3.P] Best mundane large two-handed sword
« Reply #12 on: August 21, 2014, 01:03:57 PM »
Fuck it -- why not go hog-wild with this ..... PLANAR METALS
Scroll down to Dwarven Blackrock, aka GodSteel.  Giant pile of stupid for the low, low price of +20k.
Nice document ... thanks for linking that.

Offline wotmaniac

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Re: [3.P] Best mundane large two-handed sword
« Reply #13 on: August 21, 2014, 03:23:22 PM »
That's a cool book and something I was looking for for a long time. Thank you.
Nice document ... thanks for linking that.
:cheers
That thing has been getting heavy use in my games since I stumbled across it over 6 years ago.
Players go out of their way to beeline to godsteel ASAP.  Sometimes they'll grab something else; but only if it's for a very specifically flavored character ... and even then they eventually gravitate towards godsteel.
Weapons, that is.  Armor, not so much.



*note: my assessment given in my first post (RE: falchion; or bastard-sword-coupled-with-EWM) only looked at weapons in PHB and A&EG. 
Kaorti Resin and finesse-able two-handed-weapons didn't figure in to that.

Offline Jackinthegreen

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Re: [3.P] Best mundane large two-handed sword
« Reply #14 on: August 21, 2014, 04:50:53 PM »
As far as the average damage being better with a falchion than a greatsword due to crit, that'll depend on how susceptible the enemies are to crit.  I've still got my weapon damage and crit spreadsheet to calculate what damage would be done.

But for a finesse 2h sword the Elven Courtblade would of course work if EWP isn't an issue.  Sadly feycraft can't be used on 2h weapons, so that's out.  Although it might be done on a bastard sword.

Offline SorO_Lost

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Re: [3.P] Best mundane large two-handed sword
« Reply #15 on: August 21, 2014, 06:28:22 PM »
I don't know about PF+3rd Party since you can basically just make stuff up, but I posted my DPR calculator over in the code thread that'll let you crunch values easy enough.


Offline ImperatorK

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Re: [3.P] Best mundane large two-handed sword
« Reply #16 on: August 21, 2014, 06:35:59 PM »
But for a finesse 2h sword the Elven Courtblade would of course work if EWP isn't an issue.  Sadly feycraft can't be used on 2h weapons, so that's out.  Although it might be done on a bastard sword.
I reread the Feycraft template and it turned out I don't need it, because I made a houserule recently that makes it pointless.

I don't know about PF+3rd Party since you can basically just make stuff up
Not really.
Magic is for weaklings.

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Offline SorO_Lost

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Re: [3.P] Best mundane large two-handed sword
« Reply #17 on: August 21, 2014, 10:06:26 PM »
Not really.
No, it's exactly the same thing. Anyone can convert text to PDF through online sites and privately host it. The difference between them is the quality of material.

Like
50gp = Greatsword's 13.65 avg/rnd.
50gp+Feat_Tax = Kaorti Resin Greatsword's 16.25 avg/rnd.
50,350gp = +5 Greatsword's 18.9 avg/rnd.
98,350gp = +5 Collision Greatsword's 24.15 avg/rnd.
22,050gp = Godsteel Greatsword's 26.25 avg/rnd.

Mathematically explains your love for Godsteel  :P

Razor Sharp (DMag #358): +1 damage, +1,000gp.

Edit - Oh, the numbers simply use 18 Str & assumed Two-Handed of course. To downplay the Str aspect in overall contribution to damage.

Edit 2 - Jovar btw is a better than Greatsword weapon, same 2d6 base but 18~20 Crit Range. Also don't forget Manyfanged and Unarmed Damage if you really want to go for broke.
« Last Edit: August 22, 2014, 12:11:11 AM by SorO_Lost »