Two Weapon Attack

Is is correct that a Barbarian at first level has the Two-Weapon Fighting feat that allows for two attacks at no penalty, as long as one weapon is light? So a Barbarian with a Battleaxe in one hand and an Axe in the other can attack with both at no penalty? Wow, that's brutal.
 
Everyone has the two weapon fighting feat in Conan. Just as you or I can pick up a bat in one hand and a hot iron in the other and go bashing people (not reccomended!) so can all Classes in Conan, albeit with the decidedly more sensible aproach of using swords and axes instead.

Basically, you need no feat. It just an enormous penalty. The two weapon feat and using a light weapon in the off-hand reduce the penalties, eventually, to zero.
 
Sutek, thanks for the response. I'm not sure what you mean by an enormous penalty though. Am I reading the feat wrong? It says that there is no penalty if one of the weapons is light. There is a -4 penalty to all attacks if both weapons are one-handed. Additional feats allow for more off-hand attacks, but am I missing a required feat? I know that in standard DnD there are several feats that reduce the penalty to -2/-2, but never, as far as I remember, to no penalty. Thanks.
 
Sorry. Misread your post. I did reply to that at like 1am. (lol)

Yeah, w/o the feat there's penalties, but with the feat and a light off-weapon, the penalties are reduced to zero.
 
To start off with, there isnt a feat (unlike DND), but there is a fighting style (Two weapon combat) then you can pick up Two weapon fighting as a feat to increase the number of attacks you can get...

(i hope thats right)

MeT
 
In Atlantean Edition at least, Two Weapon Combat Proficiency is a feat that most classes get for free. The Improved Two Weapon Combat feat allows you to make as many off-hand attacks as you do with the primary weapon.
 
MeTaMoRpHiS said:
To start off with, there isnt a feat (unlike DND), but there is a fighting style (Two weapon combat) then you can pick up Two weapon fighting as a feat to increase the number of attacks you can get...

(i hope thats right)

MeT
Actually it works the same way in DnD and almost all other d20 games. Anyone can use TWF at anytime, you just suffer massive penalties.

The difference in Conan is that the penalties are considerably less than stock DnD and the TWF feat (which most classes get for free) reduces them to nothing. This makes TWF in Conan more attractive (espically for low level characters who don't have itterative attacks yet) but the rules are no different than in DnD except for the value of the penalties.

Hope that helps.
 
argo said:
Actually it works the same way in DnD and almost all other d20 games. Anyone can use TWF at anytime, you just suffer massive penalties.

According to standard 3.5 a character using a 2 handed weapon can make an unarmed attack as light second weapon. What are our thoughts on this one? With that in mind what about a second unarmed attack when using a shield. Would you get the best of both worlds? Two attacks with no penalty and the shields DV benefit. Admittedly you would need improved unarmed to pull it off without provoking an attack of opportunity but it still looks pretty appealing. (Without realising this two of my five players took imp unarmed at first level and both use 2 handed weapons!)

Aaron.
 
<Nod> thats right, an unarmed strike can be a headbut, shoulder rush, elbow thrust, kick or anything else meaning you can use an unarmed attack as a off hand attack even while holding a 2 handed weapon or shield. I know some people have a problem with the concept and find the idea of a greatsword wielder shoulder-checking or elbow mashing his opponent to be "silly" or "munchkin" but personally I find it quite balanced. Unarmed strikes are considered light weapons meaning their base damage sucks (and as off hand weapons they only get .5 Str) you can't PA with them and they are useless for most special combat options, oh and they can't penetrate armor either (though they can finesse). Getting that extra attack for 1d4 + .5 Str means standing still for a full round and is most likely usless against anyone with DR 6 or better; seems ok to me.

Just remember that you can only ever have one primary weapon and one "off hand" weapon at a time unless you have the Multiweapon Fighting feat which itself requires you have "three or more hands". So you can't have an attack routine of sword, kick, kick, headbut, elbow, elbow :roll:

Oh, and if you want a real fun character concept try out a soldier with a polearm with 10' reach and IUS. He has the option of simply using the polearm to take AoO's on opponents approaching him and fight unarmed with his normal itterative attacks or he can TWF and attack at both 5' and 10' reach. Would make for a good Khitan staff-fighter. Wooo-pah! :wink:

Later.
 
Argo...on top of things again. :)

Aditionally, in Conan all light weapons are considered Finesse Weapons and can potentially ignore armor. Unarmed attacks are no exception, so that elbow jab can end up coming in right under that Pict's chin and into his throat...ouch! :shock:
 
Having just purchased the first english translation of Hans Talhoffer's Medieval Combat (A fifteenth century manual of swordfighting and close-quarter combat), I noticed that the introduction by Mark Rector points out that almost 2/3rds of the 268 plates/illustrations have some form of wrestling/brawl/hand-to-hand manoevres, including almost a third of the long sword plates. Apparently, once close up to the opponent, having parried and counter-attacked, combining it with a kick to the stomach really puts him off...
 
Yes. Chivalry is not dead....it was never alive. It's a complete myth and knights were just as apt, probably moreso, do delliver a kick to the groin if need be as swing a sword. Basically, when someone is intent on lopping parts of you body off, you just do what you gotta do to stop him... :lol:
 
I was thinking that the two handed weapon coupled with two weapon fighting and improved unarmed can make for a pretty devastating combination.
Say your 4th level soldier has IU, powerattack and Bardiche. He decides to put 2 points into power attack and can potentialy gain an extra 6 points of damage from this. 4 for his 2h weapon and 2 for his unarmed strike. This is then coupled with his STR bonus x2.5 makes improved unarmed pretty much an essential feat for a 2handed weapon fighter, IMO.
As unarmed strikes are the only light weapons that can gain a benefit from power attack IU is again very useful for any character looking to use the power attack feat. Gain an extra attack at no penalty sounds good and it doesnt take many points in powerattack to make up for the lack of damage.
Then there is the sword and shield guy. Why bash someone with your shield and loose its defense when you can unarmed strike them for a similar amount of damage?!
It appears to me that improved unarmed in Conan is potentialy alot more useful than in standard D20 due to the ease of two weapon fighting.

Aaron.
 
I have never really thought of IU/TWF that way. Now I am definately considering taking IU when my character reaches 6th level! That way he hack with a battleaxe in both hands and do an unarmed strike with elbow/knee as his TWF action.

thanks to everyone that pointed that out.
 
I'm a bit unsure about this. In D&D, effective unarmed attacks in combination with a two-handed weapon requires some serious feat effort.

In Conan, where two weapon combat is something most people are pretty much born with, this makes standard two weapon fighting look a lot less attractive compared with a two-hander + unarmed strikes.

Probably my biggest concern though, is the multitude of attacks that each character will have at higher levels. The fewer characters with 8 attacks per round, the better IMO. I'd rather limit that to traditional two-weapon fighters.

With a limit of one unarmed strike while wielding a two-hander, I'd be a lot more open to this idea. In fact, I think that's what I'll rule.
 
AZZA said:
According to standard 3.5 a character using a 2 handed weapon can make an unarmed attack as light second weapon.

I had no idea about this, is it in the Players Handbook?
 
I've been reading up on the whole two-weapon fighting thing and come upon some questions:

1) The Borderer can get Improved Two-Weapon Combat at 5th level. Does he then get attacks with his off-hand weapon at BAB +5/+0, which would mean he gets two attacks with his off-hand before his primary hand? If not, he can't use the Feat until he hits 6th level, which also seems odd...

2) Two-Weapon Defense says that if you're using a shield to shield bash, you can exchange the highest of these attacks to gain a +2 (buckler) or +3 (targe or large shield) parry bonus. So does this mean that if I have this Feat and ITWC, I will basically keep my shield bonus (well, I go from +4 to +3 in the case of the large shield) and get all my lower level shield bash attacks?

3) If I instead of the above mentioned TWD chose to take the Feat IUS, would I then get to keep my shield bonus and get the full number of attacks from ITWC as unarmed strikes?

4) In Conan two-weapon fighting seems to be EXTREMELY more available than in standard d20. In D&D you need 3 Feats and a high Dex score (19) to get the maximum number of attacks, and you're still at a -2 penalty. In Conan, all you need is 1 Feat, and you don't get the penalty. If you can also use IUS to get these extra attacks when fighting with a shield or a two-handed weapon, it seems to me that the average number of attacks has been bumped up a notch for ALL fighter types. I'm wondering what the reason for this is. I'm not saying it's bad (although I do think it could get a bit unwieldy), I'm just curious as to why they designed the game this way. Could it be to distinguish between high and low levels in a different way than in standard D&D (hit point increase is a little tuned down, but number of attacks switched up)?
 
Re 4: Using unarmed attacks as off hand weapons in conjunction with a 2-handed weapon is a D&D rule. I do not believe any such rule made it into Conan. Thus, allowing unarmed off-hand attacks with 2-handers in Conan is a House Rule.
 
It's a good rule regardless, just count it as such. It would essentially counts as (a) a light weapon, as all unarmed attacks do already, and (b) suffer the normal off-hand penalty of -2 to hit to both strikes, unless the character also had Two Weapon Fighting feat, in which case there would be no penalty.

This is firing in an elbow or knee into the fray as you hack away with the larer 2-handed weapon. Now, I would not allow this sort of thing with a pole arm of anykind or any other weapon with reach.
 
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