|
Ok so I know the obvious answer, I am looking for thoughts
Say a character has a full attack 35/30/25/20 as well as Quick Draw, and Two weapon fighting.
He uses a two handed hammer to belt his foe 4 times, then at the end of his attack he drops his hammer as a free non provoking action. He then quickdraws two knives as a free action then makes a follow up attack with his offhand.
In theory his first 4 attacks ignore the penalty for two weapon usage because at the time he never had two weapons. On the last attack with an offhand weapon he would take the penalty.
To set the record straight I'd not allow this at all but it's an interesting strategy and something I'd love to hear opinions on.
No. Generally to get the bonus from two weapon fighting (the extra attack) you have to take the penalties. I don't know if it is spelled out in the rules, but I would not allow it for the fifth attack, that is. Next round, he would have be able to two-weapon fight, though.
Master Arminas
In order to do two-weapon fighting the intent must be made before any attack rolls are made so he can take the penalties. There were two very long threads on this.
You have to declare your intention to two weapon fight at the beginning of your round, and take all necessary penalties. Period
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I will do even better. I will post the FAQ. I think each thread was over 500 posts.
Multiple Weapons, Iterative Attacks, and Two-Weapon Fighting (page 202): If I have iterative attacks from a high BAB, can I make attacks with different weapons and not incur a two-weapon fighting penalty?Yes. Basically, you only incur TWF penalties if you trying to get an extra attack per round.
Let's assume you're a 6th-level fighter (BAB +6/+1) holding a longsword in one hand and a light mace in the other. Your possible full attack combinations without using two-weapon fighting are:
(A) longsword at +6, longsword +1
(B) mace +6, mace +1
(C) longsword +6, mace +1
(D) mace +6, longsword +1
All of these combinations result in you making exactly two attacks, one at +6 and one at +1. You're not getting any extra attacks, therefore you're not using the two-weapon fighting rule, and therefore you're not taking any two-weapon fighting penalties.
If you have Quick Draw, you could even start the round wielding only one weapon, make your main attack with it, draw the second weapon as a free action after your first attack, and use that second weapon to make your iterative attack. As long as you're properly using the BAB values for your iterative attacks, and as long as you're not exceeding the number of attacks per round granted by your BAB, you are not considered to be using two-weapon fighting, and therefore do not take any of the penalties for two-weapon fighting.
The two-weapon fighting option in the Core Rulebook specifically refers to getting an extra attack for using a second weapon in your offhand. In the above four examples, there is no extra attack, therefore you're not using two-weapon fighting.
Using the longsword/mace example, if you use two-weapon fighting you actually have fewer options than if you aren't. Your options are (ignoring the primary/off hand penalties):
(A') primary longsword at +6, primary longsword at +1, off hand mace at +6
(B') primary mace at +6, primary mace at +1, off hand longsword at +6
In other words, once you decide you're using two-weapon fighting to get that extra attack on your turn (which you have to decide before you take any attacks on your turn), that decision locks you in to the format of "my primary weapon gets my main attack and my iterative attack, and my off hand weapon only gets the extra attack, and I apply two-weapon fighting penalties."—Sean K Reynolds, 11/04/11
note that it says you have to decide before you take any attacks on your turn.