I'm pretty sure the scimitar does this pretty well, and the reason they even used 'both' of them is so they could have one be a one hander and the other be a two hander.
They're basically the same thing, again DnD needed to create a weapon chain and wanted a heavy sword that had a high crit range, had to pick one or the other and we kept it this way ever since.
The cutlass also exists in this fashion.
I was going to fluff my scimitar into a dadao. Wiki describes dadao as more similar to flachion, though.
You could try looking at some of the eastern weapons.
Honestly? i love falchions, they look so cool. But i would have to go with a battleaxe for the stats. They are practically weaponized cleaver's, just seems closer to an axe than sword to me.
A "real" falchion is a blade and hilt style, not a size of weapon. It's a fair guess most real falchions were one-handers, but plenty were "bastard" weapons and the two-hander in the CRG is more non-representative than wrong.
Scimitars are slashing one-handers. They are single-edged curved blades. So, it's a scimitar.
Honestly? i love falchions, they look so cool. But i would have to go with a battleaxe for the stats. They are practically weaponized cleaver's, just seems closer to an axe than sword to me.
I agree, 1d8, x3 seems about right for the examples I saw at the Higgins Armory.
Lots of weapon stats in Pathfinder make me scratch my head (Looking at you Kukri).
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I agree, 1d8, x3 seems about right for the examples I saw at the Higgins Armory.
Sadly, no one will be able to confirm this until the end of March:
http://higgins.org/
I live near the armory, I have been to it a bunch of times. Amazing collection. Its to bad about them having to shut the doors, that building was epic.
Edit: Between Higgins Armory, Springfield Armory and Smith & Wesson, I have been able to see some amazing history.
Honestly? i love falchions, they look so cool. But i would have to go with a battleaxe for the stats. They are practically weaponized cleaver's, just seems closer to an axe than sword to me.I agree, 1d8, x3 seems about right for the examples I saw at the Higgins Armory.
Lots of weapon stats in Pathfinder make me scratch my head (Looking at you Kukri).
The falcata has these stats.
A falcata is a falchion. I mean the stats, not the picture. One handed, with a heavy chopping blade. Thus 19-20/x3 crit. I have never allowed the illustrations in the game books of any edition override the weapon description. Too much history of bad/confused art orders. The illo of the "falcata" is a greek design that I can't seem to find the name for.
(Edit-It seems that is a...falcata. However, the term was coined in the 19th century by some Italian dude. Still can't find the correct Greek name.)
The only contrary thing about the falcata is that it's Exotic. Not exactly what you would make cheaply and hand out to common infantry. Perhaps the "true" falchion is martial, does 1d6, with 19-20/x3 crit range. That puts it on par with the scimitar/rapier.
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(Edit-It seems that is a...falcata. However, the term was coined in the 19th century by some Italian dude. Still can't find the correct Greek name.)
Kopis.
(Edit-It seems that is a...falcata. However, the term was coined in the 19th century by some Italian dude. Still can't find the correct Greek name.)
Kopis.
Yes, that sounds right. Thank you.
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A falcata is a falchion. I mean the stats, not the picture. One handed, with a heavy chopping blade. Thus 19-20/x3 crit. I have never allowed the illustrations in the game books of any edition override the weapon description. Too much history of bad/confused art orders. The illo of the "falcata" is a greek design that I can't seem to find the name for.
(Edit-It seems that is a...falcata. However, the term was coined in the 19th century by some Italian dude. Still can't find the correct Greek name.)
The only contrary thing about the falcata is that it's Exotic. Not exactly what you would make cheaply and hand out to common infantry. Perhaps the "true" falchion is martial, does 1d6, with 19-20/x3 crit range. That puts it on par with the scimitar/rapier.
Balance wise, would be a horrid weapon. And no, it isn't at all "on par with the scimitar/rapier", it is way better.
Assuming you always hit, a scimitar or rapier does 23/20 of his base damage (17 normal hits and 3 x2 hits). A longsword and a axe 22/20 (18 normal hits and 2 x2 hits or 19 normal its and 1 x3 hit).
This weapon would do 24/20 of his base damage (18 normal hits and 2 x3 hits). The reduction in the base dice hardly balance the advantage against the longsword. As it would have the same dice of the scimitar or rapier it would be a noticeable advantage.
* With base damage I mean the die used by the weapon plus all the applicable bonuses.
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A falcata is a falchion. I mean the stats, not the picture. One handed, with a heavy chopping blade. Thus 19-20/x3 crit. I have never allowed the illustrations in the game books of any edition override the weapon description. Too much history of bad/confused art orders. The illo of the "falcata" is a greek design that I can't seem to find the name for.
(Edit-It seems that is a...falcata. However, the term was coined in the 19th century by some Italian dude. Still can't find the correct Greek name.)
The only contrary thing about the falcata is that it's Exotic. Not exactly what you would make cheaply and hand out to common infantry. Perhaps the "true" falchion is martial, does 1d6, with 19-20/x3 crit range. That puts it on par with the scimitar/rapier.
Balance wise, would be a horrid weapon. And no, it isn't at all "on par with the scimitar/rapier", it is way better.
Assuming you always hit, a scimitar or rapier does 23/20 of his base damage (17 normal hits and 3 x2 hits). A longsword and a axe 22/20 (18 normal hits and 2 x2 hits or 19 normal its and 1 x3 hit).
This weapon would do 24/20 of his base damage (18 normal hits and 2 x3 hits). The reduction in the base dice hardly balance the advantage against the longsword. As it would have the same dice of the scimitar or rapier it would be a noticeable advantage.* With base damage I mean the die used by the weapon plus all the applicable bonuses.
24/20 over 23/20 is way better? Okay, but I consider it close enough that it is on par in the game rules. Like the way a Greataxe is on par with a Greatsword and a (in game) Falchion. Besides, you don't always hit, and so that small difference in potential damage output may be nullified. A better chance to crit should yield about the same damage over time.
24/20 over 23/20 is way better? Okay, but I consider it close enough that it is on par in the game rules. Like the way a Greataxe is on par with a Greatsword and a (in game) Falchion. Besides, you don't always hit, and so that small difference in potential damage output may be nullified. A better chance to crit should yield about the same damage over time.A falcata is a falchion. I mean the stats, not the picture. One handed, with a heavy chopping blade. Thus 19-20/x3 crit. I have never allowed the illustrations in the game books of any edition override the weapon description. Too much history of bad/confused art orders. The illo of the "falcata" is a greek design that I can't seem to find the name for.
(Edit-It seems that is a...falcata. However, the term was coined in the 19th century by some Italian dude. Still can't find the correct Greek name.)
The only contrary thing about the falcata is that it's Exotic. Not exactly what you would make cheaply and hand out to common infantry. Perhaps the "true" falchion is martial, does 1d6, with 19-20/x3 crit range. That puts it on par with the scimitar/rapier.
Balance wise, would be a horrid weapon. And no, it isn't at all "on par with the scimitar/rapier", it is way better.
Assuming you always hit, a scimitar or rapier does 23/20 of his base damage (17 normal hits and 3 x2 hits). A longsword and a axe 22/20 (18 normal hits and 2 x2 hits or 19 normal its and 1 x3 hit).
This weapon would do 24/20 of his base damage (18 normal hits and 2 x3 hits). The reduction in the base dice hardly balance the advantage against the longsword. As it would have the same dice of the scimitar or rapier it would be a noticeable advantage.* With base damage I mean the die used by the weapon plus all the applicable bonuses.
Because you dont always hit but most often hit with the crit threads( 15 and up) it is actually a bigger difference. Not a smaller one.
I'm a little reluctant to give falchions the stats for falcatas because the blade curves the opposite way. Unfortunately the representative weapons are not consistent:
kukri (forward curve): 18-20/x2
falcata (forward curve): 19-20/x3
scimitar (back curve): 18-20/x2
I'm a little reluctant to give falchions the stats for falcatas because the blade curves the opposite way. Unfortunately the representative weapons are not consistent:
kukri (forward curve): 18-20/x2
falcata (forward curve): 19-20/x3
scimitar (back curve): 18-20/x2
You can give the weapon what ever stat you want. there is no evidence the forvard or the back curve is better or worse. The guys that make the game pulled the weapon statestics out of there rear side IMOP.
They work but it is not somthing to look at for sense.
If it was that much better in real life, the knights would've been using them instead of their arming swords or long swords (real longswords, not RPG long swords).
I've seen it claimed that knights actually did. The longsword just got good press because it looked very Christian on the tapestries of the Crusade.
But in any case, it's not a super weapon. It's a chopping, shearing weapon. More versatile than axe, more powerful than an arming sword. Since most shearing weapons get the extra crit range, 19-20 or 18-20 seems right.
Or you could treat is as a bastard scimitar: 1d8 18-20/x2, else as bastard sword.
Basically, there's not much consistency in the contemporaneous naming of mediaeval weapons which were produced in myriad forms. This is why we eventually end up with nomenclature like an "Oakeshott Type XVII Sword".
I think I would say a "real" falchion is just a scimitar or "bastard scimitar." The heavier versions might be longswords that do slashing only and cost 10% less.
The falchion allowed you to try to shear joints, whereas the arming sword allowed you to stab them. It was also handy as a side arm while riding, or as a horse killer.
As Rob implies, during the Crusades, it would have been difficult to tell the two sides apart except by their banners. The Saracens even adapted the European bossed shield and heavy lance, while the Europeans picked up the scimitar and sent it back west, where it became the Polish sabre.