Dual wielding with two light weapons

[Shannonball]

I need some help - I have come back to D&D many years after playing AD&D to dungeon master games for my sons.

We are having a dispute over the dual wielding rules. One of my chaps want to wield two Elven lightblades. He thinks there should be no penalty/modifier for them as they weigh the same as daggers (1lb) and there is no penalty to use two daggers. The blades are longer than daggers, they are short sword length. Although the 3.5 rules (PM p160) state that there is a penalty in the primary hand (-4) and for light weapons in the off hand (-8), the rules do not overtly state that there is a penalty for using a light weapon in the primary hand when dual wielding.

I think that it should be a modifier for each hand, at the least there should be some modifier for the off-hand.

How would you play this?

Thanks

[wraithstrike]

The weight is not a factor. He might be thinking of how he thinks it should work in real life, but no rules support his stance.

Here is how it goes for this case.

The penalty will be -4 for the main hand, and -8 for the offhand. The chart supports this.

The rules state that having a weapon in the main(primary) hand and one in the offhand causes the penalty. It never calls out one-handed or light weapons so that means both are penalized. They never say that "only one-handed weapons" cause a penalty when in the primary hand.

In order for your friend to be right that would have to be the rule.

Also read this official 3.5 blog on the topic from their top rules designer at the time.

[Diffan]

It should be, with two light weapons (and assuming he has the Two-Weapon Fighting feat) -2/-2 for each hand. Both being light doesn't really do anything but the off-hand being light does drop the off-hand penalty significantly.