This might upset some dm's or players in general but, i would like to see a blade breaker dagger brought into d&d. The dagger was real and was used by knights back in middle ages. it had special notches cut into the top of the the dagger so if a sword or blade came at the knight they could catch the blade in the notches and either disarm the attacker or break the blade of the attacker. the blade is longer then a normal dagger but was generally used to block attacks but in the skilled hands was very effective disarming opponents. I think this in the hands of a rogue or ranger using dueling would be very interesting to play. This is just my opinion to spice up a class or character play style. what are your thoughts on this?
Homebrew one up and see how it plays, I'd probably stat it as a dagger, give it a disarm attempt as a reaction to a missed attack by the target, and maybe make it a martial wep.
It is without a doubt a martial weapon. That said, they were clunky and hard to fully utilize, the TV show Forged in Fire had a whole episode devoted to them IIRC. I would say that to gain any reliable and reasonable use out of these heavy small swords a character should have to pay with a FEAT. That way you could say that when equipped with a proper weapon (the Blade Breaker) you can use your reaction to disarm or even break a non magical weapon.
That'd be a rather specialized weapon, and would require in my opinion more than just proficiency in daggers or martial weapons. A feat would go a long way I think to indicate the requisite training in its special properties. There's precedent for that, with the double-scimitar weapon and feat. Without the feat, it'd be just a dagger. Otherwise, I'd make the "sword-breaking" aspect a magical effect, and turn it into a magic dagger requiring attunement.
I'd probably make the effect something like a Strength check after being missed with a sword attack, using the reaction slot to disarm the opponent. Add restrictions to what weapons are affected, like shortswords, rapiers, maybe falchions, longswords, probably not greatswords.
Anyway, that's what I'd do if I was asked at my table. A dual-wielding rogue or ranger would be pretty neat with it.
If you want them in your D&D game, then totally go ahead and introduce them! :)
As Hawksmoor states above, you could link effective use of such a weapon to a FEAT, however the DMG already has suggested rules for disarming. You could take these and vary them slightly - noting that the disarm attack is likely to be made as a bonus attack with the dagger.
Warning - history stuff ahead!
The Sword breaker that you are describing is primarily something from video games and Hollywood movies.
Don't get me wrong - there is physical evidence that the weapons existed! They're an interesting anomaly, with the earliest examples are from around the late 16th century / early 17th century, so wouldn't have been used by knights from the middle ages (around 500AD to 1500AD).
They were reasonably rare, as they were difficult to make and some experts think that they were mostly for show compared to other more popular parrying daggers, such as the Main-Gauche.
The term "Sword Breaker" is a fairly recent one and whilst tests have show that the serrations could prove effective in catching and restricting the movements of an opponent's sword, there was almost no chance that the wielder of the dagger could exert sufficient force to actually break a well forged sword of this era.
I'm a big fan of the Forged in Fire TV show, but the historical information they provide on the show is sadly often really misleading and made up by someone who played a few video games and couldn't be bothered to use google to research. I mean, it really is awful at times. On the show about the "Sword breaker" they claim it was the standard sidearm of it's day, used by knights in the 16th century all across Europe and was able to simply snap opponents weapons in half. This is just all around false - they're over dramatising the Hollywood view of the weapon.
There's a few videos on youtube discussing this if you search.
This might upset some dm's or players in general but, i would like to see a blade breaker dagger brought into d&d. The dagger was real and was used by knights back in middle ages. it had special notches cut into the top of the the dagger so if a sword or blade came at the knight they could catch the blade in the notches and either disarm the attacker or break the blade of the attacker. the blade is longer then a normal dagger but was generally used to block attacks but in the skilled hands was very effective disarming opponents. I think this in the hands of a rogue or ranger using dueling would be very interesting to play. This is just my opinion to spice up a class or character play style. what are your thoughts on this?
Homebrew one up and see how it plays, I'd probably stat it as a dagger, give it a disarm attempt as a reaction to a missed attack by the target, and maybe make it a martial wep.
It is without a doubt a martial weapon. That said, they were clunky and hard to fully utilize, the TV show Forged in Fire had a whole episode devoted to them IIRC. I would say that to gain any reliable and reasonable use out of these heavy small swords a character should have to pay with a FEAT. That way you could say that when equipped with a proper weapon (the Blade Breaker) you can use your reaction to disarm or even break a non magical weapon.
That'd be a rather specialized weapon, and would require in my opinion more than just proficiency in daggers or martial weapons. A feat would go a long way I think to indicate the requisite training in its special properties. There's precedent for that, with the double-scimitar weapon and feat. Without the feat, it'd be just a dagger. Otherwise, I'd make the "sword-breaking" aspect a magical effect, and turn it into a magic dagger requiring attunement.
I'd probably make the effect something like a Strength check after being missed with a sword attack, using the reaction slot to disarm the opponent. Add restrictions to what weapons are affected, like shortswords, rapiers, maybe falchions, longswords, probably not greatswords.
Anyway, that's what I'd do if I was asked at my table. A dual-wielding rogue or ranger would be pretty neat with it.
Why would that upset some DMs or players? It doesn't seem all that controversial to me.
EDIT for content: Make it out of adamantine, for maximum weapon-breaking power.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
If you want them in your D&D game, then totally go ahead and introduce them! :)
As Hawksmoor states above, you could link effective use of such a weapon to a FEAT, however the DMG already has suggested rules for disarming. You could take these and vary them slightly - noting that the disarm attack is likely to be made as a bonus attack with the dagger.
Warning - history stuff ahead!
The Sword breaker that you are describing is primarily something from video games and Hollywood movies.
Don't get me wrong - there is physical evidence that the weapons existed! They're an interesting anomaly, with the earliest examples are from around the late 16th century / early 17th century, so wouldn't have been used by knights from the middle ages (around 500AD to 1500AD).
They were reasonably rare, as they were difficult to make and some experts think that they were mostly for show compared to other more popular parrying daggers, such as the Main-Gauche.
The term "Sword Breaker" is a fairly recent one and whilst tests have show that the serrations could prove effective in catching and restricting the movements of an opponent's sword, there was almost no chance that the wielder of the dagger could exert sufficient force to actually break a well forged sword of this era.
I'm a big fan of the Forged in Fire TV show, but the historical information they provide on the show is sadly often really misleading and made up by someone who played a few video games and couldn't be bothered to use google to research. I mean, it really is awful at times. On the show about the "Sword breaker" they claim it was the standard sidearm of it's day, used by knights in the 16th century all across Europe and was able to simply snap opponents weapons in half. This is just all around false - they're over dramatising the Hollywood view of the weapon.
There's a few videos on youtube discussing this if you search.
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Thank you all for the information. i will bring it up to my DM. and see how it goes.