I think the term “dual wielding” is what’s causing the confusion.
Yeah, I think that's what got me, too. "Dual Wield" is generally used to describe using the TWF rules to make a bonus action attack. The Feat which enhances this is even called Dual Wielder.
Even though you didn’t ask for advice on how to run a four-armed character, it was a fun puzzle to unravel. 😃
I agree. It's an interesting thing to think about how it could be done.
I am not looking for advice on how to run a 4 armed character, I am looking specifically for examples of when dual wielding two handed weapons would be overpowered (assuming that you still have to use two hands for each weapon).
I have one thing which could increase the power: Using, for instance, both a Greatsword and a Halberd. You would gain the 2d6 damage of the greatsword, but also have the option at will to use the reach of the halberd. If the character has 2 attacks, they could choose to do one with the greatsword on a target within 5ft, then one with the halberd at longer range. It could potentially give them more battlefield control with Opportunity Attacks at 2 different ranges, too.
I don't think this is necessarily going to be stupidly overpowered, but it is something to consider. You may need to do something like require them to nominate an "active" weapon at the start of each turn, and only allow attacks with that one until the start of their next turn, but I'd only bother if you found it to be particularly powerful.
I don't think this is necessarily going to be stupidly overpowered, but it is something to consider. You may need to do something like require them to nominate an "active" weapon at the start of each turn, and only allow attacks with that one until the start of their next turn, but I'd only bother if you found it to be particularly powerful.
This is what I was thinking as I was reading through the thread.
The "hand limit" is a pretty strong limiter on character abilities and may very well have other unexpected side effects, so I'd be careful with it and ready to patch with some rules like the above. Simic Hybrid deals with this by explicitly saying what the extra arms can do and not allowing anything else - I'd probably do something like that if I were homebrewing a certain giant-sand-ant-looking race.
As written, wielding two two-handed weapons probably doesn't do anything.
Regular two weapon fighting says "When you take the Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon that you're holding in one hand, you can use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you're holding in the other hand"
No two-handed weapons are Light, and It's not clear what 'other' means if you have more than two hands.
Dual Wielder has three features, all of which look questionable
You gain a +1 bonus to AC while you are wielding a separate melee weapon in each hand.
You can use two-weapon fighting even when the one-handed melee weapons you are wielding aren't light.
You can draw or stow two one-handed weapons when you would normally be able to draw or stow only one.
The first feature apparently requires you to be wielding as many weapons as you have hands (in theory, a one-armed person could benefit from that effect while wielding one weapon), the other two specifically don't work with two-handed weapons.
A player of mine wants to make an homebrew race that has 4 arms with which to manipulate objects. I know the big thing would be having the twohanded weapon and using a shield, but I have specifically said no to that and the player is okay with it. They would still be able to duel wield two handed weapons but I don't know if there is any benefit or build for that sort of thing.
I'm looking for examples of when this would be OP or anything like that. Keep in mind that you CAN NOT engage in two weapon fighting with two handed weapons in any situation.
They could wield a two handed weapon, carry a shield, and still have an empty hand available for spell casting.
Given the new information I don't think it'd be overpowered. It sounds like it's entirely meant for flavour which sounds fine to me.
The only place where any increase in power comes in would be with TWF as far as I can see, moreso with reach weapons, and, if you're not allowing that, then there's not terribly much outside of having a second weapon already in hand in the event that they are disarmed of their main weapon, which sounds like a complete non-issue to me.
Although not directly related to "wielding" 2 two-handed weapons, you should also be aware of grappling. A four-armed character could grapple four people at once, or three people while wielding a single-handed weapon, or two while wielding a double-handed weapon.
To be honest, I am not sure I'd directly limit this. Grappling isn't particularly great anyway, so the boost might actually make it more attractive.
Yeah, I think that's what got me, too. "Dual Wield" is generally used to describe using the TWF rules to make a bonus action attack. The Feat which enhances this is even called Dual Wielder.
I agree. It's an interesting thing to think about how it could be done.
I have one thing which could increase the power: Using, for instance, both a Greatsword and a Halberd. You would gain the 2d6 damage of the greatsword, but also have the option at will to use the reach of the halberd. If the character has 2 attacks, they could choose to do one with the greatsword on a target within 5ft, then one with the halberd at longer range. It could potentially give them more battlefield control with Opportunity Attacks at 2 different ranges, too.
I don't think this is necessarily going to be stupidly overpowered, but it is something to consider. You may need to do something like require them to nominate an "active" weapon at the start of each turn, and only allow attacks with that one until the start of their next turn, but I'd only bother if you found it to be particularly powerful.
I understand how my initial post could be confusing in regards to dual wielding. Apologies to everyone for that.
That is a good example of something I hadn't considered, though like you said not necessarily something that busts the game open.
I'm also not apposed to people discussing the semantics of running a four armed character in the game, I just wanted to clarify what I was asking for.
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This is what I was thinking as I was reading through the thread.
The "hand limit" is a pretty strong limiter on character abilities and may very well have other unexpected side effects, so I'd be careful with it and ready to patch with some rules like the above. Simic Hybrid deals with this by explicitly saying what the extra arms can do and not allowing anything else - I'd probably do something like that if I were homebrewing a certain giant-sand-ant-looking race.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
As written, wielding two two-handed weapons probably doesn't do anything.
No two-handed weapons are Light, and It's not clear what 'other' means if you have more than two hands.
The first feature apparently requires you to be wielding as many weapons as you have hands (in theory, a one-armed person could benefit from that effect while wielding one weapon), the other two specifically don't work with two-handed weapons.
They could wield a two handed weapon, carry a shield, and still have an empty hand available for spell casting.
Just don't allow more than two arms.
I said I wasn't allowing for shields, but you and several others make a good point about spell casting.
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"Play the game however you want to play the game. After all, your fun doesn't threaten my fun."
Given the new information I don't think it'd be overpowered. It sounds like it's entirely meant for flavour which sounds fine to me.
The only place where any increase in power comes in would be with TWF as far as I can see, moreso with reach weapons, and, if you're not allowing that, then there's not terribly much outside of having a second weapon already in hand in the event that they are disarmed of their main weapon, which sounds like a complete non-issue to me.
Although not directly related to "wielding" 2 two-handed weapons, you should also be aware of grappling. A four-armed character could grapple four people at once, or three people while wielding a single-handed weapon, or two while wielding a double-handed weapon.
To be honest, I am not sure I'd directly limit this. Grappling isn't particularly great anyway, so the boost might actually make it more attractive.