With enough practice a normal scythe would definitely be a usable weapon in D&D. Remember the average score for a commoner in d&d or your normal healthy human in real life, is 10. player characters normally double that to a 20 in their preferred stat for attacking. so a character with a score of 18 or 20 to strength or dexterity whichever you decide to use for the weapon that has practiced enough to get proficient with the weapon (no longer randomly flailing the weapon around and not likely to have it knocked out of their hand by any common person with a stick on accident) could easily use any weapon they want. the simple method to me is just to look into their character sheet and give them a backstory involving using the thing, ensure that they have what the DM says is a decent enough score to counter the very off balance weight of the thing when swung like a weapon rather than an over sized weed whacker, and then erase a proficiency they would have gotten otherwise and replace it with a specific proficiency for this one weapon.
If a player wants a weapon for which the stats do not exist, you give it the stats of a similar weapon. For example, a nunchaku has the stats of a club. A scythe? Likely greataxe or glaive, depending on how they intend to use it. Or perhaps a halberd.
"A War Scythe is a sickle-like weapon grown larger, it was originally used to harvest grain, swung in long broad sweeps just above the ground. Farmers when called to duty as troops would use them, but they were awkward and heavy, so eventually a martial version was developed. It has the same slightly curved "s" shaped shaft, with two pegs and a beak shaped blade set horizontally from the shaft."
I didn't mention the Standard Research Documentation. Did I accidently reproduce what they said? Obviously, nothing of what I say is official, I'm just taking a rough guess. I've held a scythe of the farm implement type in my hands but never tried to use it, so I was just guessing what that would end up being like as a weapon of war.
Check out Paulus Hector Mair's treatise, there's a section on scythe combat in it. But it's important to note that this is a bit of a curiosity, and militarily scythes weren't used. They are not ideal weapons.
It's not a proper weapon, so either go the realism method: make it a two handed weapon that deals 1d6 slashing damage on a hit. It simple should not be as good as a battleaxe, glaive or a halberd. A glaive is basically what you get if you take a scythe, straighten the blade and shaft out, and realign the blade, so the scythe shouldn't be as good. There are few ways to reduce it in effectiveness other than to lower its damage.
Alternatively, go for "player fun comes first." I'd recommend making it a 2 handed battle axe.
I imagine them being most effective in the hands of a taller race. A Goliath or Luxodon battalion wielding them to 'cut-down' the smaller race's forces, for example. The lack of range of effective motion (attacking a lower target) isn't an issue if you're fighting targets entirely within that lower range of motion, after all.
Might also be interesting choice for flying creatures. The little extra reach and the offset attack box means a diving slash with a scythe might be especially effective. On top of that, standard weapons are superior partially because of their range of motion/usage. You can swing high, using full shoulder motion ranges for most weapons, and scythes suffer a great deal from not having this greater range of effective use/motion. But, since a winged flyer's range of motion for their arms is already limited by their wings/flying... then the scythe might operate well-enough within that same limited mobility range too.
That said... A real scythe isn't practical in battle because in real life we're just people and we obey physics. D&D isn't limited by these concerns.
There is no reason a scythe wielding warrior couldn't be effective in combat alongside a spell slinging wizard or divine power channeling cleric in a fantasy setting. Just pick a desired stat-block for a weapon you're proficient in, use that, and call it a scythe.
I do wonder if a scythe could be made more feasibly useful in combat if it was sharpened on both sides of the blade so that it comes to more of a point. I guess it would functionally end up as kind of an over-sized War Spike.
If a player wants a weapon for which the stats do not exist, you give it the stats of a similar weapon. For example, a nunchaku has the stats of a club. A scythe? Likely greataxe or glaive, depending on how they intend to use it. Or perhaps a halberd.
Yeah, other editions had a lot of things that didn't make it into 5e. Weapons got way oversimplified this edition (and yet somehow we have redundant weapons?).
Anyway this thread is over 4 years old.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
With enough practice a normal scythe would definitely be a usable weapon in D&D. Remember the average score for a commoner in d&d or your normal healthy human in real life, is 10. player characters normally double that to a 20 in their preferred stat for attacking. so a character with a score of 18 or 20 to strength or dexterity whichever you decide to use for the weapon that has practiced enough to get proficient with the weapon (no longer randomly flailing the weapon around and not likely to have it knocked out of their hand by any common person with a stick on accident) could easily use any weapon they want. the simple method to me is just to look into their character sheet and give them a backstory involving using the thing, ensure that they have what the DM says is a decent enough score to counter the very off balance weight of the thing when swung like a weapon rather than an over sized weed whacker, and then erase a proficiency they would have gotten otherwise and replace it with a specific proficiency for this one weapon.
If a player wants a weapon for which the stats do not exist, you give it the stats of a similar weapon. For example, a nunchaku has the stats of a club. A scythe? Likely greataxe or glaive, depending on how they intend to use it. Or perhaps a halberd.
Under Martial Melee Weapons
War Scythe, Cost 10 gp, 1d10 slashing, 6 lb. Heavy, two-handed
"A War Scythe is a sickle-like weapon grown larger, it was originally used to harvest grain, swung in long broad sweeps just above the ground. Farmers when called to duty as troops would use them, but they were awkward and heavy, so eventually a martial version was developed. It has the same slightly curved "s" shaped shaft, with two pegs and a beak shaped blade set horizontally from the shaft."
<Insert clever signature here>
Just a note, srd is not official content.
I didn't mention the Standard Research Documentation. Did I accidently reproduce what they said? Obviously, nothing of what I say is official, I'm just taking a rough guess. I've held a scythe of the farm implement type in my hands but never tried to use it, so I was just guessing what that would end up being like as a weapon of war.
<Insert clever signature here>
The SRD is official content. It doesn't have anything that isn't in the PHB.
The war scythe is not in the SRD. I don't know where Geann pulled that from.
Not strictly true. There are late medieval and early modern fighting manuals depicting scythe techniques.
Check out Paulus Hector Mair's treatise, there's a section on scythe combat in it. But it's important to note that this is a bit of a curiosity, and militarily scythes weren't used. They are not ideal weapons.
It's not a proper weapon, so either go the realism method: make it a two handed weapon that deals 1d6 slashing damage on a hit. It simple should not be as good as a battleaxe, glaive or a halberd. A glaive is basically what you get if you take a scythe, straighten the blade and shaft out, and realign the blade, so the scythe shouldn't be as good. There are few ways to reduce it in effectiveness other than to lower its damage.
Alternatively, go for "player fun comes first." I'd recommend making it a 2 handed battle axe.
I imagine them being most effective in the hands of a taller race. A Goliath or Luxodon battalion wielding them to 'cut-down' the smaller race's forces, for example. The lack of range of effective motion (attacking a lower target) isn't an issue if you're fighting targets entirely within that lower range of motion, after all.
Might also be interesting choice for flying creatures. The little extra reach and the offset attack box means a diving slash with a scythe might be especially effective. On top of that, standard weapons are superior partially because of their range of motion/usage. You can swing high, using full shoulder motion ranges for most weapons, and scythes suffer a great deal from not having this greater range of effective use/motion. But, since a winged flyer's range of motion for their arms is already limited by their wings/flying... then the scythe might operate well-enough within that same limited mobility range too.
That said... A real scythe isn't practical in battle because in real life we're just people and we obey physics. D&D isn't limited by these concerns.
There is no reason a scythe wielding warrior couldn't be effective in combat alongside a spell slinging wizard or divine power channeling cleric in a fantasy setting. Just pick a desired stat-block for a weapon you're proficient in, use that, and call it a scythe.
I got quotes!
I do wonder if a scythe could be made more feasibly useful in combat if it was sharpened on both sides of the blade so that it comes to more of a point. I guess it would functionally end up as kind of an over-sized War Spike.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
Yes it is, SRD is as official as it gets.
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Epic Boons on DDB
This, I would just reskin a Greataxe, glaive, or Halberd for a war scythe.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_scythe
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Epic Boons on DDB
Billhook????
[roll]7d6[/roll]
Every post these dice roll increasing my chances of winning the yahtzee thread (I wish (wait not the twist the wish threa-!))
Drummer Generated Title
After having been invited to include both here, I now combine the "PM me CHEESE 🧀 and tomato into PM me "PIZZA🍕"
Ye old 2nd Edition had'em.
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
Yeah, other editions had a lot of things that didn't make it into 5e. Weapons got way oversimplified this edition (and yet somehow we have redundant weapons?).
Anyway this thread is over 4 years old.