5e SRD talk:Scimitar

What's the point? 5e SRD:Shortsword is lighter and cheaper, and all other stats are identical. 95.71.23.40 11:57, 15 October 2024 (MDT)

Many of us have been asking this for a decade. Wait 'til you see spear/trident, or glaive/pike, or longsword/battleaxe/warhammer/flail/morningstar/warpick. - Guy 18:48, 15 October 2024 (MDT)

There used to be proper mechanical differences between scimitars and shortswords when different damage vs. man-sized or larger than man-sized creatures and speed factors were still things but it got lost in translation from AD&D to 3e and scimitars being different items has been a pointless relic ever since. So yeah blame WOTC for dumbing it down for filthy casuals. 2601:285:4100:14B0:81CF:5F3A:EE4E:C35C 19:29, 15 October 2024 (MDT)

As i see, Scimitar does Slashing while Short Sword does Piercing, is lighter and cheaper. Battleaxe, Longsword do Slashing; Warhammer, Flail does Bludgeoning; Morningstar and War Pick do Piercing. Glaive is Slashing and is more light, while Pike is Piercing and more cheap. Battleaxe is cheaper, while Longsword is lighter. War Pick is both cheaper and lighter than Morningstar (making Morningstar obsolete). Warhammer is more expensive than Flail, but is Versatile. Trident is strictly worse than Spear - as it's Martial weapon, more expensive, weights more. Also, some magic enchantments may need specific models of weapon - for example, "For Swords Only" enchantments. Now this boils down to: What damage type is most useful in 5e? 95.71.23.40 14:11, 20 October 2024 (MDT)

Ideally, use Homebrew system to re-introduce variable damage types. Like, when you could use your sword to stab someone for Piercing and slash for Slashing. Or use pommel strike of axe for Bludgeoning. Or use "swiss army knife" Halberd with 3 blades - blunt, axe-like and spike - to crush, chop and stab. Too bad it's not in official rules - perhaps, idea of "stabbing someone with sword" is too complex for someone. 95.71.23.40 14:19, 20 October 2024 (MDT)

To answer the question, arguably bludgeoning (assuming BSP are the only options). Extremely few monsters in the 2014 Monster Manual treat any damage types differently, with skeletons being the stand-out; they're vulnerable to bludgeoning damage. It's such a small outlier that it shouldn't affect weapon balance, especially when there's goofy feats like slasher anyway. Amusingly bludgeoning tends to be the "cheapest" damage type if you actually give credence to the weapons' default costs

Something like a pommel strike is considered an attack with an improvised weapon.

Yes, many people other than you have been asking "why can't I stab with a sword" for a decade, as in other editions weapons could do "or" damage types or even "and" damage types. Many homebrew weapons have re-introduced such concepts. - Guy 14:55, 20 October 2024 (MDT)