Sammy "Spaghetti Arms" Smith is a rogue in training. He has phenomenal agility (Dex 18 mod. +3) but can barely lift his arms to scratch his head (Str 3 mod. -3).
He is well versed in knife throwing but he fears melee combat where his -3 to hit penalty from Strength will make it impossible to keep his ill gotten loot from the various angry paladins who seem to be chasing him constantly
Then Sammy hits on an idea. On p.119 (2nd edition) there is something called Two Weapon Fighting which states
The Rules wrote:
The character is allowed to swing with both weapons, thus gaining two attacks in a single round, but the attack with the primary hand is at -3 and the attack with the off hand is at -6. These penalties are affected by the character's dexterity modifier. The character's strength modifier only applies to damage inflicted
"Eureka!" says Sammy. I have found a perfect way to drop that pesky -3 Str modifier. By holding two daggers, through some magical process, I am actually better at hitting in melee combat. And the best part is, I get it at first level with no training or class necessary
Where before I was at -3 (Bth +Str[-3]) to hit with one weapon, now I am at +0 (Bth - Two Weapon Penalty [-3] + Dex [+3]) with my primary attack. My chances have increased with the primary weapon by +3, just by adding the awkwardness of a second weapon ! Oh, and as a nice bonus, I get to have a second attack at -3 (Bth -Off hand Penalty [-6]+Dex [+3]), which is what my old single melee attack was rated at.
Is Sammy correct?
If the above is correct, can someone please explain the reasoning behind this? Why is the Str modifier dropped when one is fighting two weaponed?
If the answer is to avoid "stacking" Str and Dex, like the 3rd edition feat Weapon Finesse, surely the -3/-6 penalty is exactly for that purpose, since even with the highest Dex, you suffer a penalty. And remember, Weapon Finesse is a costly feat, Sammy is getting it for "free" by virtue of having a negative strength modifier and a high dexterity.
If the answer is realism, I think it is unlikely that Sammy's two weaponed attacks would be as effective against an armored foe as those of, say, a two weaponed Conan (Str 18, Dex 18) in "real" life.
If the answer is game balance (because two weapon attacks would be too good), this also seems unlikely, given that if Conan uses a 2 handed weapon (like a bearded axe) he gets much greater damage per round than the 2 1-handed attacks, and suffers no -3/-6 penalty to hit (which would be -0/-3 for him).
Or is the above quote a bit mangled, and what was meant was "the Dex modifier is added into the "To Hit" portion of the attack, along with the Str modifier, when fighting two handed. But, the Dex modifier is never added to the "damage" portion of the attack"?
In other words, a two weapon To Hit attack would be:
Primary: Bth + Str +Dex -3 Two Weapon Penalty
Secondary: Bth + Str +Dex -6 Off hand penalty
Thanks
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