[RPG] Is the double-bladed scimitar considered a “sword”

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Is the double-bladed scimitar considered a "sword" for the purpose of magic items (e.g. the Mind Blade or Vorpal Sword)?

Best Answer

Probably, ask your DM.

This seems pretty straightforward, as it has the word "scimitar" in the name, and there is certainly no rule that I am aware of that says it can't. The important thing to note here is that magic item distribution is entirely at the discretion of the DM, so naturally, it's up to the DM what sort of items you receive. It's up to the DM if one of the "magic weapon templates" can be applied to the double bladed scimitar in particular, and if it can, whether or not that item is made available to the players.

WitchsFISTS gives a somewhat more detailed answer in response to a similar question: Do scimitars and rapiers count as swords for the magic items in the 5E DMG? I think the logic of their answer applies here as well:

5e does not specify specific weapon categories beyond the name of the weapon. One could say that each different name is a different weapon type, but that would mean that shortswords were a different weapon type than longswords or greatswords.

Because of this, I believe it makes much mores sense to consider that by the type "sword" for these magical items they mean any type of sword using the real world definitions for what a "sword" is, making both scimitars and Rapiers fall under that definition and therefore count as the "sword" type when dealing with magical items.

One final note, it must be mentioned that I would find it highly unusual if Valenar arcanists were not aware of the enchantments that may be applied to more pedestrian weaponry, and there is no reason to believe having put two blades onto one handle would then present an insurmountable challenge to any ambitious Valenar enchanter.

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