Greatsword

The greatsword is a long-bladed fighting sword made to be wielded with both hands. Its reach comes from the length of its blade and the wielder’s footwork, not from the Reach weapon property. Against a shorter weapon, it gives room for powerful cuts and thrusts; in confined spaces, moving a long blade around allies, walls and furniture takes more care.

At a Glance

Category: Martial, two-handed melee sword
Damage: Slashing in all four listed editions
Role: Heavy two-handed attacks, field combat and defending space with blade control
Properties: Heavy and Two-Handed in fifth edition; edition-specific critical rules in Pathfinder and 3.5
Related weapons: Longsword, falchion, greataxe

Museum photograph of a historical sword, showing its blade, hilt and grip — A sixteenth-century two-handed sword in the Historical Museum of Bern (BHM 213.38); photograph by Rama, CC BY-SA 3.0 France. Original Wikimedia Commons photograph; this site’s existing version is cropped/edited. Later historical example, not a universal medieval standard.

Weapon Statistics by Edition

D&D 5.5e (2024) D&D 5e (2014) Pathfinder 1e D&D 3.5e

2024 SRD 5.2.1 — Martial melee weapon
Weapon	Damage	Properties	Mastery	Weight	Cost
Greatsword	2d6 slashing	Heavy, Two-Handed	Graze	6 lb.	50 gp

Graze: A character who has access to this weapon’s mastery property can deal damage equal to the attacking ability modifier even when an attack misses; the damage has the weapon’s type. A character without the relevant mastery feature cannot use Graze merely by wielding the sword. Under the 2024 Heavy rule, a melee attacker with Strength below 13 has disadvantage on attack rolls.

2014 SRD 5.1 — Martial melee weapon
Weapon	Cost	Damage	Weight	Properties
Greatsword	50 gp	2d6 slashing	6 lb.	Heavy, Two-Handed

Two hands are required to attack with this weapon. The 2014 Heavy property penalises Small creatures, unlike the Strength-based 2024 rule. The 2014 greatsword has no Weapon Mastery or Graze property.

Pathfinder 1e Core Rulebook — Martial two-handed melee weapon
Weapon	Cost	Damage (S)	Damage (M)	Critical	Range	Weight	Type	Special
Greatsword	50 gp	1d10	2d6	19–20/×2	—	8 lb.	Slashing	—

The critical threat range of 19–20 must be confirmed using Pathfinder’s critical-hit rules. The greatsword has no special reach, brace or trip weapon property on the Pathfinder equipment table.

D&D 3.5e SRD — Martial two-handed melee weapon
Weapon	Cost	Damage (S)	Damage (M)	Critical	Range	Weight	Type
Greatsword	50 gp	1d10	2d6	19–20/×2	—	8 lb.	Slashing

Like its Pathfinder counterpart, the 3.5e greatsword is a martial two-handed melee weapon and threatens a critical on 19–20. Its 8 lb. table weight is not the same as the 6 lb. fifth-edition entry.

Handling and Construction

A two-handed sword needs sufficient grip length to place both hands apart, a guard to protect them, and a long blade with enough stiffness and balance to cut or thrust under control. Large sword forms vary significantly across regions and centuries. A fighting sword is not simply a one-handed sword made twice as heavy, and there is no single historical blade shape called the greatsword.

The photograph beside At a Glance shows a sixteenth-century two-handed sword in the Historical Museum of Bern, catalogued as BHM 213.38. The museum records its mass at about 4.7 kg (10.3 lb.). That weight describes this surviving object, not the fixed rulebook weight of every greatsword. The D&D fifth-edition 6 lb. and Pathfinder/3.5e 8 lb. entries are game equipment values, not museum measurements.

Large European two-handed swords, including those associated with some sixteenth-century infantry, are useful visual comparisons but do not prove that earlier blades shared their proportions or battlefield role. The German term Zweihänder is narrower historically than the broad modern tabletop category. Equip a particular guard or soldier with a plausible local sword rather than assuming every army carried an identical museum example.

Greatswords in Play

A greatsword suits a fighter who can commit both hands to their weapon and expects open exchanges rather than a shield on the other arm. Compare it with a longsword when a shield, free hand or different carrying needs matter. In a cramped stairwell, neither a greatsword nor a long polearm is an automatic answer to every problem: the terrain, enemy placement and the edition’s actual rules matter.

For outfitting a town watch, greatswords are specialist arms rather than the most convenient tool for every sentry. A city arsenal may hold a few well-maintained blades for professional soldiers, while spears, polearms and side swords are cheaper or easier to issue in numbers. A quality blade requires a skilled smith, careful heat treatment, proper storage and a scabbard or other safe means of transport.

Rules, Sources and Attribution

D&D 2024 — Greatsword; Graze mastery explained. Mechanics aligned to SRD 5.2.1, CC BY 4.0.
D&D 2014 Basic Rules — Weapons, SRD 5.1 compatible values, CC BY 4.0.
Pathfinder 1e Core Rulebook — Equipment (Open Game Content). Section 15 acknowledgement: Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook, Copyright 2009, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Author Jason Bulmahn, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.
D&D 3.5e SRD — Weapons, Open Game License.
Historical Museum of Bern, sword BHM 213.38 (sixteenth century); photograph by Rama, Wikimedia Commons source, CC BY-SA 3.0 France.