powerhouse5000: So, as I've mentioned, I have my Cavalier, Khalid and Minsc as my warriors who could possibly wield a Bastard Sword. If they were to try to wield Kondar or the Sword of Balduran without being proficient, would they have much luck hitting them or am I essentially screwed?
advowson: Cavalier is a Paladin kit. Khalid is a Fighter, no kit. Minsc is a Ranger, no kit. According to
Wiki: Classes, Fighters, Rangers, Paladins (and Barbarians - not relevant here) are all in the Warrior group.
Building on my prior post,
Wiki: Weapon Proficiency tells us that Warriors get a 2 point THAC0 penalty for non-proficient wielding, so all 3 of those characters will face the same 2 point penalty. Character THAC0 improves with levels. Based on your other thread, all your characters are at least level 7, with some level 8s. For simplicity, I will assume all three warriors are level 7.
According to
Wiki: Fighter, a level 7 fighter will have a bare-handed THAC0 of 14. Khalid has only 15
Strength, so he will not get a THAC0 bonus from that. Minsc has 18/93 Strength, so he will get a THAC0 +2 bonus from that. I do not see in either thread a statement of your Cavalier's Strength. You can look up his THAC0 bonus from the Wiki article on Strength.
Kondar gives THAC0 +3 against lycanthropes.
Sword of Balduran gives THAC0 +4 against lycanthropes.
Wiki: Greater Wolfwere says they have AC 2.
Suppose we give Minsc the Sword of Balduran. As a level 7 Ranger, he would have a THAC0 of 14. Due to his Strength, that improves to 12. Using Sword of Balduran against a lycanthrope improves it to 8. His lack of proficiency degrades it back to 10. Thus, he will hit an AC 0 lycanthrope half the time. Since Greater Wolfwere has an AC of 2, Minsc must roll (10 - 2) = 8 or better. Is that hit rate "essentially screwed", or "much luck"?
For all of your Warriors, reaching character level 8 will improve THAC0 by 1.
You have likely been finding various potions of Giant Strength. Using one of these will temporarily improve your warrior's strength. Higher strength values will improve your THAC0. A Potion of Fire Giant Strength would give you 10 turns (100 rounds) of Strength: 22. This would confer a THAC0 bonus of +4. You could give Kondar to Khalid or your Cavalier, then drink a Potion of Fire Giant Strength to obtain a THAC0 even better than Minsc with the Sword of Balduran.
Okay, so in short, I should be fine? That's a lot of gobbledygook to digest, in part because 2nd Edition D&D isn't my strong suit. If we're talking 3.5 Edition, and far less text, then I could follow you easily. =/