Main-Gauche

The main-gauche (French for "left hand") is a large dagger with a basket hilt. Since most swordsmen use their right hand to wield a sword, this dagger is meant for the left hand, wielded as a defensive weapon when a warrior is using the two-handed fighting technique. The main-gauche is also called a "left-hand dagger."

The heavy basket of the main-gauche is the equivalent of an iron gauntlet for the purposes of hand-to-hand combat.

Fighters proficient with main-gauche gain a +1 bonus to hit with Disarm and Parry maneuvers. More information on fighting styles and maneuvers can be found in The Complete Fighter's Handbook in the Combat chapter.

"A main-gauche causes the same damage as a normal dagger, but the former is designed especially for defense. It's important not to confuse the main-gauche with the parrying dagger. The latter has a different design, including longer quillons and sometimes a triple blade. A parrying dagger also has a greater likelihood of breaking an opponent's weapon. A main-gauche offers better protection to the user's hand. In any case, it is quite a sight to see a warrior using a sword in one hand and a main-gauche in the other.''

-- Mendrill Halfelven, Bard

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