Hey I love your videos but talking about weapons man..... For an example triping someone with a flail .......If you know how flails have to be designed as to not completely of eviscerate your hand, then triping some one with a flail becomes unreasonably stupid. Essentially you want a flail to have a shorter chain then the hilt, the ball itself is pretty heavy, and you would have to bend over to even get a chance of knocking your opponent prone as you expose your head to the headsmen.
Also what you said about the katana very accurate. But If any change should be made to the longsword it should be finesse (maybe given slightly more dice) and a katana version would just have a feature were the minimum you can roll for damage is 2 (curved blades have a forgiving cut)
A Repeating Crossbow usually doesnt have many slots. So you would still have to reload and it might only have 3 bolts in succession. Also Katanas are not more finesse they just cut better.
I like how in D&D, weapons that harm in different way (cutting flesh and opening arteries versus piercing organs versus crushing bones) are *_"mechanically the same"._* The game might be a mess, but at least Fragged Empires has talents that has weapon types matter. Translated to DnD, Slashing weapons could cause bleeding effects, cut off body parts... Piercing weapons could ignore part of natural / actual armor bonus to AC as well as overpenetrate and jam into an obstacle, while bludgeoning weapons reduce armor / gives extra penalties to armor and give penalties to attack or movement as it causes fractures and such. And you don't even need to change the weapon, just make it a feat. "Str or Dex +1: If an attack made with a slashing weapon beats the opponent's Armor Class by 5 or more, it gains a bleeding effect equal to your Strength or Dexterity Bonus, whichever was used to make the attack."
Darts are already unique, people just don't know about it. Darts are ranged weapons, meaning they can be affected by Sharpshooter and Archery, while also being a thrown weapon, which means they can be affected by the Thrown Weapon Fighting Style. It also has finesse, which means it can be used with Strength instead of Dexterity. A bunch of unique interactions. Darts are clearly underrated
Darts are also significantly cheaper and lighter than daggers. At just 5 copper each, a level 1 character can throw darts and not be too upset if they can't retrieve them, whereas the 2 gold pieces per dagger is really going to hurt your coin purse if you have to keep replacing them. A stack of 10 darts only weighs 2.5 lbs. A stack of 10 daggers weighs 10 lbs. If your campaign is using variant encumbrance or you have a very low STR, those extra pounds can matter.
The thing I dislike the most about darts is the aesthetic, I know it was a thing in medieval times, but it feels super bland and out of place in a fantasy setting for me.
i have come to the conclusion that Dex characters should have a small pouch with Darts to be properly prepared. thrown weapons are a good short distance weapon. Darts are the Dex characters Javelins
I disagree with the people's views of the humble dart! The entire point (get it) of the dart is to be cheap! You can buy 20 darts for the price of 1 measly little dagger! I can arm a mob with darts, I can only arm steve with a dagger.
But in that respect, you can buy a bunch of slings too, and then that mob will have also (basically, as long as rocks are nearby) *unlimited* *anmo* But I just checked and a sling is 1sp, but a dart is *5CP!* that means (calculator time) with the 2GP you need for a dagger, you can get 20 slings oooooorrrrr 40 darts. I thought that might work out in your favor but still, arming a mob of 20 people with 2 darts each or 40 people with one, or a mob of 20 people with unlimited ammo, as long as they don't get killed in 2 turns(which they might) I think the sling is still better. Also I feel like slings are more reusable(you don't have to go and pick them up after you throw them) and feel more aesthetically sound for a peasant rebellion because people probably have those already. HOWEVER, I understand your point and darts are (kinda) cool in that respect. Thank you for your imput :)
I think a lot of people stick with whatever weapons they get at character creation or find along the way from looting monsters/dungeons rather than buying weapons, but that should have been a survey question! haha
@@BobWorldBuilder Nah, I always want to buy weapons I don't start with. I prefer to have a bludgeoning, slashing, and piecing weapon for every character, with a ranged option as well. My typical fighter would be armor and shield, warhammer, longsword or scimitar, and a dagger. Long or short bow as height allows. What's really sad is that there are no finesse bludgeoning weapons unless you are a monk.
It needs the light property added at least. Outside of that all the things I can think of are a bit much (such as ability to throw two darts per attack but utilises bonus action).
There’s a simple fix for the lance: instead of being a one-handed weapon that needs two hands when not mounted, make it a two-handed weapon that only needs one hand while mounted. Aside from the existing rule being oddly written, this changes what feats apply. You lose dual-wielding but gain both greatweapon master, which gives a power attack option (for devastating charges) and a cleave effect (for plowing through crowds)
@@THEGRUMPTRUCK if a player wanted to do that then I would be having them rolling animal handling checks every turn seeing as they haven't saved a hand free for the reins; this also makes the cavalier fighter have an actual purpose. I would allow strapped shields but characters that had specifically described thier shields as centre grip (bos grip) would not be able to wield them and rein thier mount as well.
The lance needs to go down to pike damage dice while not mounted. Actually a cavalry lance (not jousting lance which was never used in battle) and pike on the shorter end (this would be the one based on the reach in DnD) are comparable in length and weight. The fact that one is heavy and the other isn't and that one has disadvantage within 5ft range is kind of strange. I say make the weapons the same statline (including the disadvantage rule) and add a special rule for each where a Pike can be used to target enemies when an ally is between you and a lance can be couched which allows it to be used one handed and raises the damage to the d12.
The sickle shouldn't be removed as it is a great "found weapon" along with hand axes and clubs etc. If you want a violent mob of villagers then it is also a good weapon pick. It is also forms the basis of more complex weapons like the Kusaragima (sickle and weighted chain).
I love to disarm my characters and make them do fights in disadvantaged situations like the only weapons to use are what you can improvise in a room or house, so mainly clubs and such, kitchen knives, thrown items
I find giving NPC's rubbish weapons really beneficial when the party are at level 1-3. If all weapons were decent it would make the job of the DM harder
I think this is a really good point with a lot of the sub-par weapons...they aren't there for established adventurers who can get exactly what they want...they're there for peasants and weaker monsters, and they are there for the players if they get captured and have their stuff taken, or if they fight a rust monster or otherwise get stripped of their weapons.
The maul is at 21? The maul is, as we speak, the strongest weapon in the game. Yes it has 2d6 like the greatsword, but it's objectively better. There are creatures that specifically resist slashing damage, but this doesn't exist for bludgeoning. On top of that, the crusher feat is also better then the slasher, though that is a bit more subjective.
@@telenikros I think that it just shows that people by large don't know anything about the dnd weapons. People know the greatsword. Then they find out about the maul and think "this is like a greatsword, it's unnecessary in this game because there is already a greatsword". The popularity of some weapons is keeping some other viable weapons low. Think of the battleaxe, which is identical to the longsword if you want any additional examples. People want to change the blow gun to do more damage because they don't realise it's the half baked sometimes unclear poison rules that make it less effective. It's telling how one of the most requested weapons is the katana, and some other widely requested are short sword varieties. In my opinion spear, pike and whip could all be fixed simultaneously, by introducing 15ft range as an option. If you give pikes reach 15ft (because sarissa pikes could become 18ft+), it won't feel weird if spears have reach, since pikes are longer spears. Letting whips have 15ft range is unique enough in terms of versatility that it can deal with the low damage.
I would reason that the club got ranked higher than the light hammer because this ranking is not about power level, it's just about if we would change it and i think it's plausible that a lot of people think the club is perfectly fine as it is, being basically the most simple weapon there is (viable or not), and same thing with the handaxe
@@darkfatherg Use a staff. Per the DMG, magical staffs are also weapon staves. So it's an easy jump to the spell focus staff is also a weapon. Then your spell focus works for Shillelagh.
Daggers could have a bonus when used in a grapple or against a grappled target. Like reducing the target's AC or criting on 19. Because they were used to bypass armour usually by wrestling the armoured person and working the dagger into a gap.
The reason to reduce AC instead of giving advantage is if 2 players grapple each other and both use daggers. Giving advantage boosts the player with the higher AC much more. I would like the relative boost to favour the player with the lower AC. The actual boost is flat.
For the whip, i actually vote for a small rules change. Include the optional disarming action from the dmg, but change it to only be usable by melee attacks instead of weapon attacks. Then give the whip the feature to be able to grab objects and bring them to you within its reach so long as you are proficient.
@@BobWorldBuilder I think the whip's damage should also be nerfed in some way, or at least be only nonlethal, because I don't think you should be able to instakill some poor wizard/sorceror with one whiplash.
@@renanbauer Yeah I don't deny it can be lethal, but as someone who has used a whip before, I can't imagine killing an adult human being in one whiplash, which as it stands can do up to 8 damage with a level 1 character which is more than enough to instakill a wizard and even a relatively weak cleric who's probably wearing at least metal armor, which is just insane to me, to think that a whip could just completely bypass metal scales.
The whip : If you attack a creature with 4 or less Intelligence (animals, mostly) the creature is disoriented and get disadvantage against you for the next round.
Yeah, I think that price is certain games is very important. I play in a game right now where money is NOT easy to get. We are level 8 and our party collectively has less than 500 gold. We do have some magic items that we found that bring our total up, but magic items are also extremely rare so selling those is not worth it because you likely won't find anything in towns worth trading them in for. I genuinely like how money is beyond hard to get in this world. My dm doesn't do a great job managing the cost of everyday things vs what we make. But the concept is kinda fire.
dart has the niche of being the only ranged weapon that can benefit from Sharpshooter feat while using your strength, so it's good for a thrown weapon build in heavy armor and a shield
@@kid14346 Slings for darts are little different to slings for stones. One of the thongs is twice as long as the other, to loop around the head of the dart, but I suppose you could say that if you had a dart sling you could spend an action coiling half the longer thong up and tying it tight, making the sling ready for use with a stone. A dart sling could also be tied to the end of a short staff to make a staff sling for casting stones (not darts!), where again one thong has to be at least twice as long as the other.
Really surprised with the dart hate. It's a unique weapon in that it's the only ranged weapon with the thrown property, this allows it to make use of the Archery and Thrown Weapon fighting styles on top of Sharpshooter, as well as the Battle master's Quick Toss maneuver. A straight up underutilized weapon in my opinion
Ye I love darts but to be fair most people probably only see the damage die and range and immediately write them off. You really have to know the system and what works to make darts good where as almost anyone can look at the 2d6 a greatsword does and immediately understand why it's good
You can add your ability score to the dagger's damage when two weapon fighting, or you can always use two weapon fighting by default when using two daggers Your fast and accurate when using two daggers
@@nerfherder5211 duel welding dagger's gives an extra 1d4 for each 1d6 of the sneak attack? Maybe a little strong. What about and additional (1d4 x your proficiency bonus) each time you use a sneak attack? Problem I see is that it only helps 1 class I'm not much of a fan of bleed mechanics. Logically, every weapon makes you bleed. The only exception would be if you take disadvantage on an attack to target a specific point - throat, underarm, inside of thigh, etc. But that ends up as just a regular weapon mechanic, not really special to daggers Also, not sure what you mean by execute move. Something like a maneuver, or an execution?
75% of this video was like “I don’t understand why people rated this weapon so strange” and I could only agree. A big factor is that many people forgot about many of the weapons. Additionally, the mechanically similar weapons are often ranked close to each other, if one were to be removed the other might be bumped up. However, with different people voting, that would never be the outcome.
Imo, I think the biggest failings of the Maul, Warhammer, etc (less loved versions of the short/long/great swords, with different damage types) is that they just don't have the magical weapon options. Swords just get so much more love. For example, on DDB the maul has 10 magic variants, including +1, +2 etc, only one of which is named and specific to the maul. The battleaxe does better with 16, 4 of which are specific to Battleaxes. The greatsword has 37, 7 of which are named. Most of that difference are the variants of magic items that specifically say "Weapon (any sword), [rarity]" I'd so much rather that they'd move towards having classes of weapons like they do for armor. There'd be a featherweight/light/medium/heavy ammunition (d4-d10's) weapons, and featherweight/light/versatile/heavy melee (d4-d12's). Slap on a trait like thrown, thrown-only, finesse, stealth, reach, tripping, silvered, Gun (which ups damage, but adds misfire and ammo cost) etc. to build your common weapon. And let the boons of magic weapons apply to all the relevant weapons. It would mean 4 ranged piercing weapons and 12 melee weapons to cover all the flavors that WotC can't possibly do with the current system. It'd be nice to have a structure to make the weapons we want instead of needing to homebrew things like a moon-touched maul, a katana being a slashing rapier, and adding features to make forgettable weapons usable.
A Battle Master Fighter with a Whip means you can do all your Maneuvers with Reach and still wear a shield and be entirely Dex based. Take the Sentinel feat plus the Brace Maneuver with Reach and you will likely have the option to do an AoO every round while not giving up a shield.
It is a fun, although niche use of the whip. The weapon still suffers from having very low damage, but being a one-handed dex reach has this very unique advantage which no other weapon should replicate. At the same time I think its sad that its the only dex based reach weapon in the game. Would have loved to have a two handed dex reach weapon that has a d6 damage dice, or something similar
@@arikaaa69 If you're playing a Fighter since you get so many feats you can just take some damage boosting feats like Fey Touched with Hunter's Mark to add a D6 and/or Gift of the Chromatic Dragon to add a D4.
Congratulations to you and Grace on getting married. My daughter and I enjoy watching your videos. She is very pleased by this turn of events. On a weapons note, my wife likes to poi. We invented a rope dart mechanic to incorporate her love of poi into the game. It has range 5 or 10 and an opportunity to do damage as someone enters the spot next to her or completely keep them back. Rolls 18+ start these mechanics and she had to trade a magic potion to be taught these techniques at level 2 by a master. I like the thought of adding your tripping idea into it as well. The damage is currently 1d4 as a rogue but I plan on upping it once she "finds" a better blade to attach or uses it and gets "better".
Darts a very interesting weapon honestly, its the only ranged weapon with finesse to start with meaning it can be used with strength, though i think a dagger would work almost identically though its a melee weapon with the thrown property so the only difference between them is what feats or class features that key of specific weapon types they interact with e.g. sharp shooter, cost and weight are another thing thats good compared to having lots of daggers but most DMs really gloss over such things
Yeah it seems like a player just has to do more research to realize that this weapon can be made useful, when they could instead just pick up a weapon that's more useful outright
Yeah I play a dart based fighter and it's pretty cool since darts work with both the archery and throwing fighting styles and the sharpshooter feat . And you can use a shield with them as well. The only issue is that the build takes two feats to accomplish so it has to compete with any other combination of feats like polearm master and sentinel or crossbow expert and sharpshooter and compared to those it's only okay.
Yay, my comment made it to one of your videos, that alone made my day! Also, I think a Finesse Longsword would be totally game-breaking, because Dexterity's already the most OP stat, it gives you one of the most commonly used Saving Throws, AC, bonus in a lot of skills, ranged damage, initiative, etc. Plus, rogues could sneak attack with a finesse long sword, and that looks kinda weird, I guess. Other than that, katanas are already longswords, as the book mentions: in real life, katanas are not lighter than longswords at all, this is an anime/Japanese culture trope. If you're interested in learning about medieval weapon "mechanics" including weight, length and reach, I'd recommend taking a look at Skallagrim's channel, it might be a source for creativity regarding alternative weapon uses, or maybe even give you ideas for real life multi-attack tests, which might be cool too. As always, thank you for the great content, including this video and your hard work on surveys and whatnot. This is my favorite D&D channel. Cheers from Brazil.
Yep, katanas actually weighed the same as European hand-and-a-half swords (Longsword in 5e terms) while actually being closer to an arming sword (Scimitar in 5e terms) in length. This is because katanas were made of folded steel, while European swords from the same era were typically made of much thinner and tougher monosteel. The main reason why Japanese smiths stuck with folded steel was because it could be smelted at much lower temperatures and could be made from the worst iron, which was useful for an iron poor country.
For scimitars and many other curved one handed swords like sabres and cutasses, their advantage is they are easier to parry with on a horse (or other animal) or in a tight space because turning the sword hand sweeps the belly of the blade through quite a bit of space without moving the point of the sword much. Don't know how to make a good rule around that.
So I have some notes about the Longbow. The English Longbow which is what most people think of was often over six feet long. That is *wildly* impractical for adventuring life - which makes sense! The longbow was a military weapon. In my games, with archers, I give them the option of a "horsebow" aka, a recurve composite bow. These can achieve the same or better ranges, accuracy, and penetration power that english longbows can achieve, but are often much smaller, and able to be used while mounted (hence "horsebow"). They achieve the same or better properties by putting in curves, and compositing materials to create different tensions. (IE, bone and wood. Bone is stiffer than wood, while wood lets the bow bend without breaking.) Recurve composite bows have been used everywhere, especially in places lower in wood growth, like the Mongolian Steppe, and enable certain societal structures, such as nomadic movement.
You mentioned wanting a sword with the ability to trip opponents, so I'm surprised you didn't put it in this list. The historically accurate Chinese Hook Sword has been a weapon available in D&D since long before 5e. The weapons are the one thing that basically don't change between editions so it should be fair game. -A Whip is less of a weapon than a multipurpose utility item. Indiana Jonesing your way over chasms and pits never gets old. -"A sickle is just a dagger you can't throw" You can throw any weapon in D&D. Sometimes even NPCs too. Sometimes you can wield an NPC as a weapon while already in flight towards your enemy. If anything a sickle as a weapon is designed to cut off your opponents weapon hand at the wrist when they attack you. -A blowgun has only one purpose. It's not a weapon, it's a delivery system for poison. -A sling is by far the worst weapon on this list. It's just stats slapped on throwing a pebble. If slings used ammunition that could do actual damage I'd consider them more than an annoyance. -Trying to claim the dagger needs to be taken out of D&D is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard concerning this game. It's basically the only actual weapon all spellcasters can use. Unless you count a staff, which I don't because you still require a free hand to cast. Not to mention the usefulness of the dagger when farming for free spell components. Granted "One D&D" is introducing an Arcane Focus that replaces all but the most expensive spell components, so maybe that last bit isn't such a selling point anymore.
1 ) A REAL sling should definitely do more damage - they were used by shepherds to drive away LIONS. In addition, they could be used to do things like throw vials of acid or Alchemist's Fire, or other magical items normally thrown, and yes, like you said, have the Concealable property - a true sling was just a 4 foot section of leather. 2 ) The Pike should DEFINITELY be in the game - Rennaissance tactics were built ENTIRELY around it. And it should have Extra Reach AND the ability to set against a charge. This is one of the most important weapons of military history from the 1400s to the 1700s. One of the most legendary mercenary units were the Swiss Pikemen for crying out loud. 3 ) Repeating crossbows are a real weapon in history - but they were quite weak in comparison to similar sized "regular" crossbows. HOWEVER, there is no reason mechanics wise to include it - except as a reskin of a Shortbow. 4 ) Many weapons could be described explicitly as reskins of other weapons. Weapon damage type is enough reason to keep the scimitar as that makes it different from the shortsword, but you could then declare the grossmesser, falchion, and such as reskins of the saber. The Shortsword could have reskins of the Court Sword and Chinese "Willow Leaf" saber (a la Green Destiny in "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon"). 5 ) There is still room for an Arming Sword for aesthetics. Specifically, a weapon that is otherwise identical to the Longsword, but without the Versatile property - this would represent the classic Viking sword, the swords of the Norman Conquest, and so on. Honestly, the main reason for it.. is aesthetics.
The western falchion is not just like the scimitar its a two handed baby of a cleaver, axe, and sword at once. Its a heavy weapon meant for just crushing through enemies while the scimitar is a finesse light weapon. 2d4 slashing bludgeoning, heavy, crush through armor and or bonus on horseback as it is popular for cavalry as a dismounter.
The falchion is in no way a heavy blade. They have wide blades for the most part but said blade is actually quite thin. Hell such is the construction of falchion that the centre of percussion is not really any higher than most arming swords despite the much wider blade head. I advise you look at the video by Scholagladiatora called 'medieval falchions were not like axes'.
@@nathanthom8176 thank you! It's great that finally people are spreading more HEMA knowledge into dnd. Hopefully we will get rid of katana myths next, because as much as I love them, an arming Sword or longsword is often just better. You often get better balance, more range, and at the same or lesser weight. In sparring you often have to pick shorter longswords to even out the advantages against katanas, still super fun against Kendo guys( the speed and the determination to hit those guys gave is awesome)
The cimitar/sable kind of sword could be the finesse version of the longsword. It would also make it diferent from the shortsword since it will deal more damage.
The longswird atleast has the 'heavy' tax which many weapons do have :(. Finesse also costs a small price. Not being heavy and being versatile means a smaller dice. The intent is for Rogues to use lighter weapons. I dont think this is so bad. Most of their weapons comes not from multiple attacks anyway but from sneak attack for example, thus the weapon damage itself is not so important. You can also reflavor your magical +1 shortsword as a decently long katana or elven sword or whatever you want anyway.
@@nerfherder5211 Yeah, but it would help a Dex based fighter or similar builds if it was finesse. I forgot the longsword was versatile, the cimitar should be finesse instead of that in that case. I don't think it brings many balancing issues considering the rapier is a thing and basically the same idea. However it would add a little bit of flavor to Dex-based characters since they have two big options (rapier or cimitar, aka piercing or slashing).
@@BobWorldBuilder That would be interesting. It would also help diferenciating from the rapier so that those are more defensive (since it being a 1d8 one handed weapon a shield could be used) but the cimitar having the capacity to be a two-handed weapon brings a lot of the two-handed weapon stuff to it, making it more offensive.
Bob world builder my homebrew repeating crossbow is a simple weapon with a 15/45 range that does 2d4 damage, because the one the Chinese invented is a magazine on top of the very light crossbow that you load by sliding the magazine box front to back. It's goal was to shoot out a lot of small random bolts for area denial.
To me, this should just be rolled into crossbow expert and fighter's many, many attacks. I have a hard time with a fighter getting off foue to eight shots WITHOUT a magazine.
The problem with many of these weapons is that tthe designers have basically simplified them down to their tropes, and pop culture tropes at that meaning that they actually make pretty poor representations historically. Take the Longsword for instance. You've mentioned a few versions, such as the falchion (I'd actually have the cutlass as a short sword), the jian, the katana, then there's the messer, the bastard sword, the claymore, the side sword, the Kopis, the Kophesh, the Estoc... My point is, there are so many different designs of sword for different cultures and times, you really could just make a sword builder set of rules to design the kind of sword you want. I'd even just grab the short sword and great swords and put them all into this too as again, there are many differing types. You can actually see the designers try and show this with separate rules for the shotr sword, great sword, rapier and scimitar. So, as an example, you could give the length classification, this would decide the over all damage, then you could choose if it were going to be a light weapon, a finesse weapon or versatile, and then you would choose the damage type, either slashing or piercing. So, say you went for a short light piercing type of weapon, well done, you've just made an epee. Say you went for medium length slashing, this could be a claymore. Add versatile into that and you could have a falchion. A katana would be a medium length, versatile, finesse weapon. My point is, it would be cool to be able to customise your sword to represent what you had in mind as closely as possible. The Pike I'd just get rid of to be honest as it's really just a really long spear and ultimately impractical unless you're with a large group of pikemen. This more than any other weapon is a specialised war weapon. Also, if you were to make a Greatbow, I would seriously consider having it as a strength based weapon. Reason being, historically, you're looking at a Warbow for comparison. These things have a draw weight of 80 to 150lbs, but can go up to 200lbs. So you need to be bloody strong to pull one to full draw, and none of this holding too. You draw it, you fire it! In this case especially I do feel that Warhammer had the better system with the Weapon Skill and Bow/Ballistic skill stats rather than Strength and Dex. Anyway, if you were to redesign a bunch of these weapons, I would seriously consider looking at their historical usage and context and go from there.
I'm glad to see someone else has gone to the effort of explaining how inaccurate the 5e weapon system is from a historical standpoint so I don't have to. And don't get me started on all of the people in the community clamoring that katanas should be just better longswords because the Japanese folded their steel a ton and because anime. They had to fold their steel so much to get any decent steel since their iron was extremely impure and that's how you have to compensate for that problem. European steel tended to be better quality with much less work. Japanese steel also tended to be more brittle even after the folding, so to compensate, they would use much softer steel as the back of the blade to absorb deformation during quenching (as well as during combat) which is why the blades are curved. It also prevented them from making double-edged swords which give you a lot more options while in combat. Building a weapon with that system could work, but a lot of time would have to go into the system it to make sure it's balanced (for example adding versatile for free would be too much to me), maybe you take a hit on the die type for each feature you add. I definitely want strength to be a component for those much more powerful bows, but I've implemented one that had a strength requirement of 15, but was still dex to shoot. Having a requirement like that means that they have to have 2 high stats and allows you to increase the damage more than you might otherwise. Also I feel like the aiming would still be dex-based.
@@razzakbane I almost think aiming would be wisdom based. Reason being: I've shot recurve and longbow for years, you aren't really "aiming" so much as letting thousands of repetitions and instinct shoot the bow. I also have a compound, that's completely different. You are using a site, holding it steady, lining up pins and pulling the release trigger.
Honestly i love the blowgun, whip and darts myself but my group changed some things Blowgun - you can use skills like sniper with it and blowguns can be enchanted and the darts thenselfs Whip - it can be used to grapple an enemy as a bonus action if you attack with it or try and disarm someone with it Dart - you can throw more then one as a ranged weapon up to 3 each hand There simple changes but they made then so much more useful and i love using them
After a small google I learned that one of the most important aspects is that it makes noise to scare cattle. Maybe this can be added to the weapon to give those wielding it advantage on intimidation checks. Not an entirely crazy fix but something to give it a little more sustenance while maintaining its historical significance. Other Idea, adding a grapple DC?
5e weapons simply suffer from the simplification of combat in 5e. In 3.5, weapons could be vastly different depending on their crit profile, but with crits defaulting to x2 (20), a lot of variant weapons collapsed into the exact same statline. The difference in performance between x2 (19-20) and x3 (20) is negligable, but the aesthetic, feel and personal preference shines through.
4:05 In one of my home games, I added a Flail variant where you could use an action to change the chain length. with a short length chain, it is a normal flail, but with a full chain, it is a 2 handed flail with reach
Great survey and video. The club probably ranks so high because you can combine it with the Shillelagh cantrip unlike the light hammer (due to not being all wood). Also thrown weapons relying on Strength limits their usefulness for most classes.
I’ve had to rework weapons for 5e more than once, as it’s the only system people want to play. Two handed weapons add your strength modifier twice (or you gain a +2 bonus, whichever is higher) to damage rolls when you get a critical hit. You also gain a +1 bonus to damage rolls whenever you use both hands to deal damage with any melee weapon (excluding the floppy weapons like the whip) Light weapons can inherently be concealed, and you can use them in your off hand with reduced penalties for two-weapon fighting. You can use a normal weapon in your main hand. Finesse only allows you to substitute your strength modifier with your dexterity modifier for attack rolls. You ALWAYS need physical strength when it comes to melee, unless you use something like a lightsaber. Charging was added as a property. Basically, when you move at least 20 feet in a straight line before attacking, you gain a +1 damage bonus for each tile you moved on your next attack roll. This is used for polearms and mounted weapons. Sundering is used for weapons meant to ignore or bypass armor such as the mace, war hammer, or war pick. If a creature has natural armor of 15+ or wears heavy armor, you get a +1 to attack rolls using that weapon against the target. Dueling was added to weapons that can parry more effectively, such as swords, the sickle, and the trident. While holding the dueling weapon, you aren’t incapacitated, and you can see your attacker, you gain a +1 bonus to AC vs melee attacks. Dismounting was added to weapons meant to stop a charging enemy. Whenever you hit an enemy with a set up weapon attack (I hold my action to attack if someone moves within my reach), you gain a +1 damage bonus for every 5 feet the target moved during their turn. I also added some weapons, such as the Arbalest, matchlock rifle and pistol, the Lucern (or crow’s beak), and reworked crossbows to function more like how they actually work (lotta damage, slow to reload) and other essentials that WOTC removed or never included for “accessibility”.
I think I put it in the last video that was basically just a sponsor video but I figure I'll add it here because I've been having a lot of fun with the Warrior's Codex, which is a martial overhaul similar to the weapon variation Bob is after. They add a few more properties, like the ability to wrap around shields for flexible weapons like the mace that was mentioned in this video, but also they flesh out disarming and parrying and other real life martial combat occurrences into actual mechanics that I quite enjoy. You can even make your own weapons, as they boil the modifiers down to a point system, for instance I made a sword based off Sephiroth's sword, with reach (but also two-handed because who in the world could carry that thing) They include weapon materials, modifications, and the base modifiers, which is only like, one chapter from the codex but I figure that's the most relevant lol
I had an idea of a "weapon building" system where a you could pick the weapon's damage and any special properties. Each would cost points, and all "normal/standard" would have the same amount of points, so you couldn't make a 2d6 light weapon. This would also be a great way for GMs to reward the players with some cool weapons without giving weak weapons (moon-touched sword), boring weapons (+1 weapons) or breaking the balance of the game with a powerful weapon (flame tongue). Also, after determining the stats of the weapon you can slap on whatever appearance you want (so no more war picks being forgotten)
I really like this style of system! If I were writing a new RPG, I'd probably go this route. For revising this system, I don't want to create something so unique
For the scymitar the problem is that, as a historical weapon, it was desinged to be use while riding a horse. It was light and resilient enough to withstand the strikes it would deliver and the curve of the blade would help slash trhough unrarmored oponents as it matches the curve of the swing of the riders arm. So, at least for me, is quite hard to find a way to make it more unique other than "Cool, you have advantage/deal more damage while riding a horse"
Bro the halberd is THE optimizer's weapon. This is not an optimization list. Halberds and glaives are probably the best martial weapons mechanically-wise
You know what's really funny I run my own version of D&D because I've just been evolving my game over the years & I have all of your concerns covered in my game. Good stuff.
Oh dang, those things are terrifying in real life. Have you considered ammunition types? The romans used lead shot(for consistent accuracy, range, damage), the Germans had rock with holes drilled through them( it creates a terrifying noise while they are airborne), or even darts( yup, you could totally shoot a crossbow bolt, Dart or arrow)
8:25 I think the confusion about why the light hammer ranked lower than the club is due to some confusion between the survey as written and the survey as interpreted. The survey asks whether or not each weapon should be kept as is or changed, i.e. whether or not the rules for it feel appropriate. This is a different question than whether or not players like each weapon. i.e.: Players think the club, a weapon PCs would only use in desperation or as a proxy for an improvised weapon, is fine as it currently stands. Players think the light hammer needs work, I'm guessing with either a larger damage die or a better thrown range.
I think it has to do with incompetence. Most players that voted in the survey have never used the weapons, forgot several of the weapons and didn't bother looking them up. Most have not ever contemplated how to best use the weapons. People are passionate, bias and incompetent and democratic votes like this usually end up like this. Unfortunately there are few better ways to do unless you want to find some elitistic test team to discuss with in which case you lose the average joes view of the world.
Bob! Okay, I'm going to cut this down to four parts. 1) I love what you're doing. I did a similar project about two years back, and I love seeing someone else try their hand at it. 2) You haven't brought up name recognition. I think this is really the Maul's problem, but also with the Morningstar, War Pick, etc. Most people just don't actually know the differences. I think that's why the Bill hasn't been printed in years. 3) Whips scare and flails impact. Both can go around shields, and that'd be a great mechanic, but neither are good at tripping. A flail however just delivers more brute force that a sword or spear can... unlike a whip which is so non-threatening that it's used as punnishment. You don't punnish with an ax, even a little one, because it'll ruin whoever you're punnishing. You do punnish with the whip. On the plus side, whips cause fear and can produce status effects other weapons can't. 4) Sling should do about the same damage, but also come with stunning status effects. They harass during combat, but rarely kill.
I think some weapons with lower damage, like whips, should have a fear inducing feature. Though not likely to kill a high CR opponent, it would hurt like h3ll and probably should allow the wielded to keep an opponent at bay similar to a push (rather that pulling closer) and I don’t think enough weapons result in a percentage chance of causing a foe to flee. With its range and the pain it would inflict, a whip should make it somewhat likely opponents would avoid engaging the wielded. My point being that damage does not need to be the sole utility.
I saw this idea in another comment, and while I love it for relying on a unique feature of the whip, I just can't get past the idea that a whip is any more frightening than getting attacked with sword. This is a utility feature like my snorkeling idae for the blowgun, and I don't think it needs hard and fast rules, but should be included as a suggested utility in the final version of this weapon project
I could see the whip making the area around you into difficult terrain instead of attacking, lots of media shows whips being used for area denial or movement control in addition to damage.
Regarding the greatsword-woth-reach-topic you mentioned, Bob, I have a small suggestion, maybe this could inspire you or something: How about a new, small extra group of weapons, called gargantuan weapons or giant weapons or such. This group would only contain between 3-5 weapons, one for each type of damage and maybe a ranged option. First of all, using such a giant weapon would require a certain strength score. And I am not talking about a 13 or something that low, I would say a 16 minimum. This would not only make sure that not every character can just wield this weapons unconditionally, but it would also make their occurance rarer and therefore more special. Talking stats and weapon traits, I would spontaneously say: 2d8 damage (for all of them, to make sure none is stronger than the others); reach, heavy, two-handed. And who knows, maybe even a new, unique feature for these giant weapons only, for example something to knock a target prone if your rolled damage exceeds a certain number. Finally, there are the weapons themselves. As already said, there should be one for each damage type. For slashing, I would recommend a giant greatsword or ultra-greatsword, but it could also just be a giant blade in general. That way, you could flavor it in any way you like, as a giant axe, for example. For bludgeoning, I would think of something like a giant hammer. And for piercing, a giant lance or halberd or so. PS: nearly forgot, but I mentioned a ranged weapon option for these giant weapons. In general, the same goes for this one, 2d8 (probably) piercing damage; heavy, two-handed, a very good range, like (120/300) for example. This could be a siege-crossbow or a stationary crossbow. Maybe you could even add a new trait, that forces the wielder to sacrifice a bit of movement (like 5 or 10 feet) to use this weapon, since it is big and semi-stationary, but in turn it could reduce the target's movement by the same amount for one turn, if it hits, since it pushes them back or partially impales them or just slows them down in general. Please let me know what you guys think of this idea, critique is always welcome ^^
Thank you Bob for the quality of work you do - this is really impressive and I am really looking forward to future videos on this topic. #2 and more importantly though, a huge congrats on your upcoming wedding! Will it be a traditional or a D&D themed wedding?
Hi Bob! I’m new to DMing and this project of yours is the single most exciting homebrew thing I’ve seen as of late! I’ve been looking around for stuff to add to the game for my players and this is one I’ve got my eye on! Can’t wait for the completed product! Take your time and remember to enjoy :) also an early congrats on getting married! Remember to take a break and enjoy that as well
If a new longsword is added, it should just be the longsword but with the Finesse property (no increase in damage). Call it a "Great Scimitar," and it could be used as a two-handed scimitar, katana, etc. Long curved swords don't actually do more damage than their straight-edged European counterparts, so I don't think a damage increase is necessary, plus it would completely antiquate the use of the battleaxe, longsword, and other similar weapons.
Chain should no be a whip as it has not the same properties as it. Whip could have 1d6 reach one handed and have lowered crit requierment as it could crit on 19 and 20 Dagger could also have this or even crit from 18-20 For the sling i would add homemade ammo that could have additional properties. Like using oil to create flaming projectiles. Tossing sovereign glue like projectiles etc.
10:40 i remember stumbling upon a signal arrow/bolt once, it essentially replaces the damaging tip with a whistle and could be used for distractions, signaling teammates from across long distances, and for practice
Changing the shortsword to simple makes sense. They were given to archers for backup and given to Centurions because it's pretty easy to teach how to use.
It seems a lot of the low tier weapons would be suits for DM use. Weapons for NPCs to use in combat, so looting PCs don’t make out with a treasure hoard in weapons.
Let’s give darts a double throw ability. They are small enough that for 1 action 2 darts can be thrown. Maybe 2nd dart as a bonus action, but not necessarily.
Let’s give darts a double throw ability. They are small enough that for 1 action 2 darts can be thrown. Maybe 2nd dart as a bonus action, but not necessarily.
I miss the spiked chain. Back in 3rd ed, I played a fighter and took a zillion feats to focus on using the spiked chain, and if you were willing to spend your feats on that it was pretty badass.
I'm playing a trickster rogue that uses a whip. Sneak attack + booming blade and "reach" bumps the whip from F tier to at least B tier. The DM gave the whip a "trip" special attack with DC = Weapon Damage (w/o sneak attack) + 1d20 Athletics roll. Don't know if it's the optional formula but it was a free addition the DM gave to the weapon so no complaints
As others have pointed out to me, rogues don't actually have whip proficiency! Of course they could still use it, but it wouldn't include their proficiency bonus unless they're multiclassed with something that does get whip prof
about crossbows being repeating, The artificer class offers that as an infusion once you hit level 2. I used it on a crossbow and it was good because all ammunition not loaded into it was magical
I homebrewed a whip a "whip of miracles" that can be used with a smite abilities/spells, that can also be used 1x/day to cast lesser restoration. It is published on D&D beyond if anyone is interested
Had a pathfinder game with a whip specialist. He took feats allowing him to grab and trip people and he was DEVASTATING. Not so much in raw damage done, but he would put people on the ground where they could be attacked at a bonus, make attacks of opportunity when they got up, and allowed anyone with sneak attack (or the Precise Strike teamwork feat) do do their extra damage. We ripped through encounters with equal CR without even taking damage more often than not!
Based on the results from the question, this is more about "which weapon is more balanced" rather than people's "favorite" since people can have a favorite AND think it needs changes.
A katana is basically a finesse longsword. No extra damage needed, just add the finesse property. At most, you could add the light property if used in combination with a dagger/shortsword (Tanto/wakisashi)
I just reflavored a glaive for one of my characters with a longer variant and fighting style, and for another I reflavored a magical Shortsword. But yes, a Katana is basically a longword (a medieval arming sword but in dnd). It is about the same length as an arming sword, is has about the same weight and cutting power as an arming sword. They both have a pointy end which you aparently cannot use in DND and you cannot really use the butt end for a punch either. Only the polearm can do this despite it being a common trope in fantasy. I used a glaive with polearm master to gain a nice long katana which you could even hit with the butt end of it when unsheathing for example for a nice effect. Should it be a finesse weapon? Not so important, I prefer gish/hexblade anyway, thus I get the freedom and flavor for free.
katana: Blade length 60 ~ 80 cm, Mass 1.1 ~ 1.5 kg / longsword: Blade length 85 ~ 110 cm, Mass 1.0 ~ 1.5 kg. it shouldn't be light, we already have rapiers (longer and lighter than katanas)
I train with a katana and although it is not a light weapon, the fighting style with it is more finesse that strength based. You still need strength to use it (it weights little bit more than a kilogram, but it's shorter than a longsword) but it can be comfortably used with one hand
By that logic it should also be 1d6 damage weapon because of how motherfucking brittle 90%+ of their edges were and impotent against anything beyond very thin wood plates/any actually armored opposition they were (and still are when using in the "intended" way) and with that we return to the Scimitar.
@@ANDELE3025 Then any slashing weapon should do significantly less damage to armored targets and bludgeoning weapons should do more as armor was almost inmune to sword attacks but was crushed against maces
Fun feature of the dart: while it does have finesse, you can also throw it with strength, and so it is a much more cost and space efficient projectile for a strength build than daggers, hand axes, or javelins.
the curved swords is something that 3.5 D&D differentiated fairly well. However they were not made for tripping, they were made for massive slashing critical. The falcion (sp?) is my particular favorite because it is designed to be super top heavy like an ax, specifically designed to crash down on an opponent severing their limbs.
12:23 I had to look up gradation. You learn something new every day! "a minute change from one shade, tone, or color to another." (figuratively for weapons of course)
Tales of the Valiant, in their alpha preview, added weapon options to help differentiate between similar arms and also add flavour to combat. Some have d Disarm or Trip (pretty straightforward), some such as a mace or club have Bash (which can disorient a foe). Some missile weapons have Pinning Shot or Ricochet Shot, which I look forward to see my players use.
Bob, I highly recommend you go watch some medieval weapon videos like those by Shadiversity. He does a good job explaining what the pros and cons of real world weapons are. A lot of the "should" statements you make in this video are really misaligned with reality. I realise not everyone tries to achieve realism, but it is beneficial to understand why certain weapons even existed IRL before trying to rework them. Edit: a good starting point could be his "Medieval battlefield weapons ranked" video
After reading some John Gwynne, I think a cool feature for the net would be some bonus versus flying creatures (assuming they are close enough to capture).
you can give a heavy crossbow the repeating property with a battle smith artificer and have a plus one heavy crossbow that ignores the reloading property that you can fire twice per round and use your intelligence as the attack stat.
For the scimatar, considering how top-heavy the blade is, i think some armor breaking effect like "if this weapon hit for more than X damage against an armored opponent, reduce their AC by 1 or 2" It could aldo have some slow down effect because it can surely break some bones but i think armor break is unique enough
Back in 3/3.5 the weapons found uniqueness in their crits. The war pick did slightly less damage but would QUADRUPLE A CRIT showing that when you hit a sweet spot, it really drives in there. Swords usually had larger crit ranges like 18-20. Some weapons like the morningstar did piercing AND bludgeoning. There were even composite bows. I believe what happened is they stripped away all these extra mechanics but they left in all the weapons. So now we just have a list of 40 weapons that share one of 5 stat blocks.
I think people are missing that the dart is basically the perfect weapon for a knife-throwing build. It's incredibly cheap (it costs literally 40 times less than a dagger), it has the throwing propertie so it can use the throwing weapon fighting style (wich lets you draw it as part of your attack, perfect por classes with an extra attack, and also gives it a +2 to the damage) and it's also a ranged weapon so you can use it with the sharpshooter feat and the archery fighting style if you pick the fighting initiate feat! Meaning that it can deal a d4+12 in a single attack with a price of 5cp. It also is the only ranged weapon with the finesse propertie, meaning that you could use it in a strength based build. (Sorry if I've written something badly, English isn't my native language)
As I don't really like flanking rules, I instead made it a weapon property which I call flanking. Reduced the rapier to a d6 and gave it Flanking and added it to Daggers as is. I created an entire reworked weapon system in my game, but I really like all the ideas you are throwing out here.
Also repeating crossbows can be found in Out of the Abyss adventure. It is basically a version of light xbow but can be fired 6 times and has to be reloaded as an action. And probably a bit different range. My npcs rogue and pc rogue has it now, kinda useful
The problem with the blowgun is that it's never expected to do damage solo. There's always the expectation of delivering a poison or toxin to be the main purpose of the weapon. So without that part built-in, there really isn't a reason to carry a blowgun.
About the whip, probably can do things like the Belmont's whip of Castlevania, that can be bludgeoning damage, or like a whip flail or this kind of fantasy whip-sword that can change between the sword and whip state
So, for the spear There needs to be a light spear with the finesse property and s heavy spear, with the versatile property (d6/d8). A spear with reach is a pike. A pike with excessive reach, is a long pike. A glaive may have reach, or just keep it a d10 slashing. You might make a trident a versatile d8/d10 or give it it's own shtick.
Halberds should be a d10, with options to slash or pierce. Perhaps with reach, but if you make a shorter version call it a pollaxe and give it bludgeoning as well. Maybe tack on the light property to the glaive to really differentiate it from the halberd. (Or if you're willing to, maybe finesse, probably not both). Honestly functionally speaking theirs not too much you can do to nake them different without making a whole new system. I would make the light spear, heavy spear, and pikes simple weapons (think levied armies). And all the further variants Martial. A big thing to make all of these more "accurate" and define them amongst each other would be to correct their weights and values to be more, relatively, in line with each other. Not that it would come up very often in game play, but it would certainly help them on the page.
I like the idea of weapons having unique features beyond their damage die, type and properties The flail for example could negate any bonus to ac acquired by a shield, giving players a mechanical reason to pick it over the warhammer The whip could have an option to attempt too either trip the target, restrain them or move then around within range
Anyone really interested in this subject should check out Magehandpress’ Craftsman class. The class itself is fun but kinda overwhelming, but the thing to check out is the apprentice weapon properties. It’s essentially a bunch of weapon properties used to balance the weapons already out there. Takes a while to really get a grasp of everything, but it makes a lot of weapons already in game make sense.
I did find giving a whip to my kensai Monk(Flavoured as a monk chain) was interesting since damage scales in the monk, but since you can still punch you threaten 2 different weapon ranges simultaneously. Allowing a bit more control of the surroundings while you tank.
Morningstar could be 1d4 piercing and1d4 bludgeoning for damage instead of 1d8 piercing. The damage type difference makes sense based on construction and makes it way more interesting. The flail could go the same way, but instead I'd rather see something else, like negating 1 AC *if* the defender uses a shield. This makes both situationally better and maintains uniqueness.
Man I remember darts being one of the few weapons a magic user could use in 1st edition, and I've never seen any magic user use a dart. I've never even heard of any NPC using a dart. I've never seen or heard described a magic dart. I can't even imagine a magic user throwing a dart in combat. Crazy.
I feel like a lot of players, or at least I, have a strong fantasy of using a whip more like a versatile grapple-at-range weapon. Pulling a crossbow out of someone’s hand, or traversing pits by swinging from a piece of scaffolding. I think more important than maintaining the historical accuracy of a weapon is to capture the fantasy of it. A massive part of DnD is making "It would be cool if…" a reality
Darts are the only ranged weapon with the thrown property, which is important for builds that pick up both the Archery & Thrown Weapon Fighting styles. It has a niche.
I like daggers most of all, because I've always played the rogue, and because being light weight I can carry 30 of them on my person at all times. One of my rogues was proficient in tinkers' tools (not a multi-classed artificer) and built a dagger bomb. I would like a longsword "estoc" variant, having a bonus to attack against heavy armor. The estoc is an edgeless sword with a sturdy, pointed build.
The ship is finesse so you can sneak attack and do polearm master and sentinel plus bugbear and be insanely strong• you could also do 2 barbarian level for reckless attack and always get sneak attack•
I'd say a useful feature for the dagger and other similarly small or concealable weapons would be the "Concealed" trait that makes them easy to hide on your person or someone would have to actively search you with a Perception or Investigation check to see if they can find it on you. Really plays into the idea of them being hidden weapons and useful to sneak into places that would restrict them like a gala, the monarch's chambers, a court room, etc.
I had an idea for a hook sword. It's a light, finesse, martial weapon that does 1d6 slashing, but it has two unique properties. 1. You can try a trip attack with it at advantage. 2. You could hook two together, turning it into a 1 d8 bludgeoning weapon with a 10ft reach. Other ideas I had were a Ball and Chain: heavy, thrown (20, 60), martial weapon that does 1d12 bludgeoning, Meteor Hammer: finesse, reach (10ft), martial weapon that does 1d6 bludgeoning. Special: Restraining Attack: You can also, as a bonus action, attempt to restrain an enemy with said weapon. Monk's Spade: reach (10ft), martial, 2d4 slashing. Chakram: thrown (20,60), Simple, 1d6 Slashing Bill Hook: reach (10ft), simple, 1d6 piercing, Special: Grasping attack: You can use a bonus action to remove a shield or weapon from your enemy's hand. This requires an opposed strength check. If the attack is successful, the weapon or shield is moved 5 feet away from your enemy in a direction of your choosing. Bolas: thrown (20, 60), simple, 1d4 bludgeoning, Special: Trip: When hit, your target must make a dexterity saving throw (8+DEX+PB), on a failed saving throw, the target is knocked prone.
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Hey I love your videos but talking about weapons man.....
For an example triping someone with a flail .......If you know how flails have to be designed as to not completely of eviscerate your hand, then triping some one with a flail becomes unreasonably stupid.
Essentially you want a flail to have a shorter chain then the hilt, the ball itself is pretty heavy, and you would have to bend over to even get a chance of knocking your opponent prone as you expose your head to the headsmen.
Also I recommend you these youtubers
Metatron
Skalligrim
Shadiversity
And any content creates any if them mention
Also what you said about the katana very accurate. But If any change should be made to the longsword it should be finesse (maybe given slightly more dice) and a katana version would just have a feature were the minimum you can roll for damage is 2 (curved blades have a forgiving cut)
A Repeating Crossbow usually doesnt have many slots. So you would still have to reload and it might only have 3 bolts in succession. Also Katanas are not more finesse they just cut better.
I like how in D&D, weapons that harm in different way (cutting flesh and opening arteries versus piercing organs versus crushing bones) are *_"mechanically the same"._* The game might be a mess, but at least Fragged Empires has talents that has weapon types matter. Translated to DnD, Slashing weapons could cause bleeding effects, cut off body parts... Piercing weapons could ignore part of natural / actual armor bonus to AC as well as overpenetrate and jam into an obstacle, while bludgeoning weapons reduce armor / gives extra penalties to armor and give penalties to attack or movement as it causes fractures and such.
And you don't even need to change the weapon, just make it a feat. "Str or Dex +1: If an attack made with a slashing weapon beats the opponent's Armor Class by 5 or more, it gains a bleeding effect equal to your Strength or Dexterity Bonus, whichever was used to make the attack."
Darts are already unique, people just don't know about it. Darts are ranged weapons, meaning they can be affected by Sharpshooter and Archery, while also being a thrown weapon, which means they can be affected by the Thrown Weapon Fighting Style.
It also has finesse, which means it can be used with Strength instead of Dexterity.
A bunch of unique interactions. Darts are clearly underrated
Take Fighting Initiate as a kensei monk and suddenly your darts are dealing ridiculous damage and at level 6 count as magical weapons.
Darts are also significantly cheaper and lighter than daggers. At just 5 copper each, a level 1 character can throw darts and not be too upset if they can't retrieve them, whereas the 2 gold pieces per dagger is really going to hurt your coin purse if you have to keep replacing them. A stack of 10 darts only weighs 2.5 lbs. A stack of 10 daggers weighs 10 lbs. If your campaign is using variant encumbrance or you have a very low STR, those extra pounds can matter.
The thing I dislike the most about darts is the aesthetic, I know it was a thing in medieval times, but it feels super bland and out of place in a fantasy setting for me.
@@PetersonRodrigues0 Just do what we did and reskin them as throwing stars . It gives it that ninja vibe and your rogue will love them .
i have come to the conclusion that Dex characters should have a small pouch with Darts to be properly prepared. thrown weapons are a good short distance weapon. Darts are the Dex characters Javelins
I disagree with the people's views of the humble dart! The entire point (get it) of the dart is to be cheap! You can buy 20 darts for the price of 1 measly little dagger! I can arm a mob with darts, I can only arm steve with a dagger.
But in that respect, you can buy a bunch of slings too, and then that mob will have also (basically, as long as rocks are nearby) *unlimited* *anmo*
But I just checked and a sling is 1sp, but a dart is *5CP!* that means (calculator time) with the 2GP you need for a dagger, you can get 20 slings oooooorrrrr 40 darts. I thought that might work out in your favor but still, arming a mob of 20 people with 2 darts each or 40 people with one, or a mob of 20 people with unlimited ammo, as long as they don't get killed in 2 turns(which they might) I think the sling is still better. Also I feel like slings are more reusable(you don't have to go and pick them up after you throw them) and feel more aesthetically sound for a peasant rebellion because people probably have those already. HOWEVER, I understand your point and darts are (kinda) cool in that respect. Thank you for your imput :)
It's also the only ranged thrown weapon, letting you benefit from both archery and thrown weapon fighting styles.
I think a lot of people stick with whatever weapons they get at character creation or find along the way from looting monsters/dungeons rather than buying weapons, but that should have been a survey question! haha
@@BobWorldBuilder Nah, I always want to buy weapons I don't start with. I prefer to have a bludgeoning, slashing, and piecing weapon for every character, with a ranged option as well.
My typical fighter would be armor and shield, warhammer, longsword or scimitar, and a dagger. Long or short bow as height allows. What's really sad is that there are no finesse bludgeoning weapons unless you are a monk.
It needs the light property added at least. Outside of that all the things I can think of are a bit much (such as ability to throw two darts per attack but utilises bonus action).
I've always liked the idea of giving the whip the statistics of the "Thorn Whip" cantrip, just with reduced range and only 5ft pull.
Great idea, no reason to create new rules and its instantly balanced!
then i would come back to the idea that melee cantrips should be useable for OA
There’s a simple fix for the lance: instead of being a one-handed weapon that needs two hands when not mounted, make it a two-handed weapon that only needs one hand while mounted. Aside from the existing rule being oddly written, this changes what feats apply. You lose dual-wielding but gain both greatweapon master, which gives a power attack option (for devastating charges) and a cleave effect (for plowing through crowds)
great weapon master is tied to the heavy property, not the two handed one
a Lance doesn't have 'heavy' so you can have a halfling or gnome dual wield lances if mounted, basically doing double damage.
@@THEGRUMPTRUCK if a player wanted to do that then I would be having them rolling animal handling checks every turn seeing as they haven't saved a hand free for the reins; this also makes the cavalier fighter have an actual purpose.
I would allow strapped shields but characters that had specifically described thier shields as centre grip (bos grip) would not be able to wield them and rein thier mount as well.
The lance needs to go down to pike damage dice while not mounted. Actually a cavalry lance (not jousting lance which was never used in battle) and pike on the shorter end (this would be the one based on the reach in DnD) are comparable in length and weight. The fact that one is heavy and the other isn't and that one has disadvantage within 5ft range is kind of strange. I say make the weapons the same statline (including the disadvantage rule) and add a special rule for each where a Pike can be used to target enemies when an ally is between you and a lance can be couched which allows it to be used one handed and raises the damage to the d12.
@@nathanthom8176 That's fair. Animal Handling checks makes sense, I do the same as well.
The sickle shouldn't be removed as it is a great "found weapon" along with hand axes and clubs etc. If you want a violent mob of villagers then it is also a good weapon pick.
It is also forms the basis of more complex weapons like the Kusaragima (sickle and weighted chain).
I love to disarm my characters and make them do fights in disadvantaged situations like the only weapons to use are what you can improvise in a room or house, so mainly clubs and such, kitchen knives, thrown items
I find giving NPC's rubbish weapons really beneficial when the party are at level 1-3. If all weapons were decent it would make the job of the DM harder
It really should have Finesse property though, and so should quarterstaff and spear for that matter.
I think this is a really good point with a lot of the sub-par weapons...they aren't there for established adventurers who can get exactly what they want...they're there for peasants and weaker monsters, and they are there for the players if they get captured and have their stuff taken, or if they fight a rust monster or otherwise get stripped of their weapons.
The maul is at 21? The maul is, as we speak, the strongest weapon in the game. Yes it has 2d6 like the greatsword, but it's objectively better. There are creatures that specifically resist slashing damage, but this doesn't exist for bludgeoning. On top of that, the crusher feat is also better then the slasher, though that is a bit more subjective.
Yeah totally agree, the maul being so much lower then the gear sword just doesn't make sense at all
@@telenikros I think that it just shows that people by large don't know anything about the dnd weapons.
People know the greatsword. Then they find out about the maul and think "this is like a greatsword, it's unnecessary in this game because there is already a greatsword". The popularity of some weapons is keeping some other viable weapons low. Think of the battleaxe, which is identical to the longsword if you want any additional examples.
People want to change the blow gun to do more damage because they don't realise it's the half baked sometimes unclear poison rules that make it less effective.
It's telling how one of the most requested weapons is the katana, and some other widely requested are short sword varieties.
In my opinion spear, pike and whip could all be fixed simultaneously, by introducing 15ft range as an option. If you give pikes reach 15ft (because sarissa pikes could become 18ft+), it won't feel weird if spears have reach, since pikes are longer spears. Letting whips have 15ft range is unique enough in terms of versatility that it can deal with the low damage.
Actualy there is some ceatures who have resist for bludgeoning dmg.
@@vida2559 like?
AFAIK there's nothing that resists bludgeon and not piercing and slashing. Although that might have changed like a book ago?
@@Olav_Hansen treants
I would reason that the club got ranked higher than the light hammer because this ranking is not about power level, it's just about if we would change it
and i think it's plausible that a lot of people think the club is perfectly fine as it is, being basically the most simple weapon there is (viable or not), and same thing with the handaxe
exactly
light hammer costs 20 times as much as a club, so that might’ve been why
You can Shillelagh a club you can't Shillelagh a light hammer.
@@darkfatherg Use a staff. Per the DMG, magical staffs are also weapon staves. So it's an easy jump to the spell focus staff is also a weapon. Then your spell focus works for Shillelagh.
club possibly also ranked higher cus of Shilleagh? since that only works on clubs and great clubs?
Daggers could have a bonus when used in a grapple or against a grappled target. Like reducing the target's AC or criting on 19. Because they were used to bypass armour usually by wrestling the armoured person and working the dagger into a gap.
Solid idea.
1 critique. Definitely just give advantage on attacks. Its how 5e handles all good situations.
I like the idea, but isn't a plus to hit or advantage better than reducing AC for ease of use?
The reason to reduce AC instead of giving advantage is if 2 players grapple each other and both use daggers. Giving advantage boosts the player with the higher AC much more. I would like the relative boost to favour the player with the lower AC. The actual boost is flat.
Ahh nice, that would be an easier way to define "close quarters" combat
For the whip, i actually vote for a small rules change.
Include the optional disarming action from the dmg, but change it to only be usable by melee attacks instead of weapon attacks.
Then give the whip the feature to be able to grab objects and bring them to you within its reach so long as you are proficient.
I've thought about this, but I'm currently leaning toward some kind of grapple/trip. I'll reconsider this...
@@BobWorldBuilder I think the whip's damage should also be nerfed in some way, or at least be only nonlethal, because I don't think you should be able to instakill some poor wizard/sorceror with one whiplash.
I agree, allow it to be used how it's used in movies. That or rachet up the damage to make it a heavy whip.
@@yoshilovesyoshi a whip can be lethal if one is good (or bad) with it
@@renanbauer Yeah I don't deny it can be lethal, but as someone who has used a whip before, I can't imagine killing an adult human being in one whiplash, which as it stands can do up to 8 damage with a level 1 character which is more than enough to instakill a wizard and even a relatively weak cleric who's probably wearing at least metal armor, which is just insane to me, to think that a whip could just completely bypass metal scales.
The whip : If you attack a creature with 4 or less Intelligence (animals, mostly) the creature is disoriented and get disadvantage against you for the next round.
Hmmm that's a neat special feature. It opens up the idea of intimidation bonuses for certain weapons
Should be 8 intelligence to see what happens when you whip a barbarian
The dart is okay in low tier play, if you need to buy all your weapons it's more expensive to buy 10 daggers than 10 darts.
Yeah, I think that price is certain games is very important. I play in a game right now where money is NOT easy to get. We are level 8 and our party collectively has less than 500 gold. We do have some magic items that we found that bring our total up, but magic items are also extremely rare so selling those is not worth it because you likely won't find anything in towns worth trading them in for.
I genuinely like how money is beyond hard to get in this world. My dm doesn't do a great job managing the cost of everyday things vs what we make. But the concept is kinda fire.
dart has the niche of being the only ranged weapon that can benefit from Sharpshooter feat while using your strength, so it's good for a thrown weapon build in heavy armor and a shield
I would give them a quick special ability allowing you to throw 2 per action. but other than that, I think they are fine
I've always ruled that Darts can be used with Slings since that is how darts typically were thrown in actual combat.
@@kid14346 Slings for darts are little different to slings for stones. One of the thongs is twice as long as the other, to loop around the head of the dart, but I suppose you could say that if you had a dart sling you could spend an action coiling half the longer thong up and tying it tight, making the sling ready for use with a stone. A dart sling could also be tied to the end of a short staff to make a staff sling for casting stones (not darts!), where again one thong has to be at least twice as long as the other.
Really surprised with the dart hate. It's a unique weapon in that it's the only ranged weapon with the thrown property, this allows it to make use of the Archery and Thrown Weapon fighting styles on top of Sharpshooter, as well as the Battle master's Quick Toss maneuver. A straight up underutilized weapon in my opinion
Ye I love darts but to be fair most people probably only see the damage die and range and immediately write them off. You really have to know the system and what works to make darts good where as almost anyone can look at the 2d6 a greatsword does and immediately understand why it's good
You can add your ability score to the dagger's damage when two weapon fighting, or you can always use two weapon fighting by default when using two daggers
Your fast and accurate when using two daggers
Stabby stabby
I would prefer some sort of execute move, some bleed effect, sneak attack bonus or similar I think.
@@nerfherder5211 duel welding dagger's gives an extra 1d4 for each 1d6 of the sneak attack? Maybe a little strong. What about and additional (1d4 x your proficiency bonus) each time you use a sneak attack? Problem I see is that it only helps 1 class
I'm not much of a fan of bleed mechanics. Logically, every weapon makes you bleed. The only exception would be if you take disadvantage on an attack to target a specific point - throat, underarm, inside of thigh, etc. But that ends up as just a regular weapon mechanic, not really special to daggers
Also, not sure what you mean by execute move. Something like a maneuver, or an execution?
@@billwhipple9039 Perhaps I'd just give the rogue a really cool sentient magical dagger instead of messing around with homebrew. Hard to say :(
75% of this video was like “I don’t understand why people rated this weapon so strange” and I could only agree. A big factor is that many people forgot about many of the weapons. Additionally, the mechanically similar weapons are often ranked close to each other, if one were to be removed the other might be bumped up. However, with different people voting, that would never be the outcome.
Imo, I think the biggest failings of the Maul, Warhammer, etc (less loved versions of the short/long/great swords, with different damage types) is that they just don't have the magical weapon options. Swords just get so much more love.
For example, on DDB the maul has 10 magic variants, including +1, +2 etc, only one of which is named and specific to the maul. The battleaxe does better with 16, 4 of which are specific to Battleaxes. The greatsword has 37, 7 of which are named. Most of that difference are the variants of magic items that specifically say "Weapon (any sword), [rarity]"
I'd so much rather that they'd move towards having classes of weapons like they do for armor. There'd be a featherweight/light/medium/heavy ammunition (d4-d10's) weapons, and featherweight/light/versatile/heavy melee (d4-d12's). Slap on a trait like thrown, thrown-only, finesse, stealth, reach, tripping, silvered, Gun (which ups damage, but adds misfire and ammo cost) etc. to build your common weapon. And let the boons of magic weapons apply to all the relevant weapons. It would mean 4 ranged piercing weapons and 12 melee weapons to cover all the flavors that WotC can't possibly do with the current system. It'd be nice to have a structure to make the weapons we want instead of needing to homebrew things like a moon-touched maul, a katana being a slashing rapier, and adding features to make forgettable weapons usable.
A Battle Master Fighter with a Whip means you can do all your Maneuvers with Reach and still wear a shield and be entirely Dex based. Take the Sentinel feat plus the Brace Maneuver with Reach and you will likely have the option to do an AoO every round while not giving up a shield.
It is a fun, although niche use of the whip. The weapon still suffers from having very low damage, but being a one-handed dex reach has this very unique advantage which no other weapon should replicate. At the same time I think its sad that its the only dex based reach weapon in the game. Would have loved to have a two handed dex reach weapon that has a d6 damage dice, or something similar
@@arikaaa69 If you're playing a Fighter since you get so many feats you can just take some damage boosting feats like Fey Touched with Hunter's Mark to add a D6 and/or Gift of the Chromatic Dragon to add a D4.
Congratulations to you and Grace on getting married. My daughter and I enjoy watching your videos. She is very pleased by this turn of events. On a weapons note, my wife likes to poi. We invented a rope dart mechanic to incorporate her love of poi into the game. It has range 5 or 10 and an opportunity to do damage as someone enters the spot next to her or completely keep them back. Rolls 18+ start these mechanics and she had to trade a magic potion to be taught these techniques at level 2 by a master. I like the thought of adding your tripping idea into it as well. The damage is currently 1d4 as a rogue but I plan on upping it once she "finds" a better blade to attach or uses it and gets "better".
Hah not surprised by this data at all. Thanks for sharing it all Bob!
Darts a very interesting weapon honestly, its the only ranged weapon with finesse to start with meaning it can be used with strength, though i think a dagger would work almost identically though its a melee weapon with the thrown property so the only difference between them is what feats or class features that key of specific weapon types they interact with e.g. sharp shooter, cost and weight are another thing thats good compared to having lots of daggers but most DMs really gloss over such things
Yeah it seems like a player just has to do more research to realize that this weapon can be made useful, when they could instead just pick up a weapon that's more useful outright
Yeah I play a dart based fighter and it's pretty cool since darts work with both the archery and throwing fighting styles and the sharpshooter feat . And you can use a shield with them as well.
The only issue is that the build takes two feats to accomplish so it has to compete with any other combination of feats like polearm master and sentinel or crossbow expert and sharpshooter and compared to those it's only okay.
Yay, my comment made it to one of your videos, that alone made my day!
Also, I think a Finesse Longsword would be totally game-breaking, because Dexterity's already the most OP stat, it gives you one of the most commonly used Saving Throws, AC, bonus in a lot of skills, ranged damage, initiative, etc. Plus, rogues could sneak attack with a finesse long sword, and that looks kinda weird, I guess. Other than that, katanas are already longswords, as the book mentions: in real life, katanas are not lighter than longswords at all, this is an anime/Japanese culture trope.
If you're interested in learning about medieval weapon "mechanics" including weight, length and reach, I'd recommend taking a look at Skallagrim's channel, it might be a source for creativity regarding alternative weapon uses, or maybe even give you ideas for real life multi-attack tests, which might be cool too.
As always, thank you for the great content, including this video and your hard work on surveys and whatnot. This is my favorite D&D channel. Cheers from Brazil.
Thanks for leaving that comment! haha, Yeah I agree that adding finesse could shift the longsword to being objectively better than many others
Yep, katanas actually weighed the same as European hand-and-a-half swords (Longsword in 5e terms) while actually being closer to an arming sword (Scimitar in 5e terms) in length. This is because katanas were made of folded steel, while European swords from the same era were typically made of much thinner and tougher monosteel. The main reason why Japanese smiths stuck with folded steel was because it could be smelted at much lower temperatures and could be made from the worst iron, which was useful for an iron poor country.
@@BobWorldBuilder well that would be historically accurate lol. In order of OP IRL: guns, spears, longsword. Range of engagement is often the king 🤴.
For scimitars and many other curved one handed swords like sabres and cutasses, their advantage is they are easier to parry with on a horse (or other animal) or in a tight space because turning the sword hand sweeps the belly of the blade through quite a bit of space without moving the point of the sword much. Don't know how to make a good rule around that.
Another feature is that they are much better at cutting through cloth than straight blades.
So I have some notes about the Longbow.
The English Longbow which is what most people think of was often over six feet long. That is *wildly* impractical for adventuring life - which makes sense! The longbow was a military weapon.
In my games, with archers, I give them the option of a "horsebow" aka, a recurve composite bow. These can achieve the same or better ranges, accuracy, and penetration power that english longbows can achieve, but are often much smaller, and able to be used while mounted (hence "horsebow"). They achieve the same or better properties by putting in curves, and compositing materials to create different tensions. (IE, bone and wood. Bone is stiffer than wood, while wood lets the bow bend without breaking.)
Recurve composite bows have been used everywhere, especially in places lower in wood growth, like the Mongolian Steppe, and enable certain societal structures, such as nomadic movement.
Yeah, ultimately it comes down to how much energy can be stored, whether that comes from curvature, materials, or length.
I know when i wanted to use an anime sword, i didn't feel the need for any new options. I just reflavored the Halberd.
Smart!
You mentioned wanting a sword with the ability to trip opponents, so I'm surprised you didn't put it in this list. The historically accurate Chinese Hook Sword has been a weapon available in D&D since long before 5e. The weapons are the one thing that basically don't change between editions so it should be fair game.
-A Whip is less of a weapon than a multipurpose utility item. Indiana Jonesing your way over chasms and pits never gets old.
-"A sickle is just a dagger you can't throw" You can throw any weapon in D&D. Sometimes even NPCs too. Sometimes you can wield an NPC as a weapon while already in flight towards your enemy. If anything a sickle as a weapon is designed to cut off your opponents weapon hand at the wrist when they attack you.
-A blowgun has only one purpose. It's not a weapon, it's a delivery system for poison.
-A sling is by far the worst weapon on this list. It's just stats slapped on throwing a pebble. If slings used ammunition that could do actual damage I'd consider them more than an annoyance.
-Trying to claim the dagger needs to be taken out of D&D is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard concerning this game. It's basically the only actual weapon all spellcasters can use. Unless you count a staff, which I don't because you still require a free hand to cast. Not to mention the usefulness of the dagger when farming for free spell components. Granted "One D&D" is introducing an Arcane Focus that replaces all but the most expensive spell components, so maybe that last bit isn't such a selling point anymore.
1 ) A REAL sling should definitely do more damage - they were used by shepherds to drive away LIONS. In addition, they could be used to do things like throw vials of acid or Alchemist's Fire, or other magical items normally thrown, and yes, like you said, have the Concealable property - a true sling was just a 4 foot section of leather.
2 ) The Pike should DEFINITELY be in the game - Rennaissance tactics were built ENTIRELY around it. And it should have Extra Reach AND the ability to set against a charge. This is one of the most important weapons of military history from the 1400s to the 1700s. One of the most legendary mercenary units were the Swiss Pikemen for crying out loud.
3 ) Repeating crossbows are a real weapon in history - but they were quite weak in comparison to similar sized "regular" crossbows. HOWEVER, there is no reason mechanics wise to include it - except as a reskin of a Shortbow.
4 ) Many weapons could be described explicitly as reskins of other weapons. Weapon damage type is enough reason to keep the scimitar as that makes it different from the shortsword, but you could then declare the grossmesser, falchion, and such as reskins of the saber. The Shortsword could have reskins of the Court Sword and Chinese "Willow Leaf" saber (a la Green Destiny in "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon").
5 ) There is still room for an Arming Sword for aesthetics. Specifically, a weapon that is otherwise identical to the Longsword, but without the Versatile property - this would represent the classic Viking sword, the swords of the Norman Conquest, and so on. Honestly, the main reason for it.. is aesthetics.
There already is a finesseable version of a longsword, it's called a rapier.
Just make a rapier variant with slashing damage and the katana people will be happy
The western falchion is not just like the scimitar its a two handed baby of a cleaver, axe, and sword at once. Its a heavy weapon meant for just crushing through enemies while the scimitar is a finesse light weapon.
2d4 slashing bludgeoning, heavy, crush through armor and or bonus on horseback as it is popular for cavalry as a dismounter.
The falchion is in no way a heavy blade. They have wide blades for the most part but said blade is actually quite thin. Hell such is the construction of falchion that the centre of percussion is not really any higher than most arming swords despite the much wider blade head. I advise you look at the video by Scholagladiatora called 'medieval falchions were not like axes'.
@@nathanthom8176 thank you! It's great that finally people are spreading more HEMA knowledge into dnd. Hopefully we will get rid of katana myths next, because as much as I love them, an arming Sword or longsword is often just better. You often get better balance, more range, and at the same or lesser weight. In sparring you often have to pick shorter longswords to even out the advantages against katanas, still super fun against Kendo guys( the speed and the determination to hit those guys gave is awesome)
The cimitar/sable kind of sword could be the finesse version of the longsword. It would also make it diferent from the shortsword since it will deal more damage.
The longswird atleast has the 'heavy' tax which many weapons do have :(. Finesse also costs a small price. Not being heavy and being versatile means a smaller dice. The intent is for Rogues to use lighter weapons. I dont think this is so bad. Most of their weapons comes not from multiple attacks anyway but from sneak attack for example, thus the weapon damage itself is not so important. You can also reflavor your magical +1 shortsword as a decently long katana or elven sword or whatever you want anyway.
@@nerfherder5211 Yeah, but it would help a Dex based fighter or similar builds if it was finesse. I forgot the longsword was versatile, the cimitar should be finesse instead of that in that case.
I don't think it brings many balancing issues considering the rapier is a thing and basically the same idea. However it would add a little bit of flavor to Dex-based characters since they have two big options (rapier or cimitar, aka piercing or slashing).
Yeah maybe finesse and versatile then? but 1d6/1d8
@@BobWorldBuilder That would be interesting. It would also help diferenciating from the rapier so that those are more defensive (since it being a 1d8 one handed weapon a shield could be used) but the cimitar having the capacity to be a two-handed weapon brings a lot of the two-handed weapon stuff to it, making it more offensive.
Bob world builder my homebrew repeating crossbow is a simple weapon with a 15/45 range that does 2d4 damage, because the one the Chinese invented is a magazine on top of the very light crossbow that you load by sliding the magazine box front to back. It's goal was to shoot out a lot of small random bolts for area denial.
To me, this should just be rolled into crossbow expert and fighter's many, many attacks. I have a hard time with a fighter getting off foue to eight shots WITHOUT a magazine.
The problem with many of these weapons is that tthe designers have basically simplified them down to their tropes, and pop culture tropes at that meaning that they actually make pretty poor representations historically. Take the Longsword for instance. You've mentioned a few versions, such as the falchion (I'd actually have the cutlass as a short sword), the jian, the katana, then there's the messer, the bastard sword, the claymore, the side sword, the Kopis, the Kophesh, the Estoc... My point is, there are so many different designs of sword for different cultures and times, you really could just make a sword builder set of rules to design the kind of sword you want. I'd even just grab the short sword and great swords and put them all into this too as again, there are many differing types. You can actually see the designers try and show this with separate rules for the shotr sword, great sword, rapier and scimitar.
So, as an example, you could give the length classification, this would decide the over all damage, then you could choose if it were going to be a light weapon, a finesse weapon or versatile, and then you would choose the damage type, either slashing or piercing. So, say you went for a short light piercing type of weapon, well done, you've just made an epee. Say you went for medium length slashing, this could be a claymore. Add versatile into that and you could have a falchion. A katana would be a medium length, versatile, finesse weapon. My point is, it would be cool to be able to customise your sword to represent what you had in mind as closely as possible.
The Pike I'd just get rid of to be honest as it's really just a really long spear and ultimately impractical unless you're with a large group of pikemen. This more than any other weapon is a specialised war weapon.
Also, if you were to make a Greatbow, I would seriously consider having it as a strength based weapon. Reason being, historically, you're looking at a Warbow for comparison. These things have a draw weight of 80 to 150lbs, but can go up to 200lbs. So you need to be bloody strong to pull one to full draw, and none of this holding too. You draw it, you fire it! In this case especially I do feel that Warhammer had the better system with the Weapon Skill and Bow/Ballistic skill stats rather than Strength and Dex.
Anyway, if you were to redesign a bunch of these weapons, I would seriously consider looking at their historical usage and context and go from there.
I'm glad to see someone else has gone to the effort of explaining how inaccurate the 5e weapon system is from a historical standpoint so I don't have to.
And don't get me started on all of the people in the community clamoring that katanas should be just better longswords because the Japanese folded their steel a ton and because anime. They had to fold their steel so much to get any decent steel since their iron was extremely impure and that's how you have to compensate for that problem. European steel tended to be better quality with much less work. Japanese steel also tended to be more brittle even after the folding, so to compensate, they would use much softer steel as the back of the blade to absorb deformation during quenching (as well as during combat) which is why the blades are curved. It also prevented them from making double-edged swords which give you a lot more options while in combat.
Building a weapon with that system could work, but a lot of time would have to go into the system it to make sure it's balanced (for example adding versatile for free would be too much to me), maybe you take a hit on the die type for each feature you add.
I definitely want strength to be a component for those much more powerful bows, but I've implemented one that had a strength requirement of 15, but was still dex to shoot. Having a requirement like that means that they have to have 2 high stats and allows you to increase the damage more than you might otherwise. Also I feel like the aiming would still be dex-based.
@@razzakbane I almost think aiming would be wisdom based. Reason being: I've shot recurve and longbow for years, you aren't really "aiming" so much as letting thousands of repetitions and instinct shoot the bow. I also have a compound, that's completely different. You are using a site, holding it steady, lining up pins and pulling the release trigger.
Honestly i love the blowgun, whip and darts myself but my group changed some things
Blowgun - you can use skills like sniper with it and blowguns can be enchanted and the darts thenselfs
Whip - it can be used to grapple an enemy as a bonus action if you attack with it or try and disarm someone with it
Dart - you can throw more then one as a ranged weapon up to 3 each hand
There simple changes but they made then so much more useful and i love using them
After a small google I learned that one of the most important aspects is that it makes noise to scare cattle. Maybe this can be added to the weapon to give those wielding it advantage on intimidation checks. Not an entirely crazy fix but something to give it a little more sustenance while maintaining its historical significance.
Other Idea, adding a grapple DC?
5e weapons simply suffer from the simplification of combat in 5e. In 3.5, weapons could be vastly different depending on their crit profile, but with crits defaulting to x2 (20), a lot of variant weapons collapsed into the exact same statline. The difference in performance between x2 (19-20) and x3 (20) is negligable, but the aesthetic, feel and personal preference shines through.
4:05 In one of my home games, I added a Flail variant where you could use an action to change the chain length. with a short length chain, it is a normal flail, but with a full chain, it is a 2 handed flail with reach
Great survey and video. The club probably ranks so high because you can combine it with the Shillelagh cantrip unlike the light hammer (due to not being all wood). Also thrown weapons relying on Strength limits their usefulness for most classes.
I’ve had to rework weapons for 5e more than once, as it’s the only system people want to play.
Two handed weapons add your strength modifier twice (or you gain a +2 bonus, whichever is higher) to damage rolls when you get a critical hit. You also gain a +1 bonus to damage rolls whenever you use both hands to deal damage with any melee weapon (excluding the floppy weapons like the whip)
Light weapons can inherently be concealed, and you can use them in your off hand with reduced penalties for two-weapon fighting. You can use a normal weapon in your main hand.
Finesse only allows you to substitute your strength modifier with your dexterity modifier for attack rolls. You ALWAYS need physical strength when it comes to melee, unless you use something like a lightsaber.
Charging was added as a property. Basically, when you move at least 20 feet in a straight line before attacking, you gain a +1 damage bonus for each tile you moved on your next attack roll. This is used for polearms and mounted weapons.
Sundering is used for weapons meant to ignore or bypass armor such as the mace, war hammer, or war pick. If a creature has natural armor of 15+ or wears heavy armor, you get a +1 to attack rolls using that weapon against the target.
Dueling was added to weapons that can parry more effectively, such as swords, the sickle, and the trident. While holding the dueling weapon, you aren’t incapacitated, and you can see your attacker, you gain a +1 bonus to AC vs melee attacks.
Dismounting was added to weapons meant to stop a charging enemy. Whenever you hit an enemy with a set up weapon attack (I hold my action to attack if someone moves within my reach), you gain a +1 damage bonus for every 5 feet the target moved during their turn.
I also added some weapons, such as the Arbalest, matchlock rifle and pistol, the Lucern (or crow’s beak), and reworked crossbows to function more like how they actually work (lotta damage, slow to reload) and other essentials that WOTC removed or never included for “accessibility”.
10:55 but Crossbow Expert is already a thing. nless you remove the feat, adding a repeating crossbow won't change a thing
Congratulations Grace World Destroyer on getting married to the one and only Bob!
I think I put it in the last video that was basically just a sponsor video but I figure I'll add it here because I've been having a lot of fun with the Warrior's Codex, which is a martial overhaul similar to the weapon variation Bob is after. They add a few more properties, like the ability to wrap around shields for flexible weapons like the mace that was mentioned in this video, but also they flesh out disarming and parrying and other real life martial combat occurrences into actual mechanics that I quite enjoy. You can even make your own weapons, as they boil the modifiers down to a point system, for instance I made a sword based off Sephiroth's sword, with reach (but also two-handed because who in the world could carry that thing)
They include weapon materials, modifications, and the base modifiers, which is only like, one chapter from the codex but I figure that's the most relevant lol
I had an idea of a "weapon building" system where a you could pick the weapon's damage and any special properties. Each would cost points, and all "normal/standard" would have the same amount of points, so you couldn't make a 2d6 light weapon. This would also be a great way for GMs to reward the players with some cool weapons without giving weak weapons (moon-touched sword), boring weapons (+1 weapons) or breaking the balance of the game with a powerful weapon (flame tongue). Also, after determining the stats of the weapon you can slap on whatever appearance you want (so no more war picks being forgotten)
I really like this style of system! If I were writing a new RPG, I'd probably go this route. For revising this system, I don't want to create something so unique
That's exactly what i'm trying to do with my friends
Not the most balanced thing 👀
For the scymitar the problem is that, as a historical weapon, it was desinged to be use while riding a horse.
It was light and resilient enough to withstand the strikes it would deliver and the curve of the blade would help slash trhough unrarmored oponents as it matches the curve of the swing of the riders arm. So, at least for me, is quite hard to find a way to make it more unique other than "Cool, you have advantage/deal more damage while riding a horse"
You made me realize how unoptimized my group is. I think we use all of the F-Tier and half the D-Tier weapons 😂
Honestly optimization is super over-rated. I'm into this more as a thought experiment than something I actually employ as a player :P
Bro the halberd is THE optimizer's weapon. This is not an optimization list. Halberds and glaives are probably the best martial weapons mechanically-wise
This list def isn't for optimization just a popularity poll the longsword is one of the weaker weapons in optimization
You know what's really funny I run my own version of D&D because I've just been evolving my game over the years & I have all of your concerns covered in my game. Good stuff.
Love your ideas for Sling variants! I homebrewed a staff sling for a druid character
Thank you! That's awesome!
Oh dang, those things are terrifying in real life. Have you considered ammunition types? The romans used lead shot(for consistent accuracy, range, damage), the Germans had rock with holes drilled through them( it creates a terrifying noise while they are airborne), or even darts( yup, you could totally shoot a crossbow bolt, Dart or arrow)
8:25 I think the confusion about why the light hammer ranked lower than the club is due to some confusion between the survey as written and the survey as interpreted.
The survey asks whether or not each weapon should be kept as is or changed, i.e. whether or not the rules for it feel appropriate. This is a different question than whether or not players like each weapon.
i.e.: Players think the club, a weapon PCs would only use in desperation or as a proxy for an improvised weapon, is fine as it currently stands. Players think the light hammer needs work, I'm guessing with either a larger damage die or a better thrown range.
I think it has to do with incompetence. Most players that voted in the survey have never used the weapons, forgot several of the weapons and didn't bother looking them up. Most have not ever contemplated how to best use the weapons. People are passionate, bias and incompetent and democratic votes like this usually end up like this. Unfortunately there are few better ways to do unless you want to find some elitistic test team to discuss with in which case you lose the average joes view of the world.
Bob! Okay, I'm going to cut this down to four parts.
1) I love what you're doing. I did a similar project about two years back, and I love seeing someone else try their hand at it.
2) You haven't brought up name recognition. I think this is really the Maul's problem, but also with the Morningstar, War Pick, etc. Most people just don't actually know the differences. I think that's why the Bill hasn't been printed in years.
3) Whips scare and flails impact. Both can go around shields, and that'd be a great mechanic, but neither are good at tripping. A flail however just delivers more brute force that a sword or spear can... unlike a whip which is so non-threatening that it's used as punnishment. You don't punnish with an ax, even a little one, because it'll ruin whoever you're punnishing. You do punnish with the whip. On the plus side, whips cause fear and can produce status effects other weapons can't.
4) Sling should do about the same damage, but also come with stunning status effects. They harass during combat, but rarely kill.
I think some weapons with lower damage, like whips, should have a fear inducing feature. Though not likely to kill a high CR opponent, it would hurt like h3ll and probably should allow the wielded to keep an opponent at bay similar to a push (rather that pulling closer) and I don’t think enough weapons result in a percentage chance of causing a foe to flee. With its range and the pain it would inflict, a whip should make it somewhat likely opponents would avoid engaging the wielded. My point being that damage does not need to be the sole utility.
This would be a great feature for the whip. Hearing that crack would definitely cause some foes to figuratively crap their pants.
I saw this idea in another comment, and while I love it for relying on a unique feature of the whip, I just can't get past the idea that a whip is any more frightening than getting attacked with sword. This is a utility feature like my snorkeling idae for the blowgun, and I don't think it needs hard and fast rules, but should be included as a suggested utility in the final version of this weapon project
I could see the whip making the area around you into difficult terrain instead of attacking, lots of media shows whips being used for area denial or movement control in addition to damage.
Regarding the greatsword-woth-reach-topic you mentioned, Bob, I have a small suggestion, maybe this could inspire you or something:
How about a new, small extra group of weapons, called gargantuan weapons or giant weapons or such. This group would only contain between 3-5 weapons, one for each type of damage and maybe a ranged option.
First of all, using such a giant weapon would require a certain strength score. And I am not talking about a 13 or something that low, I would say a 16 minimum. This would not only make sure that not every character can just wield this weapons unconditionally, but it would also make their occurance rarer and therefore more special.
Talking stats and weapon traits, I would spontaneously say: 2d8 damage (for all of them, to make sure none is stronger than the others); reach, heavy, two-handed. And who knows, maybe even a new, unique feature for these giant weapons only, for example something to knock a target prone if your rolled damage exceeds a certain number.
Finally, there are the weapons themselves. As already said, there should be one for each damage type.
For slashing, I would recommend a giant greatsword or ultra-greatsword, but it could also just be a giant blade in general. That way, you could flavor it in any way you like, as a giant axe, for example.
For bludgeoning, I would think of something like a giant hammer. And for piercing, a giant lance or halberd or so.
PS: nearly forgot, but I mentioned a ranged weapon option for these giant weapons. In general, the same goes for this one, 2d8 (probably) piercing damage; heavy, two-handed, a very good range, like (120/300) for example. This could be a siege-crossbow or a stationary crossbow. Maybe you could even add a new trait, that forces the wielder to sacrifice a bit of movement (like 5 or 10 feet) to use this weapon, since it is big and semi-stationary, but in turn it could reduce the target's movement by the same amount for one turn, if it hits, since it pushes them back or partially impales them or just slows them down in general.
Please let me know what you guys think of this idea, critique is always welcome ^^
Thank you Bob for the quality of work you do - this is really impressive and I am really looking forward to future videos on this topic. #2 and more importantly though, a huge congrats on your upcoming wedding! Will it be a traditional or a D&D themed wedding?
Thanks very much! :) The wedding will be mostly traditional, but we are using some Legend of Zelda music in the ceremony haha
Hi Bob! I’m new to DMing and this project of yours is the single most exciting homebrew thing I’ve seen as of late! I’ve been looking around for stuff to add to the game for my players and this is one I’ve got my eye on! Can’t wait for the completed product! Take your time and remember to enjoy :) also an early congrats on getting married! Remember to take a break and enjoy that as well
If a new longsword is added, it should just be the longsword but with the Finesse property (no increase in damage). Call it a "Great Scimitar," and it could be used as a two-handed scimitar, katana, etc. Long curved swords don't actually do more damage than their straight-edged European counterparts, so I don't think a damage increase is necessary, plus it would completely antiquate the use of the battleaxe, longsword, and other similar weapons.
Whip should be simple and spiked chain be brought back as the martial whip, unless we really wanna buff the spiked chain.
Chain should no be a whip as it has not the same properties as it.
Whip could have 1d6 reach one handed and have lowered crit requierment as it could crit on 19 and 20
Dagger could also have this or even crit from 18-20
For the sling i would add homemade ammo that could have additional properties. Like using oil to create flaming projectiles. Tossing sovereign glue like projectiles etc.
The biggest problem with increasing the crit range on a dagger is how exponentially more deadly the rogue becomes
@@kyleweir689 currently they just use short swords. So they would have to sacrifice more reliable damage for less but rarely more damage
10:40 i remember stumbling upon a signal arrow/bolt once, it essentially replaces the damaging tip with a whistle and could be used for distractions, signaling teammates from across long distances, and for practice
Changing the shortsword to simple makes sense. They were given to archers for backup and given to Centurions because it's pretty easy to teach how to use.
It seems a lot of the low tier weapons would be suits for DM use. Weapons for NPCs to use in combat, so looting PCs don’t make out with a treasure hoard in weapons.
Let’s give darts a double throw ability. They are small enough that for 1 action 2 darts can be thrown. Maybe 2nd dart as a bonus action, but not necessarily.
Let’s give darts a double throw ability. They are small enough that for 1 action 2 darts can be thrown. Maybe 2nd dart as a bonus action, but not necessarily.
Javelin should have a longer range.
Scimitars could have a double wield mechanic. When wielding 2 they ad a bonus to AC? Or some other minor feature from one of the dual wield features.
I miss the spiked chain. Back in 3rd ed, I played a fighter and took a zillion feats to focus on using the spiked chain, and if you were willing to spend your feats on that it was pretty badass.
I'm playing a trickster rogue that uses a whip. Sneak attack + booming blade and "reach" bumps the whip from F tier to at least B tier. The DM gave the whip a "trip" special attack with DC = Weapon Damage (w/o sneak attack) + 1d20 Athletics roll. Don't know if it's the optional formula but it was a free addition the DM gave to the weapon so no complaints
As others have pointed out to me, rogues don't actually have whip proficiency! Of course they could still use it, but it wouldn't include their proficiency bonus unless they're multiclassed with something that does get whip prof
Watching Dune made me think about a function for the dagger, what if it could bypass spells like shield? Giving it that mage killer niche.
Really interesting idea!
That is not a bad idea at all
about crossbows being repeating, The artificer class offers that as an infusion once you hit level 2. I used it on a crossbow and it was good because all ammunition not loaded into it was magical
I homebrewed a whip a "whip of miracles" that can be used with a smite abilities/spells, that can also be used 1x/day to cast lesser restoration. It is published on D&D beyond if anyone is interested
Had a pathfinder game with a whip specialist. He took feats allowing him to grab and trip people and he was DEVASTATING. Not so much in raw damage done, but he would put people on the ground where they could be attacked at a bonus, make attacks of opportunity when they got up, and allowed anyone with sneak attack (or the Precise Strike teamwork feat) do do their extra damage. We ripped through encounters with equal CR without even taking damage more often than not!
Based on the results from the question, this is more about "which weapon is more balanced" rather than people's "favorite" since people can have a favorite AND think it needs changes.
to add to the point abut the trident, it is the only polearm that is not compatible with the polearm master feat
Dang I didn't notice that!
A katana is basically a finesse longsword. No extra damage needed, just add the finesse property. At most, you could add the light property if used in combination with a dagger/shortsword (Tanto/wakisashi)
I just reflavored a glaive for one of my characters with a longer variant and fighting style, and for another I reflavored a magical Shortsword. But yes, a Katana is basically a longword (a medieval arming sword but in dnd). It is about the same length as an arming sword, is has about the same weight and cutting power as an arming sword. They both have a pointy end which you aparently cannot use in DND and you cannot really use the butt end for a punch either. Only the polearm can do this despite it being a common trope in fantasy.
I used a glaive with polearm master to gain a nice long katana which you could even hit with the butt end of it when unsheathing for example for a nice effect. Should it be a finesse weapon? Not so important, I prefer gish/hexblade anyway, thus I get the freedom and flavor for free.
katana: Blade length 60 ~ 80 cm, Mass 1.1 ~ 1.5 kg / longsword: Blade length 85 ~ 110 cm, Mass 1.0 ~ 1.5 kg. it shouldn't be light, we already have rapiers (longer and lighter than katanas)
I train with a katana and although it is not a light weapon, the fighting style with it is more finesse that strength based. You still need strength to use it (it weights little bit more than a kilogram, but it's shorter than a longsword) but it can be comfortably used with one hand
By that logic it should also be 1d6 damage weapon because of how motherfucking brittle 90%+ of their edges were and impotent against anything beyond very thin wood plates/any actually armored opposition they were (and still are when using in the "intended" way) and with that we return to the Scimitar.
@@ANDELE3025 Then any slashing weapon should do significantly less damage to armored targets and bludgeoning weapons should do more as armor was almost inmune to sword attacks but was crushed against maces
I wish you'd show the chart somewhere in the video so I could look at that.
Fun feature of the dart: while it does have finesse, you can also throw it with strength, and so it is a much more cost and space efficient projectile for a strength build than daggers, hand axes, or javelins.
the curved swords is something that 3.5 D&D differentiated fairly well. However they were not made for tripping, they were made for massive slashing critical. The falcion (sp?) is my particular favorite because it is designed to be super top heavy like an ax, specifically designed to crash down on an opponent severing their limbs.
12:23 I had to look up gradation. You learn something new every day!
"a minute change from one shade, tone, or color to another."
(figuratively for weapons of course)
If it isn’t Greatsword or Halberd, pretty sure you’re wrong.
Not you, Bob, specifically. That was a general “you.”
halberd and glaive are the same weapons
@@spiceyicey sure, that too.
THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN!
Tales of the Valiant, in their alpha preview, added weapon options to help differentiate between similar arms and also add flavour to combat. Some have d
Disarm or Trip (pretty straightforward), some such as a mace or club have Bash (which can disorient a foe). Some missile weapons have Pinning Shot or Ricochet Shot, which I look forward to see my players use.
Bob, I highly recommend you go watch some medieval weapon videos like those by Shadiversity. He does a good job explaining what the pros and cons of real world weapons are. A lot of the "should" statements you make in this video are really misaligned with reality. I realise not everyone tries to achieve realism, but it is beneficial to understand why certain weapons even existed IRL before trying to rework them.
Edit: a good starting point could be his "Medieval battlefield weapons ranked" video
It's been a while since I've watched any Shad! I'll certainly do some more research before locking in any decisions on these swords, etc.
@@BobWorldBuilder also look up scholagladiatoria. Matt Easton does great videos in a similar vein.
After reading some John Gwynne, I think a cool feature for the net would be some bonus versus flying creatures (assuming they are close enough to capture).
you can give a heavy crossbow the repeating property with a battle smith artificer and have a plus one heavy crossbow that ignores the reloading property that you can fire twice per round and use your intelligence as the attack stat.
For the scimatar, considering how top-heavy the blade is, i think some armor breaking effect like "if this weapon hit for more than X damage against an armored opponent, reduce their AC by 1 or 2"
It could aldo have some slow down effect because it can surely break some bones but i think armor break is unique enough
Back in 3/3.5 the weapons found uniqueness in their crits. The war pick did slightly less damage but would QUADRUPLE A CRIT showing that when you hit a sweet spot, it really drives in there. Swords usually had larger crit ranges like 18-20. Some weapons like the morningstar did piercing AND bludgeoning. There were even composite bows.
I believe what happened is they stripped away all these extra mechanics but they left in all the weapons. So now we just have a list of 40 weapons that share one of 5 stat blocks.
I think people are missing that the dart is basically the perfect weapon for a knife-throwing build.
It's incredibly cheap (it costs literally 40 times less than a dagger), it has the throwing propertie so it can use the throwing weapon fighting style (wich lets you draw it as part of your attack, perfect por classes with an extra attack, and also gives it a +2 to the damage) and it's also a ranged weapon so you can use it with the sharpshooter feat and the archery fighting style if you pick the fighting initiate feat! Meaning that it can deal a d4+12 in a single attack with a price of 5cp.
It also is the only ranged weapon with the finesse propertie, meaning that you could use it in a strength based build.
(Sorry if I've written something badly, English isn't my native language)
As I don't really like flanking rules, I instead made it a weapon property which I call flanking. Reduced the rapier to a d6 and gave it Flanking and added it to Daggers as is. I created an entire reworked weapon system in my game, but I really like all the ideas you are throwing out here.
Also repeating crossbows can be found in Out of the Abyss adventure. It is basically a version of light xbow but can be fired 6 times and has to be reloaded as an action. And probably a bit different range. My npcs rogue and pc rogue has it now, kinda useful
Ideas for a dagger could be that if you hit a creature you can impose a bleeding effect on the them, it could also be that it only happens on a crit
The problem with the blowgun is that it's never expected to do damage solo. There's always the expectation of delivering a poison or toxin to be the main purpose of the weapon. So without that part built-in, there really isn't a reason to carry a blowgun.
About the whip, probably can do things like the Belmont's whip of Castlevania, that can be bludgeoning damage, or like a whip flail or this kind of fantasy whip-sword that can change between the sword and whip state
I’ve introduced a spiked chain for one of my players, partially derived from the Shadar-Kai weapon.
So, for the spear
There needs to be a light spear with the finesse property and s heavy spear, with the versatile property (d6/d8).
A spear with reach is a pike.
A pike with excessive reach, is a long pike.
A glaive may have reach, or just keep it a d10 slashing.
You might make a trident a versatile d8/d10 or give it it's own shtick.
Halberds should be a d10, with options to slash or pierce.
Perhaps with reach, but if you make a shorter version call it a pollaxe and give it bludgeoning as well.
Maybe tack on the light property to the glaive to really differentiate it from the halberd. (Or if you're willing to, maybe finesse, probably not both).
Honestly functionally speaking theirs not too much you can do to nake them different without making a whole new system.
I would make the light spear, heavy spear, and pikes simple weapons (think levied armies).
And all the further variants Martial.
A big thing to make all of these more "accurate" and define them amongst each other would be to correct their weights and values to be more, relatively, in line with each other. Not that it would come up very often in game play, but it would certainly help them on the page.
I like the idea of weapons having unique features beyond their damage die, type and properties
The flail for example could negate any bonus to ac acquired by a shield, giving players a mechanical reason to pick it over the warhammer
The whip could have an option to attempt too either trip the target, restrain them or move then around within range
Anyone really interested in this subject should check out Magehandpress’ Craftsman class. The class itself is fun but kinda overwhelming, but the thing to check out is the apprentice weapon properties. It’s essentially a bunch of weapon properties used to balance the weapons already out there. Takes a while to really get a grasp of everything, but it makes a lot of weapons already in game make sense.
I did find giving a whip to my kensai Monk(Flavoured as a monk chain) was interesting since damage scales in the monk, but since you can still punch you threaten 2 different weapon ranges simultaneously. Allowing a bit more control of the surroundings while you tank.
Morningstar could be 1d4 piercing and1d4 bludgeoning for damage instead of 1d8 piercing. The damage type difference makes sense based on construction and makes it way more interesting. The flail could go the same way, but instead I'd rather see something else, like negating 1 AC *if* the defender uses a shield. This makes both situationally better and maintains uniqueness.
I kinda like how the d4 is sharp and spiky, like the morning star.
Man I remember darts being one of the few weapons a magic user could use in 1st edition, and I've never seen any magic user use a dart. I've never even heard of any NPC using a dart. I've never seen or heard described a magic dart. I can't even imagine a magic user throwing a dart in combat. Crazy.
It's nice to see I'm not the only one interested in STR bows and DEX longswords.
I feel like a lot of players, or at least I, have a strong fantasy of using a whip more like a versatile grapple-at-range weapon. Pulling a crossbow out of someone’s hand, or traversing pits by swinging from a piece of scaffolding.
I think more important than maintaining the historical accuracy of a weapon is to capture the fantasy of it. A massive part of DnD is making "It would be cool if…" a reality
Darts are the only ranged weapon with the thrown property, which is important for builds that pick up both the Archery & Thrown Weapon Fighting styles. It has a niche.
seems like a little thing, but showing every weapon in the graph on screen when you introduced would have made this video so much better
I like daggers most of all, because I've always played the rogue, and because being light weight I can carry 30 of them on my person at all times. One of my rogues was proficient in tinkers' tools (not a multi-classed artificer) and built a dagger bomb.
I would like a longsword "estoc" variant, having a bonus to attack against heavy armor. The estoc is an edgeless sword with a sturdy, pointed build.
Paulus Hector Mair's manual on fighting shows how to fight with a scythe and dual sickles.
The ship is finesse so you can sneak attack and do polearm master and sentinel plus bugbear and be insanely strong• you could also do 2 barbarian level for reckless attack and always get sneak attack•
Whip sry
Congrats on the wedding mate, it would be cool if ya posted a dnd wedding adventure.
I'd say a useful feature for the dagger and other similarly small or concealable weapons would be the "Concealed" trait that makes them easy to hide on your person or someone would have to actively search you with a Perception or Investigation check to see if they can find it on you. Really plays into the idea of them being hidden weapons and useful to sneak into places that would restrict them like a gala, the monarch's chambers, a court room, etc.
I had an idea for a hook sword. It's a light, finesse, martial weapon that does 1d6 slashing, but it has two unique properties.
1. You can try a trip attack with it at advantage.
2. You could hook two together, turning it into a 1 d8 bludgeoning weapon with a 10ft reach.
Other ideas I had were a
Ball and Chain: heavy, thrown (20, 60), martial weapon that does 1d12 bludgeoning,
Meteor Hammer: finesse, reach (10ft), martial weapon that does 1d6 bludgeoning. Special: Restraining Attack: You can also, as a bonus action, attempt to restrain an enemy with said weapon.
Monk's Spade: reach (10ft), martial, 2d4 slashing.
Chakram: thrown (20,60), Simple, 1d6 Slashing
Bill Hook: reach (10ft), simple, 1d6 piercing, Special: Grasping attack: You can use a bonus action to remove a shield or weapon from your enemy's hand. This requires an opposed strength check. If the attack is successful, the weapon or shield is moved 5 feet away from your enemy in a direction of your choosing.
Bolas: thrown (20, 60), simple, 1d4 bludgeoning, Special: Trip: When hit, your target must make a dexterity saving throw (8+DEX+PB), on a failed saving throw, the target is knocked prone.