Weapons Remastered, Revised
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Weapons Remastered, Revised he goal of this remaster is to increase the For instance, if a weapon allows an additional action to occur variety in weapons for the Fifth Edition of on hit, it will be an action that is already in the system such as Dungeons and Dragons. I feel that the current a shove or opportunity attack, or will provide a static bonus or list of arms is lacking in the following ways: key off of the player character’s (or monster’s) stat modifier or lack of variety in the feel of weapons when used proficiency bonus. This keeps it intuitive to check a character to attack, lack of utility options from different sheet and see where the numbers for an ability or effect come Tweapon options, and the existence of so-called from. “strictly better” armament that results in the near universal Secondly, I believe that, as a whole, non-magical weapons picking of certain weapons. leave a lot to be desired in terms of power, and an overall To counteract this, I will be presenting the following increase in versatility and damage is not unwarranted. I do, weapon list in two parts, much as it appears in the Player’s however, believe this applies mostly to the martial weapons, Handbook (PHB). First is a list of all the possible traits a which by all accounts do not represent nearly a large enough weapon can have. There are many more options here than are improvement over simple weapons. My go-to example is the included in the PHB, and not all of the traits from the base statistically identical spear and trident in the PHB, despite a weapon list remain unchanged. Second is the list of weapons trident weighing more and being considerably more difficult themselves. to wield in-game. As such, martial weapons will tend to be Changes I have made include altered damage dice and more effective, and I firmly believe that this is perfectly damage type options, as well as weight in some instances. reasonable. This section also includes a few new options of gear not Addendum: this work has been modified from its original previously included in the PHB. Shields are also included version. Properties have been altered and more weapons have here, as I expand on the anemic single option offered in the been added. The gunpowder and winged properties, the PHB. sections on ammunition, offensive adventuring gear, and siege It is important to bear in mind the design philosophy I am engines were all added later, as were many weapons. The approaching this task with. The first thing I will say is that I commentaries are almost entirely the work of the first author, want to somewhat adhere to the principles of Fifth Edition. but some mechanical descriptions have been edited or This is to say, I would like to keep weapon properties as changed, and pages explaining the reasoning behind some relatively straightforward and intuitive as possible. features have been removed. The original can be found here. Introduction 1 This is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC. Gunpowder Weapon Properties The weapon utilizes volatile chemical powder as a propellant to fire projectiles or to create explosions. Weapons with this Ammunition property cannot be used in damp conditions or underwater. You can use a weapon that has the Ammunition property to When used, a gunpowder weapon expels a bright flash of light, make a ranged attack only if you have Ammunition to fire from a puff of smoke, and an explosion of sound that can be heard the weapon. Each time you attack with the weapon, you by all creatures within 300 feet. Each time you attack with a expend one piece of ammunition. Drawing the ammunition gunpowder weapon, you expend one pinch of powder and a from a quiver, case, or other container is part of the attack single bullet. It takes an action to reload a gunpowder (you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon). At the weapon, and you must have one hand to hold the weapon and end of the battle, you can recover half your expended the other to reload during that action. ammunition by taking a minute to search the battlefield. Heavy Ensnaring The weapon is heavier and larger than a standard weapon, The weapon features chain, rope, or other parts that can aid lending it unique advantages and challenges. Small creatures in entanglement. When you hit with an ensnaring weapon makes attacks with heavy weapons at disadvantage, and heavy attack, you may use your bonus action to attempt to grapple weapons cannot be used to make more than one attack per the target, disarm them, or shove them prone, using your turn unless the wielder has a Strength score of 13 or higher. A weapon attack modifier in place of Strength (Athletics). If you Heavy weapon takes a bonus action to draw or stow. grapple a target with an ensnaring weapon, the grapple is automatically broken if you make another attack roll with that A heavy weapon allows you to make an attack relying more weapon. on raw strength instead of accuracy. When an attack is made with a heavy weapon that you're proficient in, you can forego Finesse adding their proficiency bonus to the attack roll. If the attack The weapon lends itself to dexterous combat due to features hits, you add that proficiency bonus to the damage roll. You that make aiming the weapon for precise strikes far easier. must decide to do this before making the attack roll. You must When making an attack with a finesse weapon, you use your be proficient in heavy weapons to make use of this feature. choice of your Strength or Dexterity modifier for the attack Finally, any attempts to disarm wielders of heavy weapons are and damage rolls. You must use the same modifier for both made at disadvantage. rolls. Light Finisher A light weapon is small and easy to handle. When you take the The weapon is particularly useful for making the most of Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon that you’re advantageous situations or an enemy at your mercy. When the holding in one hand, you can use a bonus action to attack with weapon is used to attack a prone creature, roll an additional a different light melee weapon that you’re holding in the other weapon damage die on a hit. hand. You don’t add your ability modifier to the damage of the bonus attack, unless that modifier is negative. Loading Because of the time required to load this weapon, you can fire only one piece of Ammunition from it when you use an action, Bonus Action, or reaction to fire it, regardless of the number of attacks you can normally make. Nonlethal The weapon is designed to incapacitate or is otherwise capable of delivering a hit that does not kill the target. Damage dealt with this weapon that reduces the target to zero hit points can immediately put the target in the unconscious state instead of killing them. They are considered stable in this state. All weapons may still be used to deal nonlethal strikes, but deal 1d4+STR bludgeoning damage instead of their typical value. Parry The weapon has some weapon catching or deflecting feature, allowing it to be used to parry incoming attacks. When you are attacked by a melee weapon attack from a target you can see, you can use your reaction to attempt to parry the attack, if you are wielding a parrying weapon. This parry adds +3 to your AC for that single attack, and must be declared before the result of the attack is known. 2 This is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC. Prone Fighting Sweeping When prone, attacks with these weapons are not made at The weapon makes attacks in broad, sweeping motions. When disadvantage. making an attack the wielder can declare it to be a sweeping attack. When such an attack with this weapon reduces a Range creature to 0 hit points, you may deal the weapon’s die in The weapon can be used to make attacks at a range beyond damage to another creature adjacent to the slain creature. If melee. A weapon that can be used to make a ranged attack there are two or more walls, friendly characters size medium has a range in parentheses after the ammunition or thrown or larger, or other such obstructions adjacent to the first property. The range lists two numbers. The first is the target, a sweeping attack is made at disadvantage. weapon's normal range in feet, and the second indicates the weapon's long range. When attacking a target beyond normal Thrown range, you have disadvantage on the attack roll. You can't If a weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the attack a target beyond the weapon's long range. weapon to make a ranged attack. If the weapon is a melee weapon, you use the same ability modifier for that Attack roll Reach and damage roll that you would use for a melee attack with The weapon has an extended length to it. This weapon adds 5 the weapon. You may add an amount of 5 times your Strength feet to your reach when you attack with it, as well as when score to the base range of a thrown weapon, unless your determining your reach for opportunity attacks with it.