Weapons Remastered, Revised
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
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 overly damp conditions or You can use a weapon that has the Ammunition property to underwater. When used, a gunpowder weapon expels a bright make a ranged attack only if you have Ammunition to fire from flash of light, a puff of smoke, and an explosion of sound that the weapon. Each time you attack with the weapon, you can be heard by all creatures within 300 feet. Each time you expend one piece of ammunition. Drawing the ammunition attack with a gunpowder weapon, you expend one pinch of from a quiver, case, or other container is part of the attack powder and a single bullet. It takes an action to reload a (you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon). At the gunpowder weapon, and you must have one hand to hold the end of the battle, you can recover half your expended weapon and the other to reload during that action. ammunition by taking a minute to search the battlefield. Heavy Ensnaring These weapons are larger and heavier than most, lending The weapon features chain, rope, or other parts that can aid them 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 your 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. Finally, When making an attack with a finesse weapon, you use your any attempts to disarm wielders of heavy weapons are made choice of your Strength or Dexterity modifier for the attack at disadvantage. and damage rolls. You must use the same modifier for both rolls. Light A light weapon is small and easy to handle. When you take the Finisher Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon that you’re The weapon is particularly useful for making the most of holding in one hand, you can use a bonus action to attack with advantageous situations or an enemy at your mercy. When the a different light melee weapon that you’re holding in the other weapon is used to attack a prone creature, roll an additional hand. You don’t add your ability modifier to the damage of the weapon damage die on a hit. 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 1+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. Additionally, when an attack you make with a sweeping Prone Fighting weapon that dealt slashing damage reduces a creature to 0 hit When you are prone and make a melee attack with this points, any remaining damage applies to a target adjacent to weapon, you do not suffer disadvantage for being prone. the first if it is within your reach. If that target is also reduced to 0 hit points, repeat this process, carrying over the Range remaining damage until there are no valid targets, or until the The weapon can be used to make attacks at a range beyond damage carried over fails to reduce an undamaged creature to melee. A weapon that can be used to make a ranged attack 0 hit points. has a range in parentheses after the ammunition or thrown property. The range lists two numbers. The first is the weapon's normal range in feet, and the second indicates the Thrown If a weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon's long range. When attacking a target beyond normal weapon to make a ranged attack. If the weapon is a melee range, you have disadvantage on the attack roll. You can't weapon, you use the same ability modifier for that Attack roll attack a target beyond the weapon's long range. and damage roll that you would use for a melee attack with the weapon. You may add an amount of 5 times your Strength Reach modifier to the base range of a thrown weapon, unless your The weapon has an extended length to it.