Which rarity do you give to this magical longsword?

[Ryuu Hayato]

Which rarity do you give to this magical longsword?


When you hit with an attack using this magic sword using your two hands, your damage become 2d8 + Str mod. slashing damage, also it count as heavy for the purpose of using any features from your class, or other source. In addition, the weapon ignores resistance to slashing damage.
You can use a bonus action to cause this magical sword to shed bright light in a 10-foot radius and dim light for an additional 10 feet, or to extinguish the light.

[Kane0]

Rare, possibly Very Rare.

[Rerem115]

Very rare; it does damage comparable to a +2 Greatsword. While it doesn't have the to-hit bonus, it does have an extra ability.

[DracoKnight]

Very Rare, since it will bypass even things that resist magical slashing damage.

[Ryuu Hayato]

and now?
Thank you guys for the replying :smallsmile:

[Quintessence]

Very Rare, ignoring slashing resistance is too strong to be ranked at rare IMO

[Malifice]

Concur with very rare.

[Firechanter]

Excuse me, but which monsters _do_ actually have resistance to magical slashing damage?
Would that feature, for instance, count against a Golem's resistance to non-adamantine weapons?

Either way, I can't see a Very Rare rating justified.
An average of +2dmg with no To Hit bonus is no better than a +1 to Attack and Damage. A +1 Weapon is Uncommon.
If it overcomes Golem DR, then it's worth another step. Otherwise it seems pretty worthless.
That little bit of illumination is just a ribbon with the effectiveness of a 1cp torch, not worth another step.

So the entire contraption should be just Uncommon or Rare, depending on how effective the DR bypass is.

[Gastronomie]

If extra damage defined the rarity of items, Flame Tongue will make no sense to be Rare.

The only monster that resists magical slashing is, as far as I know, the Demilich.

This is Rare, or even uncommon.

[MrStabby]

I can't see very rare, even rare seems a bit tight.

2D8 + str damage for a great weapon that elves get proficiency with? 2 extra damage on a non critical hit with no bonus to hit is no big deal.

The slashing resistance bypass is nice, but almost all slashing resistance is bypassed by magical weapons anyway. Given that if the PC was up against something immune to slashing they could probably just draw another weapon anyway it isn't a big bonus.

The context is also key - at the level where you would get rare or very rare items and extra +2 damage per hit isn't a big deal, even on a fighter with 3 attacks.

My vote would be for uncommon.

[Firechanter]

Of course, this is based on the idea of balance, that more useful enhancements are more difficult to create, and therefore rare.

However, this weapon may be just ribbons without real application - but for exactly that reason, it may as well be Very Rare, because who in their right mind would waste the resources to create such a contraption? XD

[Gastronomie]

I can't see very rare, even rare seems a bit tight.

2D8 + str damage for a great weapon that elves get proficiency with? 2 extra damage on a non critical hit with no bonus to hit is no big deal.

The slashing resistance bypass is nice, but almost all slashing resistance is bypassed by magical weapons anyway. Given that if the PC was up against something immune to slashing they could probably just draw another weapon anyway it isn't a big bonus.

The context is also key - at the level where you would get rare or very rare items and extra +2 damage per hit isn't a big deal, even on a fighter with 3 attacks.

My vote would be for uncommon.Technically this works better than 2d6+2 with criticals. Just a little bit.

[Plaguescarred]

I'd label it as very rare

[Theodoxus]

I don't know when you changed it from 'magical slashing' to just 'slashing', but as written, that overcomes barbarian/rage resistance, which a lot of things have.

I know if the barbarians in my games came across something that ignored their resistance, when as far as I know, nothing does - they'd freak out.

Just for that alone, I'd throw my hat into the Very Rare category, possibly even Legendary - and then track down the enchanter (or at least their research notes) and make me a ton of resistance bypassing weapons and do away with the barbarian scourge!

[DivisibleByZero]

It's a longsword.
It deals 1d8+str
Its also versatile, dealing 2d8+str when used two handed, and when used in such a manner of also gains the heavy quality.

That's not unimportant.
If you want to use Dueling and S&B, you can. If you want to use Great Weapon Fighting and GWM, you can.
If you want to be an elf gish that doesn't want to multiclass but still had access to GWM +10 damage, you can.
This is basically the best versatile weapon ever.

Very rare, definitely.

[MrStabby]

It's a longsword.
It deals 1d8+str
Its also versatile, dealing 2d8+str when used two handed, and when used in such a manner of also gains the heavy quality.

That's not unimportant.
If you want to use Dueling and S&B, you can. If you want to use Great Weapon Fighting and GWM, you can.
If you want to be an elf gish that doesn't want to multiclass but still had access to GWM +10 damage, you can.
This is basically the best versatile weapon ever.

Very rare, definitely.

Being able to be used in two different ways is only really a benefit if the PC cant actually carry a backup weapon/shield. With a greatsword, a longsword and a shield - affordable from 1st level I think, the PC would have this amount of utility anyway.

And how many enemies do you honestly come across that are resistant to magical physical damage anyway? What are you going to fight that you couldn't get round by just drawing a weapon that does a different type of damage anyway?

A pitiful damage increase isn't worth much.

The ability be be an elf Gish with no multiclass may be a bit niche. It becomes even more niche when Valor Bards, Bladelocks, Eldritch Knights, Paladins all get access to martial weapon proficiency anyway. No one else in the PHB gets more than one attack anyway. If they are taking a single attack class and GWM... then this is not going to realistically fix their character (mechanically).

[MaxWilson]

Which rarity do you give to this magical longsword?

Depends. Who makes it? Is there any reason for it to be well-known? E.g. was this weapon commonly used by soldiers of a lost civilization? Is there any reason for it NOT to be a unique one-off? The way it's written sounds like a story. Specific items like the Staff of Defense (https://xebthazu.obsidianportal.com/wikis/staff-of-defense) don't have a rarity AFAIK, they're just unique.

In terms of power level, it's probably on par with a Greatsword +1 with some minor light-related properties. (Against AC 16, the Greatsword +1 would increase an Str 20 9th level GWM fighter's DPR by 15%; the 2d8 weapon would increase his damage by 9%.) If power level and rarity were the same thing though, Universal Solvent wouldn't be rated the same (Legendary) as a Staff of the Magi.

Furthermore, "rarity" never appears on the treasure tables; it's used only in the crafting rules and the item selling rules, both of which are poorly-written rules (mere rule sketches, really) that oughtn't to be used in their current form. So you can ignore rarity entirely and lose nothing.

[Baptor]

Depends. Who makes it? Is there any reason for it to be well-known? E.g. was this weapon commonly used by soldiers of a lost civilization? Is there any reason for it NOT to be a unique one-off? The way it's written sounds like a story. Specific items like the Staff of Defense (https://xebthazu.obsidianportal.com/wikis/staff-of-defense) don't have a rarity AFAIK, they're just unique.

In terms of power level, it's probably on par with a Greatsword +1 with some minor light-related properties. (Against AC 16, the Greatsword +1 would increase an Str 20 9th level GWM fighter's DPR by 15%; the 2d8 weapon would increase his damage by 9%.) If power level and rarity were the same thing though, Universal Solvent wouldn't be rated the same (Legendary) as a Staff of the Magi.

Furthermore, "rarity" never appears on the treasure tables; it's used only in the crafting rules and the item selling rules, both of which are poorly-written rules (mere rule sketches, really) that oughtn't to be used in their current form. So you can ignore rarity entirely and lose nothing.

/clap /huzzah

I kept on scrolling thinking I would be the one to break this news, but it seems you've beaten me to it.

Rarity is meaningless unless you are operating within the very specific world the Core Rulebooks paint (which is supposed to be the Realms I guess?) Rarity is just that: how frequently something appears in the world. Even then, like maxwilson said, it's poorly defined. Rarity has absolutely nothing to do with power. Yes in many situations the more rare an item is, the more useful or powerful it is, but it is by no means an absolute.

As far as power, I again would agree with maxwilson. This is somewhere between a +1 and +2 Greatsword. If I had to pass judgement I'd err with caution and say +2 Greatsword. It has some very niche abilities that others have mentioned, but these are so niche they are almost ribbons.

But "rarity" is a meaningless metric and you should ignore it. I tried to make sense of it from a power/mathmatics side and nearly went mad. A better guide (though not by much) are the treasure tables. Better to just trust your instincts as a DM.

[Kane0]

Whis is this for, exactly? What level are they?