Homebrew: Weapon Handling Feat

[ImproperJustice]

So there is a playstyle popular at our table which the current 5e rules clash with somewhat. It is the ability to quickly switch between different types of weapons without having to drop weapons all over the place.

So after some discussion and some thought we developed the following feat, and we want to open it to internet critique to see if it sems reasonable. Is there some broken aspect to it we are missing, or could it use some tweaking?

So without further ado:


Weapon Handling
Description: You are skilled at handling various weapon types and fighting styles allowing you to be a more flexible combatant.

Choose Strength or Dexterity and raise that attribute by 1.

You can take two additional object interactions per round for the purpose of drawing and storing weapons and shields.

Once per rest, you may grant yourself advantage on a weapon attack roll.

Thoughts?

In theory, a character could fire a longbow, store the weapon, and switch to weapon and shield in the same round. At least that is the high concept.

[Vogie]

RAW says dropping a weapon is free, no action required.
RAW also says donning a shield takes a full action (PHB 146), but unsheathing a sword or picking up a weapon from the floor can be mixed in with a movement or attack action (PHB 190).

It sounds like you want a reduced-power version of the 3.5 Ring of Arming... instead of storing all your armor (and donning it all in a single action), you just want to switch between weapons. That's probably worth a ring slot if that's what you're looking for, and possibly less than a full action to do so. I don't think a feat is worth it.

And, since it's one solution for everything, it's worth mentioning that one can do that with a 3-level warlock dip. Pact of the blade, Archfey Patron, Moon Bow invocation (UA). Since your other weapons are pact weapons, they vanish after being dropped and/or moved away from, but it still takes an action to summon them... So you could only use pact weapons initially, toss them aside, then draw your actual sword as part of the attack or movement action. You wouldn't have a shield though...

Unless you use this homebrew invocation from Middle Finger of Vecna (http://mfov.magehandpress.com/2017/02/the-mystical-talisman.html):
Shield of Atropus
Prerequisite: 4th level, Pact of the Blade feature
You can create and/or bind a Pact Shield in addition to your Pact Blade. You are proficient with this shield, and you can summon both your shield and your blade as a single action. Your pact shield does not benefit from other invocations that benefit your pact blade. .

[Vaz]

RAW says dropping a weapon is free, no action required.
RAW also says donning a shield takes a full action (PHB 146), but unsheathing a sword or picking up a weapon from the floor can be mixed in with a movement or attack action (PHB 190).

It sounds like you want a reduced-power version of the 3.5 Ring of Arming... instead of storing all your armor (and donning it all in a single action), you just want to switch between weapons. That's probably worth a ring slot if that's what you're looking for, and possibly less than a full action to do so. I don't think a feat is worth it.

And, since it's one solution for everything, it's worth mentioning that one can do that with a 3-level warlock dip. Pact of the blade, Archfey Patron, Moon Bow invocation (UA). Since your other weapons are pact weapons, they vanish after being dropped and/or moved away from, but it still takes an action to summon them... So you could only use pact weapons initially, toss them aside, then draw your actual sword as part of the attack or movement action. You wouldn't have a shield though...

Unless you use this homebrew invocation from Middle Finger of Vecna (http://mfov.magehandpress.com/2017/02/the-mystical-talisman.html):
Shield of Atropus
Prerequisite: 4th level, Pact of the Blade feature
You can create and/or bind a Pact Shield in addition to your Pact Blade. You are proficient with this shield, and you can summon both your shield and your blade as a single action. Your pact shield does not benefit from other invocations that benefit your pact blade. .

All true but also Irrelevant considering that it is primarily going to affect Throwing Characters.

[iTreeby]

You could just rule its more fun not to worry about it so nobody has to burn a feat to ignore the book keeping.

[Easy_Lee]

You could just rule its more fun not to worry about it so nobody has to burn a feat to ignore the book keeping.

I'd go with that. Besides, drawing and attacking in one motion is popular in some sword styles. It's not unreasonable to think people could develop similar techniques for other weapons.

[lunaticfringe]

You can just pretend thrown weapons gain the Ammunition property when used to make ranged attacks.

Burning a feat is kinda meh if you want help out throwers. If you're homebrewing might as well take it a step further. I made Versatile weapons wielded in 2 hands kosher for GWM to assist Small characters.

Oh gosh! That Halfling Barbarian is just as cool as a Human Barbarian! Nooooooo!
What! That Fighter who throws daggers can use all of his Attacks! Preposterous!

[suplee215]

for throwing I'll probably do something like "grabbing a weapon with the thrown property is free" and also give it the sharpshooter benefit of ignoring short/long range.

[ImproperJustice]

Thanks to everyone for the feedback.

The general consensus seems to be that as a feat, this just doesn't do as much as it should to warrant a feat selection.

The original idea was born out of a desire by a champion fighter to emulate Taskmaster who freely switches between using a bow, sword and shield, and various other weapons.
I think he even wields a pistol in the same hand that holds a shield.
Sometimes he swaps weapons in what would be considered a single round.
I get that porting over a super hero concept to 5e is not the best starting point, but that is where we were going.

Hand waving seems to be the best way to handle this.
Honestly, who likes having all their drawing and stowing weapons consume their actions anyways.

[DarkKnightJin]

Well, if you're wanting to get a Fighter, Paladin, or Ranger the ability to swap between weapons on the fly.. You could make the quickswap a Fighting Style, instead of a feat.

Let them draw and stow weapons as a free action (within reason, of course), and be able to stow a sword and pull out a bow in 1 turn. Basically, any swap from 1 weapon to another doesn't take up the item interaction they have for their turn.
Maybe allow them to wield a Light weapon in the same hand as a Shield, but forego the +2 AC while they're using it to deal damage instead of shielding themselves. Semi-doff the shield as well, as it were.
I think you could make a reasonable Taskmaster expy with that.
And they don't get another fighting style for more cheese. Unless they MC into a class that gets another pick. Or go for Champion 10.

[Honest Tiefling]

I suggest something different: Giving this feat for free to all paladins, rangers, barbarians and fighters, perhaps even alongside another feature (such as Extra Attack) or even just at different levels for the different classes. The warriors get to benefit from being warriors and feel more like warriors, but maybe the Diviner Wizard doesn't need this feature?

I don't think it should be a feat, but it also depends on how many encounters you toss at your players where switching weapons becomes necessary or a good idea. If the table feels like it is needed to avoid dragging combat down, then perhaps it's just a better idea for your table to adopt it as a house rule rather than a feat?

[Vogie]

All true but also Irrelevant considering that it is primarily going to affect Throwing Characters.

There is no mention of Throwing characters, or weapons, in the OP.


I suggest something different: Giving this feat for free to all paladins, rangers, barbarians and fighters, perhaps even alongside another feature (such as Extra Attack) or even just at different levels for the different classes. The warriors get to benefit from being warriors and feel more like warriors, but maybe the Diviner Wizard doesn't need this feature?

I don't think it should be a feat, but it also depends on how many encounters you toss at your players where switching weapons becomes necessary or a good idea. If the table feels like it is needed to avoid dragging combat down, then perhaps it's just a better idea for your table to adopt it as a house rule rather than a feat?

Yeah, the entire presumption for something like this being needed is a bit off for the normal encounter. Even if you were trying to "get Jinx'd" on a normal basis (the League of Legends character whose "abilities" are switching between a minigun, two types of rocket launchers, a laser pistol & grenades), that would nearly require an encounter created solely for the purpose of making it useful to do so.

Martials are feat-heavy already, but tying it to the Extra Attack feature would more sense than just giving it to everyone for free.


Actually, having this ability act similar to a Concentration spell would make gameplay and storytelling sense. A person running into the battle from the outside would be able to Fire their long bow and throw an alchemical weapon just fine, but someone in the thick of it wouldn't be nearly as able to swap weapons whilst being hit repeatedly. It would also allow for gameplay decisions with other spellcasters, such as a Ranger choosing between the benefits of Hunter's Mark vs the utility of "Weapon Handling"

[Vaz]

Perhaps allow it to make an attack as a Reaction to being attacked; must drop anything it is holding in a given hand, and make an attack against the enemy who attacked it immediately after resolving the effects of the attack.

Works well with a Rogue (Sneak Attack Iaijustsu from 3.5?), or just any character who can draw a ranged weapon.

[Oramac]

If you want it for Thrown Weapons, look at the Tal'Dorei Campaign Guide from Critical Role. There's a very good Thrown Weapon feat included in it. I'm AFB right now so I can't tell you exactly what it says.

Other than that, honestly, I'd just ignore the rules and let the players swap out weapons. Fun is more important than the rules, and this doesn't really break anything in a big way.

[rbstr]

There's no large problem in simply letting someone swap weapons w/o dropping shenanigans or throwing multiple daggers.

The case I would worry about is whatever "solution" allows someone to make two-handed weapon attacks and gain the benefits of a shield in the same round. That blows up the balance of sword+board vs. two-handers.
That's why shields are "sticky" and need your action to don/doff, more than anything. If you make don/doffing a shield free item interaction, for example, you get a shield every other round w/o sacrificing two-hander damage.
That includes bows too. A longbow-user really shouldn't get to have their two-handed, heavy, ranged weapon cake in the first round and get to eat the rest of the round's attacks with a shield and rapier up!