PDA

View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next Hello, curious if you can come up with ballanced ideas for ths home-brew weapon



The15thwiseone
2017-10-27, 05:50 PM
I made a Hex-blade warlock 1, Bard x college of whispers character. I had his primary cover be a bard which is older and seemingly harmless, his real persona is a hired hit man sort of character. The issue is making sense what weapon he made a pact with...so we figured we'd make a homebrew weapon.

His idea for the weapon is I made a pact with the weapon to become stronger than the current wielder. I had more of a...interesting approach to the idea than that but it seems my DM wants me to make the negative perk be: "Stronger foes will approach you. (Increase random encounters rate and DC)" Which is quite a potent down side to having it.

My idea for the perks were to follow Saika from Durara. (I would post the link here but i am new so i cannot)

I said the personality would be a female Chaotic Neutral that longs to embrace everyone in its love. (Cut them) She loves the wielder as long as he uses her daily, keeps her clean, and engages in combat instead of avoiding it. Ultimately will get upset if you continue to avoid combat, perhaps even attempting to cause combat more likely or take over the owner.

3 charges per long rest:
Expell 1 charge to do a 'Charm strike' ad 2d6 damage to it. Do a charisma saving throw vs your spell difficulty class. Opponent is charmed if they fail the check following the standard charm rules (however minus concentration.)
Expell 3 charges to raise all those that this blade has slain within so long a time (unsure). For two minutes. They become Sword wielding zombies with a certain stat-line(unsure there as well).

third ability (flavor ability): Body Shint: You can store this weapon inside of you...use a action to draw it from you. You can place it back inside of you for free as if dismissing a pact weapon.

Of course magic item +2.

My DM thinks its too OP, what are your thoughts?

My character is more about persuasion, conning, and frightening people. So not sure if it would have that great of synergy or if it is too much as far as its usefulness.

I want to hear your thoughts, thanks. (This weapon will more than likely show up in curse of Strahd. )

Sariel Vailo
2017-10-27, 10:38 PM
I would make it a artifact as a weapon.so i do like it buuuuut hmmmm. You're only hexblade 1 hmmmmmmm. I uh i dont kbow how to feel the weapon is artifact like

CrazyCrab
2017-10-28, 12:48 PM
That's really strong, like very rare / legendary strong.

What level are you? Whether it's balanced or not will depend on the situation, really. If you're already lv 20 it won't add much, for example. If you're level 5, you'll be the strongest member in the party, by a long mile.

EDIT: Also, it's not written in the standard DnD format, making it a bit unclear. I can help out with that, once we figure out its level range / properties. :smallwink:

The15thwiseone
2017-10-28, 02:35 PM
I do not see how this is..that strong. Charm strike is basically a nova at late levels (which doesn't scale and can in a sense be ignored with charm immunity.) 3 per long rest. OR 1 charge of the zombie thing which requires the wielder to be the killer. 2 minutes of zombies (that we don't know the stats of yet) Isn't that powerful unless I go on a slaying rampage. Which I'm a bard, so doubtful that will happen.

But as for the level DM was probably going to include it in the game at level 7.

Describe to me how that is super strong....

As far as I know...All sentient weapons are 'this' potent. Unless you have another example to base it off of.

The15thwiseone
2017-10-28, 02:44 PM
I would make it a artifact as a weapon.so i do like it buuuuut hmmmm. You're only hexblade 1 hmmmmmmm. I uh i dont kbow how to feel the weapon is artifact like

Ultimately this is going cause random encounters to be added to a pool of encounters for a certain campaign. So many sword wielding red-eyed zombies being relatively resilient even though they are wearing common clothes.

At a certain point this will lead to a rare-drop which will lead to a magic/arcana check. Which then lead us to a town which will have 1 cloaked figure and a slew of zombies as a rather epic encounter at about level 7. Yes it is artifact-like and as such will most likely have a decent down side as well as some good perks.

Ultimately we want it to make sense,and the dm even said that my character wouldn't have it 'for long'. If anything more than likely gain it for a short time during the end of the next campaign. At what point the DM could very well say "The weapon is displeased with you and rejects you as its weilder, dropping from your body." Or such a such like that.

CrazyCrab
2017-10-28, 03:20 PM
Well, all +2 weapons are minimum rare items, so that's the starting point.

Then you have 3 daily smites, which are almost like a class feature and Charm is actually quite good, can take the enemy out of action, and that's for free, on hit - no actions or bonus actions required. Good stuff. I'd say uncommon, if it was on its own.

Then the ever-ambiguous "zombie call"... Call zombie is a Lv 3 spell, increasing at higher levels. Giving them swords makes them quite respectable at combat, with a +3 / 1d8+1 dmg. Assuming 5 zombies (not all that unreasonable, given most late game encounters). that's a LV 5+ spell, marking it at least as rare. I'd make the timer something like "since the last long rest" and have it reset each long rest to not break the game with infinite zombies after killing a village when you know you're facing a dragon or something. Also needs an upper cap, maybe maximum 9 zombies, spell level 7.

The flavor ribbon is nice, but nothing too special, no changes there.

So, Rare+Uncommon+Rare on 1 item, I'd guess Very Rare is a fair estimate. Legendary may be a bit too much, you're right. I'd say getting it as a drop around level 9-11 makes sense, though 7+ shouldn't break the game or annoy the other party members... unless there's a necromancer, who will be annoyed that you can summon zombies better than be can, even though that's his whole shtick. And yeah, intelligent items are rare, so that also contributes to the "very rare" rating.

At least that's my guess.

The15thwiseone
2017-10-28, 03:46 PM
I appreciate your input man. My intent was to have the zombie thingy be....limited per long rest to 1 time use. So I am in full agreement.

I am not used to making home-brew stuff, so this is appreciated advice.

demonslayerelf
2017-10-28, 04:45 PM
Just putting it in proper format before reviewal...

Saika(?)
You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon. It has the following additional properties.

Body Shint.(Whatever a shint is...) You may store Saika within your own body. You may store Saika freely, and she may be drawn as an action.

The sword has 3 charges for the following properties. The sword regains all expended charges daily at dawn.
Charm Strike. When you hit with a melee attack using the sword, you can expend 1 charge to deal an additional 2d6 [Slashing Damage? Psychic Damage?] and force the victim to make a charisma saving throw against your spell DC. Upon a failure, the creature is charmed for . While charmed, the creature [Motivation for charm? Any details here? No? Okay]... Is charmed :/

Enslave Victims. As a(n?) [Action? Bonus Action? Nothing?], you may expend three charges from [I]Saika to raise all creatures of whom you killed within the last [Unknown] minutes as zombies(Who magically obtain swords.) These zombies remain animated for two(?) minutes.

Sentience. Saika is a sentient chaotic neutral weapon with an Intelligence of X, a Wisdom of Y, and a Charisma of Z. It has [Insert Senses and Languages.]

Personality. Saika speaks in a honeyed tone to the wielder who keeps her happy. Saika's purpose is only to cut to pieces all she loves. She'll allow the wielder to escape this love for as long as she is able to shred her other loves, keep clean and cared for, and engages in her purpose as much as possible.



Welp, I'd say this wholly depends on details. On it's own, I'd say it's a bit much for a 1st tier character, unless it's a relatively high-powered game, even if every duration is a single turn.
I mean, this is more or less an insta-kill on 3 smallish things, like kobolds or goblins. You don't specify the type of sword she is, but I'll assume Longsword.
Let's say you're fighting... Like, a ton of goblins. You see the Goblin Boss, you do your hexblade things, Hex him, Hexblade Curse, all that jazz.
We'll assume the rest of the party totally ignores him.
You run up and hit him, just once, and it's not a crit. With 1d10, 2d6 from Charm Strike, 1d6 from Hex, +4(Ish) from Charisma, +2 from the enchantment, and +2 from Hexblade Curse, you're batting an average of 24(Ish) damage, when he only has 21 health. If he does survive, he has to make a save against charm after being dropped to(At most) 9 health. Then you heal a bit, you can throw your Hex on someone else, and you still have 2 more charm strikes.

I mean, the goblin boss could redirect it, but that's just a tricksy goblin thing... You get the point.

So, at 1st level? Kinda OP, yeah. An extra 2d6 is basically an extra greatsword swing, then there's the charm, and it's a bit too much. I won't say tone it down though.
I would present, to your DM, the idea that the antagonist has the sword, and that part of your mission is to rescue your master. If this antag won't last long, then the next one will steal it, or something.

The15thwiseone
2017-10-28, 04:52 PM
Just putting it in proper format before reviewal...

Saika(?)
You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon. It has the following additional properties.

Body Shint.(Whatever a shint is...) You may store Saika within your own body. You may store Saika freely, and she may be drawn as an action.

The sword has 3 charges for the following properties. The sword regains all expended charges daily at dawn.
Charm Strike. When you hit with a melee attack using the sword, you can expend 1 charge to deal an additional 2d6 [Slashing Damage? Psychic Damage?] and force the victim to make a charisma saving throw against your spell DC. Upon a failure, the creature is charmed for . While charmed, the creature [Motivation for charm? Any details here? No? Okay]... Is charmed :/

Enslave Victims. As a(n?) [Action? Bonus Action? Nothing?], you may expend three charges from [I]Saika to raise all creatures of whom you killed within the last [Unknown] minutes as zombies(Who magically obtain swords.) These zombies remain animated for two(?) minutes.

Sentience. Saika is a sentient chaotic neutral weapon with an Intelligence of X, a Wisdom of Y, and a Charisma of Z. It has [Insert Senses and Languages.]

Personality. Saika speaks in a honeyed tone to the wielder who keeps her happy. Saika's purpose is only to cut to pieces all she loves. She'll allow the wielder to escape this love for as long as she is able to shred her other loves, keep clean and cared for, and engages in her purpose as much as possible.



Welp, I'd say this wholly depends on details. On it's own, I'd say it's a bit much for a 1st tier character, unless it's a relatively high-powered game, even if every duration is a single turn.
I mean, this is more or less an insta-kill on 3 smallish things, like kobolds or goblins. You don't specify the type of sword she is, but I'll assume Longsword.
Let's say you're fighting... Like, a ton of goblins. You see the Goblin Boss, you do your hexblade things, Hex him, Hexblade Curse, all that jazz.
We'll assume the rest of the party totally ignores him.
You run up and hit him, just once, and it's not a crit. With 1d10, 2d6 from Charm Strike, 1d6 from Hex, +4(Ish) from Charisma, +2 from the enchantment, and +2 from Hexblade Curse, you're batting an average of 24(Ish) damage, when he only has 21 health. If he does survive, he has to make a save against charm after being dropped to(At most) 9 health. Then you heal a bit, you can throw your Hex on someone else, and you still have 2 more charm strikes.

I mean, the goblin boss could redirect it, but that's just a tricksy goblin thing... You get the point.

So, at 1st level? Kinda OP, yeah. An extra 2d6 is basically an extra greatsword swing, then there's the charm, and it's a bit too much. I won't say tone it down though.
I would present, to your DM, the idea that the antagonist has the sword, and that part of your mission is to rescue your master. If this antag won't last long, then the next one will steal it, or something.
Yeah I mean, it was planned to be a sort of random encounter-hidden quest my dm inserts into the quest. I wouldn't anticipate it be included to about level 7ish. Level 1 its def a bit much, totally agree there. Thanks for the formating help.

cdax
2017-11-01, 02:03 AM
It is definitely a strong weapon.

Like people said, it depends on so many different factors, from the power level of the game to the way you may role play it.

Perhaps if you threw in some drawbacks, or interesting ideas for "quest locks" on the abilities to make it more of that double edged chaotic feel?