A Heavy Weapon Halfling Idea

[Vox Silentii]

I just got this idea for a character thats a halfling but for some reason only wants to use the greatsword that his ogre friend gave to him.
Dragging it around everywhere he goes, having a hard time hitting things and never lets it out of his sight.
In a way i want to have the disadvantage when using it but balancing it out in some other things he does.
He wants to adventure, it's his dream. I just keep imagining him in over sized plate armor with a sword thats bigger than him but still pulling his weight (pun intended)

[sophontteks]

Oversized variant rules.
Disadvantage on attack. One damage die larger.
So roll 2d8 at disadvantage.
Thats about as generous as one can be. When a character intentionally does something that puts them at disadvantage, it should put them at a disadvantage. Perhaps your character will learn that this won't work or a party member will help to show them the way to fight proper.

[Vox Silentii]

Oversized variant rules.
Disadvantage on attack. One damage die larger.
So roll 2d8 at disadvantage.
Thats about as generous as one can be. When a character intentionally does something that puts them at disadvantage, it should put them at a disadvantage. Perhaps your character will learn that this won't work or a party member will help to show them the way to fight proper.

I dont want to increase the damage die, i want to keep it 2d6. Because he doesn't want pity or to be looked down upon. So i don't want special rules in a way.
Im more thinking of what class he should be to make some use of it.
Be it samurai to cancel out the disadvantage or paladin or war cleric or something else.
Msybe even just take true strike and flavor it as him just lifting the weapon.
Gwm as he just flings it around or barbarian for reckless attacks

[Spectrulus]

Barbarian rage would help, as would flanking mechanics I believe.

Alternatively, a kobold with pack tactics could sort of work, minding their racial strength penalty...

[nickl_2000]

Going Kobold would be much easier with pack tactics cancelling it out.

-Barbarian for reckless attacks
-Oath of Conquest Paladin gets hold person at level 5
-Battlemaster precision strike would help you hit despite disadvantage
-Anyone who can cast Fairy Fire will help a lot
-War Cleric +10 to hit would help
-Valor Bards bardic inspiration to hit would help
-Using the first attack to shove the prone will give advantage on the next attack

[Quoxis]

I dont want to increase the damage die, i want to keep it 2d6. Because he doesn't want pity or to be looked down upon. So i don't want special rules in a way.
Im more thinking of what class he should be to make some use of it.
Be it samurai to cancel out the disadvantage or paladin or war cleric or something else.
Msybe even just take true strike and flavor it as him just lifting the weapon.
Gwm as he just flings it around or barbarian for reckless attacks

So you want to cancel out your disadvantage after all, your initial post was phrased like you wanted to keep it for some reason.

To cancel it out, you need advantage.
You can either hope that your party can grant it (mastermind rogue, spellcaster with faerie fire and the likes) or you try to provide advantage for yourself.
You can get advantage on attacks with certain class features as you said, so i won’t go into the details there, but you’re not limited to that.

You attack with advantage if the target can’t see you.
- Hiding behind other creatures is RAW for lightfoot halflings, and if you attack with a reach weapon (glaive, pike) you can set this up pretty easily regardless of your class as long as there’s a bigger melee combatant on your team. Flavor it as your character hiding behind the goliath barbarian just to poke people in front of him from between the barbarians legs for lulz.
- 4 levels of shadow sorcerer give you the ability to cast darkness that only you can see through twice per long rest (potentially more often if you convert spell slots into sorcery points), if you put that onto your weapon you’re constantly heavily obscured, therefore not visible and attacking with advantage
- same trick, different class: warlocks get darkness and the devil’s sight invocation allowing them to see in any form of darkness (especially handy for non-darkvision races like halflings!), and if you’re a hexblade bladelock you can summon a maul you handle with charisma instead of strength, which is easier to start off with as a lightfoot halfling, so you’ll max it earlier

[Vox Silentii]

So you want to cancel out your disadvantage after all, your initial post was phrased like you wanted to keep it for some reason.

To cancel it out, you need advantage.
You can either hope that your party can grant it (mastermind rogue, spellcaster with faerie fire and the likes) or you try to provide advantage for yourself.
You can get advantage on attacks with certain class features as you said, so i won’t go into the details there, but you’re not limited to that.

You attack with advantage if the target can’t see you.
- Hiding behind other creatures is RAW for lightfoot halflings, and if you attack with a reach weapon (glaive, pike) you can set this up pretty easily regardless of your class as long as there’s a bigger melee combatant on your team. Flavor it as your character hiding behind the goliath barbarian just to poke people in front of him from between the barbarians legs for lulz.
- 4 levels of shadow sorcerer give you the ability to cast darkness that only you can see through twice per long rest (potentially more often if you convert spell slots into sorcery points), if you put that onto your weapon you’re constantly heavily obscured, therefore not visible and attacking with advantage
- same trick, different class: warlocks get darkness and the devil’s sight invocation allowing them to see in any form of darkness (especially handy for non-darkvision races like halflings!), and if you’re a hexblade bladelock you can summon a maul you handle with charisma instead of strength, which is easier to start off with as a lightfoot halfling, so you’ll max it earlier

I was saying that i don't mind the disadvantage as long as it makes sense. Picking maybe warcleric for the +10 for the disadvantaged attack. So he swings the sword with disadvantage but still trying not to be a burden.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Either Kobold or Barbarian are probably your best bets at not being terribly sad-- they're the two most reliable ways to attack without a huge penalty. Barbarian in particular-- you can swing properly, but you leave yourself painfully exposed when you do.

[CTurbo]

My Goliath Barbarian found a +1 Giant Maul and used it for a while. 4d6+Str with disadvantage. I only attacked recklessly while raging. I did not always rage or at least I was not quick to. But yeah he missed a lot and eventually threw it at an enemy and never picked it back up.

[Spore]

Why don't you just ignore the disadvantage after a while or when he has enough Strength (like heavy armor, Str 18 or disadv.). You can explain it with downtime training or simply getting strong enough. Let's say Str 16/17 (above the halfling maximum) is needed to wield it properly without the leverage of longer arms and a wider grip.

Or you can find and pay a mentor that shows him how to wield weapons like that. It's not exactly RAW, but downtime + mentor gives tool proficiencies or languages, so why not an improved weapon proficiency? For a flavorful idea, maybe just go Battle Master (Precise Strike is d8, so 3,5 on average, disadvantage is about -5. Enchant the weapon when it is appropriate to and voila.

[charlesfro]

Use Lucky for super advantage and the features mentioned above to cancel out disadvantage otherwise. Wouldn't have amazing staying power, but could pack a powerful punch three times a day.

[Ventruenox]

Have the little guy consistently target the 6th level Drunken Master Monk in his party. The monk can use his reaction to have Halfling hit another enemy. This tactic works well with GWM too.

[Maelynn]

I'm not good at optimalisation, but I do better at thinking up stories. It sounds as though your little guy could make a great Oath of Vengeance Paladin.

Make the Ogre like his best buddy, inseparable despite their obvious differences. Maybe they went through something together. And then some day, the Ogre dies. By the hand of <insert enemy>. And then the Halfling takes up his slain brother's greatsword and vows to revenge his death. Maybe even make the sword his holy symbol. Screw the disadvantage, his vengeance will give him all the STR he needs.

[Ganymede]

Have your halfling warrior continue to use the greatsword, but have it modified so it is usable: have the last two feet filed off and have leather straps wrapped around the base of the blade to create another handhold closer to the center of gravity. Call it a longsword and use it two handed and you're done.

[MaxWilson]

So you want to cancel out your disadvantage after all, your initial post was phrased like you wanted to keep it for some reason.

To cancel it out, you need advantage.
You can either hope that your party can grant it (mastermind rogue, spellcaster with faerie fire and the likes) or you try to provide advantage for yourself.
You can get advantage on attacks with certain class features as you said, so i won’t go into the details there, but you’re not limited to that.

You attack with advantage if the target can’t see you.
- Hiding behind other creatures is RAW for lightfoot halflings, and if you attack with a reach weapon (glaive, pike) you can set this up pretty easily regardless of your class as long as there’s a bigger melee combatant on your team. Flavor it as your character hiding behind the goliath barbarian just to poke people in front of him from between the barbarians legs for lulz.
- 4 levels of shadow sorcerer give you the ability to cast darkness that only you can see through twice per long rest (potentially more often if you convert spell slots into sorcery points), if you put that onto your weapon you’re constantly heavily obscured, therefore not visible and attacking with advantage
- same trick, different class: warlocks get darkness and the devil’s sight invocation allowing them to see in any form of darkness (especially handy for non-darkvision races like halflings!), and if you’re a hexblade bladelock you can summon a maul you handle with charisma instead of strength, which is easier to start off with as a lightfoot halfling, so you’ll max it earlier

Frankly, you don't even need Shadow Sorcerer or Devil's Sight to make this work--you could just be a regular Eldritch Knight casting Darkness and it would work just fine. You'd have two sources of disadvantage (weapon too big, and not being able to see your target) and one source of advantage (target can't see you), which cancels out and leads to no net disadvantage.

[Quoxis]

Frankly, you don't even need Shadow Sorcerer or Devil's Sight to make this work--you could just be a regular Eldritch Knight casting Darkness and it would work just fine. You'd have two sources of disadvantage (weapon too big, and not being able to see your target) and one source of advantage (target can't see you), which cancels out and leads to no net disadvantage.

Yes, i constantly forget the „five disadvantages and one advantage still cancel out and vice versa“ rule.