Disadvantages for Wielding a Large Weapon?

[CosmicHobbit]

So, my players recently went up against a Minotaur skeleton. My reward for them was a Belt of Hill Giant Strength, which the barbarian took. I could then see the wheels in his head turning, and he came to the conclusion that if he was as strong as a Hill Giant, he should be able to wield a Minotaur-sized axe. I agreed, and let him take it as a weapon.

Now, I can't let him just run around with a weapon that does 2d12 damage without there being a disadvantage or two. I came up with him not being able to take the dash action because It's so large, or him taking disadvantage on Stealth checks for the same reason. However, I wanted to hear what playgrounders thoughts. Any ideas?

Edit: Thank you all for your responses. I completely forgot the rule about disadvantage when people wield a larger weapon than they should! Apart from that, I like the idea of treating it the same way as a Small creature wielding a heavy weapon. I also like the idea of drawing an OA if he misses. However, those two may not go well together. I also will be making him unable to dash and disadvantage on stealth.
As for the joke remark about the "Belt of Hill Giant Size", he is a half-giant(renamed Goliath), so he would enjoy a homebrewed magic item like that :smallbiggrin:

[nickl_2000]

I consider it more a matter of length than a matter of strength. By RAW it should give disadvantage on all attacks since you just don't have the length to wield it comfortable at your height. Now, if someone casts enlarge on the barbarian that's a whole new ballgame.

A 20 strength gnome would still not be able to use a greatsword without disadvantage, so there isn't much of a difference here.


Now if you wanted to change that you could easily.

[Willie the Duck]

Or just say, "but since you aren't built like a hill giant, it only does [frex] 2d8 damage."
Do what doesn't break your game. Your player already got a fancy new strength belt.

[pdegan2814]

Agreed, you can be super strong, but wielding a weapon meant for someone much bigger than you is going to be awkward af. Halflings can't not wield greatswords because they aren't strong enough, but because the sword is as big as they are :)

If you allow the Barbarian to wield it, I would at the very least say they can't add their proficiency bonus to the attack rolls.

[sophontteks]

Want to buy belt of hill giant size.

[Metamorph]

If someone would have a strength of over 20 I allow them to use a wepon one size bigger then they are, but I do not double the damage dice(s). I go to the next bigger damage dice type like 1d8 turns to 1d10 or 2d6 to 2d8.

[Unoriginal]

The DMG says that using a weapon one size category larger than yours, you have disadvantage.

That being said, it's a rule for NPCs and the designers have mentioned they wouldn't let a PC use a weapon a size category above theirs due to the issues it add to the PCs way of playing.

[Vogie]

Potential types of downsides for weilding an abnormally large weapon:

Not being able to take the dash action
Not being able to take the Disengage action
Your Dodge action gives +2 to dexterity saving throws instead of Advantage, and attack rolls against you have -2 instead of disadvantage
Not being able to take the hide action
Disadvantage on Stealth checks
Disadvantage to hit a target if an ally is within 5ft of both you and the target creature
Whenever you crit a target or hit with advantage, attack rolls against you have advantage until your next turn (basically a backwards reckless attack)
Disadvantage (or -5) on DEX checks & saving throws while wielded
Expand Crit Fail range from natural 1 to natural 1-3, and crit fails require a check to not drop the weapon

[SirGraystone]

The DMG says that using a weapon one size category larger than yours, you have disadvantage.

That being said, it's a rule for NPCs and the designers have mentioned they wouldn't let a PC use a weapon a size category above theirs due to the issues it add to the PCs way of playing.

Disavantage seem fair because of the size, and the barbarian can counter it with recklessness, on the other side if the group wizard was to cast "enlarge" on the barbarian... he would be big enough to swing the greataxe without any problem.

[Metamorph]

Potential types of downsides for weilding an abnormally large weapon:

Not being able to take the dash action
Not being able to take the Disengage action
Your Dodge action gives +2 to dexterity saving throws instead of Advantage, and attack rolls against you have -2 instead of disadvantage
Not being able to take the hide action
Disadvantage on Stealth checks
Disadvantage to hit a target if an ally is within 5ft of both you and the target creature
Whenever you crit a target or hit with advantage, attack rolls against you have advantage until your next turn (basically a backwards reckless attack)
Disadvantage (or -5) on DEX checks & saving throws while wielded
Expand Crit Fail range from natural 1 to natural 1-3, and crit fails require a check to not drop the weapon


You may also have not enough space to use such a weapon in every situation!

[ciarannihill]

So obligatory pointing out that Strength isn't really the issue with those huge fantasy swords -- it is a factor but even if infinite lifting power your weight is the ultimate limiting factor in swinging massive weapons around, their momentum would break your stance at a minimum and drag you off your feet in the extreme cases. Having put that disclaimer there:


I would allow it's usage, but argue that because of it's rough manufacture it gets damaged easily. Make its use a limited resource for dire situations, make it his "Oh crap" button. Give it some "charges" and make it lose one for every time he attacks with it, if he goes to a blacksmith he can pay some amount of GP to repair X charges, but the maximum goes down permanently over time...On a Nat 1 he might lose multiple charges. Once it breaks it can't be repaired.

[ProsecutorGodot]

It's a bit tough because the most obvious (and probably most in line with the rules already) is to give him disadvantage on attack rolls with it.

With the character being a Barbarian however, Reckless Attack leaves that as not so much of a downside and it's quite a step up from the typical "Halfling Barbarian with a 2d6 Greatsword"

Best suggestion is probably disadvantage on attack rolls and stealth checks as well as a movement penalty (some flat amount or inability to dash) essentially just a combination of all of the ideas you'd came up with. You could simply leave it at disadvantage on attack rolls if you don't want to stack up too many restrictions in an attempt to offset the power of the damage dice.

It probably would have been better just to tell the player no under the premise that being strong doesn't mean you can physically swing the weapon with any degree of skill but that wouldn't have been fun for the player and it's probably not going to hurt the game balance too much. That is until he gets later down into his class features and acquires Brutal Critical, having a 2d12 weapon at that point might push him pretty high in damage.

There's the secondary option of "let it happen" where you put as few limitations on it as possible. This is the kind of decision you'd want to run by the table and your idea for your campaign because it can really throw proper encounter design out the window if you start going down this route. Likely not the best choice but if the campaign isn't meant to be long form it would be fine.

[Lunali]

I would treat it the same as a small creature wielding a heavy weapon, meaning disadvantage on attack rolls.

[Demonslayer666]

Other ideas:
penalty to AC
penalty to hit
attacking draws an OA (maybe only when they miss)
you are under medium encumbrance (or one higher level of encumbrance if already higher than medium)
you can't gain advantage

[QuickLyRaiNbow]

Two additional possibilities: you can't pass through an occupied square or difficult terrain; you can't squeeze through a tight space.

[Metamorph]

This youtube video explains it pretty good (from a realistic point of view):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t8ZrI5JqCw

I guess it also depends on your setting. Is it high fantasy with lots of bulky armors and magic or is it more realistic fantasy with resonable armor and weapon size?

After all its your world. Physics might work in a different way then in our world. The comments above have their reasoning and are perfectly fine.

I will stick to penalties I would also go with:
- you cant squeeze yourself throw smaller gaps
- you cant use the weapon in normal halls because you do not have enough room to swing such a heavy weight
- you cant get adventage (maybe not with disadventage all the time)
- I also like the idea of charges

If the weapon is made from mithril or something like this I would ignore some of those points and allow it as a normal weapon (Thors Hammer Style).