Amechra
2019-06-15, 12:32 PM
These replace normal weapons - for games where style trumps realism, mostly.
Proficiency: If you are proficient in martial weapons, you're proficient with all of these templates. You gain proficiency in a single weapon template for each of the following:
Proficiency with simple weapons.
Proficiency with a specific weapon.
Damage: To save on typing, I'll be using a piece of short-hand. Whenever you see [W], use your class's hit-die.
Example: A Fighter would deal d10 damage with their weapon - a Wizard would use a d6 instead.
Secondary Attacks: Some templates or features let you make secondary attack whenever you take the Attack action. That means that you can immediately take a bonus action to make an attack with the listed damage.
House Rule - Parrying: As long as you are armed, you may defend yourself by actively deflecting attacks. You may calculate your AC using your Strength in place of your Dexterity - you may choose which value you use at the beginning of each of your turns. Using your Dexterity is referred to as evading, while using your Strength is referred to as parrying.
Now, on to the templates!
Blade
This template covers everything from swords to daggers - this is for pointy things that you stick into people.
Attacks With: Strength or Dexterity, Damage: [W] + Strength or Dexterity, Damage Type: Slashing or Piercing
Whenever you score a critical hit against a creature, roll an additional damage die.
You have Advantage on the first attack you make against a creature who has attacked you and missed since the end of your last turn.
Flexible
This template covers whips or flails, as well as other weapons that can snake their way around defenses.
Attacks With: Strength or Dexterity, Damage: [W] + Strength or Dexterity, Damage Type: Bludgeoning or Slashing
You have Advantage on attacks made against creatures trying to evade your attacks.
You may attack creatures up to 10 feet away. If you do, you have Disadvantage on the attack.
Massive
This template covers huge, weighty weapons like greathammers or waraxes.
Attacks With: Strength, Damage: [W] + Strength, Damage Type: Bludgeoning or Slashing
You have Advantage on attacks made against creatures trying to parry your attacks.
Whenever you attack with Disadvantage and miss, you deal damage equal to your Strength modifier if the higher of the two dice would have hit.
Paired
This template covers dual-wielding weapons, and subsumes the normal rules for such.
Attacks With: Strength or Dexterity, Damage: [W] + Strength or Dexterity, Damage Type: Slashing or Piercing
You have Advantage on attacks made to disarm a creatureΉ.
Whenever you successfully parry a creature's melee attack, you may make an opportunity attack against them.
Ranged²
This template covers bows, slings, and other ways to kill people at a distance.
Attacks With: Dexterity, Damage: [W] + Dexterity, Damage Type: Piercing
You may attack creatures up to 60 ft away without penalties.
Creatures cannot parry your attacks - resolve your attack against their AC as if they were evading.
Spear³
This template covers spears, pitchforks, and other polearms.
Attacks With: Strength, Damage: [W] + Strength, Damage Type: Slashing or Piercing
You have disadvantage on attacks made against adjacent creatures, and don't threaten spaces adjacent to you.
You may attack creatures up to 10 feet away, and may make opportunity attacks out to that range.
Staff
This template covers quarterstaves and other such double weapons.
Attacks With: Strength, Damage: [W] + Strength, Damage Type: Bludgeoning
Creatures can't use the Help action on attacks made against you.
You may make a 1d4 secondary attack with your staff.
Shield
This template covers pairing a weapon with a shield. This supersedes the normal rules for shields.
Attacks With: Strength or Dexterity, Damage: [W] + Strength or Dexterity, Damage Type: Slashing or Bludgeoning
Whenever you parry, melee attacks against you have Disadvantage. You may parry ranged attacks.
You may use your reaction to give an attack made against an adjacent ally Disadvantage.
Unarmed
This template represents fighting unarmed or with improvised weapons. For most creatures, this isn't a very good idea.
Attacks With: Strength, Damage: 1 + Strength, Damage Type: Bludgeoning
Whenever you successfully disarmΉ a creature, you may immediately arm yourself with their weapon.
If you are wielding an improvised weapon, improve the damage to d4 + Strength and change the damage type as appropriate.
Some extra stuff to account for these altered rules:
New Feat - Exotic Weapon
Requires: Proficiency in two or more Weapon Templates.
You have access to a more-or-less unique weapon. Pick two weapon templates you are proficient in - the weapon has all the benefits of both templates, and uses your choice of their damage types, attack stats, and damage.
Alternate Fighting Styles
Blade Mastery: As long as you are using a Blade weapon, you deal an additional weapon damage die whenever you attack with Advantage and would hit with the lower die.
Flexible Mastery As long as you are using a Flexible weapon, you may grapple creatures out to 10 ft away with disadvantage. If you do, you can't make further attacks with your weapon unless it is also Paired.
Massive Mastery: As long as you are using a Massive weapon, you may immediately use a bonus action to Shove any creature you hit with an attack.
Paired Mastery: As long as you are using a Paired weapon, you may make a secondary attack that deals [W] damage.
Ranged Mastery: As long as you are using a Ranged weapon, you may ignore half cover when making attacks, and may ignore three-quarters cover by attacking with Disadvantage.
Shield Mastery: As long as you are using a Shield weapon, attacks against adjacent allies have Disadvantage.
Staff Mastery: As long as you are using a Staff weapon, [...]
Spear Mastery: As long as you are using a Spear weapon, you may make attacks against adjacent creatures without disadvantage.
---
I don't have time at the moment to go through and cover all the feats that need to be tweaked. As it stands:
I need a benefit for Staff Mastery.
Unarmed is written the way it is to make Jackie Chan Monks easier to pull off.
Shield weapons are kinda strong, yes... but you're shutting yourself off from stuff like Spear's pseudo-sentinel (you'll get them coming and going) or the damage potential of Blade or Massive.
Exotic Weapons are, however, intended to be really strong. So go ahead - give your Barbarian the Massive Blade they always deserved.
Balance is definitely wonky at the moment. This has literally no testing.
Credit where credit is due - I stole the basic idea for this from Legends of the Wulin and was inspired by Grod_The_Giant's thread here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?590361-More-Interesting-Weapons-for-5e).
Ή I'm away from my books at the moment, but it's in the alternate combat rules in the DMG. Basically, you can choose to have the creature drop their weapon instead of dealing damage - you get Advantage on the attack for having a bigger weapon and Disadvantage for having a smaller one.
² Yeah, the range is kinda short. My reasoning here is that 60ft covers most of a traditional D&D battlefield, and if you really need to reenact the battle of Agincourt, you'll need to fiddle with the rules a bit anyway, so...
³ The intent here is that you threaten people out to 10ft away, and just 10ft away. If this seems kinda terrible, bear in mind that this means that anyone trying to close with you provokes an opportunity attack...
Proficiency: If you are proficient in martial weapons, you're proficient with all of these templates. You gain proficiency in a single weapon template for each of the following:
Proficiency with simple weapons.
Proficiency with a specific weapon.
Damage: To save on typing, I'll be using a piece of short-hand. Whenever you see [W], use your class's hit-die.
Example: A Fighter would deal d10 damage with their weapon - a Wizard would use a d6 instead.
Secondary Attacks: Some templates or features let you make secondary attack whenever you take the Attack action. That means that you can immediately take a bonus action to make an attack with the listed damage.
House Rule - Parrying: As long as you are armed, you may defend yourself by actively deflecting attacks. You may calculate your AC using your Strength in place of your Dexterity - you may choose which value you use at the beginning of each of your turns. Using your Dexterity is referred to as evading, while using your Strength is referred to as parrying.
Now, on to the templates!
Blade
This template covers everything from swords to daggers - this is for pointy things that you stick into people.
Attacks With: Strength or Dexterity, Damage: [W] + Strength or Dexterity, Damage Type: Slashing or Piercing
Whenever you score a critical hit against a creature, roll an additional damage die.
You have Advantage on the first attack you make against a creature who has attacked you and missed since the end of your last turn.
Flexible
This template covers whips or flails, as well as other weapons that can snake their way around defenses.
Attacks With: Strength or Dexterity, Damage: [W] + Strength or Dexterity, Damage Type: Bludgeoning or Slashing
You have Advantage on attacks made against creatures trying to evade your attacks.
You may attack creatures up to 10 feet away. If you do, you have Disadvantage on the attack.
Massive
This template covers huge, weighty weapons like greathammers or waraxes.
Attacks With: Strength, Damage: [W] + Strength, Damage Type: Bludgeoning or Slashing
You have Advantage on attacks made against creatures trying to parry your attacks.
Whenever you attack with Disadvantage and miss, you deal damage equal to your Strength modifier if the higher of the two dice would have hit.
Paired
This template covers dual-wielding weapons, and subsumes the normal rules for such.
Attacks With: Strength or Dexterity, Damage: [W] + Strength or Dexterity, Damage Type: Slashing or Piercing
You have Advantage on attacks made to disarm a creatureΉ.
Whenever you successfully parry a creature's melee attack, you may make an opportunity attack against them.
Ranged²
This template covers bows, slings, and other ways to kill people at a distance.
Attacks With: Dexterity, Damage: [W] + Dexterity, Damage Type: Piercing
You may attack creatures up to 60 ft away without penalties.
Creatures cannot parry your attacks - resolve your attack against their AC as if they were evading.
Spear³
This template covers spears, pitchforks, and other polearms.
Attacks With: Strength, Damage: [W] + Strength, Damage Type: Slashing or Piercing
You have disadvantage on attacks made against adjacent creatures, and don't threaten spaces adjacent to you.
You may attack creatures up to 10 feet away, and may make opportunity attacks out to that range.
Staff
This template covers quarterstaves and other such double weapons.
Attacks With: Strength, Damage: [W] + Strength, Damage Type: Bludgeoning
Creatures can't use the Help action on attacks made against you.
You may make a 1d4 secondary attack with your staff.
Shield
This template covers pairing a weapon with a shield. This supersedes the normal rules for shields.
Attacks With: Strength or Dexterity, Damage: [W] + Strength or Dexterity, Damage Type: Slashing or Bludgeoning
Whenever you parry, melee attacks against you have Disadvantage. You may parry ranged attacks.
You may use your reaction to give an attack made against an adjacent ally Disadvantage.
Unarmed
This template represents fighting unarmed or with improvised weapons. For most creatures, this isn't a very good idea.
Attacks With: Strength, Damage: 1 + Strength, Damage Type: Bludgeoning
Whenever you successfully disarmΉ a creature, you may immediately arm yourself with their weapon.
If you are wielding an improvised weapon, improve the damage to d4 + Strength and change the damage type as appropriate.
Some extra stuff to account for these altered rules:
New Feat - Exotic Weapon
Requires: Proficiency in two or more Weapon Templates.
You have access to a more-or-less unique weapon. Pick two weapon templates you are proficient in - the weapon has all the benefits of both templates, and uses your choice of their damage types, attack stats, and damage.
Alternate Fighting Styles
Blade Mastery: As long as you are using a Blade weapon, you deal an additional weapon damage die whenever you attack with Advantage and would hit with the lower die.
Flexible Mastery As long as you are using a Flexible weapon, you may grapple creatures out to 10 ft away with disadvantage. If you do, you can't make further attacks with your weapon unless it is also Paired.
Massive Mastery: As long as you are using a Massive weapon, you may immediately use a bonus action to Shove any creature you hit with an attack.
Paired Mastery: As long as you are using a Paired weapon, you may make a secondary attack that deals [W] damage.
Ranged Mastery: As long as you are using a Ranged weapon, you may ignore half cover when making attacks, and may ignore three-quarters cover by attacking with Disadvantage.
Shield Mastery: As long as you are using a Shield weapon, attacks against adjacent allies have Disadvantage.
Staff Mastery: As long as you are using a Staff weapon, [...]
Spear Mastery: As long as you are using a Spear weapon, you may make attacks against adjacent creatures without disadvantage.
---
I don't have time at the moment to go through and cover all the feats that need to be tweaked. As it stands:
I need a benefit for Staff Mastery.
Unarmed is written the way it is to make Jackie Chan Monks easier to pull off.
Shield weapons are kinda strong, yes... but you're shutting yourself off from stuff like Spear's pseudo-sentinel (you'll get them coming and going) or the damage potential of Blade or Massive.
Exotic Weapons are, however, intended to be really strong. So go ahead - give your Barbarian the Massive Blade they always deserved.
Balance is definitely wonky at the moment. This has literally no testing.
Credit where credit is due - I stole the basic idea for this from Legends of the Wulin and was inspired by Grod_The_Giant's thread here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?590361-More-Interesting-Weapons-for-5e).
Ή I'm away from my books at the moment, but it's in the alternate combat rules in the DMG. Basically, you can choose to have the creature drop their weapon instead of dealing damage - you get Advantage on the attack for having a bigger weapon and Disadvantage for having a smaller one.
² Yeah, the range is kinda short. My reasoning here is that 60ft covers most of a traditional D&D battlefield, and if you really need to reenact the battle of Agincourt, you'll need to fiddle with the rules a bit anyway, so...
³ The intent here is that you threaten people out to 10ft away, and just 10ft away. If this seems kinda terrible, bear in mind that this means that anyone trying to close with you provokes an opportunity attack...