Looking for Magic Weapons that make the game more interesting (without +X bonuses)

[bbrown12]

Hi there,

we are playing a mid campaign (level 10 at the moment) and decided to play without flat bonus like +1/+2/+3 to Attack Rolls or bonuses to Damage Rolls, because we didn't like how the game scales with that.

Instead, our DM wants to reward Magic Weapons/Armor that actually make the game more interesting. Those items could offer new mechanics, combat options, maybe even parts of a Feat etc.

For example a magic sword could offer an ability like that: "While wielding this Sword, you can use one of your attacks and try to prone a target within reach. If successful, you can attack that proned target as a free action".

Unfortunately, I can't find any list for such items (neither for RAW nor for house rules).

Do you have any recommendations? Would be awesome!

Thanks in advance!

[Darth Credence]

I have pretty much had to homebrew my own, in order to ensure that they were a good fit for my particular game. Weapons that are just +whatever can fit into just about any game, some specific things that may make for a cool weapon may not. A sword that bursts into radiant light in the presence of fiends, giving any fiend touched by the light disadvantage on all attack and saving throws would be a cool thing to have in a game where fiends are a major enemy or are infiltrators, but not so much in a game where the players aren't really expected to meet a fiend.

My players are now at the level where we are starting to deal with sentient magic items and artifacts. A sentient weapon is awesome for customization and role playing. They can be sources of conflict, ways for the DM to give direction to players that tend to wander, sources of new quests, opportunities for fun role playing sessions, and so on. Level 10 is lower than I would introduce them, but that is just my preference in a campaign going to level 20 - I expect them to be the final weapon the player gets.

[Psyren]

Hi there,

we are playing a mid campaign (level 10 at the moment) and decided to play without flat bonus like +1/+2/+3 to Attack Rolls or bonuses to Damage Rolls, because we didn't like how the game scales with that.

Instead, our DM wants to reward Magic Weapons/Armor that actually make the game more interesting. Those items could offer new mechanics, combat options, maybe even parts of a Feat etc.

For example a magic sword could offer an ability like that: "While wielding this Sword, you can use one of your attacks and try to prone a target within reach. If successful, you can attack that proned target as a free action".

Unfortunately, I can't find any list for such items (neither for RAW nor for house rules).

Do you have any recommendations? Would be awesome!

Thanks in advance!

You could always take existing +X weapons and simply strip out the bonus. For example, a Scimitar of Speed gives you a free bonus action attack - that would be useful for a number of builds even without the +2 bonus. Similarly, a Sun Blade without its enhancement bonus is still a finesse longsword that sheds bright light and does bonus radiant damage to undead.

[Theodoxus]

Nearly every weapon (and a lot of armors) in BG3 have little niche bonuses instead of a blanket +1 or +2 (there are those as well, but I digress).

A couple have returning properties, a crowd favorite is a pike of returning, since it's a larger damage die than typical for thrown weapons. A few will cast Bane on a hit (affecting the target only) for a round or two. One casts True Strike on a miss, so you have advantage on your next attack.

Then there's the more classical '+1d4 Fire, Poison, Psychic, etc.' damage on a hit.

For armors, most will have damage reduction 1 or 2 against a specific weapon type (slashing, piercing, etc) Which can bog down combat in a table top game, so I don't necessarily recommend. Other things are resistances to a specific energy (or weapon) type. Which is a little less problematic for energy, but still annoying for weapon types.

Other bonuses are to skills (+1 to +2 to a specific skill, like Stealth or Sleight of Hand), Increased movement rates or jump distances: +5' for less powerful items, +10' for the stronger ones.

I could certainly see putting parts of feats on weapons. Like an extra heavy axe that grants a bonus action attack on a crit or downing an opponent (as per Great Weapon Master). A super shiney suit of armor that grants expertise on Persuasion and Deception skills (as per the Warlock invocation); a staff or mace that gives proficiency in the Int or Wis skills respectively.

If you're not super worried about placing these kinds of items on the rarity scale, they're pretty easy to just whip up out of whole cloth... it's when you're trying to decide their intrinsic value to other items that it gets harder to do...

[Hurrashane]

I like making little magic items with a minor property from the list in the DMG. The weapon is magic but doesn't do anything crazy, it just like, sheds light, or can find north or something.

[da newt]

If you take the time to brows the DMG and other books there are plenty of weapons and other magical items that have much more interesting magics than just +1,2,3 and there are also the minor properties and other magic items (wands, rods, cloaks, etc) that you can reskin as a weapons ...

The mace of displacement.
The whip of wonders.
flame blade / sun blade / frost blade / XXX damage type weapon.
Weapons of warning.
Weapons of resistance.
Weapon of fireball / disintegration / magic missile / shield / healing / XXX

tattoos, belts, rings, etc - mix and match as suites your fancy. Or just add a spell to a weapon - green flame dagger, acid splash flail, sacred flame staff, etc.

[Sigreid]

It would definitely be a home brew item, but I think a net that actively grapples with the target when it hits would be awesome.

[RedMage125]

I had a DM with this same mindset, and he still handed out lots of magic items.

A scimitar that belonged to a pirate captain who was later a pirate ghost. 1/LR it summoned a pair of skeleton Sailors. We frequently used them for combat, but they also helped crew a ship while we were sailing. IIRC, using them for combat shortens the duration to a few hours, but using them solely as crew keeps them around the whole day.

[Mastikator]

Have a look at BG3, many magic items had 1/short rest uses that granted special benefits.

You can also take some non-weapons and turn them into weapons, like a guitar axe that can hand out one bardic inspiration per short rest (1d6 for non-bards)
A boom sword that lets you cast booming blade as a bonus action once per short rest.
An axe of climbing that gives you climbing speed equal to your speed.
A weapon that if you crit immediately lets you cast X spell.
A ranged weapon that inflicts charm monster if they fail a save, or damage if they succeed.
A whip that lets you cast mage hand using the whip.
A weapon that prevents teleportation for 1 turn when you hit.
A weapon that always knocks a creature out if they are reduced to 0 hp, and gives you sanctuary for 1 minute when that happens.

[animewatcha]

What about removing attunement requirement from common/uncommon/rare weapons?

[thoroughlyS]

You could always take existing +X weapons and simply strip out the bonus. For example, a Scimitar of Speed gives you a free bonus action attack - that would be useful for a number of builds even without the +2 bonus. Similarly, a Sun Blade without its enhancement bonus is still a finesse longsword that sheds bright light and does bonus radiant damage to undead.

If you take the time to brows the DMG and other books there are plenty of weapons and other magical items that have much more interesting magics than just +1,2,3 and there are also the minor properties and other magic items (wands, rods, cloaks, etc) that you can reskin as a weapons ...
I second the above two points. If you go book diving, you can find a healthy list of weapons that expand the party's options as opposed to just providing bigger numbers. And it is a little weird that there isn't a consolidated list of these sorts of weapons, so I've gone ahead and compiled one myself. It should be noted that I have eschewed any items whose sole benefits are bonuses to attack rolls, damage rolls (including adding damage dice of new types), AC, or that give hp in some way. None of these properties actually give the players options, they just make the characters' numbers bigger. So you won't see a flame tongue, devotee's censer, or gambler's blade on the list. I also included two of the six obscure mundane weapons (the other four don't really add anything different from the PHB). I recommend following Psyren's advice and ignoring any attack/damage bonuses these items provide.



Name
Source
Rarity
Description


Mundane Items





hoopak
DSotDQ
—
martial weapon, finesse staff & sling


double-bladed scimitar
ERLW
—
martial weapon, basically two weapon fighting


Magical Weapons





javelin of lightning
DMG
uncommon
1/day turns into line of lightning


skyblinder staff
GGR
uncommon
reaction to disadvantage flying creatures and save to blind


trident of fish command
DMG
uncommon
3 charges, dominate beast on creatures with swim speed


dagger of blindsight
WDMM
rare
gain 30 ft blindsight


dagger of venom
DMG
rare
1/day coat blade in poison (pretty sucky)


lash of immolation
BGG
rare
+1d6 fire, restrains for 1 round on a crit


mace of terror
DMG
rare
3 charges, frighten in 30 ft radius


spider staff
LMoP
rare
+1d6 poison, 10 charges, spider climb, web


staff of charming
DMG
rare
10 charges, charm person, command, comprehend languages


staff of swarming insects
DMG
rare
10 charges, giant insect, insect swarm, can create cloud of insects


Sunforger
GGR
rare
1/SR AoE 6d6 fire 20 ft sphere


dancing sword
DMG
very rare
bonus action sword animates and attacks 30 ft away up to 4 times at once


Duskcrusher
EGW
very rare
glows, +1d8 on undead, 1/day sunbeam


Dyrrn's tentacle whip
ERLW
very rare
disadvantage on aberrations, +1d6 psychic, stuns on crit


eldritch staff
WbtW
very rare
10 charges, +1d8 lightning per charge (max 3), reaction teleport

staff of dunamancy
EGW
very rare
10 charges, fortune's favor, pulse wave, gravity sinkhole


staff of frost
DMG
very rare
10 charges, cone of cold, fog cloud, ice storm, wall of ice


staff of thunder and lightning
DMG
very rare
five 1/day properties


Steel
WbtW
very rare
1/day revivify


sword of the Paruns
GGR
very rare
1/turn ally can take the same action you do


voyager staff
GGR
very rare
10 charges, banishment, blink, misty step, passwall, teleport

Limited Use





seeker dart
PotA
uncommon
flies to target and deals lightning damage


storm boomerang
PotA
uncommon
simple weapon, thrown, first hit save to stun


sling bullets of Althemone
MOT
very rare
each bullet has one of four different effects


Minor Properties





Shatterspike
TftYP
uncommon
auto-crit on objects


Bonecounter
SDW
—
gain 1 sp after destroying undead


luminous war pick
PaBTSO
rare
1/day daylight


needle of mending
EGW
rare
disguised as sewing needle, mending


scimitar of speed
DMG
very rare
basically two weapon fighting

[KorvinStarmast]

I second the above two points. If you go book diving, you can find a healthy list of weapons that expand the party's options as opposed to just providing bigger numbers. And it is a little weird that there isn't a consolidated list of these sorts of weapons, so I've gone ahead and compiled one myself. It should be noted that I have eschewed any items whose sole benefits are bonuses to attack rolls, damage rolls (including adding damage dice of new types), AC, or that give hp in some way. None of these properties actually give the players options, they just make the characters' numbers bigger. So you won't see a flame tongue, devotee's censer, or gambler's blade on the list. I also included two of the six obscure mundane weapons (the other four don't really add anything different from the PHB). I recommend following Psyren's advice and ignoring any attack/damage bonuses these items provide.



Name
Source
Rarity
Description


Mundane Items





hoopak
DSotDQ
—
martial weapon, finesse staff & sling


double-bladed scimitar
ERLW
—
martial weapon, basically two weapon fighting


Magical Weapons





javelin of lightning
DMG
uncommon
1/day turns into line of lightning


skyblinder staff
GGR
uncommon
reaction to disadvantage flying creatures and save to blind


trident of fish command
DMG
uncommon
3 charges, dominate beast on creatures with swim speed


dagger of blindsight
WDMM
rare
gain 30 ft blindsight


dagger of venom
DMG
rare
1/day coat blade in poison (pretty sucky)


lash of immolation
BGG
rare
+1d6 fire, restrains for 1 round on a crit


mace of terror
DMG
rare
3 charges, frighten in 30 ft radius


spider staff
LMoP
rare
+1d6 poison, 10 charges, spider climb, web


staff of charming
DMG
rare
10 charges, charm person, command, comprehend languages


staff of swarming insects
DMG
rare
10 charges, giant insect, insect swarm, can create cloud of insects


Sunforger
GGR
rare
1/SR AoE 6d6 fire 20 ft sphere


dancing sword
DMG
very rare
bonus action sword animates and attacks 30 ft away up to 4 times at once


Duskcrusher
EGW
very rare
glows, +1d8 on undead, 1/day sunbeam


Dyrrn's tentacle whip
ERLW
very rare
disadvantage on aberrations, +1d6 psychic, stuns on crit


eldritch staff
WbtW
very rare
10 charges, +1d8 lightning per charge (max 3), reaction teleport

staff of dunamancy
EGW
very rare
10 charges, fortune's favor, pulse wave, gravity sinkhole


staff of frost
DMG
very rare
10 charges, cone of cold, fog cloud, ice storm, wall of ice


staff of thunder and lightning
DMG
very rare
five 1/day properties


Steel
WbtW
very rare
1/day revivify


sword of the Paruns
GGR
very rare
1/turn ally can take the same action you do


voyager staff
GGR
very rare
10 charges, banishment, blink, misty step, passwall, teleport

Limited Use





seeker dart
PotA
uncommon
flies to target and deals lightning damage


storm boomerang
PotA
uncommon
simple weapon, thrown, first hit save to stun


sling bullets of Althemone
MOT
very rare
each bullet has one of four different effects


Minor Properties





Shatterspike
TftYP
uncommon
auto-crit on objects


Bonecounter
SDW
—
gain 1 sp after destroying undead


luminous war pick
PaBTSO
rare
1/day daylight


needle of mending
EGW
rare
disguised as sewing needle, mending


scimitar of speed
DMG
very rare
basically two weapon fighting



From Xanathar's, the Moon Touched sword/blade would fit into your list.

[thoroughlyS]

Eh, that's basically the same as one of the minor properties listed in the DMG, which were already mentioned. I guess I should take this opportunity to explicitly second reading through those. My favorites to include are the language and war leader properties, for social encounters.

[kazaryu]

Hi there,

we are playing a mid campaign (level 10 at the moment) and decided to play without flat bonus like +1/+2/+3 to Attack Rolls or bonuses to Damage Rolls, because we didn't like how the game scales with that.

Instead, our DM wants to reward Magic Weapons/Armor that actually make the game more interesting. Those items could offer new mechanics, combat options, maybe even parts of a Feat etc.

For example a magic sword could offer an ability like that: "While wielding this Sword, you can use one of your attacks and try to prone a target within reach. If successful, you can attack that proned target as a free action".

Unfortunately, I can't find any list for such items (neither for RAW nor for house rules).

Do you have any recommendations? Would be awesome!

Thanks in advance!

a few obvious ones out of the way:
-there are several staves/wands/rods that simply allow casting of spells (often charge based). many of them do come with +x bonuses but you can always ignore those. obviously these are kinda boring for casters. but you can: 1. remove the requirement that a caster attune. and 2. change the spells to match what might be fun to give to a martial. or rather, the specific players at y'alls table 3. replace the staff with a weapon, shield, helmet, whatever item you see fit. examples include:
-staff of fire
-staff of power
-rod of lordly might

-rope of entanglement
-robes of scintillating colors
-robe of useful things
-bag of tricks.

those are all printed items. as for homebrew items:


this item has 10 charges. you may spend 3 charges to cast tasha's hideous laughter (DC15)

whenever an ally that is within 15 feet of you hits a creature an incapacitated creature with an attack, you may use your reaction to spend up to 3 charges to increase the damage of that attack by 1d8 psychic damage per charge spent.

the crown regains all spent charges at dawn.

The idea behind this is that its fully self actuating (i.e the player that has this can activate its secondary effect on their own via hideous laughter.) However, there are other options that exist that synergize even better, but they have to be externally sourced. for example hold person, with its semi-guaranteed doubles the efficiency of the damage amp on the item. Thus also encouraging team play.


As a bonus action you may activate or deactivate these gloves effect. when you activate the gloves, they become charged with a minor elemental effect. choose one of the following options to be applied when you successfully attack a creature with your fists. the effects wear off at the beginning of your next turn:
fire:the target becomes unbearably hot, their proficiency bonus is decreased by 1
cold: a deep chill penetrates the target to their core. their speed is halved
lightning: The target is wracked with a minor electrical shock. the target cannot take reactions
acid:the targets skin becomes red and blistery, they take 1 extra damage from all attacks.
thunder: The targets ears ring with the sounds of your blows. They are deafened.

you may even add an effect like "activating the gloves causes your unarmed strikes (with your fists) to deal the chosen elemental damage instead of bludgeoning). idk, i just thought something like this was a fun idea, obviously its kinda targetted at monks, and definitely exclusive to unarmed attackers. so idk if its useful for your group specifically. but maybe it'll inspire some other idea. idk.

[J-H]

One way to do it is to look at spells, and make weapons that do X as a spell Y times per day. Another is to look at similar effects.
We do want to avoid things that are "Save against 3 damage" as that's not worth it for the table time it costs.

Let's pick a theme and come up with some. Bugs?

Scarab Sword
uncommon, any sword
The handguard of this sword is carved to resemble the heavy wings of a beetle. Three times per long rest, the wielder may invoke the magic of the blade as a reaction to being struck by a weapon attack the wielder can see. The wielder may make an opposed attack roll. If it is higher than the attacker's roll, the incoming attack is deflected and does not hit.

Biting Basher
rare, club or greatclub
This club's head is full of holes containing magically copied wasps. Once per round, when a target is struck by this weapon, the target must make a DC 14 Constitution save or take 1d6 poison damage and be covered in biting insects for 1 round. While covered with insects, the target has disadvantage on attack rolls.

Mandibles
Uncommon, short swords
This pair of short swords appear to be crafted from the mandibles of an ankheg or giant ant. If both swords strike the same target in a turn while dual-wielded, the target takes 2d6 additional damage.

Spinner Arrow
Uncommon, ammunition
When this ammunition strikes a target and deals damage, it explodes into a net of sticky silk which Restrains the target. The target may make a DC 12 Strength save at the end of each of its turns to escape the effect.

[rel]

I recommend home brewing your own. Here are a few of mine to get you started:


A greatsword of rustless steel, fine in make with many artistic embellishments.
Breaker can only be attuned by characters with the extra attack class feature. When attuned it counts as magical for the purposes of overcoming damage resistance or immunity and sheds light like a torch when wielded.
Breaker has 4 charges that return at dawn.
By expending 1 charge as a reaction to an enemy missing a melee attack, the wielder can knock the enemy prone and cause them to drop the weapon used in the attack.
By expending 2 charges and taking an action the wielder can break or dismantle a physical object, structure or a part of something larger. The exact nature of the destruction is up to the wielder with anything from a single cut to diced to fragments as possibilities, but the damage must be contained within a 5 foot cube.
The effect manifests as a series of cuts propogating through the material from the impact point of a strike to achieve the desired damage.
Legendarily sturdy targets may resist or ignore the effect.

A polished steel helmet embellished with a pair of stylised dragon wings. A subtle magic prevents the wings from snagging or otherwise inconveniencing the wearer.
Can only be attuned by a character with the extra attack class feature.
Has 3 charges returning at dawn, by expending a charge and making an object interaction action, the wearer can teleport to a location within 50 feet, either somewhere they can see, or somewhere well defined like behind a door.
If the user teleports into air they remain hovering until the end of their turn.
While the helm still has charges, the user glides gracefully instead of falling, they take no fall damage, always land standing and can travel horizontally as they descend.

[Torpin]

two bird sling is a lot of fun, +1 weapon d4 damage, but its attack can hit a second target within 10 feet of the first

[Lokishade]

Death-Dodger

Rapier (+Whatever is appropriate)

Whenever you take damage, you can use a Reaction to come under the effects of Feign Death. When it happens, two gems fall off the eyes of the skull shaped basket guard. To end the spell early, an ally has to use his action to put back the gems in place. The sword regains its magic at dawn.

Taking the reaction halves the triggering damage and all subsequent damage while you are comatose.