Absent older weapons re-designed for 5th edition (PEACH)

[Arkhios]

Since 3rd edition D&D has intrigued me with the various weapons available, especially the exotic ones, I was disappointed when I saw that Two-Bladed Sword (one of my all-time favorite weapons, don't know why) among all double weapons received no love from the fifth edition.

I'm certain that double weapons, such as the aforementioned TBS, will be reintroduced once Eberron supplement is introduced (mainly because double scimitars are kind of the 'thing' for Valenar elves, imho). In the meanwhile, here's my take on the weapon and its key property.

Two-Bladed Sword
Price: 100 gp
Damage: 1d6 Slashing
Properties: Versatile (1d8), Double Weapon

Double Weapon property: You must have the Weapon Master feat before you can benefit from this weapon property. A double weapon is treated as two weapons for the purpose of that feat. When held in two hands you are considered as if wielding two light weapons for the purpose of two-weapon fighting, in which case both ends deal damage as if wielded in one hand each. When using the bonus action for two-weapon fighting, you add an additional damage die to the bonus attack's damage.

Edited the price, benefits for two-weapon fighting, and prerequisites.

Any thoughts?

[Ninja_Prawn]

Well it's not broken, but it also seems kind of pointless. Why not just re-skin a pair of scimitars? Yes this weapon gives you one point more damage when you're using your bonus action for something else, but is that worth it? Any functional TWF build will need to be using its bonus action to attack most of the time anyway.

But maybe you should ignore me here. Clearly I hate all things Eberron and can't be relied upon to evaluate them fairly...

[Arkhios]

I suppose I can't fault you on that, as we all have our pet peeves.

Admittedly, it does indeed seem to be missing something to be more than just two re-modeled scimitars (to be honest, though, the real reason why it's 1d6 rather than 1d8, as it used to be, is I felt it might be too strong if it was considered a 1d8 light weapon in both hands, not because the Eberron specific Double Scimitar). Referring to Eberron was merely to reason where these kind of weapons might be relevant to introduce, nothing more.

Perhaps it could provide an additional +1 to AC if held in two hands?

Or what would you say if with a double weapon, when using two-weapon fighting, you might add an additional damage die to the bonus attack's damage?

[Ninja_Prawn]

I suppose I can't fault you on that, as we all have our pet peeves.

Admittedly, it does indeed seem to be missing something to be more than just two re-modeled scimitars (to be honest, though, the real reason why it's 1d6 rather than 1d8, as it used to be, is I felt it might be too strong if it was considered a 1d8 light weapon in both hands, not because the Eberron specific Double Scimitar). Referring to Eberron was merely to reason where these kind of weapons might be relevant to introduce, nothing more.

Perhaps it could provide an additional +1 to AC if held in two hands?

Or what would you say if with a double weapon, when using two-weapon fighting, you might add an additional damage die to the bonus attack's damage?

What's the cost? If you give them a bonus like that, there should be a balancing effect. Does it need an exotic proficiency? A feat tax? Are they super-expensive? Incompatible with the TWF fight style and Dual Wielder feat?

[Arkhios]

What's the cost? If you give them a bonus like that, there should be a balancing effect. Does it need an exotic proficiency? A feat tax? Are they super-expensive? Incompatible with the TWF fight style and Dual Wielder feat?

Two-Bladed Sword (and other double weapons) used to be rather expensive; A standard TBS was 100 gp, both ends had to be masterworked separately, likewise enhanced separately. Given that how magic items are treated in 5th edition, I wouldn't continue with the separation anymore, but there should be a reasonable cost to master the use of the weapon. Super-expensive or just expensive, definitely. Incompatibility with the TWF fight style and Dual Wielder feat wouldn't make much sense as "traditionally" double weapons are meant for Dual Wielders.

I'm thinking of perhaps a combination of reasonably high price and a prerequisite feat you must have before you could use them as double weapons. Maybe Weapon Master, but a double weapon would count as two weapons with the feat. Without the feat a TBS would just be a versatile martial weapon with a base damage of 1d6, and versatile of 1d8.

[Ninja_Prawn]

I'm thinking of perhaps a combination of reasonably high price and a prerequisite feat you must have before you could use them as double weapons. Maybe Weapon Master, but a double weapon would count as two weapons with the feat. Without the feat a TBS would just be a versatile martial weapon with a base damage of 1d6, and versatile of 1d8.

That sounds fair enough. Making Weapon Master more attractive is never a bad thing.

[Fast Jimmy]

That sounds fair enough. Making Weapon Master more attractive is never a bad thing.

I think making a worthless feat a tax to getting a feat you actually want doesn't work in 5E (and it barely worked in 3.X or Pathfinder).

[weaseldust]

It appears that the style in 5e is to give the weapons very basic properties and then write Fighting Styles and, especially, feats to add more interesting. E.g. a basic quarterstaff is quite dull, but you can use it with the Defensive Duelist or Polearm Master feat to give it new properties. (For one thing, this helps make Fighters better than Wizards at using the same weapons.)

In that light, why not write a new feat to express how you want the double sword to work instead of commandeering the Weapon Master feat? You could add more special properties that way, like +1 AC.

[Arkhios]

Another Idea I had was that a double weapon could be used as a polearm for PAM, with the exception that the opposite end would deal damage determined by the weapon rather than by the feat. E.G. a two-bladed sword would deal slashing, a hooked hammer either bludgeoning or piercing, depending which end you primarily use, etc.

Of course it might be worth a slight boost in base damage, like 1d8 base and a possible 1d10 as a versatile.