How to handle player wanting to wield 2H weapon in one hand?

[RickAllison]

Heyo! I started up a campaign a little while back, and now we are at the point where the players are starting to think about their charactersÂ’ goals. One of them wants to figure out how to wield a 2H weapon one-handed (motivated at least partially by his mini featuring a shield). This understandably is rather vexing from a balance perspective, especially since he has also stated his intention to take the GWM feat.

IÂ’ve been looking up several homebrew options, and they generally seem to revolve around feats, like replicating the TitanÂ’s or Monkey Grip feats from 3.5e, but the renditions IÂ’ve seen of it seem to either be way too powerful or remove the entire point of using the oversized weapons. I also see the potential to do it as a magic item, or as a rule variant (like using an oversized weapon). Ultimately what is giving me pause is I want him to be able to experience the concept he has, but not at the expense of the balance of combat (rare as it has been lately in my game). Then again, the rest of the party are casters or a rogue (who has skills), so maybe it wouldnÂ’t be so bad as I think?

Ideas:
1) Inflict disadvantage (a la oversized weapons), but this makes GWM very impractical
2) Feat or so to allow, but donÂ’t allow GWM
3) Magic item

[ImproperJustice]

Feat or a Fighting style would be my go to ideas.

I think anywhere past level 12, you can set balance on fire and kick it out the window.

I player in a game today where a level 13 Paladin / Fighter armed with a wand of fire balls, and a flame tongue, did over 140 damage in two rounds to one foe, then spammed fireballs against another group for like 120 aoe damage in 2-3 rounds.

So the party beat stick adding 3-5 points to their AC is kinda....eh

[Christew]

DM: So let's talk about your characters' goals ...
A: I want to discover the identity of my father's murderer and avenge him.
B: I want to dethrone the tyrant that has conquered my village.
C: I want to bring glory to my tribe.
D: I want to wield a greatsword and a shield at the same time.

There are plenty of ways to homebrew it if you want to, but my advice is to just say no. Direct the player to the longsword, they can wield it 2h or 1h with a shield. "I want to make a character that looks like a mini I have" and "I want to use GWM with a shield" are not compelling reasons to break game balance (especially if you are not going to do the same for others).

[DevilMcam]

GWM and a shield os definitely a no go.

However a "mithral" greatsword that works as a shortsword that deals an extra d6 of damage is about as good as a frostbrand shortsword so that would be doable for a high level character. But gwm has to stay out.

Outside of that i would (I havent looked at balance on that point very deeply so interaction with gwm may or may not be broken) treat it as an improvised weapon that deals 2d6+str, but you can use your proficiency unless you have the tavern brawler feat.
It may still require attacking with disadvantage

[Crucius]

I agree with making it a feat, this way you also delay GWM and ASI's for what is essentially a bit more damage (2-3 per attack on average).

Not sure how I feel about wielding polearms with one hand; That would be very strong defensively rather than offensive...ly.

If you feel that he is seriously outpacing the rest of the party in damage, buff the rest with some minor boons. There are always some imperfections that can be ironed out and the players will be thankful for the buff.

[pr4wn]

I would use a feat, something like the following:

Great Weapon Expert:

• If you are medium size or larger, you may wield a non reach heavy weapon in one hand. While doing so it is treated as if it did not have the heavy property and its damage steps down one level (2D6 or D12 to D10, D10 to D8, D8 to D6 etc)
• While wielding a heavy weapon with two hands, melee attacks you make with it have a +1 to hit and +1 to damage.
• If you are small, you may wield a heavy weapon with two hands without disadvantage

This allows them to do more damage with a greatsword one handed than they could do with a longsword (but not more than a fighter with a longsword and the dueling fighting style). The +1 to hit and damage give them a bonus when using two hands, but no more than using the ASI to raise their strength would have, and without raising their skill checks and strength save. It does provide some power creep, but not an insane amount and prevents GWM abuse while using a shield.

-pr4wn

[Jerrykhor]

There are a few ways to do this.

1. Give him a magic item (attunement required) that gives him that ability, like a power gauntlet or something.
2. Make it a feat with the GWM prerequisite
3. Give him as a boon. Not recommended unless every other PC also have some sort of boon.
4. Homebrew some rules for it, for example, he can only wield a 2h weapon in one hand if he has more than 22 strength.

If balance is a big concern, I'd pitch the idea of a 'special request' to the rest of the party during character creation. As a DM, i like to give my players the chance to request for something special, whether its an ability or magic item that ties in to their backstory, which usually gives them a significant power boost but not overpowered. Sometimes you want a certain character concept but the rules don't allow for it, which can be frustrating. But if everyone insist on playing by the book, then I wouldn't allow a single player to have it.

[Yspoch]

It would be basically a little better than this: https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/animated-shield

So that's about the power level you have to consider.

[Mikal]

Heyo! I started up a campaign a little while back, and now we are at the point where the players are starting to think about their charactersÂ’ goals. One of them wants to figure out how to wield a 2H weapon one-handed (motivated at least partially by his mini featuring a shield). This understandably is rather vexing from a balance perspective, especially since he has also stated his intention to take the GWM feat.

IÂ’ve been looking up several homebrew options, and they generally seem to revolve around feats, like replicating the TitanÂ’s or Monkey Grip feats from 3.5e, but the renditions IÂ’ve seen of it seem to either be way too powerful or remove the entire point of using the oversized weapons. I also see the potential to do it as a magic item, or as a rule variant (like using an oversized weapon). Ultimately what is giving me pause is I want him to be able to experience the concept he has, but not at the expense of the balance of combat (rare as it has been lately in my game). Then again, the rest of the party are casters or a rogue (who has skills), so maybe it wouldnÂ’t be so bad as I think?

Ideas:
1) Inflict disadvantage (a la oversized weapons), but this makes GWM very impractical
2) Feat or so to allow, but donÂ’t allow GWM
3) Magic item

You tell them “no”.

See? Easy

[MrStabby]

I would be hesitant to do this; it certainly needs a lot of thought and may depend on party composition. That said - I am usually all for helping players achieve their goals if I can do it whilst preserving balance.

The thing I would check for in the party is mainly to see if there is anyone else that this would overshadow. Is someone else using a sword and shield and would be overshadowed by a big sword and a shield? Or is there someone else with a big weapon who would then be in a party with a PC that had a similar offencebut got given a better defence?

I would also think about party roles. If the PC in question is a Valor bard then their primary role is not likely to be damage and there may be other damage focussed PCs in the party - this is letting one PC step into the role of another and is decidedly Not Cool.

What kind of magic item levels are you looking at? At its simplest this could be asking if a +1 shield is likely to be found? Is having a shield likely to mean +2 AC or +3 AC or even more?

Finally there is balance; how stong is the character relative to the other PCs? Did you roll for stats and they rolled well or poorly? If you are looking at a single classed strength ranger at level 14 wanting this in a party with a cleric a wizard and a bard then I would be pretty happy with it. If it is a level 6 paladin wanting it in a party with a monk, a ranger and a barbarian then probably not.


How to deliver this may also depend on the above.

The first question is about what to give up. If the character is less powerful then give up less, obviously. But looking at peers in the party can guide what should be sacrificied. If another player is investing in doing damage then any ability should penalise damage when used in this way so you are not letting a sword and shield player equal the damage of the PC who has invested in it. Likewise for defense; if there is another PC with heavy armour and a shield they obviously want to shine in defence - don't let this ability squash that.

The second issue is around what level you will be playing to. If you are only playing to a low level then a feat to allow this isn't too bad. It has a pretty clear cost to it and is going to mean fewer ASIs to boost things like strength. On the other hand if there is an expectation of higher level then that extra ASI would have bought something less important and, depending on party composition, you may need a cost that would be felt for longer.

You could stick other requirements on it - such as being a race with Powerful Build pushing the player on a quest to find the magich to change them. Or you could balance it with a cost to usage - say the risk of exhastion so there are in-game downsides to it.

[da newt]

DM: "Sure no problem. That sounds cool. When wielded with only one hand your great sword does 2d6-3 damage and does not qualify for GWM." Done.

[DeadMech]

One of the things I miss with 5e is the variety of shields. You could usually grab something like a buckler relatively easily which strapped to the arm and only slightly boosted your ac. But since it didn't take up your hand you could use it for something like this situation and only have a -1 to hit penalty.

Then on the other hand you had towershields which were double the AC but could be used as mobile full cover. I remember their being some version that was steel instead of wood. Weighted like 100lbs by itself.

Neither could be used for shield bash attacks.

If I were to port it forward I'd say that the buckler wasn't large enough for shield master benefits. And the towershield I might as you could extend the defensive benefits of shield master to a single adjacent person.

[JackPhoenix]

He's trying to use a weapon in a way it's not designed for. That means he's using improvised weapon rules. No proficiency, 1d4 damage. No GWM, because it's not heavy.

[JNAProductions]

I would use a feat, something like the following:

Great Weapon Expert:

• If you are medium size or larger, you may wield a non reach heavy weapon in one hand. While doing so it is treated as if it did not have the heavy property and its damage steps down one level (2D6 or D12 to D10, D10 to D8, D8 to D6 etc)
• While wielding a heavy weapon with two hands, melee attacks you make with it have a +1 to hit and +1 to damage.
• If you are small, you may wield a heavy weapon with two hands without disadvantage

This allows them to do more damage with a greatsword one handed than they could do with a longsword (but not more than a fighter with a longsword and the dueling fighting style). The +1 to hit and damage give them a bonus when using two hands, but no more than using the ASI to raise their strength would have, and without raising their skill checks and strength save. It does provide some power creep, but not an insane amount and prevents GWM abuse while using a shield.

-pr4wn

This seems pretty reasonable to me.

It's also reasonable to just say no-this seems pretty purely a mechanical thing, so I wouldn't have any issue just denying them.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Honestly, it's not as big a problem as some of you guys think. Like Yspoch pointed out, it's about on par with an animated shield, or a Shield of Faith spell, or twice the Defense fighting style. +2 AC is significant, certainly, but it's hardly game-breaking.

For my part, I'd suggest something along the lines of Defensive Duelist-- you can wear a shield and swing a greatsword, but you have to use a reaction to gain the shield's AC bonus, and then only against one attack. If you make it a feat, maybe let it scale-- at 5th level, the bonus applies until the end of the turn, at 11th level until the end of the round, and at 17th level no reaction is required at all.

[clash]

Could always make a homebrew spell for it, then how he it attains it could be class choices, magic initiate or a magic item. The key being it worries be limited in use. Something like:

Saintly Might
Casting Time: 1 bonus action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V S M (A small parchment with a bit of holy text written on it)
Duration: Up to 10 minutes (concentration)
Classes: Cleric, Paladin
You grant the target the might of saints long gone. For the duration they may wield any 2- handed melee weapon in one hand.

[ThatoneGuy84]

Hes level 12? Tell him to quest for an animate shield?
Seeing as you are alright with homebrewing something.
Dueling Gauntlet (Armguard) - could do something like, cover 1 arm from shoulder to hand with a small shield like plate affixed to the forarm, grant 1/2 benifit of shield, +1 AC as a base - with the possibility of being magical for additional boosts, and freeing up the second hand spot normally required to hold the shield.

Alternately, tell your player just toss the shield and use a 2 handed wep if he wants.

[stoutstien]

As long as you're okay with home brewing at a given table we're talking about a pretty insignificant inecrease in damage and AC. as someone pointed out of they would basically be benefiting from the same effect as an animated shield.

[MrStabby]

Honestly, it's not as big a problem as some of you guys think. Like Yspoch pointed out, it's about on par with an animated shield, or a Shield of Faith spell, or twice the Defense fighting style. +2 AC is significant, certainly, but it's hardly game-breaking.

Whilst I agree with your analogy, mostly... I don't think it is insignificant.

Shield of faith... sure... but without needing to take a level in a spellcasting class. Without needing the stat allocation to take that level. Can't be dispelled or supressed. Unlimited use. No bonus action to bring it into effect. It isn't like shield of faith is a bad spell either. A +2 to AC is very significant. With something like plate this could typically be taking enemies hitting on something like a 14+ to hitting on a 16+ taking over 25% of damage recieved.

Also, it is only a +2 bonus if there are no magic shields avaialble. Now we shouldn't assume there are - but if the party does find one it could be more than a +2 bonus.

[Knaight]

The easiest way would be refluffing. They have a two handed weapon, they have a shield, but the don't get the shield bonus to AC because of the awkwardness of using an oversized weapon. Alternately you do damage equivalent to a one handed weapon of roughly the same type, on account of not being able to swing as hard.

Slightly harder would be homebrewing something. I'm thinking a feat that lets you get shield AC while using a two handed weapon, but only against ranged attacks wouldn't be unreasonable and makes sense from an in fiction perspective (because your melee defenses will not be as good when the weapon is clumsy in your hand).

[Yakk]

There is an epic boon, intended for post-20 PCs, that does this.

There are other epic boons that grant "you get another 9th level spell slot".

---

While it superficially looka like an animated shield, a magic shield can grant up to 5 AC, which is a lot.

---

If you are comfortable handing out epic boon level benefits at low level to everyone, go for it.

[Keltest]

I think the big question here is if youre ok with the tone of game that a character wielding a cartoonishly large weapon in one hand sets. If youre ok with things being based mostly on rule of cool, go for it. If you want a more realistic tone for the game, tell the player no and encourage them to pick a different goal for themselves.

[rumplepum]

There is an epic boon, intended for post-20 PCs, that does this.

There are other epic boons that grant "you get another 9th level spell slot".

---

While it superficially looka like an animated shield, a magic shield can grant up to 5 AC, which is a lot.

---

If you are comfortable handing out epic boon level benefits at low level to everyone, go for it.

No there isn't...?

There's one on this list of official and homebrew on GM Binder thay pops up on Google but not in the DMG

Even if it was, that's a super weaksauce epic boon. Normally, I'd say just refluff the weapon but since the player wants to use GWM I'd say no. At higher levels it's probably fine though

[SirGraystone]

There's already something in the rules allowing to use a weapon 1h or 2h it's call versatile weapon, the longsword being one of those.

[Democratus]

You could declare a greatsword as versatile.

It does 2d6 when wielded with two hands, and 2d4 when wielded with one hand.

[JNAProductions]

You could declare a greatsword as versatile.

It does 2d6 when wielded with two hands, and 2d4 when wielded with one hand.

That'd make it ever-so-slightly better than a Longsword/Warhammer, by .5 damage per attack. (A whopping 1.5 damage per attack, though, with GWF.)

And, if it retains the Heavy Property, a LOT better due to GWM interaction.

[Hytheter]

That'd make it ever-so-slightly better than a Longsword/Warhammer, by .5 damage per attack.

It does the same to the Greataxe already, might as well let it edge out the one-handers too. :P

(A whopping 1.5 damage per attack, though, with GWF.)

GWF requires two hands and would be weaker than duelling anyway.

[JNAProductions]

GWF requires two hands and would be weaker than duelling anyway.

Does it? Okay, forgot that.

[Jamesps]

This is a pretty big boost at low levels, I would avoid it.

I would also avoid it if you're not planning on giving other characters similar benefits. I know when I'm a player I don't mind GM's giving out home brewed benefits until it's clear that one player is receiving the lion's share of them.

[Man_Over_Game]

• Make it part of the fighting style.
• Make it so that attacking with the weapon in one hand requires your Bonus Action.
• Make it require you to be Raging to do, but you don't get the Rage damage bonus when doing so.
• Make it require all of your movement if you take the Attack Action.
• Make it so that you can only attack with the weapon once per turn, and instead get +1 to your attack and damage roll for every extra attack you would have made.
• Make it so that you don't add your Strength modifier to your attack or damage rolls.
• You get Disadvantage on your attack rolls.

Really, just look at all of the circumstances that seem reasonable for a +2 damage/AC bonus, and do that.