Feedback on custom magic item

[Skrum]

The game I'm involved in plays with a lot of custom magic items, so I'm working on this one as a sort of "custom item plus." It's almost done, but I want some other eyes on it.

Spoiler: Old Version

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Trial Sword: when unattuned, this item looks like a sword handle made of plain wood. The crosspiece and pommel are unadorned iron. There is no blade. When attuned however, this item shows its true nature, taking one of the forms detailed below. Its appearance changes to reflect the wielder (player input welcome).

By attuning to this item, the wielder becomes proficient with it, and all attack rolls and damage rolls made with it are keyed off of their highest stat (Str, Dex, Con, etc). Regardless of what form it takes, the Trial Sword is a longsword +1. It has a number of charges equal to the wielder’s proficiency bonus +1. The charges may be spent to use the additional abilities it gains depending on what stat it is keyed to. Charges replenish at dawn each day.

Strength:
The Trial Sword gains the heavy property, though it may still be wielded with one hand
Crushing Swings (1 charge): Use this ability after landing an attack with this sword. You may move the target 5 ft in a direction of your choice.
Shatter Defenses (2 charges): This ability may be used after an attack misses. Add 5 to the attack roll.

Dexterity:
It gains the light and finesse property.
Expert Defense (1 charge): As a reaction to an attack against you, you may spend a charge to gain +3 AC until the beginning of your next turn. More than one charge may be spent at a time to give a greater bonus.
Supreme Feint (2 charges): As a bonus action, move to any square adjacent to an opponent you are adjacent to. This movement does not draw opportunity attacks. You are invisible to them until the beginning of your next turn.

Constitution:
Double-Tough (1 charge): As a bonus action, gain temporary hit points equal to your level
Iron Skin (2 charges): As a reaction, gain resistance to an attack. If the attack is made with a non-magical weapon, the weapon breaks against your skin (you still take the damage, albeit with resistance)

Intelligence:
Supreme Tactics (1 charge): This ability is used as part of a readied action. You may ready a move action in addition to your action.
Exploit Weakness (2 charges): This ability is used as part of an attack that is being made at advantage. If the attack lands, it is a critical hit

Wisdom:
Battle Sense (1 charge): Use when rolling for initiative. Add 5 to your score.
Ultra-Instinct (2 charges): Use as a reaction when you are hit by an attack, but before damage is rolled. The attack automatically misses.

Charisma:
Force of Personality (1 charge): Use when making a Cha-based skill check. Gain advantage on the roll. You need not be holding the sword when using this ability, though it does have to be in your possession and visible to the character you are interacting with.
Awe (2 charges): To use this ability, you must have the ability to cast spells. As part of an attack, you may cast a spell. The spell is channeled into the sword, and if the attack hits, the target is affected by the spell in addition to any damage they take from the weapon (and only them, regardless of the range or area of effect of the spell). If the spell allows a save, they don’t get one - though if the spell allows for subsequent saves to end an effect, those are still made. If the attack misses, the spell is lost.


My specific questions: obviously Dexterity's second ability is not done. I had a notion to make it either a disarming thing where you can end up taking their weapon, or a redirect an attack into an adjacent enemy thing. I am dissatisfied with both of these options.

Also, I think Charisma's Awe ability might be too strong. But what do y'all think?

Edits: Added the second Dexterity ability, Supreme Feint. The idea here is you've faked out your opponent so completely they momentarily don't know where you are.

Added the finesse property to the Dex sword

Added the heavy property to the Str sword

Switched the cost of the two Int abilities. Near-auto-crits probably are the stronger of the two.

And the new, basically finalized version -
Trial Sword: when unattuned, this item looks like a sword handle made of plain wood. The crosspiece and pommel are unadorned iron. There is no blade. When attuned however, this item shows its true nature, taking one of the forms detailed below. Its exact appearance changes to reflect the wielder (player input welcome).

By attuning to this item, the wielder becomes proficient with it, and all attack rolls and damage rolls made with it are keyed off of their highest stat (Str, Dex, Con, etc). Regardless of what form it takes, the Trial Sword has the stats and basic appearance of a longsword, and deals slashing damage. If relevant, it counts as a monk weapon. It has a number of charges equal to the wielder’s proficiency bonus +1. The charges may be spent to use the additional abilities it gains depending on what stat it is keyed to. Charges replenish at dawn each day.

To use any of the abilities of the Trial Sword, the sword must be in your possession and you must have at least one hand grasping the sword.

Strength:
The Trial Sword gains the heavy property, though it may still be wielded with one hand
Forceful Blow (1 charge): This ability may be used after landing a melee attack with the Trial Sword. Move the target 10 ft in a direction of your choice.
Shatter Defenses (2 charges): This ability may be used after one of your attacks with the Trial Sword misses. Add 5 to the attack roll.

Dexterity:
It gains the light and finesse property.
Needle Strike (1 charge): This ability is used when you land a strike with the Trial Sword. Any damage dealt ignores any resistances the target has.
Supreme Feint (2 charges): This ability takes a bonus action. Pick an opponent adjacent to you. Move to any square that is adjacent to that opponent. This movement doesn’t draw opportunity attacks. You are invisible to that opponent (and that opponent only) until the beginning of your next turn. Even if they have abilities, like blindsight, that allow them to see invisible opponents, you still gain the benefits of invisibility in relation to them.

Constitution:
Double-Tough (1 charge): As a bonus action, gain temporary hit points equal to your level + constitution modifier. The hit points last until consumed, or the next dawn.
Iron Skin (2 charges): As a reaction, gain resistance to an attack. If the attack was made with a non-magical weapon, the weapon (or projectile, if this was a projectile attack) breaks against your skin. You still take the damage, albeit with resistance.

Intelligence:
Supreme Tactics (1 charge): This ability can be used when you ready an action. You may move up to your speed as part of your readied action.
Exploit Weakness (2 charges): When you attack with the Trial Sword at advantage and the total attack roll exceeds their AC by 5 or more, you may use this ability to make the strike a critical hit.

Wisdom:
Battle Sense (1 charge): This ability may be used when rolling for initiative. You need not be touching the sword to use this ability, but it must be on your person. Add 5 to the roll.
Ultra-Instinct (2 charges): Use as a reaction when you are hit by an attack, but before damage is rolled. The attack automatically misses.

Charisma:
Force of Will (1 charge): This ability may be used after you land a strike with the Trial Sword. The target hit has disadvantage on all attacks against you until the beginning of your next turn. Targets immune to fear are immune to this ability.
Awe (2 charges): All hostile creatures within 30 ft of you must make a Cha save vs DC (8 + proficiency + Cha modifier) or become frightened of you until the end of your next turn. In addition, the 30 ft area around you becomes difficult terrain for all hostile creatures until the end of your next turn. Using this ability takes an action.

[J-H]

I like it! I can see a low to mid level party having to roll to see who gets it.

[EggKookoo]

Serpent's Coil makes me think poison damage in some way?

For Strength, you might just want to give it the Versatile property instead of saying it has 2-handed but also can be used with one hand. Might be a little more straightforward?

[Skrum]

Serpent's Coil makes me think poison damage in some way?

For Strength, you might just want to give it the Versatile property instead of saying it has 2-handed but also can be used with one hand. Might be a little more straightforward?

Ah yah know I meant heavy? So it can be used with GWM. My bad.

[EggKookoo]

Ah yah know I meant heavy? So it can be used with GWM. My bad.

Ok, yeah, that makes a lot more sense. I guess it already has Versatile if it's mechanically a longsword.

[kaervaak]

This is a very cool weapon and quite powerful. Probably very rare if I had to assign it a rarity.

Strength is obviously great since you can use it with GWM. Super powerful to be able to use a shield and GWM at the same time. Also allows dueling fighting style for even more damage. Shatter defenses is also extremely synergistic with GWM.

Dexterity is kind of weak. Fun to be able to use TWF with it but no where near as strong as strength. The parry ability is probably weaker than it needs to be. You could make it work like defensive duelist easily enough (add proficiency bonus or dex mod to defense) without breaking anything. Serpent's strike sounds like either a reaction attack or a reach attack. Spend 2 charges to make a reaction attack against someone attacking you with advantage. This reaction happens before the first attack hits, potentially disrupting the attack.

Constitution is clearly strong since everyone needs con. The abilities are fun. I like it.

Intelligence is crazy powerful. Exploit weakness is just brutal on an arcane trickster. Steady aim, plus this gives basically an autocrit with sneak attack. I'd probably switch the cost of the two abilities.

Wisdom is also very strong. Ultra-instinct in particular is extremely good since it can completely negate a crit.

Charisma is fine. Charisma classes don't need a lot of help I suppose. Awe is super strong on a Sorcadin. Upcast inflict wounds, get a weapon attack and smite all in one swing!

[PhantomSoul]

I love the idea and will have to come back to comment later. In the meantime, as a curiosity, do you want the Longsword to enable a Rogue's Sneak Attack if they're in Dexterity Mode (or maybe in other cases too)? As written, it's like a Monk Weapon: you can use Dexterity, but it doesn't gain the necessary properties to use Sneak Attack.

[Amnestic]

Intelligence is crazy powerful. Exploit weakness is just brutal on an arcane trickster. Steady aim, plus this gives basically an autocrit with sneak attack. I'd probably switch the cost of the two abilities.

How often is an Arcane Trickster going to have Int>Dex though?

[kaervaak]

How often is an Arcane Trickster going to have Int>Dex though?

Depends on when they get this sword I suppose! Also relies on it being finesse.

[Skrum]

I love the idea and will have to come back to comment later. In the meantime, as a curiosity, do you want the Longsword to enable a Rogue's Sneak Attack if they're in Dexterity Mode (or maybe in other cases too)? As written, it's like a Monk Weapon: you can use Dexterity, but it doesn't gain the necessary properties to use Sneak Attack.

Yup I definitely want it to have the finesse property. This exactly why I'm getting this reviewed lol

[PhantomSoul]

Trial Sword: when unattuned, this item looks like a sword handle made of plain wood. The crosspiece and pommel are unadorned iron. There is no blade. When attuned however, this item shows its true nature, taking one of the forms detailed below. Its appearance changes to reflect the wielder (player input welcome).

As mentioned, I love this idea for an adaptation-shifting weapon.

By attuning to this item, the wielder becomes proficient with it, and all attack rolls and damage rolls made with it are keyed off of their highest stat (Str, Dex, Con, etc).

Hm, I'd be tempted not to make the wielder proficient -- instead, it takes the form of the closest-matching weapon with which the attuned creature has proficiency (closest to their proficiencies given properties you want to add). I might even have it take the form of whoever wields it regardless of attunement to make the item seem weird and magical before any further exploration -- but they don't get special properties without attunement, of course.

I think it’s worth having in mind what will happen if there’s a tie for the highest stat. I could imagine having the player choose (either the form of the weapon or the stat), but I’d tend to have them roll at the end of a long rest (or dawn, if that’s when charges replenish) to see. This doesn’t need to be in the description, but could still be worth thinking about!

Regardless of what form it takes, the Trial Sword is a longsword +1.

Personal preference is not to have +x weapons at all, but that's not a big deal. (Just a pattern at several of the tables I'm in.) Here, though, you're already matching their highest stat AND ensuring proficiency, so +x seems like more overkill than normal!

It has a number of charges equal to the wielder’s proficiency bonus +1. The charges may be spent to use the additional abilities it gains depending on what stat it is keyed to. Charges replenish at dawn each day.

I get why it would be using the proficiency bonus for the charges, but it feels like a case where the ability mod or the ability score is much more thematic. Neither one would be a weird range given other magical items (e.g. staff of power at 20, lots of items at 3-6 IIRC). (I probably won’t comment on charge costs anyhow!)

Strength:
The Trial Sword gains the heavy property, though it may still be wielded with one hand
Crushing Swings (1 charge): Use this ability after landing an attack with this sword. You may move the target 5 ft in a direction of your choice.
Shatter Defenses (2 charges): This ability may be used after an attack misses. Add 5 to the attack roll.

A one-handed heavy weapon is a biggie! (Not a complaint – especially for the fact that it benefits Strength, which tends not to be optimal anyway. It does make the extra +1 feel more “dangerous” given feats.) I think this is a spot where the weapon changing form really helps; the weapon becomes a heavy weapon, so you don’t even need to figure out weights (if the players care).

Crushing: I’d probable rename it (e.g. “forceful”), but perfectly sensible. I’d consider giving it 10 feet, but given the charge requirement I think it’s reasonable that there’s no saving throw or ability check. You could consider making it free on a crit or when overkilling on the attack roll, but that doesn’t seem necessary.

Shatter: Sure (I tend not to like flat bonuses or ones that you don’t “call” beforehand, but I get they’re a thing and this one matching things like Shield is reasonable).

Dexterity:
It gains the light and finesse property.
Expert Defense (1 charge): As a reaction to an attack against you, you may spend a charge to gain +3 AC until the beginning of your next turn. More than one charge may be spent at a time to give a greater bonus.
Supreme Feint (2 charges): As a bonus action, move to any square adjacent to an opponent you are adjacent to. This movement does not draw opportunity attacks. You are invisible to them until the beginning of your next turn.

Property update (finesse): Good!
Light: I think the main decision here is whether you want easier dual-wielding or not.

Overall (comment not going to be repeated): Maybe a few words for fluff would help; what in-game behaviour gives these. (E.g. for Expert Defense, is this a parry, or is it just a magical boost?)

Defense: Unusual bonus; things tend to be +/-2, +/-5, or matching some value (e.g. proficiency, stats). That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and you might even have been aiming to beat out +2s specifically. I do think you need to spell out the extra charges being spent, though – how many can be spent and does it scale 1:1? (Normally I’d warn against this given it’s largely number-breaking, but (a) it’s a single item, and (b) there’s still a cost that you can adjust. For boosting, applying it to the whole round is strong.)

Feint: A little confusingly worded, but a cool idea. (I would expect someone to ask what happens if there are two enemies, for example.) In terms of wording, I’d generally avoid “opponent”; “Creature” if you want it to be general, or “Hostile Creature” if you want more of a combat enemy vibe. I think you were right to specify that there are no opportunity attacks even if being unseen has that as a default (both as a reminder and if you want this to beat other senses, plus if there’s more than one opponent the current wording means no opponent can make an opportunity attack). I’m less sure flavour-wise for this ability: if you compare it to the Strength abilities, it looks like it thematically doesn’t fit as well; the Strength ones can be attributed to the weapon or proficiency at wielding it, but this one can’t clearly be (the weapon seems irrelevant to the ability).

Constitution:
Double-Tough (1 charge): As a bonus action, gain temporary hit points equal to your level
Iron Skin (2 charges): As a reaction, gain resistance to an attack. If the attack is made with a non-magical weapon, the weapon breaks against your skin (you still take the damage, albeit with resistance)

(See later general comment about benefits being either more parallel/consistent or more clearly justified flavourwise.)

Double-Tough: It probably makes sense to specify a maximum duration for the temporary hit points, otherwise this is a no-brainer at the start of the day.

Skin: Get ready for chaos! (Not necessarily a bad thing…) Do you want to restrict the type of attack, e.g. only attacks from weapons? Or maybe you decide when targeted so you might lose the Reaction and Charge if the attacker misses, to offset this being pretty strong against Creatures with one Weapon? Do you want bows to break, or just the arrow (so more fluff than impactful) or only affect melee weapons? I think it could be fun to make this more gradual where you downgrade a weapon’s damage die 1d12->1d10->…->1d4->1d1->0 and it breaks at 0, but that’s a lot more tracking to do for the DM!

Intelligence:
Supreme Tactics (1 charge): This ability is used as part of a readied action. You may ready a move action in addition to your action.
Exploit Weakness (2 charges): This ability is used as part of an attack that is being made at advantage. If the attack lands, it is a critical hit

Tactics: I’d rephrase just to match typical wordings (“When you take a Readied Action, you can Move up to your Speed as part of the same Readied Action.”) It’s a cool idea and a big bonus, but these characters may be more likely to cast spells anyway and therefore there are plausibly other penalties at play (e.g. concentration). You may still want to specify that it’s readying the attack action if you want the weapon to feel relevant.

Exploit: Very strong, particularly if your game makes advantage relatively easy to acquire… I’d minimally add requirements (e.g. “use your Reaction” and/or “and the totals using both d20 would hit”, which can hit a wall in phrasing if there’s Elven Accuracy at play…) but probably just change it altogether. Maybe turning a crit against you into a regular hit (parrying?), increasing your crit range (perhaps with extra damage on a hit, that then would benefit), +1d4 as though blessed…

Wisdom:
Battle Sense (1 charge): Use when rolling for initiative. Add 5 to your score.
Ultra-Instinct (2 charges): Use as a reaction when you are hit by an attack, but before damage is rolled. The attack automatically misses.

Battle sense: I’d just streamline the phrasing; make it a reaction (in which case it fails if you’re surprised) or just make it a constant bonus (perhaps as a choice). 5 is a lot, but it’s essentially the Alert benefit anyhow (but stacks with Alert!).

Instinct: Quite strong, but manageable since it requires the reaction.

Charisma:
Force of Personality (1 charge): Use when making a Cha-based skill check. Gain advantage on the roll. You need not be holding the sword when using this ability, though it does have to be in your possession and visible to the character you are interacting with.
Awe (2 charges): To use this ability, you must have the ability to cast spells. As part of an attack, you may cast a spell. The spell is channeled into the sword, and if the attack hits, the target is affected by the spell in addition to any damage they take from the weapon (and only them, regardless of the range or area of effect of the spell). If the spell allows a save, they don’t get one - though if the spell allows for subsequent saves to end an effect, those are still made. If the attack misses, the spell is lost.

Force of Personality: A little odd given few other forms so far has specified this sort of weapon access requirement – not even wielding the weapon in some weapon-thematic cases! Decent, but I think the flavour fits better if you add at least a sentence for fluff (and make it a sentient weapon or have the weapon be inherently intimidating or awe-inspiring).

Awe: I’m not sold on *only* this ability requiring spellcasting, even if it’s likely a Cha-dominant character will be able to. This is… huge, though, as you noted! I minimally wouldn’t remove the save (!), and minimally would further restrict the spell (maybe it’s only cantrips, maybe it’s only instantaneous spells, maybe there’s a level cap equal to your Charisma mod…).

-----------------------

General:
- One thing I’m a strange stickler for is consistency; if abilities across options aren’t parallel, I want it to feel like there’s a clear reason for it. For example, you have 2/6 forms that give a constant effect (weapon property), and only some forms that use the action economy or triggers (reactions, readied actions, bonus actions, actionless number boosts). I think it should feel like these are either intentionally different (pushing towards a play style) or more consistent (thus the forms aren’t fighting for power on the action economy front AND in terms of their actual effects). Some tweaks are easy even when you don’t plan on them being relevant for action economy (e.g. Force of Personality taking a Reaction instead of being actionless or converting it to a constant +1d4-as-though-Guidance sort of thing), but I think it’s something to think on. Here I suspect what mainly matters is how you think it would feel at your table, since it’s being designed for the same DM who will run it! If some forms give non-combat (or non-combat-focused) benefits, it could be nice to do that for all of them, even if it’s pretty narrow; it both helps with consistency for feeling like the weapon is relevant but also makes it seem more well-rounded and thematic as an item. (Then it feels more like there’s a benefit from your connection to the weapon… and personally I’d be tempted to make the item sentient but with a different personality per form at that point!)
- It’s pretty mixed whether it feels like the abilities are really associated with the weapon. I think that could be handled in just adding a bit of fluff (that you may even have just omitted from here).
- Again, definitely a cool idea (that I’ll probably steal; I already have a lich whose phylacteries [plural] are designed around stats, so it would even be a thematic fit).

[Havlock]

Awe does seem a bit too much with the no save rider.

Maybe something simple like...

Awe (2 charges): When you hit with a melee attack you can spend 2 charges to also cast a spell at the target. Resolve the spell normally. The spell must be able to target a creature or be an area effect centered on the target.

Edit: oh, and yea, best to include something about the spell needing to be a 1 action casting time type or something.

[Skrum]

Hm, I'd be tempted not to make the wielder proficient -- instead, it takes the form of the closest-matching weapon with which the attuned creature has proficiency (closest to their proficiencies given properties you want to add). I might even have it take the form of whoever wields it regardless of attunement to make the item seem weird and magical before any further exploration -- but they don't get special properties without attunement, of course.

I was thinking about this, and I think I might just make it a one-handed simple weapon (which everyone is prof with, IIRC) that deals 1d8 slashing damage. Its particular appearance can be determined by the player

I think it’s worth having in mind what will happen if there’s a tie for the highest stat. I could imagine having the player choose (either the form of the weapon or the stat), but I’d tend to have them roll at the end of a long rest (or dawn, if that’s when charges replenish) to see. This doesn’t need to be in the description, but could still be worth thinking about!

I'm inclined to let them choose. Idk about on a daily basis necessarily - the fluff of this weapon is its supposed to be a reflection of the character - but.....once a week? Idk. Sounds like a headache.

Personal preference is not to have +x weapons at all, but that's not a big deal. (Just a pattern at several of the tables I'm in.) Here, though, you're already matching their highest stat AND ensuring proficiency, so +x seems like more overkill than normal!

My game is similar. I will probably drop it.

A one-handed heavy weapon is a biggie! (Not a complaint – especially for the fact that it benefits Strength, which tends not to be optimal anyway. It does make the extra +1 feel more “dangerous” given feats.) I think this is a spot where the weapon changing form really helps; the weapon becomes a heavy weapon, so you don’t even need to figure out weights (if the players care).

Crushing: I’d probable rename it (e.g. “forceful”), but perfectly sensible. I’d consider giving it 10 feet, but given the charge requirement I think it’s reasonable that there’s no saving throw or ability check. You could consider making it free on a crit or when overkilling on the attack roll, but that doesn’t seem necessary.

Shatter: Sure (I tend not to like flat bonuses or ones that you don’t “call” beforehand, but I get they’re a thing and this one matching things like Shield is reasonable).

I actually did change Crushing Swing to 10 ft of movement. 5 ft just didn't feel big enough to really bother thinking about. The Str version of the sword is clearly built with GWM in mind, hence +5 attack that offsets the penalty from the feat.

Property update (finesse): Good!
Light: I think the main decision here is whether you want easier dual-wielding or not.

Overall (comment not going to be repeated): Maybe a few words for fluff would help; what in-game behaviour gives these. (E.g. for Expert Defense, is this a parry, or is it just a magical boost?)

Defense: Unusual bonus; things tend to be +/-2, +/-5, or matching some value (e.g. proficiency, stats). That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and you might even have been aiming to beat out +2s specifically. I do think you need to spell out the extra charges being spent, though – how many can be spent and does it scale 1:1? (Normally I’d warn against this given it’s largely number-breaking, but (a) it’s a single item, and (b) there’s still a cost that you can adjust. For boosting, applying it to the whole round is strong.)

Feint: A little confusingly worded, but a cool idea. (I would expect someone to ask what happens if there are two enemies, for example.) In terms of wording, I’d generally avoid “opponent”; “Creature” if you want it to be general, or “Hostile Creature” if you want more of a combat enemy vibe. I think you were right to specify that there are no opportunity attacks even if being unseen has that as a default (both as a reminder and if you want this to beat other senses, plus if there’s more than one opponent the current wording means no opponent can make an opportunity attack). I’m less sure flavour-wise for this ability: if you compare it to the Strength abilities, it looks like it thematically doesn’t fit as well; the Strength ones can be attributed to the weapon or proficiency at wielding it, but this one can’t clearly be (the weapon seems irrelevant to the ability).

Defense would scale 1:1. I originally had it at +2 per charge, but that felt weak. My thinking on this is charges are fairly limited. For most characters in most games it's 4 charges per day. Using Defense once means you can only use Feint once. From that perspective, +2 just didn't seem strong enough. I want the two abilities to be balanced; if one is just flatly better than the other, there's no reason to waste any charges on the weaker ability.

Double-Tough: It probably makes sense to specify a maximum duration for the temporary hit points, otherwise this is a no-brainer at the start of the day.

I was thinking they last all day? But maybe I don't understand how temp HP work? Once they're gone, they're gone, right? Again, using Double-Tough once means you can only use Iron Skin once. That's a big deal. IMO, Double-Tough might be too weak.

Skin: Get ready for chaos! (Not necessarily a bad thing…) Do you want to restrict the type of attack, e.g. only attacks from weapons? Or maybe you decide when targeted so you might lose the Reaction and Charge if the attacker misses, to offset this being pretty strong against Creatures with one Weapon? Do you want bows to break, or just the arrow (so more fluff than impactful) or only affect melee weapons? I think it could be fun to make this more gradual where you downgrade a weapon’s damage die 1d12->1d10->…->1d4->1d1->0 and it breaks at 0, but that’s a lot more tracking to do for the DM!

Downgrading the weapon's damage would be fine if this ability could be used again and again. But this is limited to 2/day, and that's using ALL the charges for Iron Skin. Additionally, almost no combat goes beyond 4 rounds. Getting hit that many times by the same weapon, it's just not going to happen. And yes, I will clean up the language - this would not break someone's bow or ranged weapon. It breaks non-magical melee weapons. A projectile weapon will break the projectile (and reduce the damage of course).

Tactics: I’d rephrase just to match typical wordings (“When you take a Readied Action, you can Move up to your Speed as part of the same Readied Action.”) It’s a cool idea and a big bonus, but these characters may be more likely to cast spells anyway and therefore there are plausibly other penalties at play (e.g. concentration). You may still want to specify that it’s readying the attack action if you want the weapon to feel relevant.

Heard. My intention is for the character to be using this sword; it's not just a totem to be carried around. Buuuuut.....maybe it should be.....? Idk. I could see both arguments. Other abilities, like Wisdom's, don't use the sword directly either. Maybe just leave it as-is; if they want to cast a spell, go for it. Most high-Int characters are going to be spellcasters anyway.

Exploit: Very strong, particularly if your game makes advantage relatively easy to acquire… I’d minimally add requirements (e.g. “use your Reaction” and/or “and the totals using both d20 would hit”, which can hit a wall in phrasing if there’s Elven Accuracy at play…) but probably just change it altogether. Maybe turning a crit against you into a regular hit (parrying?), increasing your crit range (perhaps with extra damage on a hit, that then would benefit), +1d4 as though blessed…

I will have to think about this. Again though, almost all Int-characters are going to be casters. Even with a crit, their melee abilities aren't going to be super-strong, and they'll have spent an action staying in melee range instead of getting back to range. In that sense, I feel comfortable rewarding them with a strong melee option.

Battle sense: I’d just streamline the phrasing; make it a reaction (in which case it fails if you’re surprised) or just make it a constant bonus (perhaps as a choice). 5 is a lot, but it’s essentially the Alert benefit anyhow (but stacks with Alert!).

Can reactions be used during the initiative roll? Has combat started yet? I don't know this timing rule. Like the other abilities, the limited charges makes me OK with this. Use Battle Sense once, and now Ultra-Instinct can only be used once. This could be very worthwhile if it meant going first, especially if you can drop a powerful AoE. But get a poor initiative roll, and you're probably better off saving your charges for Ultra-Instinct.

Force of Personality: A little odd given few other forms so far has specified this sort of weapon access requirement – not even wielding the weapon in some weapon-thematic cases! Decent, but I think the flavour fits better if you add at least a sentence for fluff (and make it a sentient weapon or have the weapon be inherently intimidating or awe-inspiring).

I frankly don't like this ability, but I couldn't think of a Cha-themed ability to use instead. I mean it's a slightly better version of the cantrip Friends. Not exactly super exciting. It will probably be replaced, once I think of something else.

Awe: I’m not sold on *only* this ability requiring spellcasting, even if it’s likely a Cha-dominant character will be able to. This is… huge, though, as you noted! I minimally wouldn’t remove the save (!), and minimally would further restrict the spell (maybe it’s only cantrips, maybe it’s only instantaneous spells, maybe there’s a level cap equal to your Charisma mod…).

Also don't love this ability. It's too close to smite (a pally stacking this and smite.....oy vey), the wording in clunky, and yeah, I don't like that it's the only ability that requires a particular class feature to use. I will be looking to replace it with something more elegant.

General:
- One thing I’m a strange stickler for is consistency; if abilities across options aren’t parallel, I want it to feel like there’s a clear reason for it. For example, you have 2/6 forms that give a constant effect (weapon property), and only some forms that use the action economy or triggers (reactions, readied actions, bonus actions, actionless number boosts). I think it should feel like these are either intentionally different (pushing towards a play style) or more consistent (thus the forms aren’t fighting for power on the action economy front AND in terms of their actual effects). Some tweaks are easy even when you don’t plan on them being relevant for action economy (e.g. Force of Personality taking a Reaction instead of being actionless or converting it to a constant +1d4-as-though-Guidance sort of thing), but I think it’s something to think on. Here I suspect what mainly matters is how you think it would feel at your table, since it’s being designed for the same DM who will run it! If some forms give non-combat (or non-combat-focused) benefits, it could be nice to do that for all of them, even if it’s pretty narrow; it both helps with consistency for feeling like the weapon is relevant but also makes it seem more well-rounded and thematic as an item. (Then it feels more like there’s a benefit from your connection to the weapon… and personally I’d be tempted to make the item sentient but with a different personality per form at that point!)
- It’s pretty mixed whether it feels like the abilities are really associated with the weapon. I think that could be handled in just adding a bit of fluff (that you may even have just omitted from here).
- Again, definitely a cool idea (that I’ll probably steal; I already have a lich whose phylacteries [plural] are designed around stats, so it would even be a thematic fit).

I felt like I needed to add the riders on the Str and Dex forms because Str and Dex characters are heavily built around their weapons having the correct properties. Most Str characters use heavy weapons, and let's just say all Dex characters are finesse and/or light weapon users. Not having those qualities makes the sword something of a non-starter, regardless of what the charges give access to.

Con characters don't really exist (so the Con sword is probably never going to see play lol), and the mental stats are almost always casters, meaning getting them to use a melee weapon at all is an uphill battle - but it also means they don't really need a weapon type.

Thanks for all the great feedback! I will definitely be polishing this thing before I give it out as loot.

[sethdmichaels]

i love this. would it count as a monk weapon? asking for a high-DEX friend

[PhantomSoul]

I was thinking about this, and I think I might just make it a one-handed simple weapon (which everyone is prof with, IIRC) that deals 1d8 slashing damage. Its particular appearance can be determined by the player

Mostly, with some exceptions (e.g. Sorcerers and Wizards are only proficient with Daggers, Darts, Slings, Quarterstaffs, and Light crossbows).

I'm inclined to let them choose. Idk about on a daily basis necessarily - the fluff of this weapon is its supposed to be a reflection of the character - but.....once a week? Idk. Sounds like a headache.

That works – my reason for random (with possibility that you convince a sentience within the weapon) is mainly just getting the multiple “facets” represented :)

I actually did change Crushing Swing to 10 ft of movement. 5 ft just didn't feel big enough to really bother thinking about. The Str version of the sword is clearly built with GWM in mind, hence +5 attack that offsets the penalty from the feat.

Hm, maybe Advantage instead of +5? That could also make it proportionally cheaper, but it’ll often be especially helpful exactly when the boost is needed with the added bonus of increasing crit rates.

Defense would scale 1:1. I originally had it at +2 per charge, but that felt weak. My thinking on this is charges are fairly limited. For most characters in most games it's 4 charges per day. Using Defense once means you can only use Feint once. From that perspective, +2 just didn't seem strong enough. I want the two abilities to be balanced; if one is just flatly better than the other, there's no reason to waste any charges on the weaker ability.

Fair enough – though if it’s (effectively a maximum of) twice per day, I think you could effectively boost it to +5. (Particularly given Shield, and all the more with Defensive Duellist and the Strength ability in play.)

I was thinking they last all day? But maybe I don't understand how temp HP work? Once they're gone, they're gone, right? Again, using Double-Tough once means you can only use Iron Skin once. That's a big deal. IMO, Double-Tough might be too weak.

Finishing a Long Rest, yes. The idea was just that you would probably use the ability outside of combat (right at the start of the day), unless you weren’t going to use it at all (e.g. you’re an Armor of Agathys build). If that’s the case, it probably just won’t get used. (I’m partly wondering if you just want the weapon to boost the hit point maximum or give temp HP at the start of the day without costing an action or a charge, like the permanent bonuses through weapon properties for Strength and Dex.)

Downgrading the weapon's damage would be fine if this ability could be used again and again. But this is limited to 2/day, and that's using ALL the charges for Iron Skin. Additionally, almost no combat goes beyond 4 rounds. Getting hit that many times by the same weapon, it's just not going to happen. And yes, I will clean up the language - this would not break someone's bow or ranged weapon. It breaks non-magical melee weapons. A projectile weapon will break the projectile (and reduce the damage of course).

Sounds good! It’s a cool ability (and I’m sure the players would get a kick out of the chaos if they end up with a Constitution Form).

I will have to think about this. Again though, almost all Int-characters are going to be casters. Even with a crit, their melee abilities aren't going to be super-strong, and they'll have spent an action staying in melee range instead of getting back to range. In that sense, I feel comfortable rewarding them with a strong melee option.

So no worries for Bladesingers, melee boosters, and perhaps Artificers or the odd Arcane Trickster and the like. Fair enough – they might not be a concern at the table!

Can reactions be used during the initiative roll? Has combat started yet? I don't know this timing rule. Like the other abilities, the limited charges makes me OK with this. Use Battle Sense once, and now Ultra-Instinct can only be used once. This could be very worthwhile if it meant going first, especially if you can drop a powerful AoE. But get a poor initiative roll, and you're probably better off saving your charges for Ultra-Instinct.

They have Reactions before their turn! I was mainly thinking it could even stop having a Charge cost (unless it was brought to have an implicit restriction, like a Reaction gives). Fair logic, though, and reasonable either way!

I frankly don't like this ability, but I couldn't think of a Cha-themed ability to use instead. I mean it's a slightly better version of the cantrip Friends. Not exactly super exciting. It will probably be replaced, once I think of something else.

Hm, maybe a short-term Charm, Fear or (extra-short) Banishment effect could fit?

Also don't love this ability. It's too close to smite (a pally stacking this and smite.....oy vey), the wording in clunky, and yeah, I don't like that it's the only ability that requires a particular class feature to use. I will be looking to replace it with something more elegant.

Fair!

I felt like I needed to add the riders on the Str and Dex forms because Str and Dex characters are heavily built around their weapons having the correct properties. Most Str characters use heavy weapons, and let's just say all Dex characters are finesse and/or light weapon users. Not having those qualities makes the sword something of a non-starter, regardless of what the charges give access to.
Con characters don't really exist (so the Con sword is probably never going to see play lol), and the mental stats are almost always casters, meaning getting them to use a melee weapon at all is an uphill battle - but it also means they don't really need a weapon type.

I really want this weapon on a character with cool melee buff spells ^.^

Thanks for all the great feedback! I will definitely be polishing this thing before I give it out as loot.

Keep us posted… This is an awesome idea and I’d love to see where it goes!

[Skrum]

Made a new version, changing a few of the abilities that I thought were lackluster or boring. Also cleaned up some of the language to be more in line with game mechanics/conventions.

Thanks for all y'alls help!