D&D 5E A matter of weapons

[Eubani]

So what sort of weapon specific abilities do people think individual weapons should have?

Dagger: Auto crit Vs target that is restrained, prone or stunned. I am sure and extra d4 isnt too much but represents daggers being used to finish off downed armoured targets.

 

[Dualazi]

So what sort of weapon specific abilities do people think individual weapons should have?

Dagger: Auto crit Vs target that is restrained, prone or stunned. I am sure and extra d4 isnt too much but represents daggers being used to finish off downed armoured targets.

Auto crit is likely far too good, since it'll synergize with outside sources too well, such as smite and sneak attack. It'll create a weird situation where the paladin swaps off his longsword to a dagger when the enemy is CC'd and puts it away after.

I think first you'd need to decide if you want it to merely be a damage comparison or have weapons increase the effectiveness of other strategies like push and trip. For damage I'd probably assign differences based loosely on their intended strengths historically, such as blunt weapons being increased in damage against heavily armored foes, or daggers dealing more in melee.

 

[Hillsy7]

There's also the option of using in game rules to balance things out.....so what you could do is pick through those choices you don't think are meaningful because there is an obvious "better choice" there, and implicitly link a feat to that weapon. Then when designing your encounters, just factor in then additional power level to your CR. Essentially it's like giving everyone a free feat at level 1 - DM adjust accordingly.

So for example, Shortsword and club always come with Defensive Duelist. Flail and Morning Star get Savage Attacker. Greatclub gets GWM. Light Crossbow gets Crossbow Expert.....stuff like that. Or pick parts of feats to apply as abilities. So Warhammer might always come with the Shove part of Shield Master....that sort of thing.

Just spitballing ideas - you'll need to redress the balance though...