D&D 5E Wheelchair options. Do these seem balanced?

[Vaalingrade]

You might be thinking of old people who are in a chair because they have 4 Str and 4 Dex. Not people with 20 Str or Dex in a chair.
Here is a high dex wheelchair

And this is a human man in our real world.

I imagine that in a fantasy world, there might be chair-based martial arts and magical traditions on top of that.

 

[Sacrosanct]

And this is a human man in our real world.

I imagine that in a fantasy world, there might be chair-based martial arts and magical traditions on top of that.

Agreed. Especially when you start thinking about things like magic wheelchairs, like a permanent Tenser's floating disc powering it. When I did Chromatic Dungeons last year, I had the talented Eric Lofgren do this illustration, because ultimately, representation is important and in a fantasy game, inclusion is easy

 

[GMforPowergamers]

like a permanent Tenser's floating disc powering it.

that was the start of our prof x style chair... it ended up WAY more by level 13, but that was the start around level 4 or 5

 

[Cadence]

Why can the chair climb and swim with just disadvantage, but not jump?

 

[Bedrockgames]

What's the hit points on the chair? What happens when an orc decides to take an ax to the wheels instead of the person?

Would also include disadvantage on dexterity saves as you really can't go side to side to dodge. And if you're not prone you can't get back up without help without exiting the chair. If they are connected to the chair by straps to prevent them from being taken out it would take a full action to undo the straps to get back up the next round.

Fighting in a wheelchair should be disadvantageous than being on your feet. There's too many drawbacks especially in a combat scenario

I think the design would probably evolve though to meet some of these challenges. And there is magic to make something more resilient against things like orcs attacking the wheels.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I think the design would probably evolve though to meet some of these challenges. And there is magic to make something more resilient against things like orcs attacking the wheels.

I'd imagine something like the solid wheels of the sport chairs, but with a guard to keep weapons from deflecting into you.

Why can the chair climb and swim with just disadvantage, but not jump?

Especially when we not have video evidence of the jumping.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I'd imagine something like the solid wheels of the sport chairs, but with a guard to keep weapons from deflecting into you.

I'm also thinking of things like how tanks evolved in modern warfare. This could be something one could engineer so it either balances any lost mobility for dodging with greater armor protection, or has a number of key advantages that make it useful.

 

[Clint_L]

Why can the chair climb and swim with just disadvantage, but not jump?

My spouse is playing a goblin artificer whose cart also acts as as their chair and we have more approached it from a roleplaying perspective rather than worrying too much about rules. So when they needed to jump, my spouse just described a pogo-stick contraption in the bottom and we went with it. It's a fantasy game.

So one approach is just to say the character is in a chair, treat the character as normal, and let the player decide how it all works.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Would they require free hand(s) to move? That kinda complicate things when it comes to moving and wielding items such as weapons and shields.

I'd probably go with some kind of sled/chariot pulled by small/medium beasts then treat the whole assembly as a mount, using the same rules as if the character was riding a horse or whatever.

 

[Umbran]

Here is a high dex wheelchair

Oh, people who do that are high Strength too. It is not easy to move your entire body with your arms, much less do it every day, or as a sport, and unlike in D&D, people get stronger with exercise. I am quite sure the guy in the skateboard park can take off any of our heads with a left hook.