D&D 5E What's the 5e equivalent of masterwork?

[77IM]

In my game, "fine-quality" items have resistance to all damage, like a magic item does. You also have advantage to repair or maintain them or prevent them from breaking, if that ever becomes an issue. They cost double! And you need to make a check to craft one.

The "poor-quality" items that you get off of monsters have vulnerability to all damage (except psychic and poison, of course) and you are at disadvantage to repair or maintain them or prevent them from breaking. They're generally worthless except in quantity, as scrap. You can craft them without proficiency, but need scrap parts to do it.

 

[Mike Stickler]

I have house ruled that rapiers as such don't exist in my world so essentially eliminating the only d8 finesse weapon. My reasons are rapiers evolved based on two factors that have not happened in my world ... the precipitous drop in the use of heavy armor due to firearms and the advancement of metallurgy to the point that very strong very flexible steel could be consistently be produced in order to create the very light but still quite strong and springy rapier

However, I have also ruled that certain master work long swords created by elven smiths have the finesse property as they are exceptionally light due to the incorporation of mithril in their alloy.

Note that such weapons would not be available to 1st level players and would be incredibly expensive, especially among non elves.

 

[Tony Vargas]

As we all probably remember, in 3e there were masterwork weapons. Is there an equivalent for 5e? If not, what would you do to represent a very finely crafted but non-magical weapon?

In 1e, I'd give finely-crafted non-magical weapons (and minor 'charmed' magical ones) better armor vs weapon adjustments. A +1 to damage /or/ attack, not both, could also work. Still not as good as a magic weapon, but better than an ordinary one. A +1 to hit weapon might be particularly well-balanced, a +1 damage might be particularly sharp (like a drusus, for instance). It'd also make sense to require some extra upkeep of or practice with such a weapon. A little downtime 'tax' as it were. Or, after using it in a fight, you might need to sharpen it during the next short rest before getting the bonus again. Depends on how 'gritty' low-fantasy you want to get with it.

If you just want to emphasize the awesomness of the best non-magical swords, like a famed damascus blade or something, you could make them +1 (or even the same +2 & +3 possible with magic) attack & damage, but not have them overcome resistance or other special defenses the way magic weapons sometimes can.

 

[CapnZapp]

I was reading the thread thinking to make a reply, but then I realized I was trying to like my own reply - it's a necroed thread and I already have replied.

 

[machineelf]

A +1 weapon, not called magical, of you like. Nothing in the rules.

This is what I do. You can make +1 weapons/armor non-magical that are made by master crafters. Anything +2 or +3 would be magical. In my world, there are a select few master smiths who can make such weapons and armor, but you have to travel and find them. Or ask around big cities.

 

[CydKnight]

In 5e, you have things like Adamantine armor and Mithral armor which are non-magical "magic items" doesn't grant any pluses. Perhaps it grants inspiration once per short rest - but it doesn't have to be during a fight. A fight's obvious, but perhaps during a negotiation with a general who would recognize the maker's mark, or during intimidation, or during anything where the player can craft a good story about why the masterwork blade would help - which is exactly what Inspiration is supposed to encourage.

But I wouldn't add a mechanical advantage like +Damage that you can just buy with money like 3e's masterwork weapon - that's not really a 5e way of doing things. You can't buy magic items by default, so a magic item by any other name I'd also keep off the table. (But if you do allow gold to be spent on items regularly, then ignore that and go for it. I wouldn't do more than +1 damage, since the rarest of magical weapon only add +3 to damage.)

I just happened to be perusing the DM's Guide for Magic Items last night and noticed that Adamantine and Mithral Armor are both in that section. Adamantine armor basically makes you immune to critical hits and Mithral versions of armor do not impose disadvantages where they would normally occur and can be worn under normal clothing.

 

[Blue]

This is what I do. You can make +1 weapons/armor non-magical that are made by master crafters. Anything +2 or +3 would be magical. In my world, there are a select few master smiths who can make such weapons and armor, but you have to travel and find them. Or ask around big cities.

This is a big nerf, since may things have resistance to non-magical bludgeoning/slashing/piercing. So now these are a lot tougher until much higher levels when/if you get a +2 weapon, and it will be unlikely you'll have a bunch of +2 weapons even at those levels.

 

[DEFCON 1]

This is a big nerf, since may things have resistance to non-magical bludgeoning/slashing/piercing. So now these are a lot tougher until much higher levels when/if you get a +2 weapon, and it will be unlikely you'll have a bunch of +2 weapons even at those levels.

But a big nerf is fine if you are the DM and know this going in. You then decide how many times you put out monsters with resistance to BPS damage, and whether you're okay with your players only doing half damage.

Truth be told, especially as the party goes up over five players and up in levels (mainly past level five)... having a lot of the big weapon-users only do half damage actually makes creating encounters easier in a lot of ways. Because they are usually able to pump out craptons of damage otherwise and this actually allows the monsters to stick around a little more.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

I like the idea of a 1/Rest Inspiration use for an attack roll with the weapon.

 

[epithet]

I have used three things (individually, not together) to reflect masterwork properties in various weapons. One is to reroll 1s on damage dice, another is to expand the crit range of the weapon by 1, and the third is to change the damage dice, either to bump it one notch (d6 to a d8) or change it up completely (1d10 becomes 3d4). The first one is basically a +0.5 to damage, the third one is equivalent to a +2 to damage but also makes a very low or very high damage rolls less likely.

I am much more comfortable handing out damage bonuses than to-hit bonuses, and I am also not fond of giving out AC bonuses (my players are already hard enough to hit,) so for masterwork armor I would either significantly cut the weight, remove disadvantage to stealth, or give a flat +1 or +2 damage reduction vs piercing, slashing, or bludgeoning (just one, not all three).

Also, look at the magic weapon properties tables in the DMG: the first table suggests characteristics for an item based on who made it, and most would be applicable to masterworks.