D&D 5E Please point me to good 3PP equipment lists

[FitzTheRuke]

I've been playing pretty "pure" 5e since the books dropped, but the OGL fiasco has reminded me that it's okay (even desireable) to customize the game, either with homebrew or with 3PP, to suit your taste.

... And I've never really liked 5e's arms and equipment. At all.

The armor and weapons tables are bland, there's not a lot of use to most other equipment, and there's not a lot to buy after level one.

And another part of the overall "problem" is the jump from mundane to magic occurs too early (IMO).
(This is true of characters and their abilities as well, but that's a different problem for another (potential) thread!)

I'm mostly talking about mundane equipment, but even when many of the mechanical effects of magic items - they often aren't all that magical, and could be fluffed as either properties of the item itself, or just abilities of the character who's wielding them. (My example here is from 4e, but the problem persists: I first remember feeling this way when I had a character with an magic axe that could trip an enemy. I thought, "how is this magic? Can't my character just hook the axe 'beard' on the enemy and pull them over? Why does the game treat this as magic?"

So... any DMs Guild or 3PP product that's tackled this to anyone's satisfaction? Please point me to your favorite products, if you know of any. Heck, feel free to point me to games that do this well that are NOT D&D, if it suits you. I can use the inspiration for D&D even if the mechanics don't line-up.

Thanks!

 

[Micah Sweet]

I have a custom list combining material from multiple products, but in terms of a single published product I would recommend Level Up's Adventurer's Guide. Much better than the PH.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I have a custom list combining material from multiple products, but in terms of a single published product I would recommend Level Up's Adventurer's Guide. Much better than the PH.

I have it. It's a lot better all right, but I'd like to see more. Care to share your custom list?

 

[Micah Sweet]

Sent to you via message.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Sent to you via message.

Awesome. Thanks!

Anyone else have any recommendations? Anyone who frequents DMs Guild, for example?

 

[Dax Doomslayer]

I'm not sure if this fits what you are looking for but it may be worth a look...

Comprehensive Equipment Manual - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild

Comprehensive Equipment Manual - ANTHOLOGY NOTICE: This product is also available as part of an anthology of Wraith Wright's Comprehensive Manuals. If

www.dmsguild.com

 

[Lanefan]

Are you looking for magic items or mundane equipment?

Though you might have to tweak the pricing, there's a Pathfinder book called Ultimate Equipment and if that doesn't sort you for mundane gear, nothing will.

 

[Stormonu]

I'm mostly talking about mundane equipment, but even when many of the mechanical effects of magic items - they often aren't all that magical, and could be fluffed as either properties of the item itself, or just abilities of the character who's wielding them. (My example here is from 4e, but the problem persists: I first remember feeling this way when I had a character with an magic axe that could trip an enemy. I thought, "how is this magic? Can't my character just hook the axe 'beard' on the enemy and pull them over? Why does the game treat this as magic?"


Thanks!

That's been one of the big issues of D&D for a long time that's never quite been adequately addressed (though 4E gave it a good shot). In 5E, if you want to do something like the Trip, you have to give up your action to have any chance to do it (and unless you've got allies who can capitalize immediately on that trip before the bad guy gets up, it's not of much worth anyway). Unless you're a battlemaster...

2E had sort of an answer for this with "called shots", where you could take a -4/-8 to hit to add a "trick" to your attack. Because Fighters were the only ones whose base attack went up every level, it basically became something you could regularly use after getting a few levels. You might be able to cook something up for 5E, as Great Weapon Mastery and Sharpshooter use a variation of this as is - so there is precedent.

I've been working on a system where you can do these "stunts" as bonus actions to liven up a combat, but also giving traits to weapons that either let you do this sort of thing automatically or easier than others could be interesting - so long as it's done in a way it doesn't drag out the turn. I wouldn't suggest using the same system for monsters as many monsters already have such built-in abilities (such as the wolf's trip ability) unless they were elite or named monsters as having a handful of monsters doing all sorts of stunts would probably slow the DM down or overload their brain trying to decide what each monster is going to do for it's bonus action.

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As for a comprehensive list of equipment, Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog is filled with fascinating mundane items with all sorts of uses, even for 5E. Similar books such as Ultimate Equipment for 3E should still be useful for 5E (and I think Pathfinder has a similar book). Mundane equipment hasn't changed much over the life of D&D and books like Aurora's have nice little blurbs in them for each item (instead of just a list of things) that get you thinking about how to actually make common items useful in the game.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Are you looking for magic items or mundane equipment?

Though you might have to tweak the pricing, there's a Pathfinder book called Ultimate Equipment and if that doesn't sort you for mundane gear, nothing will.

I'm generally more interested in mundane equipment. I may not have been clear, but I often wish that "masterwork" or just "useful", purchasable items took up a much bigger chunk of the early levels before we get into truly impressive magic items at higher tiers.

Even healing potions, for example, could be represented as poultices at lower levels, doing much the same as they do.