D&D General Weapons should break left and right

AlViking · 2025-10-03T13:54:07+0100

Counting ammunition, unless it's a very unusual situation is just one of the many, many things I just let slide. Like ... every time a character ends up in the water I don't worry about what just got wet. Is there food still okay? When are they going to strip off their armor, clean and oil it so it doesn't rust and the leather straps are maintained? What, you don't have the kit to do so in your inventory? Guess you're getting rusty, oh and without proper oiling you'll need to replace those boots soon as well. Don't forget to sharpen ... wait ... you don't have a whetstone either? Don't get me started on the spell book and all the scrolls a wizard is carrying.

I wouldn't know where to start (or end for that matter) with making things more realistic. So yeah, I treat D&D like an action movie where you loosely keep track of gear and you have the weapon but in almost all cases you always have ammo, you don't need to worry about jungle rot or normal equipment maintenance. For that matter I no longer track living expenses as long as everyone is okay with standard level of living and can describe what they do during downtime. It's just not worth the overhead and bookkeeping required and I would only ever cover a tiny fraction of what I "should" take into consideration because I have no clue.

Mort · 2025-10-03T13:58:35+0100

Micah Sweet said:
So if I don't make a point of telling the players immediately that they might have a hard time making arrows in an environment clearly described as lacking trees, I'm a douche?

The players may not know that trees are a requirement for their ammunition. They might think they could use something else. Or, depending on the situation, they might not be thinking of it at all.

If the DM wants to limit access to resources,
or otherwise thinks resources should be limited, The DM absolutely must be clear with the players, not make vague references and hints and expect the players to catch on.

The DM should absolutely not expect that when they tell the group "there are no trees anywhere around..." That archers understand this to mean their ammo is limited. The DM SHOULD just directly state the in game effect. And state it BEFORE it becomes a point of contention.

Hussar · 2025-10-03T14:26:01+0100

AlViking said:
It's a DM problem, not a D&D design problem. Admittedly it's also one of the many issues I have with modules, there should be more advice about adjusting modules to fit the group. But by design? There's no reason to not be flexible.

Not really.

As was mentioned upthread, we had two entire editions - AD&D 1e and 2e where non-swords were limited to +3 and only swords (by and large) had any special properties. There were a couple non-sword funky magic weapons, but, the vast, vast majority were swords.

This is so deeply ingrained into the hobby. Even in 5e, a Dragon Slayer weapon is sword only. Vorpal is sword only. It wasn't until 2024 that Defender weapons could be any weapon and not just swords. Same with Flame Tongue.

I mean, it's not really a DM problem with the entire game is telling you that only swords matter.

Paul Farquhar · 2025-10-03T14:44:51+0100

Mort said:
The players may not know that trees are a requirement for their ammunition.

They aren't. Plenty of archers in the Underdark but very few trees. Clearly they use other materials.

Not a Decepticon · 2025-10-03T14:47:43+0100

James Gasik said:
I'm curious- did most of the goblins also not have their armor on or weapons at the ready?

I do not recall whenever they stick around for combat or ran away and hide to let cultists ambush us, but weapons were allowed at the table as long as they could be tucked away and I don't think most Goblins were wearing armor to begin with.

Micah Sweet said:
So if I don't make a point of telling the players immediately that they might have a hard time making arrows in an environment clearly described as lacking trees, I'm a douche?

You certainly come off as trying to railroad them, or get a "gotcha" over them. Which each can easily make you look douche-y to your players. Witholding crucial information from players when you are their only source of it is a douchy thing to do.

Paul Farquhar · 2025-10-03T14:47:55+0100

Hussar said:
Not really.

As was mentioned upthread, we had two entire editions - AD&D 1e and 2e where non-swords were limited to +3 and only swords (by and large) had any special properties. There were a couple non-sword funky magic weapons, but, the vast, vast majority were swords.

This is so deeply ingrained into the hobby. Even in 5e, a Dragon Slayer weapon is sword only. Vorpal is sword only. It wasn't until 2024 that Defender weapons could be any weapon and not just swords. Same with Flame Tongue.

I mean, it's not really a DM problem with the entire game is telling you that only swords matter.

No one forces you to only use magic items that are in the DMG.

Mort · 2025-10-03T14:59:12+0100

Paul Farquhar said:
They aren't. Plenty of archers in the Underdark but very few trees. Clearly they use other materials.

Right, I 100% agree.

BUT if, for some reason, THE DM, THINKS trees are a requirement and limits the ammo, without expressly telling the players - that's bad.

I was responding to @Micah Sweet saying a lack of trees should clue the players into knowing that arrows will be limited. No it REALLY should not, the DM needs to be explicit.

AlViking · 2025-10-03T15:15:39+0100

Hussar said:
Not really.

As was mentioned upthread, we had two entire editions - AD&D 1e and 2e where non-swords were limited to +3 and only swords (by and large) had any special properties. There were a couple non-sword funky magic weapons, but, the vast, vast majority were swords.

This is so deeply ingrained into the hobby. Even in 5e, a Dragon Slayer weapon is sword only. Vorpal is sword only. It wasn't until 2024 that Defender weapons could be any weapon and not just swords. Same with Flame Tongue.

I mean, it's not really a DM problem with the entire game is telling you that only swords matter.

I'm not really concerned about 20th century versions of the game. In any case there was never anything stopping a DM from changing that weapon to whatever you wanted, I know I did.

Hussar · 2025-10-03T16:30:21+0100

Paul Farquhar said:
No one forces you to only use magic items that are in the DMG.

Kinda missing the point though.

I've been saying all the way along that the sword has been given the prime real estate in the game. All the best magic weapons are swords and always have been. From the Holy Avenger and the Vorpal Sword to Dragonslayers and a rather lengthy number of artifacts.

I mean, good grief, last month was Swordtember where various creators did nothing but bang out magic swords for a month. :wow:

Can I have other weapons? Of course. But, it's pretty clear that the game is leaning REALLY heavily on swords being the best weapon in the game.

AlViking said:
I'm not really concerned about 20th century versions of the game. In any case there was never anything stopping a DM from changing that weapon to whatever you wanted, I know I did.

Umm, did you miss where 2014 was exactly the same? It hasn't been until 2024 that you could, by the book, in randomly generated loot, actually get a flaming weapon that wasn't a sword, as just a single example.

My point isn't that you can't have other weapons. My point is that the game designers have been pushing swords first and foremost since day 1 in the game. Swords did the best damage in the game and are still pretty much top even now. You're putting the popularity of swords on the DM. That's ignoring the fact that the rules in the books list ten magic swords for every one of another magic weapon. (I exaggerate, I don't know the exact number, but, I imagine it's not far off.)

Micah Sweet · 2025-10-03T16:33:08+0100

AlViking said:
Counting ammunition, unless it's a very unusual situation is just one of the many, many things I just let slide. Like ... every time a character ends up in the water I don't worry about what just got wet. Is there food still okay? When are they going to strip off their armor, clean and oil it so it doesn't rust and the leather straps are maintained? What, you don't have the kit to do so in your inventory? Guess you're getting rusty, oh and without proper oiling you'll need to replace those boots soon as well. Don't forget to sharpen ... wait ... you don't have a whetstone either? Don't get me started on the spell book and all the scrolls a wizard is carrying.

I wouldn't know where to start (or end for that matter) with making things more realistic. So yeah, I treat D&D like an action movie where you loosely keep track of gear and you have the weapon but in almost all cases you always have ammo, you don't need to worry about jungle rot or normal equipment maintenance. For that matter I no longer track living expenses as long as everyone is okay with standard level of living and can describe what they do during downtime. It's just not worth the overhead and bookkeeping required and I would only ever cover a tiny fraction of what I "should" take into consideration because I have no clue.

In all fairness, your list shows that you actually do know where to start. You just don't want to. And that's fine.

D&D General Weapons should break left and right

AlViking

Legend

Mort

Legend

Hussar

Legend

Paul Farquhar

Legend

Not a Decepticon

Hero

Paul Farquhar

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Mort

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AlViking

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Hussar

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Micah Sweet

Level Up & OSR Enthusiast

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