D&D 5E Advice on Creating New Feat: Weapon Specialization

[Aaron L]

OK, so I know some of you will see that title and groan "Weapon Specialization, do you really need to go through that again?!" Well, I have always believed Specialization was an excellent way to differentiate a general "Expert Swordsman" (anyone with proficiency in a sword and a decent proficiency bonus, but who is really just as good with any weapon he picks up as he is with a sword) from a true "Blademaster," and I want to have the option for characters of that level of skill in my games with tangible game-mechanical effects, not just in-universe lip service, that mark the Specialist as someone who is truly, empirically better with their chosen weapon than with any other weapon, and better with their chosen weapon than non-Specialists are, but without going overboard and giving them an unfair advantage. So here is my initial draft idea for what I'll be using in my game:

Weapon Specialization
-------------------------------

You are a true weapon master. You have dedicated yourself and poured your heart and soul into mastering a specific type of weapon, making you faster, more accurate, and more deadly with it above all others. Warriors who see your skill will be able to recognize you as the master you are.

Choose one type of weapon, such as Longsword (but not "Sword.") When attacking with weapons of that type you gain the following benefits:

* You gain +1 bonus to hit and +2 bonus to damage with your chosen Specialized weapon.

* When you use the Attack action on your turn using your chosen Specialized weapon, you may use your Bonus Action to make a single extra attack with the same weapon.

You may only take this Feat once, and are never able to have Weapon Specialization with more than one type of weapon. Maintaining this level of skill requires constant dedicated practice with a single type of weapon and precludes equal dedication to multiple weapons.



OK, so here's my reasoning behind the benefits of this Feat: I based the mechanics mostly on fighting with a weapon in each hand and having the Dual Wielder Feat. Using a Bonus Action to make an extra attack with your Specialized weapon seemed reasonable to me since you can already use your Bonus Action to make an extra attack by using a second weapon in your off hand, or a Monk's martial arts, or the Polearm Master Feat. and I figured retaining your Ability Bonus to damage was fine because you are spending a Feat to gain this ability, after all, and the other benefits aren't that powerful or extensive compared to other Feats. I wanted to have a small bonus to hit and damage because, again, this is Weapon Specialization and +1 to hit/+2 to damage is traditional from 1E/2E AD&D. Finally, I didn't include any Class restrictions because I love the 5th Edition ideal that a Wizard with longsword proficiency is genuinely skilled with the weapon and able to hit with it just as well as a Fighter with longsword proficiency (just not as often,) so if you really want to have your High Elven Wizard be a Master of the Longsword, then why the Hell not?

I thought this Feat's package of benefits was a good tradeoff/variation on fighting with a weapon in each hand and the Dual Wield Feat. The only thing I'm iffy about is the bonuses to hit and damage... not the existence of the bonuses to hit and damage (I like that) but the amount. Is it too much? Too little? Should it be +1/+1, or maybe +2/+3?

What are your thoughts? How does this look as a Feat? What should I add, change, or delete? Or does it look good as is? Please, any advice would be most welcome. I thank you all in advance for your input.

 

[Eubani]

Far too much.
Try this:
* +1 Str or Dex
* Character can choose to use either Str or Dex with this weapon
* Gain advantage with opposed rolls such as disarm.

 

[cheezitmojo]

I feel like as it is, it's going to make the Archery fighting style and the Sharpshooter feat even more powerful.

 

[feartheminotaur]

My thoughts?

I'd make it +1 to hit OR +2 to damage, not both.

I'd also probably require an underlying Style (or feature if you want to include Monk weapons or Finesse weapons for Rogues) or some other prerequisite.

I do like the bonus action attack (not too far off from Polearm Master).

Overall, if I was making a feat along these lines for my game, I'd allow either the to hit or damage bonus OR the bonus action attack, but not both. I'd probably break it into two feats, actually - one that allows a bonus to attack or damage and one that allows the bonus action attack (plus something else minor - like advantage on Strength saves/checks to be disarmed)

 

[The Crimson Binome]

What are your thoughts? How does this look as a Feat? What should I add, change, or delete? Or does it look good as is? Please, any advice would be most welcome. I thank you all in advance for your input.

It looks roughly fine-ish. I mean, +1 to hit and +2 damage is in the right ballpark compared to just increasing the stat by +2, so that's good. It does stack with maxing out your stat, though, so this is pure power creep compared to playing without this. That's true of most feats, though.

Being able to make an extra greatsword attack as a Bonus Action seems a bit on the powerful end. I mean, even a dedicated fighter can only squeeze 1d6+5 damage from a Bonus Action. This feat would flat-out make dual-wielding obsolete. In fact, balance-wise, it would be better if it gave you a free extra attack whenever you take the Attack action - at least then you would got some benefit from dual wielding.

I would suggest swapping out the extra attack for an expanded crit range, except that the one most likely to have an extra feat lying around would be the Champion.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

it is a little too much.
With dueling style you are speaking of 2 attacks with +6 to hit and +7 damage on level 1 if you are a human. That makes any other feat pale in conparison.
Dual wielder with two weapon fighting style only allows for 2 attacks at +5 with +3 to damage. You gain +1 AC.
I would make it:
+1 to hit and you may use a bonus action to make another attack with no bonus to damage from str.
You can still use a shield so that should make that feat strong enough. You could even remove +1 to hit and only allow the secondary attack with no added str bonus.

Edit: i thought about it and the easier way is just give +1 to hit +2 damage. This way you are better with that than increasing your stat and you can quasi raise your attack stat above 20.
This alone should be good enough. And you can also add it to your offhand attack as a dual wielder.

 

[OB1]

I agree that it's a bit too much. Could possibly balance by getting only half proficiency in all other weapons. Or perhaps you gain expertise in the weapon you choose (x2 proficiency bonus) but lose proficiency in all other weapons.

 

[Aaron L]

Hmmm... I wasn't even considering archery or the problem of stacking with Sharpshooter, in my mind this was a melee only feat. I'll have to add that in, Melee Weapons Only (and I guess change the name to Melee Weapon Specialization.) And my thinking behind the way the Feat works was based on both Dual Wield and Polearm Master. Perhaps if I made the extra attack just a flat die type along the lines of Polearm Master? But remember, Polearm Master (love that Feat) has the benefit of granting an Attack of Opportunity whenever someone penetrates your Reach, granting you a full on bonus attack quite often, in addition to the extra D4 Bonus Action attack. And fighting with two weapons has the built in bonus of using two different weapons that could have different strengths, like say a short sword and a whip, and possibly even different magical qualities.

As for the to a +1 to Str or Dex instead of a flat to hit and damage bonuses, I actually considered that first and was thinking an Ability Score increase was actually more powerful, and that was why I didn't go that direction. Was my thinking wrong, would replacing the bonuses with an Ability Score increase actually be better? Make the Feat be a Bonus Action extra attack and +1 Ability increase to Str or Dex?

Perhaps leave the extra attack as is and give it a certain Strength or Dex requirement (say 15+?) And reduce the bonus to just a +2 to damage? The extra attack part is what I really like, allowing Wizards or Rogues to take it as a way to get an extra attack with damage bonus intact without having to use two weapons and take a level of Fighter (or even Clerics, as I consider the War Cleric's limited number of extra attacks per day mechanic to be pretty damn lame.) I want it to be competitive with TWF and Dual Wield, not superior to it.

Make the Feat just be a flat Bonus Action extra attack and nothing else? Or maybe change the bonuses to just a +1 to hit, +1 to damage, and halve the character's Proficiency Bonus with all other weapons? I kind of like that suggestion, it really portrays the character's dedication to his chosen weapon at the cost of all others...

Thank you all for your input! It very much helps! I'll think about it and put up a revision later. Right now I'm leaning toward restricting it to melee weapons only, introducing an Ability Score requirement, and halving the Proficiency Bonus (round up) with all other weapons.

 

[Blue]

It's more of the same and mostly numbers. It's boring. Look, an ogre is more of a "master" than you because his strength is better than yours by +2.

Bonus action attacks are even worst. They overlap with a bunch of feats, especially making dual wielding less important since now you just need one magic item, without limitations, of any size, and possibly using a shield and duelist fighting style. And it doesn't synergize well with other classes that might be a weapon specialist but have a bonus action economy already.

Give it types of nifty things you aren't already getting. Maybe an extra Opportunity Attack in a round. Heck, maybe you're so good you can negate one source of disadvantage. Think of all the things that can work well with.

Maybe take a page from 4e and have a special ability by weapon type or keyword. So hammers might have a chance to stun, blades expand the crit range or finesse weapons give +1 AC because you can parry with them.

How about on top of everything else you make that you can perform Somatic components with them, so that elven bladesinger can cast with his blade or that paladin with his sword.

Be creative, and stay away from boring numeric abilities or ones that overlap too heavily with other weapon feats a true weapon specialist would pick up.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Any 'static damage bonus' is potentially problematic in 5e. Because multi-attacking is problematic. Because of static bonuses...







The request attempted to create an infinite loop, we cannot allow such things, we are a professional website!