D&D 5E I have a far-east character, need help on weaponry

[Ancalagon]

I agree that the shield breaking property is too powerful to be tied to the weapon alone...

 

[Slit518]

This is what I am thinking, I am thinking of either a Warhammer that weighs around 10lbs, and use it with the Versatile property, or a Maul.

The weapon may have Adamantium studs for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

The shield breaking property would be an opposed Athletics check, so for example my Athletics vs the opponent's Athletics.

If I will, the Kanabo minuses the shield's Armor Class by a permanent -1. Once the shield reaches 0 Armor Class, it is broken.

How does that sound?

P.S.

The reason the Kanabo has Adamantium studs is because each of my character's weapons will have a special property. He doesn't know it, but each one is "legendary" and gets more powerful as he gains proficiency bonus. Like for example, the Katana that shipped over that was his grandfather's is made of silver. Once he reaches proficiency level 3 (level 5), he will find out the Katana is also Magical (for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction).

Instead of getting new weapon, after new weapon, or replacement item, after replacement item, I figure it may be cool to have one that grows over time. Like the character learns more of the weapon's traits, and at the same time knows how to better use it.

 

[transtemporal]

Do you really want a weapon that destroys loot? Because as a DM, I'm very in favor of that.

 

[Slit518]

Do you really want a weapon that destroys loot? Because as a DM, I'm very in favor of that.

Yeah, I mean I don't give a crap.

Break the shield doooooooooooown! *in Jericho's wrestling theme music*

 

[discosoc]

I would go greatclub. I know you really want a massive damage weapon, but the kanabo was mostly just a heavy baseball bat with studs or spikes. A maul is more like a sledge hammer where all the weight is at the end, and wouldn't swing anything like a kanabo.

 

[discosoc]

I agree that the shield breaking property is too powerful to be tied to the weapon alone...

kanabo's never really had any "shield breaking" component to them in the first place. They're just better suited to bludgeoning damage compared to edged weapons because of reasons that are hopefully kind of obvious... What happens in someone reads wikipedia and see's a reference to the weapon breaking shields or crushing bones and assumes it's some kind of ridiculously powerful weapon.

You have to understand the context, though. First, European-style shields built from strong and thick lumber simply weren't used, so the "shield-smashing" kanabo was really just smashing up the lighter shields available at the time. Second, a normal baseball bat is more than capable of crushing bones, *and* would be a tough weapon to wield against an opponent with a proper sword. So basically, a heavy bone-and-shield-crushing blunt weapon sounds really powerful, but only in relation to the stuff it's going up against.

 

[Geeknamese]

Check out Kobold Press' Beyond Damage Dice. It provides some properties for each weapon in the PHB which really differentiates all the weapons besides different damage die and damage type.


Sent from my iPhone using EN World mobile app

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

I think that the "Fell Handed" feat from the feat UA would probably be suitable if you wanted to play up the kanabo's smashing capability. Special properties related specifically to smashing shields are relatively pointless in the course of most 5e fights, as well as being unrealistic. 5e doesn't model effects of weapons designed to be used against armour and differently than others.