D&D General Is this homebrew item OP

[ReptartheGrand]

I wanted to create a weapon that allows one extra attack for classes that can’t get one. My DM is cool with it but another player says it’s unbalanced, going to use it and modify if it with DM if it becomes too op. But I wanted to see what others think about it.

 

[aco175]

@ReptartheGrand first, welcome to the boards.

Second, generally anything people ask if it is too powerful- it is.

I never heard of a 5e item that requires you to have a 18 stat to use. It might be a fine restriction though. It seems like it is just for rogues to be able to get a second attack. The first deals backstab damage and then you get advantage to deal 1d8+4 more? Does not seem terrible. I would likely simplify it to allow you to make an extra attack 1/rest or 1/day instead of each round.

Or, just have a weapon deal 1d8 fire or whatever. Or, just skip the extra bits and just have a rapier that lets you make an extra attack each round and hope the fighters do not take it from you. Or, just use a scimitar of speed. I'm not a big fan of dex weapons dealing 1d8 anyways.

 

[jmartkdr2]

If I'm reading this right, it's wildly underpowered.

You need to do 25 damage in a single hit to get a +1 weapon for one attack? Even if it's a greatsword (meaning str-based but you need an 18 dex to wield) then without a crit or bonus damage from class features you just can't use this. On a crit you'd still need to roll a 10+ on the 2d6 (a 1 in 6 chance) with a strength of 20. I suppose a barbarian might get something out of it, but an uncommon +1 sword is significantly better.

 

[ReptartheGrand]

@ReptartheGrand first, welcome to the boards.

Second, generally anything people ask if it is too powerful- it is.

I never heard of a 5e item that requires you to have a 18 stat to use. It might be a fine restriction though. It seems like it is just for rogues to be able to get a second attack. The first deals backstab damage and then you get advantage to deal 1d8+4 more? Does not seem terrible. I would likely simplify it to allow you to make an extra attack 1/rest or 1/day instead of each round.

Or, just have a weapon deal 1d8 fire or whatever. Or, just skip the extra bits and just have a rapier that lets you make an extra attack each round and hope the fighters do not take it from you. Or, just use a scimitar of speed. I'm not a big fan of dex weapons dealing 1d8 anyways.

Thank you for the welcome and advice. And haha yeah it’s basically for rouges.

 

[ReptartheGrand]

If I'm reading this right, it's wildly underpowered.

You need to do 25 damage in a single hit to get a +1 weapon for one attack? Even if it's a greatsword (meaning str-based but you need an 18 dex to wield) then without a crit or bonus damage from class features you just can't use this. On a crit you'd still need to roll a 10+ on the 2d6 (a 1 in 6 chance) with a strength of 20. I suppose a barbarian might get something out of it, but an uncommon +1 sword is significantly better.

Oh no I think you misunderstood, it’s a +1 Magic weapon so it gets +1 on attack and damage rolls as a base. Getting 25 is to activate the second attack. I would say with the build I have right now I usually get that much damage 1/4 times. Booming blade 1d8, Rapier 1d8+4, sneak attack 3d6.

 

[Mort]

The weapon says any, but then goes to Rapier, is it supposed to be Rapier only?

Second attack only happens IF 25+ damage?

So basically only for a rogue, that has a decent sneak attack and doesn't get unlucky?

I agree, it's actually a bit underpowered if it's meant to be a big time ability, especially if meant for a rapier. For example A viscous weapon (though they are a bit overpowered) will add 2d6 ALL the time, which I suspect will be better on all but seriously high level rogues.

 

[ReptartheGrand]

The weapon says any, but then goes to Rapier, is it supposed to be Rapier only?

Second attack only happens IF 25+ damage?

So basically only for a rogue, that has a decent sneak attack and doesn't get unlucky?

I agree, it's actually a bit underpowered if it's meant to be a big time ability, especially if meant for a rapier. For example A viscous weapon (though they are a bit overpowered) will add 2d6 ALL the time, which I suspect will be better on all but seriously high level rogues.

I didn’t even know that existed (still relatively new to dnd). I talked it over with my DM and she said to take off the 25 dmg requirement, since I can always roll badly with the extra attack and miss. Would you say that now with out the damage threshold of 25 it is on par or slightly below Vicious Weapon? Thanks for input

 

[ReptartheGrand]

The weapon says any, but then goes to Rapier, is it supposed to be Rapier only?

Second attack only happens IF 25+ damage?

So basically only for a rogue, that has a decent sneak attack and doesn't get unlucky?

I agree, it's actually a bit underpowered if it's meant to be a big time ability, especially if meant for a rapier. For example A viscous weapon (though they are a bit overpowered) will add 2d6 ALL the time, which I suspect will be better on all but seriously high level rogues.

Oh and as for your any weapon or rapier question, in the dndBeyond homebrew section I used the +1 Magic weapon as template and the added everything else. But when you do that, you have to add a base weapon, and so I put down Rapier.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

It is probably both underpowered and to my thinking too fiddly to use. In that the 25+ to activate will be forgotten too many times in actual play.
Also 25+ to activate favours high level characters over low level characters.
If I have my maths right a character with + 5 to attack will activate this power about 30% of the time as distinct to 55% for a character with + 10.
I think it would be better to have this activate on a critical.
Attunement slots are very valuable in 5e and this costs one as well as the dex requirement. I really doubt I would give up an attunement slot for a weapon with a damage rider.
Have a look at attunable items and weapons to see what the power levels are for these items.
A base +1 weapon is not a bad item but looks at what else is in the pool when adding extra attributes.

 

[Clint_L]

I'm not a fan of items/abilities/anything else that only work for characters that are already super strong. 1e had a lot of stuff like that, and it always felt like the rich getting richer. So I don't understand why you are using the dex modifier as a gatekeeper.

Secondly, this item seems specifically designed for high level rogues. So why not make it a rogue-only item? And why not have the rider kick in when the player rolls an 18+ to hit, or whatever? That will probably make it a lot easier to track and effective at whatever level.