Is This Homebrew Magic Item OP?

[Croesus]

Compare it to a +1 item, arguably among the weakest but most reliable magic weapons. Assume the weapons both deal 1d6.

Your weapon=1 extra 1d6+mod per day (we will assume mod is 0.) Max damage 6.

+1 weapon= +1 damage per attack. Unless they only attack 5 times, your weapon is equal to or weaker than the +1.

End result, your weapon is not only not overpowered, but is arguably among the weakest possible, discounting anything situational like a sword that allows you to cast Thaumaturgy 1/day.

Sure, it's weaker than a standard +1 weapon, but it's not weak. It allows the wielder to inflict magical damage, bypassing a common form of damage resistance. Once per day, it also allows the wielder to make one free attack with the weapon. Timed well, that attack might down the big bad before it gets one more shot at the party. I like it.

Note: In my own campaign, all magic weapons are like what the OP came up with. I don't give out + weapons. I give out magic weapons that also do something useful. So far the characters are doing fine, often beating challenges above their level.

 

[Lanliss]

Sure, it's weaker than a standard +1 weapon, but it's not weak. It allows the wielder to inflict magical damage, bypassing a common form of damage resistance. Once per day, it also allows the wielder to make one free attack with the weapon. Timed well, that attack might down the big bad before it gets one more shot at the party. I like it.

Note: In my own campaign, all magic weapons are like what the OP came up with. I don't give out + weapons. I give out magic weapons that also do something useful. So far the characters are doing fine, often beating challenges above their level.

Oh yes, I agree that it is not bad. I just meant it was weak in comparison to other magic weapons. Compared to your average weapon, it is better, of course. I would rank it on a slightly higher level than the weakest healing potion, if I were comparing it to all magic items in general.

 

[Dualazi]

Compare it to a +1 item, arguably among the weakest but most reliable magic weapons. Assume the weapons both deal 1d6.

Your weapon=1 extra 1d6+mod per day (we will assume mod is 0.) Max damage 6.

+1 weapon= +1 damage per attack. Unless they only attack 5 times, your weapon is equal to or weaker than the +1.

End result, your weapon is not only not overpowered, but is arguably among the weakest possible, discounting anything situational like a sword that allows you to cast Thaumaturgy 1/day.

I find this to be a very unfair analysis. Why would the modifier ever be 0? Obviously the item it intended for someone who regularly makes weapon attacks, so it's only logical that they would at least be decent at it. It would be much more fair to assume at minimum a bonus of +3, since you can easily start/obtain that in the early game. If we switch to using average rolls, then ultimately it still comes out to 6 swings to reach parity with the +1 weapon, but that's exactly the point I was making above; it scales really well with player strength, doubly so for things like smites/poisons/other on-hit effects.

The other thing I forgot to mention earlier is that in addition to modifiers, it scales well with the weapon's base damage, which won't be as much of an issue for a monk character, but doubles the efficiency going from short sword -> Great axe.

I still don't think it'll be overpowered, especially in the hands of a monk, this is more food for thought than anything else.

 

[Lanliss]

I find this to be a very unfair analysis. Why would the modifier ever be 0? Obviously the item it intended for someone who regularly makes weapon attacks, so it's only logical that they would at least be decent at it. It would be much more fair to assume at minimum a bonus of +3, since you can easily start/obtain that in the early game. If we switch to using average rolls, then ultimately it still comes out to 6 swings to reach parity with the +1 weapon, but that's exactly the point I was making above; it scales really well with player strength, doubly so for things like smites/poisons/other on-hit effects.

The other thing I forgot to mention earlier is that in addition to modifiers, it scales well with the weapon's base damage, which won't be as much of an issue for a monk character, but doubles the efficiency going from short sword -> Great axe.

I still don't think it'll be overpowered, especially in the hands of a monk, this is more food for thought than anything else.

the thing is, it doesn't matter. Make the modifier +7 on the attack.

Weapon from the OP= 1d6+7, max 13 extra damage per day

+1 weapon= 1d6+8, able to add that +1 to every single attack made, so there is no maximum bonus to damage added throughout the day.

As long as whoever uses the +1 weapon attacks more than 13 times in the day, they still win on damage boosted. I still do not see the OP weapon OP(hehe). It would be nice to throw that attack in anywhere in a fight, just to throw off the enemies turn, but still not Overpowered at all.

 

[Horwath]

even if you take a greatsword as worst case scenario with 20 str.

2d6+5, it is 12 damage on average. So extra attack is reached with 12 attacks with +1 weapon in a day.

Yes, the clutch burst damage as a free action(or bonus action, what ever did you design it) is good but it is still very weak weapon.

also +1 attack give more accuracy so more DPR. lets say that you hit on average on attack roll 10+(55% chance), with +1 you hit on 60% chance, that is 9,1% increase to DPR combined with +1 damage(average 12 goes to 13), total average DPR goes up by almost 10%.

That means that your weapon is better only if you make less than 10 attacks per day.

I would rate your weapon very cheap if you have gold price standard for magic weapons.

If +1 weapon would add +2000 gp to the price, I wouldn't give this weapon more than +500 gp cost.

 

[Krachek]

Another nice feature could be

Add +1d4 or +1d6 on damage roll for 1 minute.
Once per day.

Still much lesser than flame tongue.

 

[Corwin]

Sounds a bit like a fiddlier version of a scimitar of speed to me.

 

[l0lzero]

Sounds a bit like a fiddlier version of a scimitar of speed to me.

If you were to make it a bonus action, then on a monk it's worthless since martial arts already grants them an extra attack as a bonus action anyway (and they get a similar effect from being able to flurry already for 2 attacks on a bonus).

If you are indeed designing it for a monk, then have it store ki points like a pearl of power, but the ki points stored in it are usable only for flurry of blows, since that seems to be the intent. Have it able to store X number of ki points, and during a long rest it can be recharged up to the maximum (so if the monk is recharging it, and the party gets attacked while resting, he's down X ki points for the fight).

You might also want to consider making it similar to haste, where as a non-action he can expend a charge and get a haste action, and then it has charges and recharging mechanics like a wand.

I don't know that attunement is really all that necessary, because if you throw a serious enough fights at them it's likely to break at some point, and they'll have likely turned down other attunable items to keep that, meaning their previous decision to let another party member get some other item they could have used is effectively punished, decreasing the likelihood of them being so cooperative in the future. Either that, or don't have it break, but rather it becomes unusable for 24/48 hours, or needs to be repaired using special materials. That's my opinion though...

 

[Dausuul]

It certainly does not fall into the "so good that it overshadows the PC's own abilities" trap. Beyond that, I can't really judge if it's OP or not unless I know what you're comparing it to. If this is what the monk gets, what do the other PCs get, if anything?

One thing: You should make it clear whether you are granting an extra attack or an extra Attack Action. I assume the former, but it will make a substantial difference as soon as the PC hits level 5.

The other thing to keep in mind is that the power of an item like this is heavily dependent on your playstyle. If you run by the book, 6-8 encounters per adventuring day, it's a minor item. If you run more like 2-3 encounters/day, it's significantly more powerful.