New Feat: Exotic Melee Weapon Training

[Caliban]

Can exotic weapons break the restrictions that the feat lets you apply to a normal weapon?

If not, why bother with an exotic weapon, when you still need the feat to use it, but the feat already allows you to do exactly the same thing with a normal one?

The feat actually lets you do more with a normal weapon. An exotic weapon locks you into a specific extra property, while with a normal weapon you can choose from the available properties (within the restrictions).

The bit about exotic weapons is basically fluff. Some cultures use weird weapons, and if you don't want them to be mechanically identical to an existing weapon, but still want them to be usable, this provides a way of doing it. It can be safely ignored if you don't want to use exotic weapons.

Edit: As to whether or not an exotic weapon can break the restrictions on the extra property...in theory, yes. That's completely up to the DM though, as they would be the one introducing it. It would have to be carefully monitored.

Another way to look at it: The exotic training aspect gives more options to the player, while the exotic weapon aspect gives more options to the DM.

 

[Caliban]

Your version of the feat also allows a character to swap weapons more easily if a magical weapon is found that isn't in the form the character favors. (This is definitely a feature, not a bug.)

Kudos for the feat, I'll be using it in my games.

Thanks!

 

[Caliban]

Thanks a lot for the feedback on this, it's been really helpful.

 

[Kalshane]

I was actually thinking of adding a very similar feat to my game, though it would be called "Weapon Specialization" and you could only modify the properties of a specific weapon (but could choose to add or remove up two properties, also barring combining heavy with either light or finesse, as you have.)

 

[Caliban]

It also allows a rogue to have a wider range of weapons with which to sneak attack. I'd build rogues specifically around this feat, characters using a spear, or a quarterstaff, or a battle-axe.

For me, *That*'s worth the investment of a feat, and is stronger than many others already in the PHB.

That's what the feat is intended to do - allow characters to use a wider variety of weapons.

Is a rogue sneak attacking with a spear any more powerful than a rogue sneak attacking with a rapier?

Even finessing a battleaxe and wielding it two-handed, that's only a minor increase over a rapier - a 1d8 to a 1d10. When you are adding 3d6 sneak attack damage, a bump from 1d8 to 1d10 is barely worth the cost of a feat. But the style benefit - that's priceless.

 

[Saeviomagy]

So, you could use this feat to make weapons that you can apply the GWM damage boost to, but also use with a shield AC bonus? Or with the bonus attack from Dual-wielding?

I realise that Caliban has already altered this, but... so what? You can already effectively dual wield two-handed reach heavy weapons with polearm master. This just kind of evens the field a bit.

The others have covered the other issues: creation of Light or Finesse Heavy weapons etc.

Again, so what. It just stops you from being funneled into specific weapon combos. The broken combinations already exist. This is just alternate flavourings: being a polearm mastery, GWM attacking rogue instead of having to be a crossbow expert sharpshooting rogue. Either of which are fighting a conflict between sneak attack and penalties to attack...

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

I realise that Caliban has already altered this, but... so what? You can already effectively dual wield two-handed reach heavy weapons with polearm master. This just kind of evens the field a bit.

Taking one of the most powerful options than then pointing out that this isn't much more powerful than that doesn't necessarily mean that it is a) Balanced or b) What Caliban was intending.
Caliban might have been intending to open up GWM for Str-dumpers, but given how that would affect the current balance, he might not.

We're giving feedback and pointing out where there seems to be an issue. Whether or not there is actually an issue is up to Caliban: its his game this feat is going to be used in.

Again, so what. It just stops you from being funneled into specific weapon combos. The broken combinations already exist. This is just alternate flavourings: being a polearm mastery, GWM attacking rogue instead of having to be a crossbow expert sharpshooting rogue. Either of which are fighting a conflict between sneak attack and penalties to attack...

The main issue I was reiterating there was the practical ridiculousness of a Light or Finesse Heavy weapon.

 

[Caliban]

My main goal was to make a wider array of weapons available and desirable for the different classes. Since it costs a feat, I did want it to give a small benefit to damage (effectively giving +1 average damage by increasing damage die by one step, and from the +1 to str or dex).

I also wanted to weed out the weapon property combinations that didn't really make logical sense - heavy and finesse or heavy and light, etc.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

My main goal was to make a wider array of weapons available and desirable for the different classes.

As far as I'm aware, the only class-based weapon limitation outside of proficiencies is the Rogue's Sneak Attack. I just removed the Finesse requirement for that rather than create a set of new weapons. That seems to have widened the array nicely.

(Hmm. Monk also has a sort of limited weapons list through class features. Those make a lot more sense than the Sneak Attack limitations, so I personally don't think that they need fiddling with much.)

 

[Caliban]

As far as I'm aware, the only class-based weapon limitation outside of proficiencies is the Rogue's Sneak Attack. I just removed the Finesse requirement for that rather than create a set of new weapons. That seems to have widened the array nicely.

(Hmm. Monk also has a sort of limited weapons list through class features. Those make a lot more sense than the Sneak Attack limitations, so I personally don't think that they need fiddling with much.)

Yeah, but only a few weapons are desirable. Rapier, Greatsword, Greataxe. Halberd if you have polearm mastery. Longsword if you go sword and shield. Battleaxe or Warhammer if you are dwarven cleric. I wanted to make it so that a greater variety of weapons were effective - especially ones like mace, flail, moringinstar, and war pick.