D&D 5E (2024) Rebalancing melee weapons for 5.5E

[the Jester]

One thing people are overlooking with the new crit rules is that it opens up more design space for weapons. Now that you can't double extra damage dice on a crit you can more easily expand the crit range on weapons without rouges and paladins being brokenly overpowered.

I have serious doubts as to whether that change is going to stick. But we'll see.

 

[Horwath]

That might be for the best. Make all weapons martial weapons. Even reusable tools like knife, hatchet, and staff need training to wield effectively.

Besides, a spear feels it should be as effective as a martial weapon.

There is no point having "simple" weapons anymore.

Wizards now have cantrips instead of weapons. The Wizard class can have zero weapon proficiencies. But the allow swapping out one cantrip for one martial weapon.

Every other class should have effective weapons.

I dont care if every wizard is proficient with all weapons.

wizard with a greatsword and 8 str? yeah, big threat...

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

Maybe not being proficient lowers your dice by one.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Regarding versatile, is it actually worth much? I think it is pretty much useless. People either use versatile weapon one-handed with a shield, or they choose a proper two-handed weapon.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

Regarding versatile, is it actually worth much? I think it is pretty much useless. People either use versatile weapon one-handed with a shield, or they choose a proper two-handed weapon.

Versatile would be much more useful if donning and doffing a shield wasn’t a full action. In my experience, people rarely want to lose an action in a 5 turn combat just so they can do an average of 1 extra point of damage or gain a slight AC boost. In our games, we hombrewed doffing a shield as an item interaction and donning a shield as a bonus and it makes versatile much better.

 

[Gorck]

Versatile would be much more useful if donning and doffing a shield wasn’t a full action.

Donning I can see as a full action*, but doffing should be a free action. Unless you mean strapping it to your back rather than simply dropping it to the ground or tossing it aside.

*according to p146 in the PHB they're both 1 action, although the sidebar on p190 in the PHB says you can draw or sheathe a sword as something you can do in tandem with your movement and action, so I don't know why it takes so much longer to drop a shield. Sheathing a sword requires accuracy and concentration to find your scabbard, but dropping a shield somehow takes longer

 

[Mind of tempest]

Right now the weapon table looks little bit chaotic with some weapons having little sense in their traits and their damage.

For this I will take for base from 3.5e simple 1Handed weapon that has d8 damage and critical of 20/×2(the default and only weapon crit range in 5E)
as 5E does not have 1+1/2 str bonus for 2Handed melee attack, Versatile property is non-value, that is it's free for all non-finesse, non-light, non-thrown weapons

thrown property is little buffed and universal at 40/120 ft range
if you feel that because of some "legacy" theme some light weapons that do not have thrown property but should have some, give them 20/40 thrown property for free.

to have all properties used, table will have both simple and martial weapon damage in same row.
make your own examples for weapons, these are just placeholder names.

Weapon traits	Simple weapon damage	example	Martial weapon damage	example
1Handed, Versatile	d8(d10)	mace	d10(d12)	longsword
1Handed, Thrown	d6	javelin	d8	trident
1Handed, finesse	d6	long knife	d8	rapier
1Handed, light	d6	club	d8	arming sword
1Handed, reach, Versatile	d6 (d8)	spear	d8(d10)	partisan
1Handed, finesse, light	d4	dagger	d6	shorsword
1Handed, finesse, reach	d4	whip	d6	dagger whip
1Handed, finesse, thrown	d4	dart	d6	throwing hammer
1Handed, light, thrown	d4	pillum	d6	throwing axe
1Handed, finesse, light, thrown	d3	throwing knife	d4	chakram
2Handed, heavy	2d6	warmace	2d8	greatsword
2Handed	d12	greatclub	2d6	claymore
2Handed, heavy, reach	d12	pike	2d6	pole-ax
2Handed, reach	d10	longspear	d12	glaive
2Handed, finesse	d10	bo staff	d12	elven courtblade
2Handed, finesse, reach	d8	elven spear	d10	spiked chain

what in the name of the gods is a dagger whip or an elven courtblade/ spiked chain?
I recommend not putting a pure fantasy weapon in where a real one exists for that function.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

Donning I can see as a full action*, but doffing should be a free action. Unless you mean strapping it to your back rather than simply dropping it to the ground or tossing it aside.

*according to p146 in the PHB they're both 1 action, although the sidebar on p190 in the PHB says you can draw or sheathe a sword as something you can do in tandem with your movement and action, so I don't know why it takes so much longer to drop a shield. Sheathing a sword requires accuracy and concentration to find your scabbard, but dropping a shield somehow takes longer

Yeah, I mean dropping your shield on the ground. We made donning a shield a bonus action mostly to make changing out a shield something that people would do in a fight. Changing styles from defensive to offensive makes things more interesting, even if it's not realistic. I usually have something to do with my bonus action so grabbing the shield off my back still costs me something.

But I agree. As far as I know, most shields aren't 'strapped' to your arm by being tied on. You should be able to throw it off onto the ground, even if it's a bit slower than just dropping an item.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

what in the name of the gods is a dagger whip or an elven courtblade/ spiked chain?
I recommend not putting a pure fantasy weapon in where a real one exists for that function.

I don't think the names of the weapons are the important part of this exercise. If a weapon has finesse and reach and is two-handed, call it by whatever name you want. It's the balance of weapons and the variety that counts.

The OP even states:

"make your own examples for weapons, these are just placeholder names."

 

[Gorck]

But I agree. As far as I know, most shields aren't 'strapped' to your arm by being tied on. You should be able to throw it off onto the ground, even if it's a bit slower than just dropping an item.

I am by no means an expert in armor and weaponry. But to the best of my limited knowledge, the only shield that would be "strapped" to one's arm is a buckler.

EDIT: A quick Wikipedia search proved that I have no clue what I'm talking about. Bucklers were hand-held, not strapped to the arm. Now I must go consult my 3.5e PHB.

EDIT 2: Page 124 of the 3.5 PHB says:
Buckler: This small metal shield is worn strapped to your forearm.
You can use a bow or crossbow without penalty while carrying it. You
can also use your shield arm to wield a weapon (whether you are
using an off-hand weapon or using your off hand to help wield a twohanded
weapon), but you take a –1 penalty on attack rolls while doing
so because of the extra weight on your arm. This penalty stacks with
those that may apply for fighting with your off hand and for fighting
with two weapons. In any case, if you use a weapon in your off hand,
you don’t get the buckler’s AC bonus for the rest of the round.