D&D 5E Scared Cow: magic Weapon & Armor plusses

[patwil]

I also like the more flavorful magical items. In my campaign that we just started, I created magical items based on their character conceptions.
The monk got Gauntlets of the Living Weapon which provides a +1 to AC, moves you up 1 level on the unarmed strike table (d4 becomes d6 and so on), if you choose only to defend you can roll your damage and add it to your AC.
The thief got a Twinkling Rapier which forces a will save on the opponent with each hit making the DC rise a point. Failure causes the enemy to become enraged by the pinpricks and only attack dropping all defenses. The hilt can also stun an opponent once per combat as the light shines in its eyes.
I envision that these magical items will grow with their characters taking on more uses or increased power. We just started and I warned them I might need to change a bit if balance goes out of wack.


Sent from my iPhone using EN World

 

[jaelis]

All that said, it is true that cattle fear the +1 prod. So the thread title is fair

 

[Satyrn]

I notice that everyone is talking about swords. It'd feel a little weird without any, but I could certainly live without them. But armor? That's trickier. There are just fewer things that you can do with armor than you can with weapons, as far as I can tell. Still, a good DM ought to be able to pull it off.

Heh, yeah. In my earlier reply I specifically didn't mention armor for pretty much that reason.

And that's why I've tended not to give out magic armor, too. If I can't make it interesting, I'm not gonna make it at all.

 

[Satyrn]

The thief got a Twinkling Rapier which forces a will save on the opponent with each hit making the DC rise a point. Failure causes the enemy to become enraged by the pinpricks and only attack dropping all defenses. The hilt can also stun an opponent once per combat as the light shines in its eyes.

Very nice! Amusing, too.

 

[Leatherhead]

+x weapons and armor are a logical extention of the system.

Where I think you went wrong is offering uncommon magic items. Naturally, most warrior types are going to want a magic weapon, because they are cool and useful nearly all the time. Unlike say, an Alchemy Jug, which is a niche item at best. If you offered up rare magic items, you might have seen more variety.

 

[Ath'kethin]

I'm with you. A friend put it very succinctly years ago - he hated "math bonuses". Things that were just some numeric bonus that was always active and just got worked in. Nothing exciting, nothing with new options - but they were usually rather effective so people took them at the cost of more flavorful options.

Exactly. Of course, they're still there in 5e, we just call them ASIs now.

 

[Satyrn]

Unlike say, an Alchemy Jug, which is a niche item at best.

Oh my. No kidding. A couple sessions ago my gnome battlemaster got an alchemy jug. My first thought was "why am I getting this useless thing when the other party members have a sentient sword, a staff with like 5 powers, or even that old stand-by, a wand of magic fireballs?"

I was feeling a little miffed.

Oh well, it actually does fit the gnome's dabbling in alchemy, and the DM has said he figures the liquids it lists are just examples to help judge how much of a substance the jug can produce per day.


. . . and I actually did find a way to use it in combat! We were facing a swarm of bugs and I was thinking, how do I handle this with my swords. That'd be ridiculous! So I splashed them with acid from the jug for a few rounds.


But still, it pales beside a flametongue.

 

[Capn Charlie]

I put a weapon generator together for my high fantasy game, and +n bonuses are possible results,
but just a few of them.

View attachment weapon generator.xlsx

Just hit f9 in the excel sheet to refresh it and get a new result.

Alternatively you can dice for it:

Roll a d20 for prefix, weapon and suffix

prefix weapon type of suffix

Prefix

1. Flaming: +1d6 Fire Damage
2. Frosting: +1d6 Cold damage
3. Thundering: +1d6 Thunder Damage
4. Corrosive: +1d6 Acid Damage
5. Shocking: +1d6 Electric Damage
6. Blessed: May Cast bless on the user for one minute, once per long rest.
7. Morphing: May chance into similar size weapons that do Piercing, Slashing or Bludgeoning damage
8. Magical: +1 attack and damage
9. Enchanted: +2 attack and damage
10. Sizing: May alter size to one step lighter or heavier, increasing or reducing damage die and gaining the heavy or light trait.
11. and higher results are blank

Weapon

• Shortsword
• Longsword
• Greatsword
• Handaxe
• Battleaxe
• Greataxe
• Light Hammer
• Warhammer
• Maul
• Dagger
• Rapier
• Spear
• Halberd
• Mace
• Quarterstaff
• Shortbow
• Longbow
• Light Crossbow
• Heavy Crossbow
• Player's Choice! (changes shape upon attunement, lasts until first attuned character dies)

Suffix

• Darkness: +1d6 Necrotic Damage
• Light: +1d6 Radiant damage
• Rending: +1d6 damage of the type the weapon normally deals
• Swiftness: wielder gains advantage on initiative checks
• Legend: +1 on Attack and Damage rolls
• Reaching: Has the reach property
• Parrying: wielder gains +1 AC
• Mighty Blows: target gains vulnerability to damage dealt by critical hits with this weapon
• the Destroyer: deals double damage to objects
• Throwing and Returning: May be thrown as an attack, returns for the next attack
• and higher results are blank

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Never had a problem with "+X" weapons, because I always saw them from the PC's POV: it makes him a noticeably better melee combatant. It isn't flashy, but it is definitely desirable.

And sometimes, "flashy" is a detriment.

Hmmmm...what if "+X" weapons were magical in all ways...but didn't normally detect that way?

 

[Shiroiken]

Thankfully in 5E you don't need magic items (or their pluses) for game balance. I've generally avoided giving out +X weapons/armor in 5E, preferring more items that grant interesting bonuses and abilities. While I know it's sometimes a pain to come up with new and interesting items, so giving out +X items is sometimes necessary. The one I would avoid giving out like the plague is +X Shields, since those can stack with +X Armor, creating a super-tank-AC-monster.