D&D 5E Theorycrafting Versatile

[Hriston]

The only use for versatile I could figure out was for spellcasters, until they ruled that two handed weapons don't interfere with somatic/material components.

The use for versatile, as far as I can tell, is to clean up the weapons table and keep it down to one page. A wider variety of weapons can be represented with fewer entries by having the same weapon cover both shorter spears for throwing and longer spears for melee, or both walking-stick and quarterstaff. The longsword covers both true longswords that are smaller than a claymore or a zweihander, and the even smaller hand-and-a-half swords that were more truly versatile. At least, that’s the way I’ve come to see it.

 

[Dausuul]

Yes. But the weapon can still be used one-handed. Unlike a greataxe or 2H sword. This is a fundamental change of perspective: currently in 5E a versatile weapon is a one-handed weapon that can be used two-handed whereas this is theorycrafting that a versatile weapon is a two-handed weapon that can be used one-handed.

Versatility is a "ribbon," a minor perk whose value is almost entirely flavor. If the versatile weapon is inferior to both true two-handed weapons and true one-handed weapons, no one will use it. Being able to suck in two modes is not nearly as good as being competent in one, and that is especially true when the modes are "melee with a slight emphasis on attack" and "melee with a slight emphasis on defense."

That's why versatile weapons are written as defaulting to one-handed: They are one-handed. A longsword is meant for a sword-and-board fighter. It only sees two-handed use in niche scenarios: A great weapon fighter has been stripped of their gear and the only weapon handy is a longsword. A sword-and-board barbarian loses their shield. The only magic weapon available is a longsword and the party is facing a monster that's resistant to nonmagical attacks.

If you want versatile weapons to be two-handed by default, you should make them perform well as two-handed weapons, with a sub-par one-handed mode. For example, the longsword could deal 2d6 damage in two hands and 1d6 damage in one hand. In that case, you would probably want to get rid of the greatsword and add a "broadsword" or "arming sword" that does 1d8 in one hand.