D&D 5E What do you prefer for exploding reach weapon?

[MatthewJHanson]

I'm working on a custom magic item for my game. The basic idea is that it's a reach weapon, and has the potential to "explode," damaging everybody within five feet of the main target. The idea is that you hit somebody 10 feet away and also deal some damage to the enemies next to them.

1. You can use the explosion at will (or not if you risk hurting allies), but it only does a small amount of damage.
2. The explosion deals a large amount of damage, but it has a limited number of charges per day.
3. The explosion is triggered when you get a critical hit. Again you can choose not to if there are allies near.

So assuming I perfectly balanced the damage between these so they had the same DPS over an adventuring day and everything else was equal, which of these options would you prefer as a player?

 

[R_J_K75]

I think a mancatcher with an at will damage to the grappled opponent that also does a smaller amount of damage to those in adjacent squares or who enter the adjacent square would be a good idea. Perhaps the grappled person is paralyzed after the initial damage but takes additional damage if they struggle or try and break free. Anyone attempting to free the grappled creature takes damage or half damage on a failed saving throw. My instinct tells me the damage type would be electricity. Wouldn't be surprised of there is something similar out there already, this is definitely not all that unique of an idea.

 

[tommybahama]

Toenail of Vecna

This magic item consists of a fist sized reliquary suspended from a pole by a short length of chain. Inside the reliquary is the toenail of Vecna. It has 3 charges per day. A creature hit by this artifact takes 1d6 bludgeoning + 1d4 necrotic damage. By expending a charge after a successful hit, noxious gasses can be released by the reliquary equivalent to a Stinking Cloud spell in a 5 foot radius area.

Edit:. When weilded by an evil BBEG, the spell effect is Cloudkill, 5 foot radius.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

I'm working on a custom magic item for my game. The basic idea is that it's a reach weapon, and has the potential to "explode," damaging everybody within five feet of the main target. The idea is that you hit somebody 10 feet away and also deal some damage to the enemies next to them.

1. You can use the explosion at will (or not if you risk hurting allies), but it only does a small amount of damage.
2. The explosion deals a large amount of damage, but it has a limited number of charges per day.
3. The explosion is triggered when you get a critical hit. Again you can choose not to if there are allies near.

So assuming I perfectly balanced the damage between these so they had the same DPS over an adventuring day and everything else was equal, which of these options would you prefer as a player?

Assuming the same DPS over a day, the limited charges option is the most powerful and effective.
Damage that you can call on when you need it is better than either continuous low damage or random damage that you can't rely on.

 

[Stalker0]

Depends on the campaign. If my party faced a lot of mobs and groups of people, the at-will one. If the group faces more small numbers of bigger monsters, than the charged one as I can then use it in the rarer times it would come up.

 

[Zio_the_dark]

I like power so I voted the one where you spend a charge for a more powerful AoE. Anyway for an at-will version I won't (that's my point of view of course) allow to select the time the effect is used. It would be always on