D&D 5E Why do Armblades need Attunement?

[Micah Sweet]

This looks like more of a thematic reason for attunement rather than a mechanical one. I know I'd have a hard time justifying an arm blade once I reached my attunement limit.

 

[Umbran]

Not familiar with the item, but probably because it's still a magic item, even if it provides no bonus. Adamantine and Mithril armor are the same.

Adamantine and Mithral armor do not require attunement. Nor does Elven Chain, or Armor +X.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Was there any reason why WotC made it were an Attunement slot was required for an arm blade? I understand if the weapon that is apart of it requires Attunement to begin with, but why does it require Attunement when it’s a normal weapon? Is having your melee weapon not get knocked away worth that much?

Because it's attached to the warforged.

It has nothing to do with the power of the item (quite a lot of relatively low powered magic items require attunement, and some powerful ones don't), it's because it's not something you can toss from one party member to another.

 

[Shiroiken]

Adamantine and Mithral armor do not require attunement. Nor does Elven Chain, or Armor +X.

Correct, but my point was that by RAW they are still magic items, even if most people don't think of them as such. In 3E (and possibly 4e) they were simply special metals, not magic. Magic items sometimes require being attuned, especially weapons. I wasn't familiar with the item, so it was the simplest explanation, since he called it "a normal weapon."

 

[Umbran]

Correct, but my point was that by RAW they are still magic items, even if most people don't think of them as such.

That is only in terms of treasure distribution and crafting.

In terms of the game mechanics, they are not magical. A Detect Magic spell will not note Mithral or Adamantine armor, for example.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

Attunement is the simplified 5E version of the item slot system. Seems reasonable to me that an item which physically becomes part of you would take up a "slot".

 

[Coroc]

But couldn’t any person hide a dagger on themselves? With a quarterstaff someone could “Would you take the walking stick of an old man?” trick that honestly makes sense in the world.

Well, depends on the dagger. If it has a cross guard of some size and a blade length of 10", then it gets a bit complicated.

I would require a sleight of hand check for this. I would allow a player though who declares he hides a dagger (with feasible dimensions) in his boot. I do it that way also some times, when I am a player.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

I think this is a case of how the designers use attunement for too many things. As others have said one of the things attument is used for is to limit an item to certain races and classes, and it makes sense to limit it to warforged. (I wish that attument wasn't used for this, but there you go).

I agree that it's probably not worth it in terms of limiting power. The benefit is less useful than a +1 sword (let alone a +3 sword). I also don't see danger of passing the armblade from PC to PC, which is another valid use of attunment.

There also seems to be a trend of using attunment to represent things that become a part of you, which I think is silly. (Tangent, I really dislike that prosthetic limb also from Eberron also requires attunement.)

 

[Shiroiken]

That is only in terms of treasure distribution and crafting.

In terms of the game mechanics, they are not magical. A Detect Magic spell will not note Mithral or Adamantine armor, for example.

Interesting view, considering that none of that is listed in either item description. I think you're carrying over baggage from prior editions. Unless I've missed a section outside of the item description, in 5E they're magical by RAW. I agree with you and consider them as such in my campaign, but for purposes of discussing Armblades, the actual rules need to be used.

 

[Raduin711]

Armblades are a little bigger than daggers, right? Daggers are concealable but a pat-down will possibly reveal them. I am not sure how you would discover a retracted armblade.