D&D 5E Wights....problem with RaW...

[Casimir Liber]

...so I am supposed to assume we have this undead warrior dude whacking people with his sword and then......go up and slap someone with his hand for a life drain? Visualising this just strikes me as wonky. I prefer to make them sorta like Tolkien, so their weapons have the negative energy in them like an estension of themselves, hence the life drain is added on top of the weapon damage. I describe them as giving off an evil black vapour...including their armour and weapons..to scare players.

Even more fun. A variant stone giant wight using boulders as a bowling ball (in my version of Caverns of the Stone Giant Thane/STK)..the rock gets the black vapour and drain as well

So yeah.....wights with smokin' ranged weapons....

 

[Seramus]

Prior editions did include magic weapons and/or feats that would allow the energy drain to happen with weapon attacks.

 

[Casimir Liber]

Prior editions did include magic weapons and/or feats that would allow the energy drain to happen with weapon attacks.

I don't think that was the case in 1e. I never played 3.5 singificantly and don't recall 4e. Oh well, that's good I guess...

 

[Irlo]

Life drain doesn't specify that it's delivered with a slap.

But more to the point, yes, you're visualization of the wight is quite good.

 

[Li Shenron]

I think your variation is very legit... the attack itself doesn't even say exactly with what the wight is attacking so you could definitely say it's delivered by its sword

 

[MarkB]

I suspect it's so that they don't put too much of a crimp in the PCs' day. A single attack each turn dealing hit point cap reduction is enough to be scary, but if it does it with every attack, an encounter with them may effectively grind that adventuring day to a halt as the party retreats to Long Rest away their newfound fragility.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

...so I am supposed to assume we have this undead warrior dude whacking people with his sword and then......go up and slap someone with his hand for a life drain? Visualising this just strikes me as wonky. I prefer to make them sorta like Tolkien, so their weapons have the negative energy in them like an estension of themselves, hence the life drain is added on top of the weapon damage. I describe them as giving off an evil black vapour...including their armour and weapons..to scare players.

Even more fun. A variant stone giant wight using boulders as a bowling ball (in my version of Caverns of the Stone Giant Thane/STK)..the rock gets the black vapour and drain as well

So yeah.....wights with smokin' ranged weapons....

I always describe the second life drain attack as a mental follow up to the sword swing

 

[Oofta]

The wight swings at you with it's sword and then with an evil hiss reaches out with his other hand and plunges it into your chest. You feel a cold chill run through your body as he pulls back, seeming to draw your very life force from you. Make a DC 13 con save or take damage to the essence of your being.

Describe it correctly and it can still be evocative.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I just ran an encounter from ToA that had "tomb dwarves" stated as wights. They were wearing masks that looked like the green yawning devil (classic from Tomb of Horrors) so I had them "suck" your life-spirit out with that creepy gaping mouth.

It can be anything you want it to be.

 

[Lanefan]

I just ran an encounter from ToA that had "tomb dwarves" stated as wights. They were wearing masks that looked like the green yawning devil (classic from Tomb of Horrors) so I had them "suck" your life-spirit out with that creepy gaping mouth.

I did the same with a Dracolich once - homebrewed it such that its "breath weapon" was to breathe in and suck a level out of anyone within a cone-shaped area in front of it, similar to where a normal breath weapon would affect.

My players weren't impressed*, but then they weren't supposed to be.

* - well, except the one who during this encounter learned that a long-ago [wish? card effect? magic surge? I forget now] had - unknown to either player or character - made his PC immune to level drain...