I'm tidying up a short list of weapons I've added to my games and I'm curious as to which weapons other people think are missing from the game and need rules!
So far I've added the Bolas, Brass Knuckes, Garrotte, Phalanx Spear/Sarissa (very long spear), Monster Hunter's Spear, War Scythe, and Shuriken.
Are there any weapons which you think are missing from 5e, that can't just be reflavoured?
Swordchucks! Or the ever infamous orc quadruple axe. The only reference to this I can find is an ancient forum post somewhere, with the caption 'this was a bad idea, even on the scale of orcish bad ideas.' Which I find to be just hilarious =)
Seriously though, I don't know enough about medieval weapons to even really know what's missing. But here's a thing: You should be able to winch a crossbow to hit very hard indeed. Instead, in this game, every crossbow does the same damage and reloads near instantly. There might be rules for that. I mean, that might become OP - but then maybe an optional rule.
Other than that, I think my ideas become ... like, what would a gnome come up with, in this world. Like greekfire multi launchers. You know? Stuff I'm pretty sure your compendium doesn't specifically need, as such =)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I've always thought chakrams were cool and would be different enough to not be easily reflavored.
Otherwise just things that might be able to deal more than one type of damage like a kusari-gama or a Switch axe. But lots of existing 5e weapons could be justified to deal other damage types anyway, so I haven't gone there yet.
I will also note that I generally avoid discussions about "what weapons" because what is the difference between a Bowie Knife, a dagger, and a short sword? Where does a machete fall into the short sword, longsword category? and so forth. These are arguments that are inevitable and unending, lol, and sso I just make a point of saying that such weapons need to be tied intot he setting itself -- historically, certain kinds of weapons are created in and principally used by a given culture.
So, I always tie certain types of weaponry to cultures (a small blade, a large blade, a thrown, a fired/shot), create their very particular damage and properties, and then I add them into the final list.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
I've always thought chakrams were cool and would be different enough to not be easily reflavored.
Otherwise just things that might be able to deal more than one type of damage like a kusari-gama or a Switch axe. But lots of existing 5e weapons could be justified to deal other damage types anyway, so I haven't gone there yet.
One of the best things about this sort of thread is finding out about cool weapons I didn't previously know the names of! So thanks for that!
Chakrams seem to fit closest to hand axes. I might give them a longer thrown range, considering they are more frisbee-like. I reckon 40/60 instead of 20/60, and making them martial, light, and finesse.
Kusari-Gama I've made have 2 profiles, sort of like versatile, with piercing damage or bludgeoning, with the bludgeoning having reach!
I will also note that I generally avoid discussions about "what weapons" because what is the difference between a Bowie Knife, a dagger, and a short sword? Where does a machete fall into the short sword, longsword category? and so forth. These are arguments that are inevitable and unending, lol, and sso I just make a point of saying that such weapons need to be tied intot he setting itself -- historically, certain kinds of weapons are created in and principally used by a given culture.
So, I always tie certain types of weaponry to cultures (a small blade, a large blade, a thrown, a fired/shot), create their very particular damage and properties, and then I add them into the final list.
Totally agree on the bowie knife/dagger/shortsword business, and I would simply ask the player what they think it is and let them roll with that!
Fighting Fan, I'm making a Light, Finesse, Thrown (15/30) weapon with 1d4 slashing damage, and special rules for going unnoticed as a weapon if closed!
Garrotte - how do you even use this? No way you could use this without sneaking up on the person, and then it does what? Causes suffocation vs. a strength check each turn?
Phalanx Spear/Sarissa (very long spear) - what is the difference between this and a Pike
I would say a Machete would just be a Handaxe without the thrown property (it should be slashing and strength based, but light enough to dual wield)
Fighting Fans would fall under short swords, I would say, but should do slashing instead of piercing (it's kinda wierd that short swords do piercing damage anyway).
Well,
Bolas have an actually functional range and might ever see use, and can also be used to just club people
Brass knuckles add +1 damage to unarmed strikes with fists
Garrotte has complex rules, but in short it's an action you take whilst grappling something. If you do so for enough rounds without them escaping the grapple, then they fall unconscious.
Phalanx Spears are very long. They have 15ft reach and are ineffective at 5ft range.
Monster Hunters SPear is like a harpoon, and it's not a real world weapon. It is versatile, and can become lodged in an enemy if thrown. It also has a ring to attach a rope.
Greataxes are for chopping. War Scythes are a more sophisticated weapon.
Shurikens have a rule that lets you throw one as a bonus action.
Chakrams have a longer range for thrown as they fly better than axes
Machetes can be reflavoured from a few things, so I leave that to be justa flavour thing!
Um, yeah, I would totally not try and make a scythe into a greataxe, even just for damage's sake.
For one, a Scythe has reach. They are a form of polearm, after all.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
I actually liked how 5e skimmed down the explicit weapon list in favor of broad-stroke categories, so that all variants of swords could slot into short, long, scim, rapier, etc. To me it makes more sense than getting super nitpicky about just how different each type is, and thus getting to 3.5's weirdness with how seemingly random things became "exotic"...despite being just slightly different shapes of sword (thinking of you, bastard sword...).
Of course, 5e does sometimes forget it's own simple approach (why exactly are spears and tridents listed as mechanically different, when their stats are virtually identical?). But that's another kettle o' fish.
All of that said, some weapons that I wish would in general show up, if at least as named items that follow templated stats:
- Kopis/ Falcata (seriously, such a cool weapon).
- Pata (gauntlet sword)
...huh, that was a shorter list than I thought. Yeah... in general I think the current weapon list serves just fine to slot everything into, really. I'm honestly a fan of not over-detailing the lists, and just letting players skin their items how they will.
I've always thought chakrams were cool and would be different enough to not be easily reflavored.
Otherwise just things that might be able to deal more than one type of damage like a kusari-gama or a Switch axe. But lots of existing 5e weapons could be justified to deal other damage types anyway, so I haven't gone there yet.
One of the best things about this sort of thread is finding out about cool weapons I didn't previously know the names of! So thanks for that!
Chakrams seem to fit closest to hand axes. I might give them a longer thrown range, considering they are more frisbee-like. I reckon 40/60 instead of 20/60, and making them martial, light, and finesse.
Kusari-Gama I've made have 2 profiles, sort of like versatile, with piercing damage or bludgeoning, with the bludgeoning having reach!
I will also note that I generally avoid discussions about "what weapons" because what is the difference between a Bowie Knife, a dagger, and a short sword? Where does a machete fall into the short sword, longsword category? and so forth. These are arguments that are inevitable and unending, lol, and sso I just make a point of saying that such weapons need to be tied intot he setting itself -- historically, certain kinds of weapons are created in and principally used by a given culture.
So, I always tie certain types of weaponry to cultures (a small blade, a large blade, a thrown, a fired/shot), create their very particular damage and properties, and then I add them into the final list.
Totally agree on the bowie knife/dagger/shortsword business, and I would simply ask the player what they think it is and let them roll with that!
Fighting Fan, I'm making a Light, Finesse, Thrown (15/30) weapon with 1d4 slashing damage, and special rules for going unnoticed as a weapon if closed!
Note that Fighting fans are also defensive (and def slashing).
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
I've always thought chakrams were cool and would be different enough to not be easily reflavored.
Otherwise just things that might be able to deal more than one type of damage like a kusari-gama or a Switch axe. But lots of existing 5e weapons could be justified to deal other damage types anyway, so I haven't gone there yet.
One of the best things about this sort of thread is finding out about cool weapons I didn't previously know the names of! So thanks for that!
Chakrams seem to fit closest to hand axes. I might give them a longer thrown range, considering they are more frisbee-like. I reckon 40/60 instead of 20/60, and making them martial, light, and finesse.
Kusari-Gama I've made have 2 profiles, sort of like versatile, with piercing damage or bludgeoning, with the bludgeoning having reach!
I will also note that I generally avoid discussions about "what weapons" because what is the difference between a Bowie Knife, a dagger, and a short sword? Where does a machete fall into the short sword, longsword category? and so forth. These are arguments that are inevitable and unending, lol, and sso I just make a point of saying that such weapons need to be tied intot he setting itself -- historically, certain kinds of weapons are created in and principally used by a given culture.
So, I always tie certain types of weaponry to cultures (a small blade, a large blade, a thrown, a fired/shot), create their very particular damage and properties, and then I add them into the final list.
Totally agree on the bowie knife/dagger/shortsword business, and I would simply ask the player what they think it is and let them roll with that!
Fighting Fan, I'm making a Light, Finesse, Thrown (15/30) weapon with 1d4 slashing damage, and special rules for going unnoticed as a weapon if closed!
Note that Fighting fans are also defensive (and def slashing).
I'd say that the Defensive part is going to be a fighting style or something - a metal fan is not defensive by default, in the same way a short & long steel for duelling is not inherently defensive without proper training!
I actually liked how 5e skimmed down the explicit weapon list in favor of broad-stroke categories, so that all variants of swords could slot into short, long, scim, rapier, etc. To me it makes more sense than getting super nitpicky about just how different each type is, and thus getting to 3.5's weirdness with how seemingly random things became "exotic"...despite being just slightly different shapes of sword (thinking of you, bastard sword...).
Of course, 5e does sometimes forget it's own simple approach (why exactly are spears and tridents listed as mechanically different, when their stats are virtually identical?). But that's another kettle o' fish.
All of that said, some weapons that I wish would in general show up, if at least as named items that follow templated stats:
- Kopis/ Falcata (seriously, such a cool weapon).
- Pata (gauntlet sword)
...huh, that was a shorter list than I thought. Yeah... in general I think the current weapon list serves just fine to slot everything into, really. I'm honestly a fan of not over-detailing the lists, and just letting players skin their items how they will.
These are very cool weapons! I am unsure how to make them unique from short and long swords though... The Pata is very unique as a weapon, offers some defence but +1 to AC is probably too much... I will have a think on that.
Kopis I imagine are more hacking weapons than stabbing... I'll have a ponder!
Pata: 1d8 slashing, Martial Special: Pata. The Pata is a sword with an inbuilt gauntlet as a handguard. An Action or Bonus Action is required to don or doff a Pata, and it must be donned to use it as a weapon. Whilst donned, the Pata gives you +1 to your Armour Class, provided you are not also using a Shield.
Quite enjoying the challenge of this! Anyone else got any?
I’m just going to ask, what’s the point of a kopis when the scimitar already exists? Finesse is a purely additive property, so there’s nothing the kopis can provide that isn’t already covered by the scimitar.
Scythe, War Scythe, War Fork, Kopesh, Yueyachan (Monk's Spade), Rope Dart, Kusarigama, Spiked Chain (Shadar Kai Weapon), Kukri, Sabre (Yarrrr!), Lasso, Sasumata (Mancatcher)... there sure would be more if i think about it somewhat longer.
Um, yeah, I would totally not try and make a scythe into a greataxe, even just for damage's sake.
For one, a Scythe has reach. They are a form of polearm, after all.
So, a War Scythe is just a Glaive (and why we even have Glaives and Halberds in the first place is perplexing).
So, doing the whole "oversimplifying" thing:
Halberds are a form of Axe.
Glaives are a form of Sword.
Picks are a form of Hammer.
Scythes and Fouchards are a form of Sickle (the difference being which direction the edge is on, affecting use).
This can matter in terms of weapon Properties, but yes, all are still two handed polearms with reach. However, the nature of the damage can vary -- Picks, for example, can be versatile, doing either piercing or bludgeoning (normal) damage. The same with Scythes, doing bludgeoning or Slashing (normal) damage. Halberds do piercing or slashing, glaives do slashing.
That's the European basis, of course. Flip to the opposite side of the landmass and you will find polearms that grapple, that do a mix of bludgeoning and slashing, or a mix of slashing and piercing, and other stuff.
This, of course, also assumes we are dealing with a setting that is using weapons predicated on the norms for Earth. Not all settings are that way, however. For example, in some worlds, a Glaive may be a shoulder-height staff weapon, or a Halberd might be based on a sword, or any of a dozen other possibilities. Longswords may never have come into use. Bolas and War scythes may never have been invented.
And it is also an extreme oversimplification, shifting the basis to the most basic form of the weapon -- by the late 1400's, a single polearm created for some specialty unit might have combined all of those variable function -- an axe blade matched by a pick head with a spear or sword point and a back hook meant to entangle.
Polearms always cause headaches, lol. I've known arguments over polearms to break up an entire table -- and for DMs to say "we have lances and long spears, and that's it."
it is why I said "I wouldn't do it as an axe" -- others may opt to do it exactly the same as an axe. Not my game, not my product.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
Um, yeah, I would totally not try and make a scythe into a greataxe, even just for damage's sake.
For one, a Scythe has reach. They are a form of polearm, after all.
A scythe is in the category of 'not actually a weapon'; the way you fight with a scythe is by detaching the blade and reattaching it to be straight, at which point you've got a sword-on-a-stick weapon that is a poor quality glaive.
If for some reason you're fighting with it in its traditional configuration, its reach is actually going to be surprisingly short because the cutting surface is on the inside and you'll need to hold it at a strange angle to hit with it at all. If you just swing it to stab with its point (which would in reality give you a broken scythe, but this is fantasy) it's a two-handed reach weapon that does piercing -- so stats-wise equivalent to a pike (which is, for no apparent reason, absurdly heavy in D&D), though obviously different in actual usage.
In general melee weapons in 5e are mostly about three variables: reach, hands, and damage type. Looking at martial weapons
Long One-Handed Bludgeoning: missing (historically rare, though some weighted chain weapons might qualify). I'd probably just use a whip with damage type changed.
Long One-Handed Piercing: missing (also rare, though some sorts of rope darts would qualify). I'd probably just use a whip with damage type changed.
Aside from those four missing weapons, the only weapons you can't do as a reskin of an existing weapon are weapons that have specialized qualities, such as a a harpoon, and that's mostly because 5e doesn't try to implement most non-damaging weapon properties.
This is one that's always urked me: it's less a "missing weapon" as a "misnamed" weapon. A mistake in Chain mail way back then has been so prevalent and grandfathered in that's it's basically been exported to the entire fantasy genre by way of cultural osmosis... I speak of course of the "Arming sword"... AKA: "one-handed, western-style, straight-bladed sword, usually paired with a shield".
"Wait, isn't that a long-sword?" You say... and there's the mistake: it's NOT:
- A "Short-sword" is something akin to a Gladius: one-handed, with a short-blade
- A "Long-sword" is SUPPOSED to be something like a Claymore or "Great-sword", IE: Two-handed, long-blade, "A sword, but longer".
- The missing "middle" is the "Arming Sword", or "Straight-sword", or just "sword".
- Then there's the middle between the arming sword and the long sword: the "hand-and-a-half sword"
...
But this is a mistake that's been made so often that I suppose I'll just have to learn to live with it and fight down my OCD.
I'm tidying up a short list of weapons I've added to my games and I'm curious as to which weapons other people think are missing from the game and need rules!
So far I've added the Bolas, Brass Knuckes, Garrotte, Phalanx Spear/Sarissa (very long spear), Monster Hunter's Spear, War Scythe, and Shuriken.
Are there any weapons which you think are missing from 5e, that can't just be reflavoured?
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
Swordchucks! Or the ever infamous orc quadruple axe. The only reference to this I can find is an ancient forum post somewhere, with the caption 'this was a bad idea, even on the scale of orcish bad ideas.' Which I find to be just hilarious =)
Seriously though, I don't know enough about medieval weapons to even really know what's missing. But here's a thing: You should be able to winch a crossbow to hit very hard indeed. Instead, in this game, every crossbow does the same damage and reloads near instantly. There might be rules for that. I mean, that might become OP - but then maybe an optional rule.
Other than that, I think my ideas become ... like, what would a gnome come up with, in this world. Like greekfire multi launchers. You know? Stuff I'm pretty sure your compendium doesn't specifically need, as such =)
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I've always thought chakrams were cool and would be different enough to not be easily reflavored.
Otherwise just things that might be able to deal more than one type of damage like a kusari-gama or a Switch axe. But lots of existing 5e weapons could be justified to deal other damage types anyway, so I haven't gone there yet.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
I would nominate "Fighting Fans".
I will also note that I generally avoid discussions about "what weapons" because what is the difference between a Bowie Knife, a dagger, and a short sword? Where does a machete fall into the short sword, longsword category? and so forth. These are arguments that are inevitable and unending, lol, and sso I just make a point of saying that such weapons need to be tied intot he setting itself -- historically, certain kinds of weapons are created in and principally used by a given culture.
So, I always tie certain types of weaponry to cultures (a small blade, a large blade, a thrown, a fired/shot), create their very particular damage and properties, and then I add them into the final list.
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
One of the best things about this sort of thread is finding out about cool weapons I didn't previously know the names of! So thanks for that!
Chakrams seem to fit closest to hand axes. I might give them a longer thrown range, considering they are more frisbee-like. I reckon 40/60 instead of 20/60, and making them martial, light, and finesse.
Kusari-Gama I've made have 2 profiles, sort of like versatile, with piercing damage or bludgeoning, with the bludgeoning having reach!
Totally agree on the bowie knife/dagger/shortsword business, and I would simply ask the player what they think it is and let them roll with that!
Fighting Fan, I'm making a Light, Finesse, Thrown (15/30) weapon with 1d4 slashing damage, and special rules for going unnoticed as a weapon if closed!
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
Well,
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
Um, yeah, I would totally not try and make a scythe into a greataxe, even just for damage's sake.
For one, a Scythe has reach. They are a form of polearm, after all.
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
I actually liked how 5e skimmed down the explicit weapon list in favor of broad-stroke categories, so that all variants of swords could slot into short, long, scim, rapier, etc. To me it makes more sense than getting super nitpicky about just how different each type is, and thus getting to 3.5's weirdness with how seemingly random things became "exotic"...despite being just slightly different shapes of sword (thinking of you, bastard sword...).
Of course, 5e does sometimes forget it's own simple approach (why exactly are spears and tridents listed as mechanically different, when their stats are virtually identical?). But that's another kettle o' fish.
All of that said, some weapons that I wish would in general show up, if at least as named items that follow templated stats:
- Kopis/ Falcata (seriously, such a cool weapon).
- Pata (gauntlet sword)
...huh, that was a shorter list than I thought. Yeah... in general I think the current weapon list serves just fine to slot everything into, really. I'm honestly a fan of not over-detailing the lists, and just letting players skin their items how they will.
Note that Fighting fans are also defensive (and def slashing).
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
Regarding tridents, I think they admitted it was an oversight and it’s something they’re correcting in 1D&D.
I'd say that the Defensive part is going to be a fighting style or something - a metal fan is not defensive by default, in the same way a short & long steel for duelling is not inherently defensive without proper training!
These are very cool weapons! I am unsure how to make them unique from short and long swords though... The Pata is very unique as a weapon, offers some defence but +1 to AC is probably too much... I will have a think on that.
Kopis I imagine are more hacking weapons than stabbing... I'll have a ponder!
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
Ok, had a think on them and came up with:
Kopis: 1d6 slashing, Light, Martial
Pata: 1d8 slashing, Martial Special: Pata. The Pata is a sword with an inbuilt gauntlet as a handguard. An Action or Bonus Action is required to don or doff a Pata, and it must be donned to use it as a weapon. Whilst donned, the Pata gives you +1 to your Armour Class, provided you are not also using a Shield.
Quite enjoying the challenge of this! Anyone else got any?
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
I’m just going to ask, what’s the point of a kopis when the scimitar already exists? Finesse is a purely additive property, so there’s nothing the kopis can provide that isn’t already covered by the scimitar.
Scythe, War Scythe, War Fork, Kopesh, Yueyachan (Monk's Spade), Rope Dart, Kusarigama, Spiked Chain (Shadar Kai Weapon), Kukri, Sabre (Yarrrr!), Lasso, Sasumata (Mancatcher)... there sure would be more if i think about it somewhat longer.
A bludgeoning reach weapon ie. lucern hammer
A two-handed finesse weapon ie. great scimitar
So, doing the whole "oversimplifying" thing:
This can matter in terms of weapon Properties, but yes, all are still two handed polearms with reach. However, the nature of the damage can vary -- Picks, for example, can be versatile, doing either piercing or bludgeoning (normal) damage. The same with Scythes, doing bludgeoning or Slashing (normal) damage. Halberds do piercing or slashing, glaives do slashing.
That's the European basis, of course. Flip to the opposite side of the landmass and you will find polearms that grapple, that do a mix of bludgeoning and slashing, or a mix of slashing and piercing, and other stuff.
This, of course, also assumes we are dealing with a setting that is using weapons predicated on the norms for Earth. Not all settings are that way, however. For example, in some worlds, a Glaive may be a shoulder-height staff weapon, or a Halberd might be based on a sword, or any of a dozen other possibilities. Longswords may never have come into use. Bolas and War scythes may never have been invented.
And it is also an extreme oversimplification, shifting the basis to the most basic form of the weapon -- by the late 1400's, a single polearm created for some specialty unit might have combined all of those variable function -- an axe blade matched by a pick head with a spear or sword point and a back hook meant to entangle.
Polearms always cause headaches, lol. I've known arguments over polearms to break up an entire table -- and for DMs to say "we have lances and long spears, and that's it."
it is why I said "I wouldn't do it as an axe" -- others may opt to do it exactly the same as an axe. Not my game, not my product.
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
these are all good ideas
Hey I'm an Irish guy livin in Dublin
I go by Full/Fulltime, my pronouns are He/Him
PM me the word potato
(I post whenever the heck I want)
The naginata makes a better finesse two-hander than any sort of sword.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
A scythe is in the category of 'not actually a weapon'; the way you fight with a scythe is by detaching the blade and reattaching it to be straight, at which point you've got a sword-on-a-stick weapon that is a poor quality glaive.
If for some reason you're fighting with it in its traditional configuration, its reach is actually going to be surprisingly short because the cutting surface is on the inside and you'll need to hold it at a strange angle to hit with it at all. If you just swing it to stab with its point (which would in reality give you a broken scythe, but this is fantasy) it's a two-handed reach weapon that does piercing -- so stats-wise equivalent to a pike (which is, for no apparent reason, absurdly heavy in D&D), though obviously different in actual usage.
In general melee weapons in 5e are mostly about three variables: reach, hands, and damage type. Looking at martial weapons
Aside from those four missing weapons, the only weapons you can't do as a reskin of an existing weapon are weapons that have specialized qualities, such as a a harpoon, and that's mostly because 5e doesn't try to implement most non-damaging weapon properties.
This is one that's always urked me: it's less a "missing weapon" as a "misnamed" weapon. A mistake in Chain mail way back then has been so prevalent and grandfathered in that's it's basically been exported to the entire fantasy genre by way of cultural osmosis... I speak of course of the "Arming sword"... AKA: "one-handed, western-style, straight-bladed sword, usually paired with a shield".
"Wait, isn't that a long-sword?" You say... and there's the mistake: it's NOT:
- A "Short-sword" is something akin to a Gladius: one-handed, with a short-blade
- A "Long-sword" is SUPPOSED to be something like a Claymore or "Great-sword", IE: Two-handed, long-blade, "A sword, but longer".
- The missing "middle" is the "Arming Sword", or "Straight-sword", or just "sword".
- Then there's the middle between the arming sword and the long sword: the "hand-and-a-half sword"
...
But this is a mistake that's been made so often that I suppose I'll just have to learn to live with it and fight down my OCD.