Hello, new DM here. I have an idea for a neat magical spear to put into an upcoming game based on the Gáe Bulg wielded by Cúchulainn in Irish Mythology, but I don't know where to start with balancing and designing a magical item. If one of my players uses a spear, this will go to them, otherwise, it will be used against the party. Any help would be very much appreciated.
What sorts of in game effects do you want it to have? Be as specific as you can.
But first, I’d make sure to take a good look through the existing magic items. There’s very few spears, but if there’s a sword or hammer or something that does what you want, it’s probably going to be safer to just use that and place the effects on a spear.
If you want to change a dice roll of a weapons damage, well you can't change dice roll as of now, as dnd beyond doesn't support it as the feature is not even out.
The Gáe Bulg is a spear from Celtic mythology meaning "spear of mortal pain/death", "gapped/notched spear", or "belly spear" that is thrown by the foot, and when it hits, it would splinter into thirty barbs (like thorns), destroying the victim. Only by cutting it from the victim could it be removed. It's very brutal and very cool. In myth, this is how Cúchulainn eventually killed his battle brother, Ferdiad, in single combat.
I'm hoping to design something similar, and I currently can't think of any magic item that does this. I would probably say that this item can only use that ability on a charge (number unknown), but I'm not sure where to go from there.
Start by adding charges then and make a cool description; add additional damage dice, scale the weapon as to what you want the rarity of it to be. Add a DC saving throw that spreads within 5 to 10 feet. (I am thinking the Predator movie where the yautja throws their spear and it spreads as it hits its victims).
One of my most common customizations I make are to take an existing item (whatever it may be) and rename (make a copy) it and / or change some of it's lore. The (well tested) abilities and stats stay the same if not for a name / lore change.
I do this with existing monsters all the time to fit my campaign premise.
Does it split and only hit the original target? If so, you could just give it a damage boost. I think lolths bane is on the right track with charges like 1-3/long rest, you can add xd8 piercing damage to the attack. Save for half. If it splits and hits an area, you could do something off the hail of thorns spell. Or just say it allows you to cast hail of thorns x/long rest.
Theres no mechanic or rules for cutting something from a target. And given the abstract nature of damage and healing, it could be cool to narrate, but isn’t likely to actually matter much to players. It would go something like, DM: you have to cut it out of you. Players: eww. Well we do that and cast cure wounds. Now we have a new spear.
The trick is going to be how much damage to add on when homebrewing. That will depend on the level of the characters. If there’s a cool magic item, someone will want to use it.
You also might check out the javelin of lightning, and change the damage to piercing. Or javelin of backbiting. The curse on it might stop the characters from using it. Or combine the two.
Also ruin’s wake from the wildemount book is pretty cool. And as a sentient, evil weapon, characters might be hesitant to use it much.
As has been suggested, take a look at existing weapons. I would not even attempt to make anything like the instant-death version of lore, that would be busted. But instead perhapse start with a javelin of lightning but replace the effects that replicate lightning bolt with effects that would replicate hail of thorns, and then add on something similar to the additional effects of a sword of wounding.
As for balance, any weapon with its own name like that is going to be either Legendary or an Artifact, so don’t worry so much about balance in that regard because anything this powerful is going to be a bit unbalanced overall.
In terms of balancing, go with what you think can handle in combat since you will be either using this against the party, or it will be used against your monsters. Use that as your guideline. Kills PCs in 1-2 rounds? Probably too strong. One-shots the monsters you intend to use? Probably too strong.
IRL legendary weapons are tricky because they evoke the epic combat of high-tier campaigns. If you're dropping this in a level 3 adventure, it probably shouldn't work exactly as it does in the myths.
This is intended to be the final weapon of the player (level 12 or so when they fight the big bad) it will go to if one of them uses a spear, or possibly the weapon of the BBEG's second hand (or maybe the BBEG???). I have no intention for it to kill any monsters of PCs in one hit, but the lore was mainly to show generally what I want the weapon to evoke. I won't drop this in until at least level 7-8.
I think the damage will be limited to the target. 1-3 charges/long rest. I do like the Sword of Wounding aspect.
It wouldn’t get charges / long rest, it would get charges / dawn. The other thing you could do is make it 1 charge with a reset condition of “other.” Then, as the other reset condition you draw from the lore again and say it takes 10 minutes of special preparation that can be performed during a short or long rest. Then, it never does it an automatic number of times per day, but the party won’t be able to use it more than 1/encounter either.
Or, since it is likely to be Legendary (because anything less would be an insult to Cuchulain), considering making it sentient or semi-sentient. Maybe make it so that the whole between the toes thing was just something funny it convinced Cuchulain he had to do to troll him and it’s really all up to the javelin how often it happens. The sky’s the limit here, and knowing what I know about Irish folklore, ain’t none of it out of the realm of possibility. (I mean, have you read some of that stuff?!?)
Cuchulain actually having to make it ready for use in a stream and cast it from the fork of his toes is no less 🤨 than the weapon convincing him or making it a personal condition their version of the Truffle Shuffle for a laugh. Maybe the spear said it wouldn’t do it unless it had a bath and then it said “I bet you you can’t hit that guy with me if you use your foot” or whatever and then the weapon was, like “hunh, I really didn’t think he could do that” and then had to fulfill its end of the bet and did the thing. 🤷♂️
Hello, new DM here. I have an idea for a neat magical spear to put into an upcoming game based on the Gáe Bulg wielded by Cúchulainn in Irish Mythology, but I don't know where to start with balancing and designing a magical item. If one of my players uses a spear, this will go to them, otherwise, it will be used against the party. Any help would be very much appreciated.
What sorts of in game effects do you want it to have? Be as specific as you can.
But first, I’d make sure to take a good look through the existing magic items. There’s very few spears, but if there’s a sword or hammer or something that does what you want, it’s probably going to be safer to just use that and place the effects on a spear.
If you want to change a dice roll of a weapons damage, well you can't change dice roll as of now, as dnd beyond doesn't support it as the feature is not even out.
The Gáe Bulg is a spear from Celtic mythology meaning "spear of mortal pain/death", "gapped/notched spear", or "belly spear" that is thrown by the foot, and when it hits, it would splinter into thirty barbs (like thorns), destroying the victim. Only by cutting it from the victim could it be removed. It's very brutal and very cool. In myth, this is how Cúchulainn eventually killed his battle brother, Ferdiad, in single combat.
I'm hoping to design something similar, and I currently can't think of any magic item that does this. I would probably say that this item can only use that ability on a charge (number unknown), but I'm not sure where to go from there.
Start by adding charges then and make a cool description; add additional damage dice, scale the weapon as to what you want the rarity of it to be. Add a DC saving throw that spreads within 5 to 10 feet. (I am thinking the Predator movie where the yautja throws their spear and it spreads as it hits its victims).
One of my most common customizations I make are to take an existing item (whatever it may be) and rename (make a copy) it and / or change some of it's lore. The (well tested) abilities and stats stay the same if not for a name / lore change.
I do this with existing monsters all the time to fit my campaign premise.
Info, Inflow, Overload. Knowledge Black Hole Imminent!
Does it split and only hit the original target? If so, you could just give it a damage boost. I think lolths bane is on the right track with charges like 1-3/long rest, you can add xd8 piercing damage to the attack. Save for half.
If it splits and hits an area, you could do something off the hail of thorns spell. Or just say it allows you to cast hail of thorns x/long rest.
Theres no mechanic or rules for cutting something from a target. And given the abstract nature of damage and healing, it could be cool to narrate, but isn’t likely to actually matter much to players. It would go something like, DM: you have to cut it out of you. Players: eww. Well we do that and cast cure wounds. Now we have a new spear.
The trick is going to be how much damage to add on when homebrewing. That will depend on the level of the characters. If there’s a cool magic item, someone will want to use it.
You also might check out the javelin of lightning, and change the damage to piercing. Or javelin of backbiting. The curse on it might stop the characters from using it. Or combine the two.
Also ruin’s wake from the wildemount book is pretty cool. And as a sentient, evil weapon, characters might be hesitant to use it much.
As has been suggested, take a look at existing weapons. I would not even attempt to make anything like the instant-death version of lore, that would be busted. But instead perhapse start with a javelin of lightning but replace the effects that replicate lightning bolt with effects that would replicate hail of thorns, and then add on something similar to the additional effects of a sword of wounding.
As for balance, any weapon with its own name like that is going to be either Legendary or an Artifact, so don’t worry so much about balance in that regard because anything this powerful is going to be a bit unbalanced overall.
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In terms of balancing, go with what you think can handle in combat since you will be either using this against the party, or it will be used against your monsters. Use that as your guideline. Kills PCs in 1-2 rounds? Probably too strong. One-shots the monsters you intend to use? Probably too strong.
IRL legendary weapons are tricky because they evoke the epic combat of high-tier campaigns. If you're dropping this in a level 3 adventure, it probably shouldn't work exactly as it does in the myths.
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
This is intended to be the final weapon of the player (level 12 or so when they fight the big bad) it will go to if one of them uses a spear, or possibly the weapon of the BBEG's second hand (or maybe the BBEG???). I have no intention for it to kill any monsters of PCs in one hit, but the lore was mainly to show generally what I want the weapon to evoke. I won't drop this in until at least level 7-8.
I think the damage will be limited to the target. 1-3 charges/long rest. I do like the Sword of Wounding aspect.
What level of Hail of Thorns would you recommend?
It wouldn’t get charges / long rest, it would get charges / dawn. The other thing you could do is make it 1 charge with a reset condition of “other.” Then, as the other reset condition you draw from the lore again and say it takes 10 minutes of special preparation that can be performed during a short or long rest. Then, it never does it an automatic number of times per day, but the party won’t be able to use it more than 1/encounter either.
Or, since it is likely to be Legendary (because anything less would be an insult to Cuchulain), considering making it sentient or semi-sentient. Maybe make it so that the whole between the toes thing was just something funny it convinced Cuchulain he had to do to troll him and it’s really all up to the javelin how often it happens. The sky’s the limit here, and knowing what I know about Irish folklore, ain’t none of it out of the realm of possibility. (I mean, have you read some of that stuff?!?)
Cuchulain actually having to make it ready for use in a stream and cast it from the fork of his toes is no less 🤨 than the weapon convincing him or making it a personal condition their version of the Truffle Shuffle for a laugh. Maybe the spear said it wouldn’t do it unless it had a bath and then it said “I bet you you can’t hit that guy with me if you use your foot” or whatever and then the weapon was, like “hunh, I really didn’t think he could do that” and then had to fulfill its end of the bet and did the thing. 🤷♂️
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That would be hilarious and would fit into a Feywild campaign. I think I may play around with the sentience or curse ideas if I give it to the party.
I've published an initial draft of the spear in homebrew. It probably needs more edits, but I have something written now. https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/4216645-gae-bulg-3