I'm thinking of implementing the masterwork item mechanic as it existed in version 3.5.I think it's a good idea for low level PCs.
For those who don't know, a masterwork weapon or armor is a non-magical item.Weapons give +1 to attack rolls and armor has a -1 in their penalty.
Now, how to adapt the rule to 5e?Do weapons grant +1 attack and damage?Or just attack?And what about the armor, since there's not even that penalty anymore?
I was thinking of the following:
Price would be like 10x the base item price or base-price +300 PO (as suggested on 3.5)
Masterwork weapons: +1 attack roll and damage (or maybe jus attack?)
Armors: +1 AC (+1 AC is too op?)
All magical weapons and armors would be considered already a masterwork, meaning the bonuses can't accumulate. A masterwork +1 weapon if enchanted, would become the same, but magic
Last time i used masterwork items, not to overshadow magic i had weapons and armors be more resistant to breakage on addition to weithing less or having a +1 bonus to damage.
Just another thumbs up for the Armorer's Handbook mentioned by Garr Feyld - it adds a lot of options for seeking out talented weapon or armour smiths etc.
I also added in cold iron in addition to silvering a weapon (enhancd damage against fey and/or undead)
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Tell me what you you are trying to achieve - we're telling this story together ....at least I thought we were - Now I am not so sure [OGL 1.1]
This looks nice. But if a player has all of these improvements, doesn't become too op? Another question is, these set of rules overwritten the normal +1, +2, +3 magical items from MG or they can combo? What happens to all other +1, +2 ,+3 magical items? Should I consider them with the tags "magical, balanced and wounding" for example?
Another thing that bothers me is that "upgrading" thing. As a bladesmith myself and as stated on the 3.5 MG "you cannot upgrade an item to be a masterwork, it has to be done from scratch" - well, at least realistically speaking, on the other hand it's a fantasy world with magic and dragons
Here's what I would do to make Master Work equipment separate from Magic Weapons despite having largely the same function...
A Masterwork Sword, for example, would functionally be a +1 Sword, with the added caveat that if you roll a natural 1 on an attack roll with that weapon, you then need to make a "Durability Roll"... if you roll a 1 on that roll, then the Master Work weapon becomes damaged enough that it loses the +1 property, but still functions as a normal sword.
With Armor and Shields the same basic rule applies, except the trigger for a Durability Roll would be if an enemy hits you with a Critical Hit.
The odds are still very much in your favor. Further improving a Master Work piece of equipment would increase it to a +2 and +3, but would also increase the risk of failure from a Durability Roll. I think it shouldn't be a 1-to-1 increase... a +2 weapon would reduce to a +1 if you roll a 1-3 on the Durability Roll, and a +3 weapon would reduce to a +2 if you roll a 1-6 on a Durability Roll.
So I don't add magical properties to these weapons (there's actually a tiered upgrade path for enabling them to be magical as part of the armorers handbook) - so generally speaking, this helps balance out the OP'ness of it.
The other thing to note is that each step becomes more and more costly, and typically only adds one "feature" e.g. a +1 on attack OR a +1 on damage, plus some other features.
So generally speaking, it does not bump up much beyond +1, but does bestow some other benefits too like improved crits etc. I tend to limit these weapons a bit to really only the master armorers where characters would either need to pay quite a lot and wat around for a commissioned item, to pick from a limited selection (armorers of this calibres would more likely work to specification and commission than work to fill a warehouse of random weapons for characters to pick from)
You point about limiting it to being done on build could help as well - e.g. the master smith can create this for you, at a given cost, and then that it it.
But my group also plays with weapon damage on crit fails, which cost 10% of price to repair, so the fancier weapons cost a lot to repair compared to your standard ones. This effect only goes away on enchanted weapons.
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Tell me what you you are trying to achieve - we're telling this story together ....at least I thought we were - Now I am not so sure [OGL 1.1]
It Might also be worth having a look a mcdm's Arcadia Magazine issue 16, where they revisit Masterworks by the way. It's a simpler system than the amorer's hadbook, but gives quite a few different benefits (works out cheaper for the characters though)
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Tell me what you you are trying to achieve - we're telling this story together ....at least I thought we were - Now I am not so sure [OGL 1.1]
If you like to run a "low magic setting", like I do, the general +1 items could be non.magic masterwork items, like +1 weapons or armor. Anything that is +2 or above would need some soft of enchantment or magic. This can make true magic items a lot more special for the players, IMO.
5e isn’t 3.x so keep it simple. Given that a masterwork weapon is like the winner of an episode of Forged in Fire, a masterwork weapon should probably do +1 damage but not to hit. Armor would have to get a +1 to AC both should get bonuses to resist damage either thru higher a bonus or. Higher DC to break/damage it. For a game like overchord’s I would give them a save chance after the crit - if they fail they are damaged but if they make the save they survive unscathed because of their superior quality.
I use masterwork weapons and armor in my homebrew 5e game granting a +1 on attack for weapons, and a damage reduction (DR) of 1 for armor. Also, a masterwork weapon or set of armor / shield must be used when creating a magical item. For example only a masterwork longsword can be imbued with magic to create a +1 longsword.
But how do I create it in DndBeyond? Taking a standard longsword and adding Bonus > Melee Attack > Fixed Value = 1 doesn't work and there is no Bonus > To Hit option. Bonus > Magic > Fixed Value = 1 is how a standard +1 Longsword is created, but that gives a +1 bonus to damage as well. Yes, you can customize it in the character sheet.
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I'm thinking of implementing the masterwork item mechanic as it existed in version 3.5. I think it's a good idea for low level PCs.
For those who don't know, a masterwork weapon or armor is a non-magical item. Weapons give +1 to attack rolls and armor has a -1 in their penalty.
Now, how to adapt the rule to 5e? Do weapons grant +1 attack and damage? Or just attack? And what about the armor, since there's not even that penalty anymore?
I was thinking of the following:
Price would be like 10x the base item price or base-price +300 PO (as suggested on 3.5)
Masterwork weapons: +1 attack roll and damage (or maybe jus attack?)
Armors: +1 AC (+1 AC is too op?)
All magical weapons and armors would be considered already a masterwork, meaning the bonuses can't accumulate. A masterwork +1 weapon if enchanted, would become the same, but magic
I find just a +1 is fine but kinda boring. I use this:
https://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/300395
Just +1 to attack, or +1 to AC seems good enough for a 300 gp increase in cost.
Last time i used masterwork items, not to overshadow magic i had weapons and armors be more resistant to breakage on addition to weithing less or having a +1 bonus to damage.
Just another thumbs up for the Armorer's Handbook mentioned by Garr Feyld - it adds a lot of options for seeking out talented weapon or armour smiths etc.
I also added in cold iron in addition to silvering a weapon (enhancd damage against fey and/or undead)
Tell me what you you are trying to achieve - we're telling this story together ....at least I thought we were - Now I am not so sure [OGL 1.1]
This looks nice. But if a player has all of these improvements, doesn't become too op? Another question is, these set of rules overwritten the normal +1, +2, +3 magical items from MG or they can combo? What happens to all other +1, +2 ,+3 magical items? Should I consider them with the tags "magical, balanced and wounding" for example?
Another thing that bothers me is that "upgrading" thing. As a bladesmith myself and as stated on the 3.5 MG "you cannot upgrade an item to be a masterwork, it has to be done from scratch" - well, at least realistically speaking, on the other hand it's a fantasy world with magic and dragons
Here's what I would do to make Master Work equipment separate from Magic Weapons despite having largely the same function...
A Masterwork Sword, for example, would functionally be a +1 Sword, with the added caveat that if you roll a natural 1 on an attack roll with that weapon, you then need to make a "Durability Roll"... if you roll a 1 on that roll, then the Master Work weapon becomes damaged enough that it loses the +1 property, but still functions as a normal sword.
With Armor and Shields the same basic rule applies, except the trigger for a Durability Roll would be if an enemy hits you with a Critical Hit.
The odds are still very much in your favor. Further improving a Master Work piece of equipment would increase it to a +2 and +3, but would also increase the risk of failure from a Durability Roll. I think it shouldn't be a 1-to-1 increase... a +2 weapon would reduce to a +1 if you roll a 1-3 on the Durability Roll, and a +3 weapon would reduce to a +2 if you roll a 1-6 on a Durability Roll.
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So I don't add magical properties to these weapons (there's actually a tiered upgrade path for enabling them to be magical as part of the armorers handbook) - so generally speaking, this helps balance out the OP'ness of it.
The other thing to note is that each step becomes more and more costly, and typically only adds one "feature" e.g. a +1 on attack OR a +1 on damage, plus some other features.
So generally speaking, it does not bump up much beyond +1, but does bestow some other benefits too like improved crits etc. I tend to limit these weapons a bit to really only the master armorers where characters would either need to pay quite a lot and wat around for a commissioned item, to pick from a limited selection (armorers of this calibres would more likely work to specification and commission than work to fill a warehouse of random weapons for characters to pick from)
You point about limiting it to being done on build could help as well - e.g. the master smith can create this for you, at a given cost, and then that it it.
But my group also plays with weapon damage on crit fails, which cost 10% of price to repair, so the fancier weapons cost a lot to repair compared to your standard ones. This effect only goes away on enchanted weapons.
Tell me what you you are trying to achieve - we're telling this story together ....at least I thought we were - Now I am not so sure [OGL 1.1]
It Might also be worth having a look a mcdm's Arcadia Magazine issue 16, where they revisit Masterworks by the way. It's a simpler system than the amorer's hadbook, but gives quite a few different benefits (works out cheaper for the characters though)
Tell me what you you are trying to achieve - we're telling this story together ....at least I thought we were - Now I am not so sure [OGL 1.1]
If you like to run a "low magic setting", like I do, the general +1 items could be non.magic masterwork items, like +1 weapons or armor. Anything that is +2 or above would need some soft of enchantment or magic. This can make true magic items a lot more special for the players, IMO.
5e isn’t 3.x so keep it simple. Given that a masterwork weapon is like the winner of an episode of Forged in Fire, a masterwork weapon should probably do +1 damage but not to hit. Armor would have to get a +1 to AC both should get bonuses to resist damage either thru higher a bonus or. Higher DC to break/damage it. For a game like overchord’s I would give them a save chance after the crit - if they fail they are damaged but if they make the save they survive unscathed because of their superior quality.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
I use a conditional bonus to charisma for social situations because you have a really cool looking sword.
I use masterwork weapons and armor in my homebrew 5e game granting a +1 on attack for weapons, and a damage reduction (DR) of 1 for armor. Also, a masterwork weapon or set of armor / shield must be used when creating a magical item. For example only a masterwork longsword can be imbued with magic to create a +1 longsword.
But how do I create it in DndBeyond? Taking a standard longsword and adding Bonus > Melee Attack > Fixed Value = 1 doesn't work and there is no Bonus > To Hit option. Bonus > Magic > Fixed Value = 1 is how a standard +1 Longsword is created, but that gives a +1 bonus to damage as well. Yes, you can customize it in the character sheet.