This includes armor and other weapons. So if they want to use those silvered blades on a were in armor, that's a choice but it could mean a random chance of the blade breaking/ becoming dull, require new coating of silver.
I would do this:
Against enemies in armor on a 1-5 attack roll, the weapon is ruined unless the enemy is "bloodied" ie at half HP or less (this represents picking off it's armor)
Against enemies with a weapon to parry with, on a 1-2 attack roll, the weapon is ruined.
It takes a bonus action to change between weapons.
Is that RAW? I don't know about the weapon change but what it does do is set up the party to have to plan a little bit to save the silvered weapons for when it counts.
Overall my philosophy is like this: Don't punish the party by immediately taking away their cool bonuses that they were able to lock in. However, having the party use the same "core" stuff that puts them at an advantage, every single fight, gets boring for most people. I had a game where one character was rocking a +11 with her ranged attack. I hated planning encounters becuase anyone with an AC that was "hard" for her to hit, was nearly impossible for the rest of the party.
This includes armor and other weapons. So if they want to use those silvered blades on a were in armor, that's a choice but it could mean a random chance of the blade breaking/ becoming dull, require new coating of silver.
I would do this:
Against enemies in armor on a 1-5 attack roll, the weapon is ruined unless the enemy is "bloodied" ie at half HP or less (this represents picking off it's armor)
Against enemies with a weapon to parry with, on a 1-2 attack roll, the weapon is ruined.
It takes a bonus action to change between weapons.
Is that RAW? I don't know about the weapon change but what it does do is set up the party to have to plan a little bit to save the silvered weapons for when it counts.
Overall my philosophy is like this: Don't punish the party by immediately taking away their cool bonuses that they were able to lock in. However, having the party use the same "core" stuff that puts them at an advantage, every single fight, gets boring for most people. I had a game where one character was rocking a +11 with her ranged attack. I hated planning encounters becuase anyone with an AC that was "hard" for her to hit, was nearly impossible for the rest of the party.
It's an ok house rule if you want to use it but honestly an extra die on a crit against a shape shifter is such a miniscule bonus that it's irrelevant in the long run. In addition, a silvered weapon is now a common magic item. This means that unless the DM homebrews it, you won't have +1 silvered weapons since you can't stack magic item effects. Given a choice between a +1 weapon and a silvered weapon ... I'd choose +1 to hit and damage ANY day.
Basically, it's a house rule I wouldn't bother with and it is overly punitive if the weapon gets "ruined" either 10% or 25% of the time. In addition, if the DM doesn't want the characters to have silvered weapons then just don't bother handing them out rather than introducing house rules that make them virtually useless to use (even if weapon swapping is much easier with the 2024 rules).
As for your ranged character with a +11 example .. the only difference between that ranged character and any other character in a party at a comparable level would be the Archery fighting style which gives a +2 to hit on ranged attacks ... AND any magic items the DM chose to hand out. So if the AC was "hard" for her to hit and "nearly impossible" for the rest of the party but the difference in rolling was only a +2 then I'd say I have a different definition of "hard" and "nearly impossible".
A level 9 character with 18 dex, +4 proficiency, +2 archery and a +1 weapon is +11. A level 9 fighter with 20 strength, +4 proficiency and a +2 weapon is also +11. So if the +11 archer was so much better than everyone else then there was something more going on than just the game mechanics.
However, I was working on the idea that werewolves were immune to non-silver/ non magic damage. For a low level party that means that everyone having Silver weapons basically negates that defense and can feel boring after a while. What's scary about something you've completely got countered. The idea of the House Rule for silver weapons being more fragile is based around creating interesting decision points for the party as to what weapon to use when.
As for the other case, that math works provided that the other character has run their Strength up to 20, and is rocking the +2 weapon. If they're still back at 18 with a non magic weapon that opens the gap. I'm not 100% sure how it was done but that +11 was pre-9th level. Memory serves it was like 6 or 7th and it was definitely stacking bonuses from feats and artificer abilities. I also remember that at the time the ranger, who's pet was not as tanky, and who's healing wasn't as healy, was also only rocking a +8 to hit. Just created this weird imbalance at the table.
The problem with the silver weapons in the base rules is that 1d6 damage on a crit is almost totally irrelevant, it's typically on the order of 3% increased damage. They could have just done something like "+1 damage vs shapeshifters". Maybe also +1 to fiends.
Another angle:
Silver vs Wereflesh = Good
Silver vs ANYTHING ELSE = bad.
This includes armor and other weapons. So if they want to use those silvered blades on a were in armor, that's a choice but it could mean a random chance of the blade breaking/ becoming dull, require new coating of silver.
I would do this:
Against enemies in armor on a 1-5 attack roll, the weapon is ruined unless the enemy is "bloodied" ie at half HP or less (this represents picking off it's armor)
Against enemies with a weapon to parry with, on a 1-2 attack roll, the weapon is ruined.
It takes a bonus action to change between weapons.
Is that RAW? I don't know about the weapon change but what it does do is set up the party to have to plan a little bit to save the silvered weapons for when it counts.
Overall my philosophy is like this: Don't punish the party by immediately taking away their cool bonuses that they were able to lock in. However, having the party use the same "core" stuff that puts them at an advantage, every single fight, gets boring for most people. I had a game where one character was rocking a +11 with her ranged attack. I hated planning encounters becuase anyone with an AC that was "hard" for her to hit, was nearly impossible for the rest of the party.
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Weapon swaps are basically free in 2024 rules.
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It's an ok house rule if you want to use it but honestly an extra die on a crit against a shape shifter is such a miniscule bonus that it's irrelevant in the long run. In addition, a silvered weapon is now a common magic item. This means that unless the DM homebrews it, you won't have +1 silvered weapons since you can't stack magic item effects. Given a choice between a +1 weapon and a silvered weapon ... I'd choose +1 to hit and damage ANY day.
Basically, it's a house rule I wouldn't bother with and it is overly punitive if the weapon gets "ruined" either 10% or 25% of the time. In addition, if the DM doesn't want the characters to have silvered weapons then just don't bother handing them out rather than introducing house rules that make them virtually useless to use (even if weapon swapping is much easier with the 2024 rules).
As for your ranged character with a +11 example .. the only difference between that ranged character and any other character in a party at a comparable level would be the Archery fighting style which gives a +2 to hit on ranged attacks ... AND any magic items the DM chose to hand out. So if the AC was "hard" for her to hit and "nearly impossible" for the rest of the party but the difference in rolling was only a +2 then I'd say I have a different definition of "hard" and "nearly impossible".
A level 9 character with 18 dex, +4 proficiency, +2 archery and a +1 weapon is +11. A level 9 fighter with 20 strength, +4 proficiency and a +2 weapon is also +11. So if the +11 archer was so much better than everyone else then there was something more going on than just the game mechanics.
Hmm.. fair points.
However, I was working on the idea that werewolves were immune to non-silver/ non magic damage. For a low level party that means that everyone having Silver weapons basically negates that defense and can feel boring after a while. What's scary about something you've completely got countered. The idea of the House Rule for silver weapons being more fragile is based around creating interesting decision points for the party as to what weapon to use when.
As for the other case, that math works provided that the other character has run their Strength up to 20, and is rocking the +2 weapon. If they're still back at 18 with a non magic weapon that opens the gap. I'm not 100% sure how it was done but that +11 was pre-9th level. Memory serves it was like 6 or 7th and it was definitely stacking bonuses from feats and artificer abilities. I also remember that at the time the ranger, who's pet was not as tanky, and who's healing wasn't as healy, was also only rocking a +8 to hit. Just created this weird imbalance at the table.
"Teller of tales, dreamer of dreams"
Tips, Tricks, Maps: Lantern Noir Presents
**Streams hosted at at twitch.tv/LaternNoir
The problem with the silver weapons in the base rules is that 1d6 damage on a crit is almost totally irrelevant, it's typically on the order of 3% increased damage. They could have just done something like "+1 damage vs shapeshifters". Maybe also +1 to fiends.
Go Megamind on them as in "Your weakness is COPPER?!"
At least on some of the Lycanthropes.
And even if not called out in 2024, can always homebrew for your own campaign as desired, ie beyond the extra d of dam mentioned in the 2024 dmg.