One of the players (level 4 barbarian) asked me a magic item with a 19+ critical hit. In 5th Edition it looks like the only way to get that is the Champion Archetype but I’m ok to create new items. I’m still new to the hobby so I have a few questions.
Is it too powerful? Especially if after that the other players want this kind of item too.
Should it be a weapon? He asked me a helmet with this effect but it seems odd to me.
Expanding the critical range will be a problem later?
It's really up to you. You could make it a feat or you could make it a magic item. Raising a 5% chance of a critical to a 10% chance is a pretty significant boost.
As TexasDevin points out, a 5% shift in probability of doing max ( or extra, depending on how you're homebrewing critical rolls ) damage is pretty significant.
What I might do here, is allow it - at a cost. The magic item allows a player to convert a 19 into a critical, if they're willing to incur a cost: they take damage from the use of the ability themselves ( probably 1/2 damage or less ), as the magic is using their own lifeforce to power the effects; or they have to make a Constitution saving throw at the end of combat, with a DC based on the amount of extra damage they doled out in the combat, or suffer a point of exhaustion; or ... whatever you can come up with.
The idea here is that they can use the effects in an emergency, or if they need to make an extra effort in combat, but they don't get to use the effects for free, or at least not without risk.
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If you're going to do it, don't make it an item. An item will stay with them at no cost (without attunement) and at small cost (if it requires attunement). Also, an item will make it so that it is applicable to any weapon, like the Champion's class feature. If you wanted to go that route, make it a feat. That way, they have to give up an ASI or different feat to get it. (Would balance better, especially if you used standard array for their stats.) The low risk option is to make it a magic weapon with just that feature. No +1 or +2, just the increased crit range. That way, you can better judge the impact of it, and they'll have to make a hard decision in a few levels when the +2 weapon is staring at them. Kind of like a "vicious" weapon... seems great at first, but then you realize that having an extra hit and damage modifier is much better.
You could also just tell the player he'll need to multiclass and take three levels of fighter to pick up Champion. That's a pretty powerful combo that can really exploit the expanded critical with the fighter's action surge and the reckless attack of the barbarian.
One advantage of making it an item rather than a feat, items can be stolen, broken, lost, etc. Feats will always be with the character. Also if it is an item the ability only ever applied to that one specific item I would make it a single weapon. A feat will apply to every weapon the character uses, ever. Also making it an item means if you find it over powering you can remove it from play in a totally in game, roleplaying fashion. A feat you have to out of game remove from the character and presumably give a different feat or ASI to replace it. A lost or stolen item, no mechanical balance need to replace it.
Make it a weapon that crits on a 19 or 20, but critically fails (however you handle that) on a 1 or 2. Somewhat like a gigantic sword that, if you hit, hurts like he!!. But if you miss, carrying all that momentum, you're screwed :)
A helmet isn't a terrible idea--part of the concept of critically hitting is hitting a vital area. Maybe it's a helmet with pieces that come down over the eyes, and it makes critical areas glow, or highlights openings in their defenses or something. That could work.
One reason to keep something like this a magic item as opposed to a feat is that it can enter the game in a different way. Maybe there's a 'super tough' new adventurer in town, running his mouth about how awesome he is...when in reality he's not all that great, he just owns a cool sword :) Hard to make a plot out of "everyone wants to steal your feat".
EDIT: To be clear, when I say 'critically fail', with this item, I mean that there should be some penalty, not just an 'auto miss'. For many people, a 2 is a miss anyway. But the item I'm describing becomes cooler and more balanced if you have a critical fail rule--rolling a 1 causes something bad to happen along with the miss. Used to be called a 'fumble' back in the day :) You drop your weapon, you trip, you hit the wrong person, etc. If you have things like that happening with 1's, you just have a sword where the bad things happen on 1 or 2. :)
Giving players, or enemies, an improved crit range isn't the end of the game. Won't impact things super drastically either. 5 to 10% chance to crit sounds like a lot, but in practice it isn't. Especially once you start doing it from lvl 5-7+ where players got other ways that impact the game a whole lot more through various support spells. The kind that boosts damage output of the entire group quite drastically to begin with. Giving the entire party Advantage on Attack through Faery Fire for example still means the crit range doesn't come up enough to be a problem. If you can handle that, than a little extra chance of a crit doesn't matter to much in the larger scheme of things. If it is really that much of a problem just give a few key baddies Adamantite armor so crits don't even impact them to begin with as well as some increased HP.
I also like Matt Colville's Stronghold&Followers. Where keeps give bonuses as well. Even to the baddies. If Orcs are near their stronghold they too can gain this increased crit range. To indicate that their extra motivated and protecting their home. It isn't just players that can use this stuff, but your baddies as well.
Don't make it a Feat. Improved Critical isn't a large enough boost to do it that way. If you go the route of a feat make sure to give some other effects as well and/or attribute stat increases. Just as some other feats have.
Just because a player wants something. Don't give it straight away. Give it at the appropriate level where it would fit more as to not upset the game too much, if at all. Also gives you time to see if the player really wants it or has already moved on to something else.
To get an idea. I am planning to give the totem barbarian in my campaign Improved Critical around lvl 10-12. Doesn't mean you can't give the player another cool effect to trigger when he throws an 19-20. Still giving that extra damage boost, but in a more confined way. As example. Since it requires attunement at the same time the "cost" has been paid. On top of that a sentient weapon can lead to interesting RP moments as well if your player is so inclined. "The Eclipse" I made for my player:
Eclipse
Description: This Greataxe was won by Oberon in a tournament between Hill Dwarves. Rumors say this Greataxe has hidden potential, but no one knows for certain. It still looks like a well crafted weapon nonetheless.
===”Story Path”===
T1 Unlock (lvl 5) – Through spiritual pathworking with his totem animal Oberon can start to kindle the flame. After returning to his own state of conscious the weapon is now warm to the touch. It emits a soft orange glow from its blade.
T2 Unlock (lvl 9) – Through further spiritual growth and focus on the weapon the flame burns brighter. On the blade various Ignan writings appear.
T3 Unlock (lvl 12) – After using the Greataxe for long periods of time Oberon develops resistance to the fire
T4 Unlock (lvl 15) – Through another spiritual pathworking event. Oberon will enter the greataxe once more finding the small flame has grown into a gigantic flame. Part of an Azer essence has awoken once again giving sentience to the weapon.
=====Mechanics===
T1 - +1. magical weapon property. Upon a natural 19-20 add 2d4 fire damage to each attack made with the Greataxe. If the d4 rolls a 4 you may roll it again, adding the new roll to the first roll.
T2 – Flame Arc. You can, as an action, once per long rest, unleash a wave of powerful energy in a 15-foot cone in front of you. Any creatures within the cone can make a Dexterity saving throw (DC=8+ proficiency + constitution bonus) or take 6d6 fire damage. If the damage reduces the creature to 0 hit points, its body becomes a pile of still smoldering black ash.
T3 – Improved Critical, Resistance Fire Damage.
T4 – +3 magical weapon, cold resistance, Bane Efreeti, Speak&Read Primordial/Ignanreduces 1 tier of opponents fire resists/immunities. Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 16. Lawful Neutral. Hearing and Darkvision to 60ft. The Greataxe communicates by transmitting emotions to the wielder. Through spiritual pathworking Oberon can “enter” the weapon and speak more directly with the azer flame. Its purpose of creation has to do with the Efreeti and the City of Brass. Add a possible “negative” element as a trade off. Azer love high quality gems. Depends on how the campaign develops and what might need more smoothening out.
Just because a player wants something. Don't give it straight away. Give it at the appropriate level where it would fit more as to not upset the game too much,
I agree. I've never been a fan of the 'magic item mart' where players can just buy these things. I mean, for stuff like healing potions and +1AC rings, ok. But a store where you can pick up a super sword, or a wizard who will make them for you on demand? Meh.
If a player specifically asks "could I have this magic item" (which honestly rarely has happened to me), I'd put it in the game as a 'thing to be possibly found and acquired'. Give it to a villain NPC, and make the character take it, if he can.
I'm all about the game being fun for people, but the player should have fun even if he doesn't get every magic item he asks for--even if they are reasonable ones.
I have a question regarding this. I am making a home brew piece that expands the critical range, like mentioned above, but I don’t recall if anyone said how to properly code it. What modifier settings should I add in to adjust the range.
I’m doing it specifically for a class, to give them a critical hit range of 19-20. I know people mentioned critical hit chance in percentages, but IDK how that applies in the editor.
Whether for a class or an item, it just goes into the description text. If they ever expand to a VTT system, they would need to have a modifier for it since the sheet would be clicked for a dice roll (like Roll20) but for now, there is nothing on the sheet that changes outside of just the description of the increased crit.
One of the players (level 4 barbarian) asked me a magic item with a 19+ critical hit. In 5th Edition it looks like the only way to get that is the Champion Archetype but I’m ok to create new items. I’m still new to the hobby so I have a few questions.
Is it too powerful? Especially if after that the other players want this kind of item too.
Should it be a weapon? He asked me a helmet with this effect but it seems odd to me.
Expanding the critical range will be a problem later?
Hexblade warlock also gets the ability in a limited fashion with the hexblade's curse. The ability is limited to one target of the curse and the curse is a once per rest thing as a 1 level dip into warlock. At 14th level, it can be spread to another creature under certain circumstances.
Perhaps your magic item could be a weapon that has two charges per day. Using a charge allows the wielder to have crits on a 19-20 and possibly advantage on all attacks for a minute. Once the last charge is used, roll a d20. On a 1, the weapon loses all magical abilities and becomes a normal great axe (or whatever the weapon is). On a 20, it regains a charge if it hasn't regained a charge that day. You can even make it a +1 or +2 weapon or so to give some extra incentive not to chance the poor roll.
Additionally, you create a cursed weapon. The number of crits you take each day increases the damage you take. First crit takes 2 damage, next is 4, then 16, then 256 or 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, etc. You'd have to come up with some other abilities to make it really interesting, along with a cool back story. Then the character might want advantage so that they could choose the not crit at times.
I know this is a bit of a necro, but I do want to point out that there are only two things a critical hit means when it comes to the base game:
1. An auto hit
2. Extra damage
Assuming the player is using a greataxe at level 4 and therefore are using reckless attack fairly consistently with a +6 to hit. Rolling with advantage and with an improved crit range, the player has a 19% chance to crit per attack, as opposed to a 9.75% chance to crit without the bonus crit range. This means you are giving the player an extra 9.25% chance to deal an extra 1d12 (which averages 6.5 damage), and a 9.25% extra chance to auto hit. But let's face it unless you are throwing a creature with an AC of over 25 (which means the creature has a higher AC than the tarrasque) a 19 with a +6 to hit should hit regardless, so you aren't really giving them any bonus there, so it is only a matter of giving them extra damage when they crit. So an extra 6.5 damage that occurs an extra 9.25% of the time means you are giving them on average, a bonus .6 average damage per round. That is very minuscule, if you were to allow a player to deal a 1d10 with a weapon rather than 1d8 you'd be doing said payer more of a favor given the current parameters! That player would receive around the same boost from simply using a greatsword rather than a greataxe (granted a greatsword only gives an extra 1d6 later down the line for barbarian's brutal crit).
Paragraph TL:DR Improved Crit chance only improves the player's average dpr by +0.6, which is nothing!
Now let's assume this is later in the campaign and the player has 2 attacks, and their brutal critical and let's assume they are really trying to milk the crud out of landing crits and is playing a half-orc for their racial bonus to crits. So now the player attacks twice and deals an extra 3d12 per crit instead. So an extra 3d12 is on average 19.5, which taking into accound it only occurs on a nat 19, it gives on average a bonus 1.8 3x more than a standard crit without the bonuses (who would have guessed lol). And finally consider we get 2 attacks per round so that crit has twice the chance to occur and all, so the bonus dpr is a +3.6 in total.
Paragraph TL:DR Even if the player were to go half-orc and hit lvl 9 in barb for extra crit damage and for the extra attack, an improved crit range still only means an average extra +3.6 dpr, which is a bit better but it's nothing broken compared to bonuses other players can get from different race an classes combos/multiclasing.
IMO for future DMs I think you could give this to a player as a boon imparted on them for completing their personal story line you set up, or simply slap the crit range onto a magic item. You could do it as a feat but, the player might as well take the GWM feat which on average gives them a bonus to their dpr which is on average double that of an improved crit range. And while this ability doesn't do much when it comes to bonus DPR, it does make the player feel really good when they land a critical hit and if they dedicated a build to seeking out crits, as they finally get to shine and show what their character can do and was literally made for. And I can almost guarantee that with the right mindset from other party members, it will be a hype moment, unless your players have a really backwards viewpoint and view DnD as a competition and not as a team game that was made to simply have fun with friends!
TL:DR An improved crit range isn't all that powerful even when you build a character dedicated to fishing for crits. I'd say impart it on the character for completing a personal quest, or just slap the stat onto a weapon and sell it to the player in a shop or give it as loot (the bonus just isn't good enough to be a feat IMO)!
give it ___ amount of charges. Whenever they roll a 19 they can expend 1 of the charges to turn it into a critical. Even if it has quite a bit of charges, that could hold them over for awhile. Or just 3 charges and the charges can be refilled somehow that’s not too easy. When it runs out just let them be without that ability until they stumble upon the permanent version later. I think that is a little too powerful for a lvl 4 Barbarian personally, but it is entirely up to you.
+1 to hit range is usually not as valuable as +1 to hit, so it's hard to see this as a big deal. Consider a level 4 barbarian with a greataxe and 18 strength (attack bonus +6) against an AC 15 target (60% chance to hit).
With a normal weapon, there's a 60% chance to hit (10.5, 12.5 raging), 5% to crit (+6.5), total average 6.625 (7.825 raging)
Using reckless attack, there's an 84% chance to hit, 9.75% to crit, total average 9.454 (11.134 raging)
With an improved crit weapon, we except +0.325 dpr, or +0.601 dpr when reckless.
With a +1 weapon, we expect +0.05 normal hits (+0.525 or more) and +1 damage per hit (+0.65), total +1.175 or more
With a +1 weapon when reckless, hit chance is now 87.75%, so we expect +0.0375 normal hits (+0.394 or more) and +1 per hit (+0.875), total +1.269 or more.
I wouldn't have any issue putting a +1 crit range weapon in. There are probably specialized builds where it's as good as a normal +1 weapon (for example, more bonus action hits with great weapon mastery), but it's not enough of an issue to be especially worried.
I would be weary of creating an item that replaces a class ability, in particular given that you the Barbarian is getting it. In D&D 5e, the Fighter class plays second fiddle to the Barbarian already, in fact, there is no "gamist" reason to ever take a fighter or ranger, the two melee classes in the game are Barbarian and Paladin, everything else is sub-optimal taken for narrative reasons only.
Hm. I need convincing that barbarians are good, they look about as good as fighters (though Champion is a kinda bad choice).
I would be weary of creating an item that replaces a class ability, in particular given that you the Barbarian is getting it. In D&D 5e, the Fighter class plays second fiddle to the Barbarian already, in fact, there is no "gamist" reason to ever take a fighter or ranger, the two melee classes in the game are Barbarian and Paladin, everything else is sub-optimal taken for narrative reasons only. Of course if you have no fighters or Rangers in the group and the Barbarian is the main melee class then it doesn't really matter.
I think maybe you might wanna take another look at the Fighter. Battle Master is a beast. Admittedly, they’re better at range than in melee, mostly because the range allows them to be mora effective on more attacks against more enemies. But even in melee they put in work. A Dex build dual wielding whip and rapier is very effective. And the Cavalier is no slouch. Either on or off their mount they are very effective. Fighters don’t get to shine as much in an LR party, but a party that loves to take naps.... But either way Action Surge will always be a factor. Not to mention ASI is practically a class feature for them.
As to the Ranger... I never really considered them a “melee class.” And in 5e I have to admit they’re not really a ranged class either. But that’s mostly because the Fighter does that way better....
I must say I am surprised not to see Monk on your melee-who’s-who list.
I must say I am surprised not to see Monk on your melee-who’s-who list.
Monk doesn't seem very good to me. They have decent but not amazing offense, and poor defense. Let's look at level 5. I'll assume point build, and the following characters:
Half-orc Bear Token Barbarian, Str 18, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 8. HP 55, AC 16 (Breastplate), Attack +8/1d12+5 (+1 Greataxe), Bear Totem; rage 3x/day, +2 damage
Wood Elf Battlemaster Fighter, Str 12, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10, HP 44, AC 18 (Breastplate, Shield), Attack +8/1d8+7 (+1 Rapier)
Wood Elf Champion Fighter, Str 12, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10, HP 44, AC 18 (Breastplate, Shield), Attack +8/1d8+7 (+1 Rapier)
Wood Elf Hunter Ranger, Str 10, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 8, HP 44, AC 18 (Breastplate, Shield), Attack +8/1d8+7 (+1 Rapier)
Wood Elf Monk, Str 10, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 8, HP 38, AC 17, Attack +8/1d8+5 (+1 staff), +7/1d6+4 (unarmed)
Okay, let's look at offense. We'll assume a target that is AC 15 (so 70% hit chance)
Half-orc Bear Token Barbarian: 1.4 hits per round, 50% chance to be raging, 17.5 net dpr. Using reckless attack increases this to 22.75.
Wood Elf Battlemaster Fighter: 1.4 hits per round, 16.1 raw DPR. Assuming 8 rounds of combat per short rest, superiority dice add +2.25 average dpr (plus status effects that I'm ignoring at the moment), action surge adds +2 average dpr, final total 20.35 net dpr.
Wood Elf Champion Fighter: 1.4 hits per round, 16.1 raw DPR. +0.1 crits per round adds +0.45 dpr, action surge adds +2.05 dpr, final total 18.6 net dpr.
Wood Elf Hunter Ranger, 1.4 hits per round, 16.1 raw DPR, assume 50% chance for Hunter's Mark being active for +2.45 dpr, assume 0.7 hits from Colossus Slayer for +3.15 dpr, final total 21.6 net dpr.
Wood Elf Monk: 1.4 weapon hits per round (13.3), +0.65 unarmed hits per round, +0.41 unarmed hits from flurry (+7.95), final total 21.25 net dpr.
Okay, the monk is on the high end for damage and applies slightly more status effects than the battlemaster, but there really isn't an awful lot of difference in there except the champion is kinda bad. Now let's look at defense. We'll assume enemies have attack +6
Half-orc Bear Token Barbarian: 55% chance to be hit, 50% to be raging, so overall takes 41% damage, eHP 134. If reckless, chance to be hit is 80%, eHP drops to 92.
Wood Elf Fighter (either): 45% chance to be hit, eHP 98. If we add a second wind to that, eHP 118.
One of the players (level 4 barbarian) asked me a magic item with a 19+ critical hit. In 5th Edition it looks like the only way to get that is the Champion Archetype but I’m ok to create new items. I’m still new to the hobby so I have a few questions.
Is it too powerful? Especially if after that the other players want this kind of item too.
Should it be a weapon? He asked me a helmet with this effect but it seems odd to me.
Expanding the critical range will be a problem later?
It's really up to you. You could make it a feat or you could make it a magic item. Raising a 5% chance of a critical to a 10% chance is a pretty significant boost.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
As TexasDevin points out, a 5% shift in probability of doing max ( or extra, depending on how you're homebrewing critical rolls ) damage is pretty significant.
What I might do here, is allow it - at a cost. The magic item allows a player to convert a 19 into a critical, if they're willing to incur a cost: they take damage from the use of the ability themselves ( probably 1/2 damage or less ), as the magic is using their own lifeforce to power the effects; or they have to make a Constitution saving throw at the end of combat, with a DC based on the amount of extra damage they doled out in the combat, or suffer a point of exhaustion; or ... whatever you can come up with.
The idea here is that they can use the effects in an emergency, or if they need to make an extra effort in combat, but they don't get to use the effects for free, or at least not without risk.
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
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If you're going to do it, don't make it an item. An item will stay with them at no cost (without attunement) and at small cost (if it requires attunement). Also, an item will make it so that it is applicable to any weapon, like the Champion's class feature. If you wanted to go that route, make it a feat. That way, they have to give up an ASI or different feat to get it. (Would balance better, especially if you used standard array for their stats.) The low risk option is to make it a magic weapon with just that feature. No +1 or +2, just the increased crit range. That way, you can better judge the impact of it, and they'll have to make a hard decision in a few levels when the +2 weapon is staring at them. Kind of like a "vicious" weapon... seems great at first, but then you realize that having an extra hit and damage modifier is much better.
You could also just tell the player he'll need to multiclass and take three levels of fighter to pick up Champion. That's a pretty powerful combo that can really exploit the expanded critical with the fighter's action surge and the reckless attack of the barbarian.
Look up Dominator - homebrew magic item. Basically what you were asking about.
If you're the GM, you can do whatever you want =)
A player in my campaign is a fighter with high enough level to get 2 attacks per round. The 19+ crit hasn't come up so often that it's been a problem.
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I made an item that was a -2 to hit, crit on 19+. It’s only just entered the game, so I’m not sure how it’ll go just yet...
One advantage of making it an item rather than a feat, items can be stolen, broken, lost, etc. Feats will always be with the character. Also if it is an item the ability only ever applied to that one specific item I would make it a single weapon. A feat will apply to every weapon the character uses, ever. Also making it an item means if you find it over powering you can remove it from play in a totally in game, roleplaying fashion. A feat you have to out of game remove from the character and presumably give a different feat or ASI to replace it. A lost or stolen item, no mechanical balance need to replace it.
Make it a weapon that crits on a 19 or 20, but critically fails (however you handle that) on a 1 or 2. Somewhat like a gigantic sword that, if you hit, hurts like he!!. But if you miss, carrying all that momentum, you're screwed :)
A helmet isn't a terrible idea--part of the concept of critically hitting is hitting a vital area. Maybe it's a helmet with pieces that come down over the eyes, and it makes critical areas glow, or highlights openings in their defenses or something. That could work.
One reason to keep something like this a magic item as opposed to a feat is that it can enter the game in a different way. Maybe there's a 'super tough' new adventurer in town, running his mouth about how awesome he is...when in reality he's not all that great, he just owns a cool sword :) Hard to make a plot out of "everyone wants to steal your feat".
EDIT: To be clear, when I say 'critically fail', with this item, I mean that there should be some penalty, not just an 'auto miss'. For many people, a 2 is a miss anyway. But the item I'm describing becomes cooler and more balanced if you have a critical fail rule--rolling a 1 causes something bad to happen along with the miss. Used to be called a 'fumble' back in the day :) You drop your weapon, you trip, you hit the wrong person, etc. If you have things like that happening with 1's, you just have a sword where the bad things happen on 1 or 2. :)
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)
Giving players, or enemies, an improved crit range isn't the end of the game. Won't impact things super drastically either. 5 to 10% chance to crit sounds like a lot, but in practice it isn't. Especially once you start doing it from lvl 5-7+ where players got other ways that impact the game a whole lot more through various support spells. The kind that boosts damage output of the entire group quite drastically to begin with. Giving the entire party Advantage on Attack through Faery Fire for example still means the crit range doesn't come up enough to be a problem. If you can handle that, than a little extra chance of a crit doesn't matter to much in the larger scheme of things. If it is really that much of a problem just give a few key baddies Adamantite armor so crits don't even impact them to begin with as well as some increased HP.
I also like Matt Colville's Stronghold&Followers. Where keeps give bonuses as well. Even to the baddies. If Orcs are near their stronghold they too can gain this increased crit range. To indicate that their extra motivated and protecting their home. It isn't just players that can use this stuff, but your baddies as well.
Don't make it a Feat. Improved Critical isn't a large enough boost to do it that way. If you go the route of a feat make sure to give some other effects as well and/or attribute stat increases. Just as some other feats have.
Just because a player wants something. Don't give it straight away. Give it at the appropriate level where it would fit more as to not upset the game too much, if at all. Also gives you time to see if the player really wants it or has already moved on to something else.
To get an idea. I am planning to give the totem barbarian in my campaign Improved Critical around lvl 10-12. Doesn't mean you can't give the player another cool effect to trigger when he throws an 19-20. Still giving that extra damage boost, but in a more confined way. As example. Since it requires attunement at the same time the "cost" has been paid. On top of that a sentient weapon can lead to interesting RP moments as well if your player is so inclined. "The Eclipse" I made for my player:
Eclipse
Description: This Greataxe was won by Oberon in a tournament between Hill Dwarves. Rumors say this Greataxe has hidden potential, but no one knows for certain. It still looks like a well crafted weapon nonetheless.
===”Story Path”===
T1 Unlock (lvl 5) – Through spiritual pathworking with his totem animal Oberon can start to kindle the flame. After returning to his own state of conscious the weapon is now warm to the touch. It emits a soft orange glow from its blade.
T2 Unlock (lvl 9) – Through further spiritual growth and focus on the weapon the flame burns brighter. On the blade various Ignan writings appear.
T3 Unlock (lvl 12) – After using the Greataxe for long periods of time Oberon develops resistance to the fire
T4 Unlock (lvl 15) – Through another spiritual pathworking event. Oberon will enter the greataxe once more finding the small flame has grown into a gigantic flame. Part of an Azer essence has awoken once again giving sentience to the weapon.
=====Mechanics===
T1 - +1. magical weapon property. Upon a natural 19-20 add 2d4 fire damage to each attack made with the Greataxe. If the d4 rolls a 4 you may roll it again, adding the new roll to the first roll.
T2 – Flame Arc. You can, as an action, once per long rest, unleash a wave of powerful energy in a 15-foot cone in front of you. Any creatures within the cone can make a Dexterity saving throw (DC=8+ proficiency + constitution bonus) or take 6d6 fire damage. If the damage reduces the creature to 0 hit points, its body becomes a pile of still smoldering black ash.
T3 – Improved Critical, Resistance Fire Damage.
T4 – +3 magical weapon, cold resistance, Bane Efreeti, Speak&Read Primordial/Ignan reduces 1 tier of opponents fire resists/immunities.
Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 16. Lawful Neutral. Hearing and Darkvision to 60ft.
The Greataxe communicates by transmitting emotions to the wielder. Through spiritual pathworking Oberon can “enter” the weapon and speak more directly with the azer flame. Its purpose of creation has to do with the Efreeti and the City of Brass. Add a possible “negative” element as a trade off. Azer love high quality gems. Depends on how the campaign develops and what might need more smoothening out.
I agree. I've never been a fan of the 'magic item mart' where players can just buy these things. I mean, for stuff like healing potions and +1AC rings, ok. But a store where you can pick up a super sword, or a wizard who will make them for you on demand? Meh.
If a player specifically asks "could I have this magic item" (which honestly rarely has happened to me), I'd put it in the game as a 'thing to be possibly found and acquired'. Give it to a villain NPC, and make the character take it, if he can.
I'm all about the game being fun for people, but the player should have fun even if he doesn't get every magic item he asks for--even if they are reasonable ones.
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)
I have a question regarding this. I am making a home brew piece that expands the critical range, like mentioned above, but I don’t recall if anyone said how to properly code it. What modifier settings should I add in to adjust the range.
I’m doing it specifically for a class, to give them a critical hit range of 19-20. I know people mentioned critical hit chance in percentages, but IDK how that applies in the editor.
Whether for a class or an item, it just goes into the description text. If they ever expand to a VTT system, they would need to have a modifier for it since the sheet would be clicked for a dice roll (like Roll20) but for now, there is nothing on the sheet that changes outside of just the description of the increased crit.
Hexblade warlock also gets the ability in a limited fashion with the hexblade's curse. The ability is limited to one target of the curse and the curse is a once per rest thing as a 1 level dip into warlock. At 14th level, it can be spread to another creature under certain circumstances.
Perhaps your magic item could be a weapon that has two charges per day. Using a charge allows the wielder to have crits on a 19-20 and possibly advantage on all attacks for a minute. Once the last charge is used, roll a d20. On a 1, the weapon loses all magical abilities and becomes a normal great axe (or whatever the weapon is). On a 20, it regains a charge if it hasn't regained a charge that day. You can even make it a +1 or +2 weapon or so to give some extra incentive not to chance the poor roll.
Additionally, you create a cursed weapon. The number of crits you take each day increases the damage you take. First crit takes 2 damage, next is 4, then 16, then 256 or 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, etc. You'd have to come up with some other abilities to make it really interesting, along with a cool back story. Then the character might want advantage so that they could choose the not crit at times.
I know this is a bit of a necro, but I do want to point out that there are only two things a critical hit means when it comes to the base game:
1. An auto hit
2. Extra damage
Assuming the player is using a greataxe at level 4 and therefore are using reckless attack fairly consistently with a +6 to hit. Rolling with advantage and with an improved crit range, the player has a 19% chance to crit per attack, as opposed to a 9.75% chance to crit without the bonus crit range. This means you are giving the player an extra 9.25% chance to deal an extra 1d12 (which averages 6.5 damage), and a 9.25% extra chance to auto hit. But let's face it unless you are throwing a creature with an AC of over 25 (which means the creature has a higher AC than the tarrasque) a 19 with a +6 to hit should hit regardless, so you aren't really giving them any bonus there, so it is only a matter of giving them extra damage when they crit. So an extra 6.5 damage that occurs an extra 9.25% of the time means you are giving them on average, a bonus .6 average damage per round. That is very minuscule, if you were to allow a player to deal a 1d10 with a weapon rather than 1d8 you'd be doing said payer more of a favor given the current parameters! That player would receive around the same boost from simply using a greatsword rather than a greataxe (granted a greatsword only gives an extra 1d6 later down the line for barbarian's brutal crit).
Paragraph TL:DR Improved Crit chance only improves the player's average dpr by +0.6, which is nothing!
Now let's assume this is later in the campaign and the player has 2 attacks, and their brutal critical and let's assume they are really trying to milk the crud out of landing crits and is playing a half-orc for their racial bonus to crits. So now the player attacks twice and deals an extra 3d12 per crit instead. So an extra 3d12 is on average 19.5, which taking into accound it only occurs on a nat 19, it gives on average a bonus 1.8 3x more than a standard crit without the bonuses (who would have guessed lol). And finally consider we get 2 attacks per round so that crit has twice the chance to occur and all, so the bonus dpr is a +3.6 in total.
Paragraph TL:DR Even if the player were to go half-orc and hit lvl 9 in barb for extra crit damage and for the extra attack, an improved crit range still only means an average extra +3.6 dpr, which is a bit better but it's nothing broken compared to bonuses other players can get from different race an classes combos/multiclasing.
IMO for future DMs I think you could give this to a player as a boon imparted on them for completing their personal story line you set up, or simply slap the crit range onto a magic item. You could do it as a feat but, the player might as well take the GWM feat which on average gives them a bonus to their dpr which is on average double that of an improved crit range. And while this ability doesn't do much when it comes to bonus DPR, it does make the player feel really good when they land a critical hit and if they dedicated a build to seeking out crits, as they finally get to shine and show what their character can do and was literally made for. And I can almost guarantee that with the right mindset from other party members, it will be a hype moment, unless your players have a really backwards viewpoint and view DnD as a competition and not as a team game that was made to simply have fun with friends!
TL:DR An improved crit range isn't all that powerful even when you build a character dedicated to fishing for crits. I'd say impart it on the character for completing a personal quest, or just slap the stat onto a weapon and sell it to the player in a shop or give it as loot (the bonus just isn't good enough to be a feat IMO)!
Limited. Use. Item.
give it ___ amount of charges. Whenever they roll a 19 they can expend 1 of the charges to turn it into a critical. Even if it has quite a bit of charges, that could hold them over for awhile. Or just 3 charges and the charges can be refilled somehow that’s not too easy. When it runs out just let them be without that ability until they stumble upon the permanent version later. I think that is a little too powerful for a lvl 4 Barbarian personally, but it is entirely up to you.
+1 to hit range is usually not as valuable as +1 to hit, so it's hard to see this as a big deal. Consider a level 4 barbarian with a greataxe and 18 strength (attack bonus +6) against an AC 15 target (60% chance to hit).
I wouldn't have any issue putting a +1 crit range weapon in. There are probably specialized builds where it's as good as a normal +1 weapon (for example, more bonus action hits with great weapon mastery), but it's not enough of an issue to be especially worried.
Hm. I need convincing that barbarians are good, they look about as good as fighters (though Champion is a kinda bad choice).
I think maybe you might wanna take another look at the Fighter. Battle Master is a beast. Admittedly, they’re better at range than in melee, mostly because the range allows them to be mora effective on more attacks against more enemies. But even in melee they put in work. A Dex build dual wielding whip and rapier is very effective. And the Cavalier is no slouch. Either on or off their mount they are very effective. Fighters don’t get to shine as much in an LR party, but a party that loves to take naps.... But either way Action Surge will always be a factor. Not to mention ASI is practically a class feature for them.
As to the Ranger... I never really considered them a “melee class.” And in 5e I have to admit they’re not really a ranged class either. But that’s mostly because the Fighter does that way better....
I must say I am surprised not to see Monk on your melee-who’s-who list.
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Monk doesn't seem very good to me. They have decent but not amazing offense, and poor defense. Let's look at level 5. I'll assume point build, and the following characters:
Okay, let's look at offense. We'll assume a target that is AC 15 (so 70% hit chance)
Okay, the monk is on the high end for damage and applies slightly more status effects than the battlemaster, but there really isn't an awful lot of difference in there except the champion is kinda bad. Now let's look at defense. We'll assume enemies have attack +6
Looking at dpr * eHP, we get: