One of my players likes boomerangs in dnd but they only deal 1d4. I was thinking of a house rule that with woodcarvers tools you could make a special intelligence check to improve the damage dice with the dc increasing each time capping at a d12. Is this balanced and if not how could I make the weaker weapons better?
Your proposed house rule would be a balance problem, but in general it's reasonable to take any simple weapon, increase its damage die by one step, and reclassify it as martial.
It feels like you would need to do more to a throwing stick to make its damage increase so much. Just some woodworking tools will allow shaping, but I can't see that doing that amount of difference. There are no default rules for the quality of equipment, there have been house rules like poor quality give -1, normal quality 0 and high quality +1, then it becomes a question of whether that only affects the to-hit or damage as well. For a stick to do 1d12, it is then in the same category as a greataxe and higher base damage than two handed weapons like a battleaxe, glaive or warhammer.
Maybe you can make it increase one level of dice, but not improve on improvements?
1D4 seems perfectly fine for a fairly small bent stick. It seems generous to allow it to go up to 1D6. I have to wonder what could be done to raise the damage that much for a bent stick that isn't really any good for playing fetch. You can't make it any more blunt after all.
Wow, lot of people here showing their ignorance and the assumption that a boomerang is "just a small bent stick." Sure, that's the image we have of boomerangs thanks to popular culture; but it's a bit like saying "a sword is just a pointy bit of metal."
In reality there are dozens of variations on boomerangs; from tiny straight-edge ones that are accurate to a hundred metres, all the way up to massive ones for hungtin mid-sized game that take two hands to throw (much like the olympic "hammer throw") and can take down a full-size adult red kangaroo -- something that can be difficult to do with a .22 rifle, barring a headshot. It's also worth pointing out that the vast majority of boomerang styles aren't designed to return to sender; in fact for the larger hunting types that would be extremely dangerous.
I think a martial or exotic weapon type of boomerang based on the larger varieties with d8 damage base is quite reasonable; and then it can always be enchanted to a +1 or more (although I'd imagine that you'd need to find a very specialised kind of crafter or tribal elder to make such a weapon... it would depend on your setting I guess though.) You might want to offer a long-range non-returning variant of the 1d4 damage variety too, with a range of say 30/120, so that your boomerang throwing player isn't restricted to close range only (at the risk of potentially losing their ammo if they miss or can't retrieve it.)
Boomerang. Simple Ranged Weapon. Damage 1D4. Range (60/120). Cost and Weight not listed. Will return to the thrower's hand on a miss. It can be viewed under Equipment in D&D Beyond (Game Rules Menu)
Sling. Simple Ranged Weapon. Damage 1D4. Range (30/120). Cost 1sp and Weight not listed. Sling Bullets Weigh 1.5 pounds and cost 4 cp each. Also under Equipment.
Really Heavy Boomerang. Martial Ranged Weapon. Damage 1D8. Range (30/120) Cost 15 gp. Weight 2 pounds. (As per suggestion. Homebrew.)
So what do you get for throwing a Big Stick the size of a Greatclub? Costs 1 sp more, Weight about the same as 6 sling bullets. As much as 4 more points of damage but only one shot and it costs 15 gp. Seems fine to me, but does not strike me as an optimal choice.
So what's wrong with saying that a sword is just a pointy piece of metal? A long, sharp, pointy piece of metal, if you want to be exact.
1D4 seems perfectly fine for a fairly small bent stick. It seems generous to allow it to go up to 1D6. I have to wonder what could be done to raise the damage that much for a bent stick that isn't really any good for playing fetch. You can't make it any more blunt after all.
boomerangs were designed to break necks which is pretty bad for 1d4 damage
1D4 seems perfectly fine for a fairly small bent stick. It seems generous to allow it to go up to 1D6. I have to wonder what could be done to raise the damage that much for a bent stick that isn't really any good for playing fetch. You can't make it any more blunt after all.
boomerangs were designed to break necks which is pretty bad for 1d4 damage
One of my players likes boomerangs in dnd but they only deal 1d4. I was thinking of a house rule that with woodcarvers tools you could make a special intelligence check to improve the damage dice with the dc increasing each time capping at a d12. Is this balanced and if not how could I make the weaker weapons better?
Your proposed house rule would be a balance problem, but in general it's reasonable to take any simple weapon, increase its damage die by one step, and reclassify it as martial.
thanks
It feels like you would need to do more to a throwing stick to make its damage increase so much. Just some woodworking tools will allow shaping, but I can't see that doing that amount of difference. There are no default rules for the quality of equipment, there have been house rules like poor quality give -1, normal quality 0 and high quality +1, then it becomes a question of whether that only affects the to-hit or damage as well. For a stick to do 1d12, it is then in the same category as a greataxe and higher base damage than two handed weapons like a battleaxe, glaive or warhammer.
Maybe you can make it increase one level of dice, but not improve on improvements?
1D4 seems perfectly fine for a fairly small bent stick. It seems generous to allow it to go up to 1D6. I have to wonder what could be done to raise the damage that much for a bent stick that isn't really any good for playing fetch. You can't make it any more blunt after all.
<Insert clever signature here>
Wow, lot of people here showing their ignorance and the assumption that a boomerang is "just a small bent stick." Sure, that's the image we have of boomerangs thanks to popular culture; but it's a bit like saying "a sword is just a pointy bit of metal."
In reality there are dozens of variations on boomerangs; from tiny straight-edge ones that are accurate to a hundred metres, all the way up to massive ones for hungtin mid-sized game that take two hands to throw (much like the olympic "hammer throw") and can take down a full-size adult red kangaroo -- something that can be difficult to do with a .22 rifle, barring a headshot. It's also worth pointing out that the vast majority of boomerang styles aren't designed to return to sender; in fact for the larger hunting types that would be extremely dangerous.
I think a martial or exotic weapon type of boomerang based on the larger varieties with d8 damage base is quite reasonable; and then it can always be enchanted to a +1 or more (although I'd imagine that you'd need to find a very specialised kind of crafter or tribal elder to make such a weapon... it would depend on your setting I guess though.) You might want to offer a long-range non-returning variant of the 1d4 damage variety too, with a range of say 30/120, so that your boomerang throwing player isn't restricted to close range only (at the risk of potentially losing their ammo if they miss or can't retrieve it.)
Boomerang. Simple Ranged Weapon. Damage 1D4. Range (60/120). Cost and Weight not listed. Will return to the thrower's hand on a miss. It can be viewed under Equipment in D&D Beyond (Game Rules Menu)
Sling. Simple Ranged Weapon. Damage 1D4. Range (30/120). Cost 1sp and Weight not listed. Sling Bullets Weigh 1.5 pounds and cost 4 cp each. Also under Equipment.
Really Heavy Boomerang. Martial Ranged Weapon. Damage 1D8. Range (30/120) Cost 15 gp. Weight 2 pounds. (As per suggestion. Homebrew.)
So what do you get for throwing a Big Stick the size of a Greatclub? Costs 1 sp more, Weight about the same as 6 sling bullets. As much as 4 more points of damage but only one shot and it costs 15 gp. Seems fine to me, but does not strike me as an optimal choice.
So what's wrong with saying that a sword is just a pointy piece of metal? A long, sharp, pointy piece of metal, if you want to be exact.
<Insert clever signature here>
boomerangs were designed to break necks which is pretty bad for 1d4 damage
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Human commoners have 4 hit points. 1D4 is more than enough to be scary.
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things people underestimate in fiction:
boomerangs
slings
gambesons
"h"
I never said human neck they were made to break kangoroo necks on a lucky shot (a crit) which have many more hit points on average.
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A boomerang is really a specialized throwing club, which does 1d4 damage.
What if for non critical hits the small boomerang deals 1d4 damage plus str mod but for criticals instead of rolling 2d4 you roll 2d6?
Edit:
If you metal tipped a boomerang it could even have 1d6 base damage
[roll]7d6[/roll]
Every post these dice roll increasing my chances of winning the yahtzee thread (I wish (wait not the twist the wish threa-!))
Drummer Generated Title
After having been invited to include both here, I now combine the "PM me CHEESE 🧀 and tomato into PM me "PIZZA🍕"
And slings are actually extremely powerful if they are the right size and with a good user
[roll]7d6[/roll]
Every post these dice roll increasing my chances of winning the yahtzee thread (I wish (wait not the twist the wish threa-!))
Drummer Generated Title
After having been invited to include both here, I now combine the "PM me CHEESE 🧀 and tomato into PM me "PIZZA🍕"