Since D&D Beyond does not allow basic weapon homebrew to be posted, I’ll post this here, as advised. My goal with this homebrew is to make D&D weapons (and some other related stuff) more interesting and flavorful by drawing from real life. I mostly do not intend to restrict weapon use or fighting styles (by this I don’t mean the fighter’s Fighting Style, I mean the way characters fight) for being “unrealistic”, which would be anti coolness or fun, but rather I want to give more options, while keeping the flavor of each class and the concepts already set-up by D&D 5e. If I do restrict or nerf something it would only be in service of giving another weapon a boost in a particular niche. If by the end of this homebrew each and every weapon has at least an uncommon situation where they are the best choice (including “being poor”), I will have succeeded with my goal.
In order to do this I will add and modify weapons, armor, feats, spells, proficiencies, vulnerabilities, resistances and immunities. I will only note if something changes and may sometimes, but not always, justify my choices.
Mundane Weapons
I will allow weapons to have more than one of the three physical damage types (piercing, slashing and bludgeoning) and damage dice. If there is an “AND” between them then both are counted for the attack, while if there is an “OR” the player has to choose before the attack roll.
Changes to existing features are highlighted by bolded text.
New and Modified Weapon Properties
Anti-Armor: When using this weapon to attack a creature that is using an AC calculation involving armor with bludgeoning damage their base AC (ignoring modifiers) is reduced by 2 to a minimum of 10.
If you also used piercing damage on the same attack, rolling a 1 on that attack causes the weapon to become stuck in the armor and requires a DC15 Strength check to pull loose. The creature is grappled until this happens, they remove the armor, or the attacker lets the weapon go. You cannot use the weapon until it is pulled loose.
OR (if the rules on armor are modified like I suggest below)
Anti-Armor: When using this weapon to attack a creature with bludgeoning damage, reduce their armor modifier by 2 to a minimum of 0.
If you also used piercing damage on the same attack, rolling a 1 on that attack causes the weapon to become stuck in the armor and requires a DC15 Strength check to pull loose. The creature is grappled this happens, they remove the armor, or the attacker lets the weapon go. You cannot use the weapon until it is pulled loose.
Block: When holding this weapon properly you gain a +1 bonus to your AC against attacks from melee weapons. Does not stack with the AC bonus provided by a shield or other weapons.
Curved: Slashing melee attacks from this weapon get +1 to damage rolls, while piercing melee attacks from this weapon get -1 to damage rolls, to a minimum of 1.
Distance: If a creature moves and enters your reach and you successfully use your reaction to attack it with this weapon using piercing damage only (either with a readied action or an opportunity attack), that creature cannot move closer to you for that turn.
This will be added to any pointy weapons with Reach. Reach weapons aren’t as useful as they should be on their own. This gives Distance weapons a simple advantage: the ability to attack a single melee attacker twice before they can attack back, so long as they readied an attack action or have an ability to use an opportunity attack and managed to hit. Since creatures can take the Dodge action, both attacks will probably be made at disadvantage. The Battle Master’s Brace maneuver, the Polearm Master feat and the Cavalier’s Vigilant Defender feature combo well with this property. The Sentinel feat, while only working on opportunity attacks, can be used for all melee weapons (not just the ones with this property) and reduces the movement speed to 0, so still gives you more options, even when ignoring the other abilities it gives you.
Flexible: When melee attacking a creature with this weapon, bonuses to the creature’s AC from shields or weapons are reduced by 1.
Hook: Creatures you try to disarm (optional rule, see DMG) using this weapon have disadvantage on the ability check to keep hold. You can use this weapon to grapple creatures within your reach. You cannot make attacks with the weapon if it is being used to grapple. To switch from using the weapon to grapple to grapplingthe creature another way, you must first release the grapple using the weapon, then make a new grapple attack roll.
Nimble: You have advantage when melee attacking a grappled creature. When you melee attack a prone creature that is using an AC calculation involving armor using this weapon their base AC (ignoring modifiers) is reduced to 10.
OR (if the rules on armor are changed)
Nimble: You have advantage when melee attacking a grappled creature using this weapon. When you melee attack a prone creature using this weapon their armor modifier is ignored.
This makes Strength rogues that grapple or shove their targets more viable.
Parry: When holding this weapon properly you gain a +2 bonus to your AC against melee attacks from melee finesse weapons. Does not stack with the AC bonus provided by a shield or other weapons.
There is already a Battlemaster Maneuver called Parry, but there was no other name for it I could think of.
Rebound: When rolling a 1 on a melee attack roll using this weapon, make a second attack roll with no modifiers against yourself. The damage type and amount are the first ones listed in the weapon's description.
Unwieldy: You have disadvantage on attack rolls if 5 feet or closer to a solid object 5 feet or higher or under a ceiling 10 feet or lower.
Versatile: This weapon can be used with one or two hands. Damage values in parentheses and separated by slashes appear with the property—the damage values when the weapon is used with two hands to make a melee attack. The first damage value replaces the first one listed for the one-hand attack, the second the second, etc.
As it stood there was no reason besides flavor for the wizard to take the dagger (1d4 vs. 1d6 one-handed) or for the druid to take the club (1d4 vs. 1d6 one-handed; 1d8 with Shillelagh) over the quarterstaff. By removing Versitile (with fits in with realism – even one-handed quarterstaff attacks need the other hand for set-up or as a counterweight) it becomes more of a choice: Does the wizard or the druid take the 1d4 melee damage and the ability to cast somatic spells as a bonus action on the same turn, or do they take 1d8 melee damage and lose that ability? Adding the (altered) greatclub as a druid weapon gives another option again.
Most people imagine war darts to be tiny objects, but really they were the intermediate between javelins and arrows: Sharp sticks with fletching that are thrown.
Since the Anti-Armor property lowers creatures with armor’s AC when using bludgeoning damage and the Bec-de-Corbin uses both piercing and bludgeoning damage simultaneously, it also allows the piercing damage to break through the armor more easily, BUT this also allows the weapon to lodge itself in the armor when a 1 is rolled.
Double-Bladed Scimitar – Damage: 2d4 slashingOR piercing (#); Properties: Block, Curved, Special, Two-Handed; Special: If you attack with a double-bladed scimitar as part of the Attack action on your turn, you can use a bonus action immediately after to make a melee attack with it. This attack deals 1d4slashing damage on a hit, instead of 2d4.
To differentiate the longsword from the hand-and-a-half sword I gave the hand-and-a-half sword Versatile and the longsword Anti-Armor, aka. The ability to do a murderstroke.
Pike – Damage: 1d10 piercing; Properties: Distance, Heavy, Reach (#), Special, Two-handed; Special: The pike adds 10 feet to your reach when you attack with it. This property also determines your reach for opportunity attacks with the pike. You cannot use the pike to attack a target within 5 feet of you.
The Distance and Special properties make pike formations, where soldiers using pikes are placed in rows and columns, very formidable.
Rapier – Damage: 1d6 piercing OR 1d4 slashing (#); Properties: Finesse, Parry, Special; Special: You can make melee attacks at creatures 10 feet away from you at -2 to hit and your reach is either 5 or 10 feet, depending on which the player choses for each situation it becomes relevant.
The rapier is a very long sword that was primarily used by lunging, which was its primary advantage. It was not long enough to get the properties Reach and Distance, however, so this splits the difference.
Trident – Damage: 1d6 piercing; Properties: Distance, Reach (#), Special, Thrown (20/60), Versatile (1d8); Special: The trident gets +1 to hit against unarmored creatures and -1 to hit against armored creatures, including natural armor.
The three prongs mean you’ll hit the creature in three places at once, which can be good or bad, depending if one or more is armored.
War Pick – Damage: 1d8 piercingAND bludgeoning (#); Properties: Anti-Armor, Heavy (#), Hook, Versatile (1d10)
Whip – Damage: 1d4 slashing; Properties: Finesse, Reach, Flexible, Light (#), Rebound, Special; Special: You cannot use the whip to attack a target within 5 feet of you. You have advantage on attack rolls to disarm creatures with the weapon. You can use the weapon to grab creatures with the whip. This functions like using the weapon to grapple, except that the creature’s speed is unaffected. It cannot however move more than 10 feet from you, and you can only move the creature by pulling it. Grabbing creatures has no effect on creatures that are formless. Dealing 5 slashing damage to the whip (AC 10) frees the creature without harming it, ending the effect and destroying the whip. You can also use the whip to grab objects within reach. The object cannot be more than ½ foot in diameter. Characters can then pull the object or swing from it, depending on which is heavier and leverage. The weight suspended from the whip cannot exceed 510 lb.
Characters can burst rope with a DC17 Strength check. Characters can lift or drag weights up to 30 times their Strength score in pounds. 17 times 30 lb. is 510 lb.
Martial Ranged Weapons
Blowgun – Damage: 1 piercing; Properties: Ammunition (range 25/100), Loading, Special; Special: Firing the blowgun while hidden does not give away your location but does make a soft noise. Make a Dexterity (Stealth) check for every time you fire the blowgun while hidden to attempt to stay hidden. If you miss your shot, creatures close to the impact site of the needle get advantage on their passive perception to spot you. If you hit your target, the creature you hit as well as any creature it alerts around it make active Perception (Wisdom) checks to spot you. If you kill the creature with your shot, that creature does not make a Perception check. Obviously.
As is, the way AC with armor is calculated in D&D 5e makes it extremely difficult to have features, abilities or items that interact with those rules. Making the type of armor you wear change the base AC you calculate from was needlessly complicated. It should just have been a 10 + the armor modifier (+ Dex, etc.).
The changes will be bolded again.
New and Modified Armor
Light Armor
Padded– Modifier: +2; Dex modifier: Max +2; Stealth: -1
Nobody wears the RAW padded armor, because Leather armor is not significantly more expensive or heavy and unlike Padded armor doesn’t give disadvantage on Stealth checks. By decreasing the Stealth penalty from disadvantage to -1, increasing the armor modifier and capping the Dexterity modifier at +2, I turned it into more of battlefield armor for low to medium Dexterity characters with armor proficiency only in light armor, while Leather remains the better choice for high Dexterity stealthy characters. Both should cost about as much.
Studded Leather (#) Leather Scale Mail – Modifier +2; Dex modifier: Unlimited; Description: Made of overlapping plates of boiled leather woven or riveted together, Leather Scale Mail armor makes it possible to protect those parts of your body that Leather armor could previously only cover with soft leather.
Studded Leather armor is basically the only feature I’d remove because of “realism”, because it makes no sense in-universe either and I don't think I'm slaughtering a sacred cow by doing so. Adding some metal studs to Leather armor would not make it more protective than normal Leather armor. I did take pains to replace it with the closest equivalent that would fit the categories of stealthy and light (though I kept the D&D naming conventions, instead of naming it Leather Lamellar). It also keeps its stats.
It also remains an upgrade to both (altered) Padded Armor and Leather Armor (and should be more expensive), though characters with low dexterity and no motivation to be stealthy may simply keep the padded armor.
This is just here to update feats and spells to work with my modifications.
Polearm Master
You can keep your enemies at bay with reach weapons. You gain the following benefits:
When you take the Attack action and attack with only a bec-de-corbin, glaive, halberd, quarterstaff, or spear, you can use a bonus action to make a melee attack with the opposite end of the weapon; this attack uses the same ability modifier as the primary attack. The weapon's damage die for this attack is a d4, and the attack deals bludgeoning damage.
While you are wielding a bec-de-corbin, glaive, halberd,pike, quarterstaff, or spear, other creatures provoke an opportunity attack from you when they enter your reach.
Revenant Blade
A double-bladed scimitar has the finesse and parry properties when you wield it.
Components: V, S, M (mistletoe, a shamrock leaf, and a club, greatclub(#) or quarterstaff)
Duration: 1 minute
The wood of a club, greatclub(#) or quarterstaff you are holding is imbued with nature's power. For the duration, you can use your spellcasting ability instead of Strength for the attack and damage rolls of melee attacks using that weapon, and the weapon's damage die can become a d8. The weapon also becomes magical, if it isn't already. The spell ends if you cast it again or if you let go of the weapon.
Far too few creatures have resistances, vulnerabilities and immunities in my book. Figuring out what a creature can and can’t endure very well are ways to make fights far more interesting, help tie roleplaying into the combat and make second rounds with creatures you had to run away from the first time oh so satisfying. It also makes your weapon choice and other preparation relevant. Since this homebrew is focused on weapons, I’ll be restricting myself to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage, but since those are the most common types of damage, I believe more creatures should have features that interact with them than other types of damage.
I am not going to revise the whole statblock for each creature I mention here. If they get a resistance or immunity their HP or AC might need to be lowered to compensate, while a vulnerability might need the opposite. I am also restricting myself to the Monster Manual, because I am not a masochist. If the creature already interacts with these damage types and I don’t modify it, I won’t list it.
* It never made sense to me that (some) Oozes were immune to slashing damage, when you would think that the one type of physical damage that would be able to harm a creature made of tough jelly would be a cut. Bludgeoning hits would bounce off or leave a temporary dent, while stabs would leave a small wound that would be healed more easily than a gash or a cut-off pseudopod.
For those Oozes that split on receiving slashing damage, you can easily modify the ability to say that instead of receiving the slashing damage, it splits.
** You might want to allow the use of the Anti-Armor property instead of a vulnerability to bludgeoning.
Feedback is appreciated and may be incorporated.
Edits:
2021.10.13 Modified and added the double-bladed scimitar weapon and the Revenant Blade feat. Changed the advantage the Hook property grants the attacker to it granting the defender disadvantage, so it interacts with the Battlemaster maneuver Disarming Attack.
Rules like this can look like they make sense to you, but their main effect is to slow down combat and require players to learn more and more minor rules. D&D 5e intentionally uses a simple "attack roll, compare to AC, if it hits roll damage" system so that combat turns don't take a long time and the game can move to the next player's turn before too long. Using these rules, the characters have to consider what melee weapon they're using against the melee weapon the opponent is using and who can parry and actually their range is 10 feet despite using a 5 foot reach weapon and so on.
Anything that reduces AC by 2 is the same as adding +2 to the attack roll, which is the most valuable part of a +2 magical weapon. Increasing the overall number of hits the character makes by 10% is a massive damage output increase.
Why do you list Animated Armor as having vulnerability to bludgeoning damage? That baffles me. It's a suit of armour, if anything it should have resistance to everything except bludgeoning.
You've added in additional weapon types that will be familiar to HEMA practitioners, like the messer, but having trained and taught messer, it's functionally identical to an arming sword, which is represented by a longsword in D&D. You can do all of Leckuchner's techniques with either.
Rules like this can look like they make sense to you, but their main effect is to slow down combat and require players to learn more and more minor rules. D&D 5e intentionally uses a simple "attack roll, compare to AC, if it hits roll damage" system so that combat turns don't take a long time and the game can move to the next player's turn before too long. Using these rules, the characters have to consider what melee weapon they're using against the melee weapon the opponent is using and who can parry and actually their range is 10 feet despite using a 5 foot reach weapon and so on.
To a certain extent, yes. I considered these modifications to add a new layer of tactics for players who are bored with just hitting things. Like spellcasters have their spell lists and druids have their wildshapes, martial classes would have different weapons to chose from (though even that isn't quite equivalent, since they'd have far fewer weapons and wouldn't switch as often during combat). I understand why the RAW weapons were kept simple but boring, and it's probably better that way for new players, but for people with a little experience I think this would be better.
Really, the only new things players need to remember are the new properties their weapons have (and when they're relevant), and to announce what damage type and damage dice they use when attacking. If you find that slows down combat too much, then so be it, but not from my perspective.
Anything that reduces AC by 2 is the same as adding +2 to the attack roll, which is the most valuable part of a +2 magical weapon. Increasing the overall number of hits the character makes by 10% is a massive damage output increase.
That is very true. I'm aware of that. But consider that this property (Anti-Armor) is only relevant against creatures that are actually wearing armor. Not even all human-shaped (two legs, two arms, a head) foes wielding weapons wear armor. If that's still too strong, perhaps it should be reduced to reducing AC by 1. I might need to crunch some numbers here to get a clear result.
Why do you list Animated Armor as having vulnerability to bludgeoning damage? That baffles me. It's a suit of armour, if anything it should have resistance to everything except bludgeoning.
In order to have three tiers of weapon effectiveness without adding an immunity: Resistance to piercing, normal interaction with slashing and vulnerability to bludgeoning. I mentioned modifying the hit points a monster has when giving it resistances and vulnerabilities, and Animated Armor was on the forefront of my mind when writing that; Its hit points should probably be doubled to compensate for the vulnerability.
I just noticed that my second footnote regarding Animated Armor which suggested letting the Anti-Armor property work on it instead of giving it a vulnerability to bludgeoning wasn't displaying correctly. I've now fixed that, thank you for bringing it to my attention.
You've added in additional weapon types that will be familiar to HEMA practitioners, like the messer, but having trained and taught messer, it's functionally identical to an arming sword, which is represented by a longsword in D&D. You can do all of Leckuchner's techniques with either.
Uh, I think you're wrong that an arming sword is represented by the longsword in D&D. Longswords are (or were) Versatile weapons, meaning they can be used in one or two hands, while arming swords are strictly one-handed swords. The shortsword would be a better equivalent.
In any case, I decided to add the Messer (and Kriegsmesser) after introducing the Curved property to differentiate the scimitar from the shortsword. Getting a little extra damage on cuts (slightly easier edge alignment) and reduced damage on thrusts was a nifty little property I was then loath to restrict to the scimitar and sickle. Even if that +1/-1 property isn't actually equivalent to the advantage and disadvantage it gives in real life, I was not aiming for realism, but was drawing from real life to make weapons (and combat) more interesting.
If you choose the Kriegsmesser over the Longsword you're getting a slight increase in damage, but forgo the Anti-Armor and Finesse properties the Longsword has, while if you choose it over the Hand-and-a-half-sword you're forgoing the Versatile and Finesse properties. If you choose the Messer over the Shortsword you're getting a slight increase in damage, but you forego the Light, Finesse and Nimble properties.
Some of the things you propose are similar to or exactly like class features or feats. Such things should be given out to everybody.
I know some of the things do (the Distance property and the Sentinel feat, which I mentioned), but could you tell me what you're referring to? And are you happy about that (since weapons can be used by more classes than class features) or unhappy (since most feats can be used by every class, while weapons need proficiency to be used effectively)? It's not clear to me what you mean.
Some of the things you propose are similar to or exactly like class features or feats. Such things should NOT be given out to everybody.
I'd dearly like to know which one's you're talking about so I could either concede the point or argue against it, but as is we're stuck in limbo. Or are we...? I could go through the entire list of feats and class features can compare them.
You know what, I will. But first let me say a few things: They're not given out to everybody - yes, technically everyone can pick up and use a weapon, but in practice only martial classes with proficiency in the weapon will do so. So the question becomes, should things that are similar or exactly like class features or feats be given out to all the martial classes? I'd answer, similar, possibly, as long as the more easily available of the two is weaker than the class feature or feat, so it does not eclipse it. Exactly like, no. Except (in both cases - similar and exactly like) if the class feature or feat should have been more widely available and restricting it makes for a worse game.
In general I'd argue that I have implemented nothing that is exactly like a class feature or feat, while the things that are similar are different enough that the class features and feat are still a meaningful upgrade.
There are also a number of class features and feats that draw from the same line of thinking as the features I've implemented, but which complement each other rather than being redundant. I'll add those too just in case people misremember exactly how they worked. I'll only add the relevant bits, though.
Feats
Complementary
Dual Wielder
You gain a +1 bonus to AC while you are wielding a separate melee weapon in each hand.
This is both complementary and similar. The complementary part is that there was no equivalent feat for two-handed weapons giving bonus AC. With the Block property, you now get that effect (at least when fighting against other creatures armed with weapons). Now, you couldargue that instead of being a property, Block should have been (part of) a feat, and you might be right. When I give this whole concept a second pass I might do exactly that to make the base mechanics simpler.
Mage Slayer
When a creature within 5 feet of you casts a spell, you can use your reaction to make a melee weapon attack against that creature.
This complements the Distance property, since it gives a new circumstance where you can use your reaction to attack.
Polearm Master
You can keep your enemies at bay with reach weapons. You gain the following benefits:
While you are wielding a glaive, halberd, pike, quarterstaff, or spear, other creatures provoke an opportunity attack from you when they enter your reach.
As a reminder, changed to:
While you are wielding a bec-de-corbin, glaive, halberd, pike, quarterstaff, or spear, other creatures provoke an opportunity attack from you when they enter your reach.
I already did this one in the main post, but I'll repeat myself: This combos really well with the Distance property. In fact, the Distance property takes a half-truth ("you can keep your enemies at bay"), which is only true if you manage to kill the enemy before it reaches you, and makes it a whole-truth: If you hit them with a polearm that has the Distance property, they cannot in fact come close to you for that turn.
Slasher
You've learned where to cut to have the greatest results, granting you the following benefits:
Once per turn when you hit a creature with an attack that deals slashing damage, you can reduce the speed of the target by 10 feet until the start of your next turn.
When you score a critical hit that deals slashing damage to a creature, you grievously wound it. Until the start of your next turn, the target has disadvantage on all attack rolls.
This feat is complemented by my homebrew in two ways: 1) The Distance property only allows piercing attacks, so you usually have a choice between one of two debuffs: Pierce and keep them away, slash and slow them down. 2) Many weapons that couldn't do slashing damage before now can, widening a slasher's choice of weapons.
There doesn't seem to be any problem here, so let's move on.
Similar
Defensive Duelist
When you are wielding a finesse weapon with which you are proficient and another creature hits you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to add your proficiency bonus to your AC for that attack, potentially causing the attack to miss you.
This is similar to the Block and Parry properties, but there are some key differences.
1) Block and Parry are not just properties of finesse weapons; Block is on none of the finesse weapons, including weapons to which I added Finesse, while Parry is not on all finesse weapons (whip, longbow), but is on two other weapons (messer and kriegsmesser).
2) This feat works for all melee attacks. Block and Parry only count when fighting against melee weapons and finesse melee weapons, respectively, though you could argue that that is too complicated.
3) This feat uses your reaction, while Block and Parry give a flat circumstantial bonus. In this regard Block and Parry are better, but since...
4) This feat adds your proficiency bonus to your AC, which is at minimum +2, outclassing Block's +1 and Parry's unchangeable +2.
In other words, while this feat may look similar to the properties of Block and Parry, they are actually complementary: There are weapons which let you Block or Parry, but won't let you use this feat, and vice versa. But even if you have a weapon that lets you both Parry and Duel Defensively, they're still complementary, since you can use your reaction to get at least +2 and later more, but if you need your reaction you still get a maximum of +2, as long as you're fighting against someone armed with a finesse weapon.
Dual Wielder
You gain a +1 bonus to AC while you are wielding a separate melee weapon in each hand.
This feat was both similar and complimentary. It is similar to Block and Parry, but the difference is crucial: This gives you a flat bonus to your AC, no matter what, while Block and Parry only give you circumstantial bonuses. On top of that Block is only on Two-Handed weapons, so would never be used in conjunction with this feat anyway, while Parry could be. But again, the similarities make them complementary, not redundant: A character with this feat and wielding two weapons, at least one of which has Parry, gets a +2 bonus to their AC while fighting against finesse weapons, and a +1 bonus the rest of the time.
Martial Adept
See the Battlemaster Class features.
Revenant Blade
While you are holding a double-bladed scimitar with two hands, you gain a +1 bonus to Armor Class.
Since I didn't modify the double-bladed scimitar (I didn't consider it part of the core mundane weapons), technically the only comparison here should be between it and weapons with Block and Parry. But I don't like that technicality, so let's modify it:
If you attack with a double-bladed scimitar as part of the Attack action on your turn, you can use a bonus action immediately after to make a melee attack with it. This attack deals 1d4slashing damage on a hit, instead of 2d4.
In this case the feat turns a circumstantial bonus to AC into a flat bonus to AC. That makes having the the feat flat out better than not having it, should you want to wield a double-bladed scimitar, even ignoring the other abilities it gives you. Similarities where one is easier to get, but the other is better, are not problematic similarities . But I'd make the deal even sweeter. Instead of the feat also doing the following:
A double-bladed scimitar has the finesse property when you wield it.
I'd change it so it does this:
A double-bladed scimitar has the finesse and parry properties when you wield it.
So, does the feat make the Block property on the weapon redundant? Absolutely. Is that bad? Absolutely not, since Block is very handy if you don't have it.
Sentinel
When you hit a creature with an opportunity attack, the creature's speed becomes 0 for the rest of the turn.
This part of the Sentinel feat is similar to the Distance property, as I have admitted before, but since the former is strictly better than the latter (creatures that can't move closer to you can still go attack your friends), even ignoring the other abilities the feat gives you, I don't see the problem. The Sentinel feat is meant to help you protect your allies all around you, while the Distance property only helps them if they're directly behind you.
Class Features
Complementary
Battlemaster Fighter: Maneuvers
Trip Attack. When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can expend one superiority die to attempt to knock the target down. You add the superiority die to the attack's damage roll, and if the target is Large or smaller, it must make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, you knock the target prone.
Fighting Style: Tunnel Fighter
As a bonus action, you can enter a defensive stance that lasts until the start of your next turn. While in your defensive stance, you can make opportunity attacks without using your reaction, and you can use your reaction to make a melee attack against a creature that moves more than 5 feet while within your reach.
While this is only Unearthed Arcana, it complements the properties Distance and Reach so well I just had to mention it. If you took this feat and a weapon with Distance, actually stood in a doorway or tunnel and entered a defensive stance, you would be able to prevent an unlimited number of enemies from passing you, assuming you managed to hit all of them, of course.
Similar
Battlemaster Fighter: Maneuvers
Disarming Attack. When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can expend one superiority die to attempt to disarm the target, forcing it to drop one item of your choice that it's holding. You add the superiority die to the attack's damage roll, and the target must make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, it drops the object you choose. The object lands at its feet.
Despite being about disarming people, the Hook property has no effect on this, since that gives you advantage on an attack roll to disarm, which this doesn't use. It's clear which method of disarming is better, though: The save for this maneuver is 8 + your proficiency bonus + your strength or dexterity modifier, while the roll for a disarm action using a Hook weapon would be 1d20 with advantage + your proficiency modifier + your strength or dexterity modifier. The main difference besides that is the Disarming Attack maneuver also does damage on the same turn.
I am loath to make it weaker, however, since the normal disarm action is also better than the Disarming Attack maneuver: 1d20 (with an average of 10.5) + your proficiency modifier + your strength or dexterity modifier. At most it's a little less reliable. What i will do is change the Hook property so that instead of the attacker having advantage, the defender has disadvantage. That way it does interact with the Disarming Attack maneuver.
Lunging Attack. When you make a melee weapon attack on your turn, you can expend one superiority die to increase your reach for that attack by 5 feet. If you hit, you add the superiority die to the attack's damage roll.
The rapier's special ability is similar to this, but worse, and only works for the rapier. I don't think any Battlemaster who takes the Lunging Attack maneuver will feel cheated by another player using a rapier.
Parry. When another creature damages you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction and expend one superiority die to reduce the damage by the number you roll on your superiority die + your Dexterity modifier.
While the name's the same, this works very differently - and alongside - the Parry and Block properties.
In general, I think the new weapon properties would be excellent additions to to Battlemaster's repertoire.
Way of the Kensei Monk: Path of the Kensei
Agile Parry.If you make an unarmed strike as part of the Attack action on your turn and are holding a kensei weapon, you can use it to defend yourself if it is a melee weapon. You gain a +2 bonus to AC until the start of your next turn, while the weapon is in your hand and you aren't incapacitated.
This is, again, very similar to the properties Parry and Block, but the differences are obvious: It gives a flat bonus to AC as long as you do x, y and z, while Block and Parry give you +1 and +2 bonuses to your AC under certain conditions, but without you having to actively do something.
In an effort to make things a little less complicated I will look into changing some properties into feats, or folding them into existing feats.
Combat Realism Update
Keeping Balance and Flavor
Since D&D Beyond does not allow basic weapon homebrew to be posted, I’ll post this here, as advised. My goal with this homebrew is to make D&D weapons (and some other related stuff) more interesting and flavorful by drawing from real life. I mostly do not intend to restrict weapon use or fighting styles (by this I don’t mean the fighter’s Fighting Style, I mean the way characters fight) for being “unrealistic”, which would be anti coolness or fun, but rather I want to give more options, while keeping the flavor of each class and the concepts already set-up by D&D 5e. If I do restrict or nerf something it would only be in service of giving another weapon a boost in a particular niche. If by the end of this homebrew each and every weapon has at least an uncommon situation where they are the best choice (including “being poor”), I will have succeeded with my goal.
In order to do this I will add and modify weapons, armor, feats, spells, proficiencies, vulnerabilities, resistances and immunities. I will only note if something changes and may sometimes, but not always, justify my choices.
Mundane Weapons
I will allow weapons to have more than one of the three physical damage types (piercing, slashing and bludgeoning) and damage dice. If there is an “AND” between them then both are counted for the attack, while if there is an “OR” the player has to choose before the attack roll.
Changes to existing features are highlighted by bolded text.
New and Modified Weapon Properties
Anti-Armor: When using this weapon to attack a creature that is using an AC calculation involving armor with bludgeoning damage their base AC (ignoring modifiers) is reduced by 2 to a minimum of 10.
If you also used piercing damage on the same attack, rolling a 1 on that attack causes the weapon to become stuck in the armor and requires a DC15 Strength check to pull loose. The creature is grappled until this happens, they remove the armor, or the attacker lets the weapon go. You cannot use the weapon until it is pulled loose.
OR (if the rules on armor are modified like I suggest below)
Anti-Armor: When using this weapon to attack a creature with bludgeoning damage, reduce their armor modifier by 2 to a minimum of 0.
If you also used piercing damage on the same attack, rolling a 1 on that attack causes the weapon to become stuck in the armor and requires a DC15 Strength check to pull loose. The creature is grappled this happens, they remove the armor, or the attacker lets the weapon go. You cannot use the weapon until it is pulled loose.
Block: When holding this weapon properly you gain a +1 bonus to your AC against attacks from melee weapons. Does not stack with the AC bonus provided by a shield or other weapons.
Curved: Slashing melee attacks from this weapon get +1 to damage rolls, while piercing melee attacks from this weapon get -1 to damage rolls, to a minimum of 1.
Distance: If a creature moves and enters your reach and you successfully use your reaction to attack it with this weapon using piercing damage only (either with a readied action or an opportunity attack), that creature cannot move closer to you for that turn.
This will be added to any pointy weapons with Reach. Reach weapons aren’t as useful as they should be on their own. This gives Distance weapons a simple advantage: the ability to attack a single melee attacker twice before they can attack back, so long as they readied an attack action or have an ability to use an opportunity attack and managed to hit. Since creatures can take the Dodge action, both attacks will probably be made at disadvantage. The Battle Master’s Brace maneuver, the Polearm Master feat and the Cavalier’s Vigilant Defender feature combo well with this property. The Sentinel feat, while only working on opportunity attacks, can be used for all melee weapons (not just the ones with this property) and reduces the movement speed to 0, so still gives you more options, even when ignoring the other abilities it gives you.
Flexible: When melee attacking a creature with this weapon, bonuses to the creature’s AC from shields or weapons are reduced by 1.
Hook: Creatures you try to disarm (optional rule, see DMG) using this weapon have disadvantage on the ability check to keep hold. You can use this weapon to grapple creatures within your reach. You cannot make attacks with the weapon if it is being used to grapple. To switch from using the weapon to grapple to grapplingthe creature another way, you must first release the grapple using the weapon, then make a new grapple attack roll.
Nimble: You have advantage when melee attacking a grappled creature. When you melee attack a prone creature that is using an AC calculation involving armor using this weapon their base AC (ignoring modifiers) is reduced to 10.
OR (if the rules on armor are changed)
Nimble: You have advantage when melee attacking a grappled creature using this weapon. When you melee attack a prone creature using this weapon their armor modifier is ignored.
This makes Strength rogues that grapple or shove their targets more viable.
Parry: When holding this weapon properly you gain a +2 bonus to your AC against melee attacks from melee finesse weapons. Does not stack with the AC bonus provided by a shield or other weapons.
There is already a Battlemaster Maneuver called Parry, but there was no other name for it I could think of.
Rebound: When rolling a 1 on a melee attack roll using this weapon, make a second attack roll with no modifiers against yourself. The damage type and amount are the first ones listed in the weapon's description.
Unwieldy: You have disadvantage on attack rolls if 5 feet or closer to a solid object 5 feet or higher or under a ceiling 10 feet or lower.
Versatile: This weapon can be used with one or two hands. Damage values in parentheses and separated by slashes appear with the property—the damage values when the weapon is used with two hands to make a melee attack. The first damage value replaces the first one listed for the one-hand attack, the second the second, etc.
New and Modified Mundane Weapons
Simple Melee Weapons
Versatile(1d8)As it stood there was no reason besides flavor for the wizard to take the dagger (1d4 vs. 1d6 one-handed) or for the druid to take the club (1d4 vs. 1d6 one-handed; 1d8 with Shillelagh) over the quarterstaff. By removing Versitile (with fits in with realism – even one-handed quarterstaff attacks need the other hand for set-up or as a counterweight) it becomes more of a choice: Does the wizard or the druid take the 1d4 melee damage and the ability to cast somatic spells as a bonus action on the same turn, or do they take 1d8 melee damage and lose that ability? Adding the (altered) greatclub as a druid weapon gives another option again.
Simple Ranged Weapons
Most people imagine war darts to be tiny objects, but really they were the intermediate between javelins and arrows: Sharp sticks with fletching that are thrown.
Martial Melee Weapons
Since the Anti-Armor property lowers creatures with armor’s AC when using bludgeoning damage and the Bec-de-Corbin uses both piercing and bludgeoning damage simultaneously, it also allows the piercing damage to break through the armor more easily, BUT this also allows the weapon to lodge itself in the armor when a 1 is rolled.
To differentiate the longsword from the hand-and-a-half sword I gave the hand-and-a-half sword Versatile and the longsword Anti-Armor, aka. The ability to do a murderstroke.
(#), Special, Two-handed; Special: The pike adds 10 feet to your reach when you attack with it. This property also determines your reach for opportunity attacks with the pike. You cannot use the pike to attack a target within 5 feet of you.The Distance and Special properties make pike formations, where soldiers using pikes are placed in rows and columns, very formidable.
The rapier is a very long sword that was primarily used by lunging, which was its primary advantage. It was not long enough to get the properties Reach and Distance, however, so this splits the difference.
The three prongs mean you’ll hit the creature in three places at once, which can be good or bad, depending if one or more is armored.
Characters can burst rope with a DC17 Strength check. Characters can lift or drag weights up to 30 times their Strength score in pounds. 17 times 30 lb. is 510 lb.
Martial Ranged Weapons
Armor
As is, the way AC with armor is calculated in D&D 5e makes it extremely difficult to have features, abilities or items that interact with those rules. Making the type of armor you wear change the base AC you calculate from was needlessly complicated. It should just have been a 10 + the armor modifier (+ Dex, etc.).
The changes will be bolded again.
New and Modified Armor
Light Armor
Nobody wears the RAW padded armor, because Leather armor is not significantly more expensive or heavy and unlike Padded armor doesn’t give disadvantage on Stealth checks. By decreasing the Stealth penalty from disadvantage to -1, increasing the armor modifier and capping the Dexterity modifier at +2, I turned it into more of battlefield armor for low to medium Dexterity characters with armor proficiency only in light armor, while Leather remains the better choice for high Dexterity stealthy characters. Both should cost about as much.
Studded Leather armor is basically the only feature I’d remove because of “realism”, because it makes no sense in-universe either and I don't think I'm slaughtering a sacred cow by doing so. Adding some metal studs to Leather armor would not make it more protective than normal Leather armor. I did take pains to replace it with the closest equivalent that would fit the categories of stealthy and light (though I kept the D&D naming conventions, instead of naming it Leather Lamellar). It also keeps its stats.
It also remains an upgrade to both (altered) Padded Armor and Leather Armor (and should be more expensive), though characters with low dexterity and no motivation to be stealthy may simply keep the padded armor.
Medium Armor
Shields
Proficiencies and Starting Equipment
To keep this short I will only mention what I changed, again written in bold.
Barbarian
Starting Equipment
Bard
Proficiencies:
Armor: light armor, shields
Weapons: Simple weapons, hand crossbows, hand-and-a-half swords, longswords, rapiers, scimitars (#), shortswords, whips (#)
Starting Equipment:
Druid
Proficiencies:
Weapons: clubs, atlatls, daggers, darts, greatclubs (#), javelins, maces, messers, quarterstaffs, scimitars (#), sickles, slings, spears
Starting Equipment:
Can be a messer if you're particularly attached to druids with curved swords.
Fighter
Starting Equipment:
Rogue
Proficiencies:
Armor: light armor, shields
Weapons: simple weapons, hand-and-a-half swords, hand crossbows, longswords, rapiers, scimitars (#), shortswords, whips (#)
Starting Equipment:
Sorcerer
Proficiencies:
Weapons: daggers, darts, light crossbows, messers, quarterstaffs, slings
Warlock
Starting Equipment
Feats and Spells
This is just here to update feats and spells to work with my modifications.
Polearm Master
You can keep your enemies at bay with reach weapons. You gain the following benefits:
Revenant Blade
Shillelagh
Transmutation cantrip
Casting Time: 1 bonus action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (mistletoe, a shamrock leaf, and a club, greatclub (#) or quarterstaff)
Duration: 1 minute
The wood of a club, greatclub (#) or quarterstaff you are holding is imbued with nature's power. For the duration, you can use your spellcasting ability instead of Strength for the attack and damage rolls of melee attacks using that weapon, and the weapon's damage die can become a d8. The weapon also becomes magical, if it isn't already. The spell ends if you cast it again or if you let go of the weapon.
Resistances, Vulnerabilities and Immunities
Far too few creatures have resistances, vulnerabilities and immunities in my book. Figuring out what a creature can and can’t endure very well are ways to make fights far more interesting, help tie roleplaying into the combat and make second rounds with creatures you had to run away from the first time oh so satisfying. It also makes your weapon choice and other preparation relevant. Since this homebrew is focused on weapons, I’ll be restricting myself to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage, but since those are the most common types of damage, I believe more creatures should have features that interact with them than other types of damage.
I am not going to revise the whole statblock for each creature I mention here. If they get a resistance or immunity their HP or AC might need to be lowered to compensate, while a vulnerability might need the opposite. I am also restricting myself to the Monster Manual, because I am not a masochist. If the creature already interacts with these damage types and I don’t modify it, I won’t list it.
Bludgeoning
Vulnerability: Animated Armor**, Bone Naga, Death Knight, Death Tyrant, Flameskull, Skeleton (any)
Resistance: Bear (all), Clay Golem (to non-magical and non-adamantine weapons), (Giant) Crab, (Giant) Crocodile, Dragon (all, except undead), Giant Fire Beetle, Gibbering Mouther,Helmed Horror (to non-adamantine weapons), Rug of Smothering, (Giant) Scorpion, Stone Golem (to non-magical and non-adamantine weapons), Thri-kreen, Umber Hulk
Immunity: Clay Golem (to non-magical and non-adamantine weapons), Ooze (all)*, Stone Golem (to non-magical and non-adamantine weapons)
Piercing
Vulnerability: Beholder (zombie), Spectator
Resistance: Animated Armor**, Allosaurus, Bone Naga, Death Knight, Death Tyrant, Dracolich (all), Flameskull, Flying Sword, Gorgon, Helmed Horror (if non-adamantine weapons), Lizardfolk, (Giant) Lizard, Naga (all), Ooze (all)*, Rhinoceros, (Giant) Snake (all beasts), Skeleton (any), Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Yuan-Ti Abomonation/Malison
Immunity: Clay Golem (to non-magical and non-adamantine weapons), Helmed Horror (if non-adamantine weapons)
Slashing:
Vulnerability: Bullywug, (Giant) Frog, Gibbering Mouther, Ooze (all)*, Shambling Mound, Troll
Resistance: Allosaurus, Bear (all), (Giant) Boar, (Giant) Crocodile, Elephant, Flying Sword, Half-Dragon (all), Helmed Horror (to non-adamantine weapons), Lizardfolk, (Giant) Lizard, Mammoth, Naga, Rhinoceros, (Giant) Snake (all beasts), Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Yuan-Ti Abomination/Malison
Immunity: Clay Golem (to non-magical and non-adamantine weapons), Dragons (all, except undead), Gorgon
* It never made sense to me that (some) Oozes were immune to slashing damage, when you would think that the one type of physical damage that would be able to harm a creature made of tough jelly would be a cut. Bludgeoning hits would bounce off or leave a temporary dent, while stabs would leave a small wound that would be healed more easily than a gash or a cut-off pseudopod.
For those Oozes that split on receiving slashing damage, you can easily modify the ability to say that instead of receiving the slashing damage, it splits.
** You might want to allow the use of the Anti-Armor property instead of a vulnerability to bludgeoning.
Feedback is appreciated and may be incorporated.
Edits:
2021.10.13 Modified and added the double-bladed scimitar weapon and the Revenant Blade feat. Changed the advantage the Hook property grants the attacker to it granting the defender disadvantage, so it interacts with the Battlemaster maneuver Disarming Attack.
My Homebrew: [Spells]
My Forum Homebrew: [Combat Realism Update] [Variable Spellcasting Ability Scores]
My YouTube Channel: [Ambiguous Syntax]
Rules like this can look like they make sense to you, but their main effect is to slow down combat and require players to learn more and more minor rules. D&D 5e intentionally uses a simple "attack roll, compare to AC, if it hits roll damage" system so that combat turns don't take a long time and the game can move to the next player's turn before too long. Using these rules, the characters have to consider what melee weapon they're using against the melee weapon the opponent is using and who can parry and actually their range is 10 feet despite using a 5 foot reach weapon and so on.
Anything that reduces AC by 2 is the same as adding +2 to the attack roll, which is the most valuable part of a +2 magical weapon. Increasing the overall number of hits the character makes by 10% is a massive damage output increase.
Why do you list Animated Armor as having vulnerability to bludgeoning damage? That baffles me. It's a suit of armour, if anything it should have resistance to everything except bludgeoning.
You've added in additional weapon types that will be familiar to HEMA practitioners, like the messer, but having trained and taught messer, it's functionally identical to an arming sword, which is represented by a longsword in D&D. You can do all of Leckuchner's techniques with either.
Some of the things you propose are similar to or exactly like class features or feats. Such things should NOT be given out to everybody.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
To a certain extent, yes. I considered these modifications to add a new layer of tactics for players who are bored with just hitting things. Like spellcasters have their spell lists and druids have their wildshapes, martial classes would have different weapons to chose from (though even that isn't quite equivalent, since they'd have far fewer weapons and wouldn't switch as often during combat). I understand why the RAW weapons were kept simple but boring, and it's probably better that way for new players, but for people with a little experience I think this would be better.
Really, the only new things players need to remember are the new properties their weapons have (and when they're relevant), and to announce what damage type and damage dice they use when attacking. If you find that slows down combat too much, then so be it, but not from my perspective.
That is very true. I'm aware of that. But consider that this property (Anti-Armor) is only relevant against creatures that are actually wearing armor. Not even all human-shaped (two legs, two arms, a head) foes wielding weapons wear armor. If that's still too strong, perhaps it should be reduced to reducing AC by 1. I might need to crunch some numbers here to get a clear result.
In order to have three tiers of weapon effectiveness without adding an immunity: Resistance to piercing, normal interaction with slashing and vulnerability to bludgeoning. I mentioned modifying the hit points a monster has when giving it resistances and vulnerabilities, and Animated Armor was on the forefront of my mind when writing that; Its hit points should probably be doubled to compensate for the vulnerability.
I just noticed that my second footnote regarding Animated Armor which suggested letting the Anti-Armor property work on it instead of giving it a vulnerability to bludgeoning wasn't displaying correctly. I've now fixed that, thank you for bringing it to my attention.
Uh, I think you're wrong that an arming sword is represented by the longsword in D&D. Longswords are (or were) Versatile weapons, meaning they can be used in one or two hands, while arming swords are strictly one-handed swords. The shortsword would be a better equivalent.
In any case, I decided to add the Messer (and Kriegsmesser) after introducing the Curved property to differentiate the scimitar from the shortsword. Getting a little extra damage on cuts (slightly easier edge alignment) and reduced damage on thrusts was a nifty little property I was then loath to restrict to the scimitar and sickle. Even if that +1/-1 property isn't actually equivalent to the advantage and disadvantage it gives in real life, I was not aiming for realism, but was drawing from real life to make weapons (and combat) more interesting.
If you choose the Kriegsmesser over the Longsword you're getting a slight increase in damage, but forgo the Anti-Armor and Finesse properties the Longsword has, while if you choose it over the Hand-and-a-half-sword you're forgoing the Versatile and Finesse properties. If you choose the Messer over the Shortsword you're getting a slight increase in damage, but you forego the Light, Finesse and Nimble properties.
I know some of the things do (the Distance property and the Sentinel feat, which I mentioned), but could you tell me what you're referring to? And are you happy about that (since weapons can be used by more classes than class features) or unhappy (since most feats can be used by every class, while weapons need proficiency to be used effectively)? It's not clear to me what you mean.
My Homebrew: [Spells]
My Forum Homebrew: [Combat Realism Update] [Variable Spellcasting Ability Scores]
My YouTube Channel: [Ambiguous Syntax]
I'd dearly like to know which one's you're talking about so I could either concede the point or argue against it, but as is we're stuck in limbo. Or are we...? I could go through the entire list of feats and class features can compare them.
You know what, I will. But first let me say a few things: They're not given out to everybody - yes, technically everyone can pick up and use a weapon, but in practice only martial classes with proficiency in the weapon will do so. So the question becomes, should things that are similar or exactly like class features or feats be given out to all the martial classes? I'd answer, similar, possibly, as long as the more easily available of the two is weaker than the class feature or feat, so it does not eclipse it. Exactly like, no. Except (in both cases - similar and exactly like) if the class feature or feat should have been more widely available and restricting it makes for a worse game.
In general I'd argue that I have implemented nothing that is exactly like a class feature or feat, while the things that are similar are different enough that the class features and feat are still a meaningful upgrade.
There are also a number of class features and feats that draw from the same line of thinking as the features I've implemented, but which complement each other rather than being redundant. I'll add those too just in case people misremember exactly how they worked. I'll only add the relevant bits, though.
Feats
Complementary
Dual Wielder
This is both complementary and similar. The complementary part is that there was no equivalent feat for two-handed weapons giving bonus AC. With the Block property, you now get that effect (at least when fighting against other creatures armed with weapons). Now, you could argue that instead of being a property, Block should have been (part of) a feat, and you might be right. When I give this whole concept a second pass I might do exactly that to make the base mechanics simpler.
Mage Slayer
This complements the Distance property, since it gives a new circumstance where you can use your reaction to attack.
Polearm Master
You can keep your enemies at bay with reach weapons. You gain the following benefits:
As a reminder, changed to:
I already did this one in the main post, but I'll repeat myself: This combos really well with the Distance property. In fact, the Distance property takes a half-truth ("you can keep your enemies at bay"), which is only true if you manage to kill the enemy before it reaches you, and makes it a whole-truth: If you hit them with a polearm that has the Distance property, they cannot in fact come close to you for that turn.
Slasher
You've learned where to cut to have the greatest results, granting you the following benefits:
This feat is complemented by my homebrew in two ways: 1) The Distance property only allows piercing attacks, so you usually have a choice between one of two debuffs: Pierce and keep them away, slash and slow them down. 2) Many weapons that couldn't do slashing damage before now can, widening a slasher's choice of weapons.
There doesn't seem to be any problem here, so let's move on.
Similar
Defensive Duelist
When you are wielding a finesse weapon with which you are proficient and another creature hits you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to add your proficiency bonus to your AC for that attack, potentially causing the attack to miss you.Dual Wielder
This feat was both similar and complimentary. It is similar to Block and Parry, but the difference is crucial: This gives you a flat bonus to your AC, no matter what, while Block and Parry only give you circumstantial bonuses. On top of that Block is only on Two-Handed weapons, so would never be used in conjunction with this feat anyway, while Parry could be. But again, the similarities make them complementary, not redundant: A character with this feat and wielding two weapons, at least one of which has Parry, gets a +2 bonus to their AC while fighting against finesse weapons, and a +1 bonus the rest of the time.
Martial Adept
See the Battlemaster Class features.
Revenant Blade
Since I didn't modify the double-bladed scimitar (I didn't consider it part of the core mundane weapons), technically the only comparison here should be between it and weapons with Block and Parry. But I don't like that technicality, so let's modify it:
If you attack with a double-bladed scimitar as part of the Attack action on your turn, you can use a bonus action immediately after to make a melee attack with it. This attack deals 1d4 slashing damage on a hit, instead of 2d4.
In this case the feat turns a circumstantial bonus to AC into a flat bonus to AC. That makes having the the feat flat out better than not having it, should you want to wield a double-bladed scimitar, even ignoring the other abilities it gives you. Similarities where one is easier to get, but the other is better, are not problematic similarities . But I'd make the deal even sweeter. Instead of the feat also doing the following:
I'd change it so it does this:
So, does the feat make the Block property on the weapon redundant? Absolutely. Is that bad? Absolutely not, since Block is very handy if you don't have it.
Sentinel
This part of the Sentinel feat is similar to the Distance property, as I have admitted before, but since the former is strictly better than the latter (creatures that can't move closer to you can still go attack your friends), even ignoring the other abilities the feat gives you, I don't see the problem. The Sentinel feat is meant to help you protect your allies all around you, while the Distance property only helps them if they're directly behind you.
Class Features
Complementary
Battlemaster Fighter: Maneuvers
Trip Attack. When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can expend one superiority die to attempt to knock the target down. You add the superiority die to the attack's damage roll, and if the target is Large or smaller, it must make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, you knock the target prone.
Fighting Style: Tunnel Fighter
As a bonus action, you can enter a defensive stance that lasts until the start of your next turn. While in your defensive stance, you can make opportunity attacks without using your reaction, and you can use your reaction to make a melee attack against a creature that moves more than 5 feet while within your reach.
While this is only Unearthed Arcana, it complements the properties Distance and Reach so well I just had to mention it. If you took this feat and a weapon with Distance, actually stood in a doorway or tunnel and entered a defensive stance, you would be able to prevent an unlimited number of enemies from passing you, assuming you managed to hit all of them, of course.
Similar
Battlemaster Fighter: Maneuvers
Disarming Attack. When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can expend one superiority die to attempt to disarm the target, forcing it to drop one item of your choice that it's holding. You add the superiority die to the attack's damage roll, and the target must make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, it drops the object you choose. The object lands at its feet.
Despite being about disarming people, the Hook property has no effect on this, since that gives you advantage on an attack roll to disarm, which this doesn't use. It's clear which method of disarming is better, though: The save for this maneuver is 8 + your proficiency bonus + your strength or dexterity modifier, while the roll for a disarm action using a Hook weapon would be 1d20 with advantage + your proficiency modifier + your strength or dexterity modifier. The main difference besides that is the Disarming Attack maneuver also does damage on the same turn.
I am loath to make it weaker, however, since the normal disarm action is also better than the Disarming Attack maneuver: 1d20 (with an average of 10.5) + your proficiency modifier + your strength or dexterity modifier. At most it's a little less reliable. What i will do is change the Hook property so that instead of the attacker having advantage, the defender has disadvantage. That way it does interact with the Disarming Attack maneuver.
Lunging Attack. When you make a melee weapon attack on your turn, you can expend one superiority die to increase your reach for that attack by 5 feet. If you hit, you add the superiority die to the attack's damage roll.
The rapier's special ability is similar to this, but worse, and only works for the rapier. I don't think any Battlemaster who takes the Lunging Attack maneuver will feel cheated by another player using a rapier.
Parry. When another creature damages you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction and expend one superiority die to reduce the damage by the number you roll on your superiority die + your Dexterity modifier.
While the name's the same, this works very differently - and alongside - the Parry and Block properties.
In general, I think the new weapon properties would be excellent additions to to Battlemaster's repertoire.
Way of the Kensei Monk: Path of the Kensei
Agile Parry. If you make an unarmed strike as part of the Attack action on your turn and are holding a kensei weapon, you can use it to defend yourself if it is a melee weapon. You gain a +2 bonus to AC until the start of your next turn, while the weapon is in your hand and you aren't incapacitated.
This is, again, very similar to the properties Parry and Block, but the differences are obvious: It gives a flat bonus to AC as long as you do x, y and z, while Block and Parry give you +1 and +2 bonuses to your AC under certain conditions, but without you having to actively do something.
In an effort to make things a little less complicated I will look into changing some properties into feats, or folding them into existing feats.
My Homebrew: [Spells]
My Forum Homebrew: [Combat Realism Update] [Variable Spellcasting Ability Scores]
My YouTube Channel: [Ambiguous Syntax]