I think using the shaft of an axe or mace ect is fine however I wouldn't allow the two handed or heavy tags as that would be a buff.
Also if you were to swing a great axe about holding it by the head end you would loose the momentum since the head would be act as a bad counter weight to the swing.
I would just imagine it as the weapon becomes transformers into the classic leprechaun staff
If you cast the spell on a bow, the first blow that you deliver with the bow will still most likely break the bow!
I would hate to try and wield an axe by holding it near the head. The skill needed to avoid slicing your own arm whilst wielding it would be immense (athletics check on every attack?)
i take it your were NEVER slapped with a large wooden spoon by your grand mother. that hurts, or her cane. thats bad as well
My mother used to send me to go get the spoon of my destruction for her to wield. After the first time she snapped one over my back porch, she always made me fetch two, just in case. *shudders*
Given the flavor of the Druid class preferring wood over metal objects, my personal rule in this would be an improvised weapon resembling a club made of wood (pool cue, table leg, etc) could be the target of the spell, but a similar metal object would not.
thats just my ruling though, and shouldn’t be taken as anything else
My ruling as well.
Wooden branch, piece of firewood, broken small tree, broom, mop, chair leg, table leg, pirate's peg leg - all ok for shillelagh.
Hammer, axe, shovel - no, not as long as the hammer or axe head is still attached.
You should also consider that the cantrip does not make the item any more durable. You can cast it on a child's wooden toy sword but after the first good blow the wooden toy is going to break. The same might apply to mops and brooms, as their handles are sometimes thin.
Becoming a magic weapon certainly reinforces the item. In addition, it is doing damage via magical power (wisdom mod, not strength), not via its velocity or structural power.
"Thanks to a combination of careful crafting and magical reinforcement, a magic item is at least as durable as a nonmagical item of its kind. Most magic items, other than potions and scrolls, have resistance to all damage. Artifacts are practically indestructible, requiring extraordinary measures to destroy. " DMG, pp.141
Given the flavor of the Druid class preferring wood over metal objects, my personal rule in this would be an improvised weapon resembling a club made of wood (pool cue, table leg, etc) could be the target of the spell, but a similar metal object would not.
thats just my ruling though, and shouldn’t be taken as anything else
My ruling as well.
Wooden branch, piece of firewood, broken small tree, broom, mop, chair leg, table leg, pirate's peg leg - all ok for shillelagh.
Hammer, axe, shovel - no, not as long as the hammer or axe head is still attached.
You should also consider that the cantrip does not make the item any more durable. You can cast it on a child's wooden toy sword but after the first good blow the wooden toy is going to break. The same might apply to mops and brooms, as their handles are sometimes thin.
Becoming a magic weapon certainly reinforces the item. In addition, it is doing damage via magical power (wisdom mod, not strength), not via its velocity or structural power.
"Thanks to a combination of careful crafting and magical reinforcement, a magic item is at least as durable as a nonmagical item of its kind. Most magic items, other than potions and scrolls, have resistance to all damage. Artifacts are practically indestructible, requiring extraordinary measures to destroy. " DMG, pp.141
Functionally this can mean no change to the item. A flimsy toy sword can be no weaker than a flimsy toy sword and align with the bolded statement (it can certainly be stronger, but that is up to the DM to decide). That said, I personally don't usually assign damage to weaponry when they hit something else, so attacks made with a shillelagh'ed wooden toy sword would in my game not damage the sword in question.
I'm currently planning to play a Barbarian Druid who utilises both a greataxe and shillelagh, but don't particularly fancy carrying too many long bulky weapons on my person. So this got me thinking.
.....
- Standard Improvised clubs & staves (chair legs, tree branches, snooker cues, etc.) - The hafts of certain tools (axes, spades, sledgehammers, rakes & brooms) - The hafts of certain weapons (all forms of axes, hammers & polearms) - Wooden training weapons / toy weapons (perhaps useful if you are attacked during downtime)
I'd rule against this with prejudice if I were DMing. Chair leg, tree branch, OK. But hafts of other weapons are not an improvised club. They're part of whatever other weapon they already are.
Honestly, the item in question would need to be entirely wooden to be compatible with Shillelagh. A shillelagh is a wooden cudgel, it is a specific real-life weapon, Irish, and made from a special kind of spiked thorn branch. Applying this spell effect to something non-wooden doesn't even make sense. The spell effect even calls out that the "wood" is empowered.
Asking if it works on a chair leg is one thing but you're conflating THAT with trying to get +Wis on attacks with a greataxe. Not only is it not RAW, or RAI, but it isn't even in the realm of what is balanced.
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I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Amusingly, doesn't Legolas spend a good portion of the LOTR films whacking people with his bow in melee? Doesn't Hawkeye?
At my table I wouldn't personally see any issue with letting someone cast it on a bow, and using that bow to club people in melee. It's not like "club" is a specifically defined weapon like a rapier or crossbow are I mean it's literally a hunk of wood used to whack things. That said, I'd likely murder them if they tried to then use their "magic bow" to shoot magic arrows -_-
The way I see it, you should be able to use Shillelagh on a club, mace, staff, or a wooden improvised weapon (like a chair leg, stick, or branch from the ground that you could use to hit someone—in other words, a stick or branch of a decent size, not like a toothpick).
And don't forget that Shillelagh is a transmutation spell, which means it changes the form and energy of the object. You're not casting Shillelagh on a shillelagh—you're turning the club or staff (any kind of club, staff, or similar improvised weapon) into a magical shillelagh.
I picture the spell, being a cantrip, as something a druid would use—someone who, because of their nature as a druid, wouldn’t really use processed or cut wood. Instead, as a guardian of the forest, they’d be out walking, find a makeshift staff on the ground that helps them walk, and in a moment of need, they’d use their magic to turn it into a weapon.
Up to DM. The object a Shillelagh imbue with nature’s power is a Club or Quarterstaff, not an object used as a makeshift Improvised Weapons, unless the DM rule it function as a weapon equivalent and treat it as such.
Weapon Equivalents. If an improvised weapon resembles a Simple or Martial weapon, the DM may say it functions as that weapon and uses that weapon’s rules. For example, the DM could treat a table leg as a Club.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
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I think using the shaft of an axe or mace ect is fine however I wouldn't allow the two handed or heavy tags as that would be a buff.
Also if you were to swing a great axe about holding it by the head end you would loose the momentum since the head would be act as a bad counter weight to the swing.
I would just imagine it as the weapon becomes transformers into the classic leprechaun staff
The spell only imbues an existing weapon.
If you cast the spell on a bow, the first blow that you deliver with the bow will still most likely break the bow!
I would hate to try and wield an axe by holding it near the head. The skill needed to avoid slicing your own arm whilst wielding it would be immense (athletics check on every attack?)
i take it your were NEVER slapped with a large wooden spoon by your grand mother. that hurts, or her cane. thats bad as well
My mother used to send me to go get the spoon of my destruction for her to wield. After the first time she snapped one over my back porch, she always made me fetch two, just in case. *shudders*
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I'm just here thinking,
"If a torch can be used as a club, why can't it be used as a Shillelagh?"
Becoming a magic weapon certainly reinforces the item. In addition, it is doing damage via magical power (wisdom mod, not strength), not via its velocity or structural power.
"Thanks to a combination of careful crafting and magical reinforcement, a magic item is at least as durable as a nonmagical item of its kind. Most magic items, other than potions and scrolls, have resistance to all damage. Artifacts are practically indestructible, requiring extraordinary measures to destroy. " DMG, pp.141
Functionally this can mean no change to the item. A flimsy toy sword can be no weaker than a flimsy toy sword and align with the bolded statement (it can certainly be stronger, but that is up to the DM to decide). That said, I personally don't usually assign damage to weaponry when they hit something else, so attacks made with a shillelagh'ed wooden toy sword would in my game not damage the sword in question.
My fantasy setting birds can be mammals if I want them to be. Keep your filthy science elsewhere please.
I'd rule against this with prejudice if I were DMing. Chair leg, tree branch, OK. But hafts of other weapons are not an improvised club. They're part of whatever other weapon they already are.
Honestly, the item in question would need to be entirely wooden to be compatible with Shillelagh. A shillelagh is a wooden cudgel, it is a specific real-life weapon, Irish, and made from a special kind of spiked thorn branch. Applying this spell effect to something non-wooden doesn't even make sense. The spell effect even calls out that the "wood" is empowered.
Asking if it works on a chair leg is one thing but you're conflating THAT with trying to get +Wis on attacks with a greataxe. Not only is it not RAW, or RAI, but it isn't even in the realm of what is balanced.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Amusingly, doesn't Legolas spend a good portion of the LOTR films whacking people with his bow in melee? Doesn't Hawkeye?
At my table I wouldn't personally see any issue with letting someone cast it on a bow, and using that bow to club people in melee. It's not like "club" is a specifically defined weapon like a rapier or crossbow are I mean it's literally a hunk of wood used to whack things. That said, I'd likely murder them if they tried to then use their "magic bow" to shoot magic arrows -_-
If you looked they specifically said creature not mammal
The way I see it, you should be able to use Shillelagh on a club, mace, staff, or a wooden improvised weapon (like a chair leg, stick, or branch from the ground that you could use to hit someone—in other words, a stick or branch of a decent size, not like a toothpick).
And don't forget that Shillelagh is a transmutation spell, which means it changes the form and energy of the object. You're not casting Shillelagh on a shillelagh—you're turning the club or staff (any kind of club, staff, or similar improvised weapon) into a magical shillelagh.
I picture the spell, being a cantrip, as something a druid would use—someone who, because of their nature as a druid, wouldn’t really use processed or cut wood. Instead, as a guardian of the forest, they’d be out walking, find a makeshift staff on the ground that helps them walk, and in a moment of need, they’d use their magic to turn it into a weapon.
Up to DM. The object a Shillelagh imbue with nature’s power is a Club or Quarterstaff, not an object used as a makeshift Improvised Weapons, unless the DM rule it function as a weapon equivalent and treat it as such.
"club" is a pretty low bar for nearly any wieldable wooden object to meet.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
Oh now a chair leg is both a low bar and a club?
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.