In Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, sidekicks have different rules than PCs. For one thing, sidekicks can be any creature with a CR of 1/2 or lower, and only need to speak a language to become an Expert or Spellcaster (I can't wait to see star spawn Grue sidekicks!). But the Warrior sidekick doesn't even need that, and that is where the fun begins. The only mechanical requirement for a Warrior sidekick is a CR of 1/2 or lower. Wizards thought that the worst we'd come with was a flumph sidekick. Wizards would be wrong.
First thing's first: shrieker sidekicks. Larva sidekicks. The possibilities are endless! But today, I want to focus on one sidekick in particular: the flying sword. Now, the idea of a flying sword sidekick is funny enough, but here's where things are crazy. At 1st level, Warrior sidekicks gain proficiency in martial and melee weapons if they are humanoid or have any weapon attacks in their stat block. This makes sense; it more or less defines creatures with hands that can use weapons. But wait! Do my eyes deceive me, or does the flying sword have a longsword attack in its stat block? Yes, folks, RAW, a flying sword sidekick can use martial and simple weapons. And yes, you can have a flying sword wielding a crossbow. Insanity.
At 1st level, Warrior sidekicks gain proficiency in martial and melee weapons if they are humanoid or have any weapon attacks in their stat block. This makes sense; it more or less defines creatures with hands that can use weapons. But wait! Do my eyes deceive me, or does the flying sword have a longsword attack in its stat block? Yes, folks, RAW, a flying sword sidekick can use martial and simple weapons. And yes, you can have a flying sword wielding a crossbow. Insanity.
Gaining proficiency is not that same as being able to wield them...... It is a sword it cannot hold a crossbow. It is proficient in crossbows but fails the ability to hold it.
True, but there is nothing in RAW that says a flying sword can't wield a crossbow.
And there won't be, because RAW doesn't waste time with things that should be common sense. You need arms and hands to wield, the flying sword has none, so it can't wield, end of story.
You could potentially rule that the enchantment is able to pass from one weapon to another and animate something else, but honestly, I wouldn't bother. It has solid AC of 17 and a decent number of hit dice. Over 20 levels, you can max its Strength score and improve Dex and Con to 16 and 12, respectively. And what that gives you is:
AC: 19
Hit Points: 112
Speed: fly 50 ft. (hover)
Initiative: +3 with advantage
Extra Attack (2): +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d8 + 5) slashing damage.
That's pretty good. No magical weapon attacks or armor, but pretty good.
It's not just common sense though, its language: the definition of "wield" is "to handle (something, such as a tool) especially effectively (source: merriam-webster.com). RAW doesn't say that a flying sword can't wield a crossbow because it doesn't need to...the flying sword can't wield anything but itself, it doesn't have the means to meet the definition of the word used for anything else.
It is obviously true that the rules take some things for granted. Nowhere do the rules state the number of hands that various creatures or races have, yet they have rules about needing free hands for various mechanics.
Arguing other than that indicates that you might not really interested in a functional game, but just stretching the text.
The first rule about a sidekick joining a party (which, by the way, is up to a DM) is "To join the adventurers, the sidekick must be the friend of at least one of them." Most of the examples in the OP would fail on this alone. Flying sword has no way to interact with party members in order to become friends with the group. Many of your other examples have specific languages known and alignments that might make becoming friends difficult.
At 1st level, Warrior sidekicks gain proficiency in martial and melee weapons if they are humanoid or have any weapon attacks in their stat block. This makes sense; it more or less defines creatures with hands that can use weapons. But wait! Do my eyes deceive me, or does the flying sword have a longsword attack in its stat block? Yes, folks, RAW, a flying sword sidekick can use martial and simple weapons. And yes, you can have a flying sword wielding a crossbow. Insanity.
Gaining proficiency is not that same as being able to wield them...... It is a sword it cannot hold a crossbow. It is proficient in crossbows but fails the ability to hold it.
Where does it state the sword uses hands/limbs? Where does it specifically state that it does not have some mental telekinesis capacity for operating weapons with which it is proficient in?
True, but there is nothing in RAW that says a flying sword can't wield a crossbow.
And there won't be, because RAW doesn't waste time with things that should be common sense. You need arms and hands to wield, the flying sword has none, so it can't wield, end of story.
So... magic doesn’t exist to wield stuff? Interesting take for D&D.
True, but there is nothing in RAW that says a flying sword can't wield a crossbow.
And there won't be, because RAW doesn't waste time with things that should be common sense. You need arms and hands to wield, the flying sword has none, so it can't wield, end of story.
So... magic doesn’t exist to wield stuff? Interesting take for D&D.
Even if/when such magic exists, it is usually a specified monster feature, spell, or class feature. There is nothing in the flying sword stat block that states it is capable of magically nor telekinetically moving/wielding objects other than itself. Heck, even Mage Hand has restrictions on what it can do, and getting around those restrictions requires you to take the Telekinetic feat or be an Arcane Trickster Rogue.
So, magical means to use objects do exist BUT the flying sword does not have these capabilities per its stat block.
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True, but there is nothing in RAW that says a flying sword can't wield a crossbow.
And there won't be, because RAW doesn't waste time with things that should be common sense. You need arms and hands to wield, the flying sword has none, so it can't wield, end of story.
So... magic doesn’t exist to wield stuff? Interesting take for D&D.
You need a hand to wield a weapon, just as you need a body to wear armor. The flying sword has neither of these. It also needs to become friendly with someone in order to become their sidekick. And that's easier said than done; especially when compared to, say, with a blink dog.
Assuming a flying sword even could become a sidekick, you can always change the kind of sword. They don't have to be longswords. It might even be an enchantment that can move to inhabit a different weapon. But any ranged weapon means dealing with two hands and ammunition. And that's just not possible, here.
A flying sword dual wielding other swords is hilarious and could very likely be a memorable character in an adventure with a goofy/zany tone. Sometimes that's what people want and I'd be all for a one-shot like that sometime. In a more serious adventure of course that kind of stuff doesn't fly (pun intended), RAW or no. Thus whether it's RAW or not isn't really that important to determine.
I like that. I will be using a flying sword named Swing as a sidekick in my campaign, only to balance out the darker villains with a touch of humor. I'm thinking about a flying sword wielding a crossbow, specifically.
At 1st level, Warrior sidekicks gain proficiency in martial and melee weapons if they are humanoid or have any weapon attacks in their stat block. This makes sense; it more or less defines creatures with hands that can use weapons. But wait! Do my eyes deceive me, or does the flying sword have a longsword attack in its stat block? Yes, folks, RAW, a flying sword sidekick can use martial and simple weapons. And yes, you can have a flying sword wielding a crossbow. Insanity.
Gaining proficiency is not that same as being able to wield them...... It is a sword it cannot hold a crossbow. It is proficient in crossbows but fails the ability to hold it.
Where does it state the sword uses hands/limbs? Where does it specifically state that it does not have some mental telekinesis capacity for operating weapons with which it is proficient in?
In it's statblock, which omits that. The statblock says what a creatures abilities are, even those that don't normally come up in combat (like if it needs to breathe, eat, sleep, etc). If its not in the statblock they don't have it. Otherwise the concept of a statblock is meaningless, as you can make up whatever you want for your creatures
If you want a flying sword to be able to telekinetically wield a weapon then that ability needs to be in the statblock, and then you are talking about homebrew. This is the rules forum, not the homebrew forum, so we stick to the rules.
True, but there is nothing in RAW that says a flying sword can't wield a crossbow.
And there won't be, because RAW doesn't waste time with things that should be common sense. You need arms and hands to wield, the flying sword has none, so it can't wield, end of story.
So... magic doesn’t exist to wield stuff? Interesting take for D&D.
The magic exists...just not for the default Flying Sword
True, but there is nothing in RAW that says a flying sword can't wield a crossbow.
And there won't be, because RAW doesn't waste time with things that should be common sense. You need arms and hands to wield, the flying sword has none, so it can't wield, end of story.
So... magic doesn’t exist to wield stuff? Interesting take for D&D.
You need a hand to wield a weapon, just as you need a body to wear armor. The flying sword has neither of these. It also needs to become friendly with someone in order to become their sidekick. And that's easier said than done; especially when compared to, say, with a blink dog.
Assuming a flying sword even could become a sidekick, you can always change the kind of sword. They don't have to be longswords. It might even be an enchantment that can move to inhabit a different weapon. But any ranged weapon means dealing with two hands and ammunition. And that's just not possible, here.
A "weapon spirit" type creature would be an interesting homebrew...might have to steal this.
In Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, sidekicks have different rules than PCs. For one thing, sidekicks can be any creature with a CR of 1/2 or lower, and only need to speak a language to become an Expert or Spellcaster (I can't wait to see star spawn Grue sidekicks!). But the Warrior sidekick doesn't even need that, and that is where the fun begins. The only mechanical requirement for a Warrior sidekick is a CR of 1/2 or lower. Wizards thought that the worst we'd come with was a flumph sidekick. Wizards would be wrong.
First thing's first: shrieker sidekicks. Larva sidekicks. The possibilities are endless! But today, I want to focus on one sidekick in particular: the flying sword. Now, the idea of a flying sword sidekick is funny enough, but here's where things are crazy. At 1st level, Warrior sidekicks gain proficiency in martial and melee weapons if they are humanoid or have any weapon attacks in their stat block. This makes sense; it more or less defines creatures with hands that can use weapons. But wait! Do my eyes deceive me, or does the flying sword have a longsword attack in its stat block? Yes, folks, RAW, a flying sword sidekick can use martial and simple weapons. And yes, you can have a flying sword wielding a crossbow. Insanity.
Gaining proficiency is not that same as being able to wield them...... It is a sword it cannot hold a crossbow. It is proficient in crossbows but fails the ability to hold it.
True, but there is nothing in RAW that says a flying sword can't wield a crossbow.
And there won't be, because RAW doesn't waste time with things that should be common sense. You need arms and hands to wield, the flying sword has none, so it can't wield, end of story.
Common sense? That's RAI talk right there!
You could potentially rule that the enchantment is able to pass from one weapon to another and animate something else, but honestly, I wouldn't bother. It has solid AC of 17 and a decent number of hit dice. Over 20 levels, you can max its Strength score and improve Dex and Con to 16 and 12, respectively. And what that gives you is:
That's pretty good. No magical weapon attacks or armor, but pretty good.
It's not just common sense though, its language: the definition of "wield" is "to handle (something, such as a tool) especially effectively (source: merriam-webster.com). RAW doesn't say that a flying sword can't wield a crossbow because it doesn't need to...the flying sword can't wield anything but itself, it doesn't have the means to meet the definition of the word used for anything else.
It is obviously true that the rules take some things for granted. Nowhere do the rules state the number of hands that various creatures or races have, yet they have rules about needing free hands for various mechanics.
Arguing other than that indicates that you might not really interested in a functional game, but just stretching the text.
The first rule about a sidekick joining a party (which, by the way, is up to a DM) is "To join the adventurers, the sidekick must be the friend of at least one of them." Most of the examples in the OP would fail on this alone. Flying sword has no way to interact with party members in order to become friends with the group. Many of your other examples have specific languages known and alignments that might make becoming friends difficult.
Where does it state the sword uses hands/limbs? Where does it specifically state that it does not have some mental telekinesis capacity for operating weapons with which it is proficient in?
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So... magic doesn’t exist to wield stuff? Interesting take for D&D.
Blank
Even if/when such magic exists, it is usually a specified monster feature, spell, or class feature. There is nothing in the flying sword stat block that states it is capable of magically nor telekinetically moving/wielding objects other than itself. Heck, even Mage Hand has restrictions on what it can do, and getting around those restrictions requires you to take the Telekinetic feat or be an Arcane Trickster Rogue.
So, magical means to use objects do exist BUT the flying sword does not have these capabilities per its stat block.
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
You need a hand to wield a weapon, just as you need a body to wear armor. The flying sword has neither of these. It also needs to become friendly with someone in order to become their sidekick. And that's easier said than done; especially when compared to, say, with a blink dog.
Assuming a flying sword even could become a sidekick, you can always change the kind of sword. They don't have to be longswords. It might even be an enchantment that can move to inhabit a different weapon. But any ranged weapon means dealing with two hands and ammunition. And that's just not possible, here.
A flying sword dual wielding other swords is hilarious and could very likely be a memorable character in an adventure with a goofy/zany tone. Sometimes that's what people want and I'd be all for a one-shot like that sometime. In a more serious adventure of course that kind of stuff doesn't fly (pun intended), RAW or no. Thus whether it's RAW or not isn't really that important to determine.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
Scatterbraind,
I like that. I will be using a flying sword named Swing as a sidekick in my campaign, only to balance out the darker villains with a touch of humor. I'm thinking about a flying sword wielding a crossbow, specifically.
With the friendship requirement everyone is bringing up, there are sentient weapons out there, and they could easily be a flying sword.
In it's statblock, which omits that. The statblock says what a creatures abilities are, even those that don't normally come up in combat (like if it needs to breathe, eat, sleep, etc). If its not in the statblock they don't have it. Otherwise the concept of a statblock is meaningless, as you can make up whatever you want for your creatures
If you want a flying sword to be able to telekinetically wield a weapon then that ability needs to be in the statblock, and then you are talking about homebrew. This is the rules forum, not the homebrew forum, so we stick to the rules.
The magic exists...just not for the default Flying Sword
A "weapon spirit" type creature would be an interesting homebrew...might have to steal this.
This is the opposite of how rules work in 5e.
"Not all those who wander are lost"