So I am home brewing a class for a campaign I'm playing and I am currently using dndbeyond as an easy way to click buttons and send data to our vtt. But I need some opinions on On-hit effects as part of attacks and if they are too powerful.
Artificer armourer gets to apply disadvantage to creatures they hit and some get the ability to avoid opportunity attacks with the mobile feat would it be unreasonable to make a class that makes use of on-hit effects like that or not?
Why not a weapon that always has a chance of knocking ked a creature back 5ft or chance of stunning etc? I get that some are stronger effects that others I just would like some opinions! 😅
stunned is an incredibly powerful condition. Never, under any circumstances, allow guaranteed fails. As for the chance of knocking a creature back, check out the crusher feat from Tasha's cauldron of everything. It isn't unreasonable to apply on-hit effects. The monk class already utilizes this heavily. Just make sure to do it in a way that is unique and balanced.
Warlocks have multiple Eldritch Invocations that apply similar on-hit effects to Eldritch Blast. They have one for additional damage equal to their Cha mod, one that pushes, one that pulls, and one that slows the target down. They are Agonizing Blast, Repelling Blast, Grasp of Hadar, and Lance of Lethargy respectively. (Combining Lance of Lethargy and Grasp of Hadar is a fantastic way to prevent an enemy from escaping btw.) Ray of Frost is one of my usual go-to Cantrips in general gust for that slow effect but Warlocks can do it even better since EB has a better range, it’s an Attack instead of forcing a Save, you get multiple chances with it at higher levels, and you don’t have to choose to use those Invocations unless you hit so it’s never wasted.
Hex, Vicious Mockery, and Mind Sliver all adversely affect the targets Ability Checks, Attack Rolls, and Saving Throws respectively. So many of the things that one might add to a weapon are generally under the purview of spells instead, the trade off being that spell don’t add your Ability Modifier to their damage but weapons do. Weapons are the tools for dealing damage, spells are typically the tools for imposing other stuff in addition to the damage they deal.
That’s not to say that some magic weapons can’t or shouldn’t have similar riders in addition to their damage. However it would have to be balanced properly or else they would make spells seem less special by comparison. Some do exist, but the only weapons I can think of at the moment have riders that just deal more damage, those being a Sword of Wounding or a Vicious Weapon.
So I am home brewing a class for a campaign I'm playing and I am currently using dndbeyond as an easy way to click buttons and send data to our vtt. But I need some opinions on On-hit effects as part of attacks and if they are too powerful.
Artificer armourer gets to apply disadvantage to creatures they hit and some get the ability to avoid opportunity attacks with the mobile feat would it be unreasonable to make a class that makes use of on-hit effects like that or not?
Why not a weapon that always has a chance of knocking ked a creature back 5ft or chance of stunning etc? I get that some are stronger effects that others I just would like some opinions! 😅
stunned is an incredibly powerful condition. Never, under any circumstances, allow guaranteed fails. As for the chance of knocking a creature back, check out the crusher feat from Tasha's cauldron of everything. It isn't unreasonable to apply on-hit effects. The monk class already utilizes this heavily. Just make sure to do it in a way that is unique and balanced.
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Warlocks have multiple Eldritch Invocations that apply similar on-hit effects to Eldritch Blast. They have one for additional damage equal to their Cha mod, one that pushes, one that pulls, and one that slows the target down. They are Agonizing Blast, Repelling Blast, Grasp of Hadar, and Lance of Lethargy respectively. (Combining Lance of Lethargy and Grasp of Hadar is a fantastic way to prevent an enemy from escaping btw.) Ray of Frost is one of my usual go-to Cantrips in general gust for that slow effect but Warlocks can do it even better since EB has a better range, it’s an Attack instead of forcing a Save, you get multiple chances with it at higher levels, and you don’t have to choose to use those Invocations unless you hit so it’s never wasted.
Hex, Vicious Mockery, and Mind Sliver all adversely affect the targets Ability Checks, Attack Rolls, and Saving Throws respectively. So many of the things that one might add to a weapon are generally under the purview of spells instead, the trade off being that spell don’t add your Ability Modifier to their damage but weapons do. Weapons are the tools for dealing damage, spells are typically the tools for imposing other stuff in addition to the damage they deal.
That’s not to say that some magic weapons can’t or shouldn’t have similar riders in addition to their damage. However it would have to be balanced properly or else they would make spells seem less special by comparison. Some do exist, but the only weapons I can think of at the moment have riders that just deal more damage, those being a Sword of Wounding or a Vicious Weapon.
I hope that helps.
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