Hi guys! 

I am working on setting up my first homebrew weapon for our campaign and I am struggling on how to best set it up to represent how it works on a character sheet. Are there any good "best practices" to setting up weapons, or is it kind of wild wild west on the homebrew creator? Anyone have any good guides / input they would suggest. I have been going through the "Everything you need to know about Homebrew" section

To get super specific, here's the full shebang of what I am wanting to put in play.

• Name: Survivalist's Hand Crossbow
• Lore: This hand crossbow was made by an elvish hunter banished to the frozen tundra to help assist him in tracking down his prey and defending himself against threats. The crossbow does minimal damage but applies a random status impairing effect to it's target.
• Damage: 1d4+0
• Damage Type: Piercing
• Range: 30ft / 120ft
• Enemy hit by attack from crossbow will receive a de-buff based on a single 1d4 roll. This effect can only be used once per target.
  • If result of 1d4 roll results in 1, the crossbow fires an icy bolt. Upon impact, the bolt causes a slowing chill to the target, resulting in the target's next turn to be taken last.
  • If result of 1d4 roll results in 2, the crossbow fires a flaming bolt. Upon impact, the bolt explodes discharging smoke into the air, resulting in the target's next turn to subtract 3 from their next hit roll.
  • If result of 1d4 roll results in 3, the crossbow fires a glass bolt. Upon impact, the glass shatters covering the target in acid, resulting in the target's armor class to be reduced by 2 points for 1 round.
  • If result of 1d4 roll results in 4, the crossbow fires an electrically charged bolt, upon impact lightning strikes the target from the sky, paralyzing the target for one round.

What are everyone's thoughts?

That is not possible to do, the hand crossbow will always do 1d6+Dex modifier.

As for those effects, that would just be plain text and the rest would have to be addressed manually.

Thanks for the response! Maybe I will try to switch the weapon type up to something that would do less damage. I am fearful it may become overpowered as everyone levels up so I can keep .  

Sling would still do 1d4+Dex mod