I'm making a Goliath who is mostly nothing but simple minded strength, more like a "me am strong" vibe. I'm wanting to put in his backstory that he was put in prison for a misunderstanding and he was put in a cell with magic protection. (simple stuff like fire, ice, acid, etc) The door has the same protection but it doesn't have amazing physical resistance so he broke or unhinged the door and started using it as a weapon. his states are rolled and his strength is a 18+2 and constitution is 18+1, would you allow this as a weapon and if not what kind of changes would have to happen? I was thinking maybe the protection spells have to be low, not sure what level most protection spells are.
Anything can reasonably be used as flavor, so long as it doesn't have any actual mechanical benefit.
A "Door" would most likely be an improvised weapon, however, your DM could let you treat it like a Maul(2d6 bludgeoning, Heavy, two-handed).
The magical wards on the door might protect the door, but shouldn't protect your character, unless you are starting in a High-Magic campaign, or at a high level that warrants starting with magical items. If you are starting in a high-magic campaign, you could ask your DM to let the Door Maul double as a Mantle of Spell Resistance.
Bottom Line: As long as you aren't trying to get an advantage over the rest of the players, your DM will probably be fine working something like this into your character.
Personally I would rather flavour a door as a shield than as a weapon. If you give him the Tavern Brawler feat (I think it's that one) then you become better with improvised weapons, and then you can use the shield-door as one.
As a DM, I would rule it be a shield which offers an extra +1AC against spells which need to hit, and let you choose whether you wanted to get the tavern brawler feat at the next ASI to use it better as a club!
Anything that bears no real resemblance to an actual weapon is an Improvised Weapon. It deals 1d4+STR bludgeoning damage.
Not only that 👆, but unless your character has the Tavern Brawler feat, attacks made with improvised weapons do not allow use of the character’s Proficiency bonus to the attack roll either.
I'm making a Goliath who is mostly nothing but simple minded strength, more like a "me am strong" vibe. I'm wanting to put in his backstory that he was put in prison for a misunderstanding and he was put in a cell with magic protection. (simple stuff like fire, ice, acid, etc) The door has the same protection but it doesn't have amazing physical resistance so he broke or unhinged the door and started using it as a weapon. his states are rolled and his strength is a 18+2 and constitution is 18+1, would you allow this as a weapon and if not what kind of changes would have to happen? I was thinking maybe the protection spells have to be low, not sure what level most protection spells are.
Let me know if you would like anymore information
This will be a brand new PC it seems. Is that correct?
At what level will the character be starting?
Will this character will be starting at the same level as the other PCs?
Will the other people’s characters also have magic items of any sort? If so, what are the parameters for that?
I do not allow characters to start in Tier 1 (1st-4th levels) to start with any magic items. Flat out, hard no. In my opinion, the first tier of play is for ratcatchers who wish they were real adventurers (and their players) to have a “safe(ish) place” to prove to themselves and each other that they really do have what it takes to make it as adventurers. Part of that process involves acquiring your first magic items. Usually, during the first two levels the party would find nothing. Mind that, in campaigns I DM, that’s only the first 3 sessions.
During the next two levels the party would start coming across common magic items, minor* uncommon items, and common to major uncommon consumable items. Right around the end of Tier 1, beginning of Tier 2 (4th-6th levels) would be when you would all start collecting “good stuff,” so major uncommon items up to major rare items. By 7th(ish) level everyone would have found at least something in that range. It obviously goes up from there.
So, if I was the DM for that campaign:
Supposing a 1st-3rd level start, I would say that the door was magic, but after busting it out of its frame the magic started to fade and by 1st level when the campaign starts its just a large, heavy, conspicuous door that counts as an improvised weapon (no Proficiency for the attack roll), but bug enough to do 1d6 bludgeoning damage, but has the [worop]heavy[/wprop] and [worop]two-handed[/wprop] properties, and grants your character the benefit of half cover, but also imposes disadvantage on all Dexterity (Stealth) checks. So a mix of good and bad that wouldn’t suck as bad as it could, but wouldn’t be good enough to compete with real equipment either. It would be up to you to decide if the juice is worth the squeeze or not on that one.
Supposing a 4th(ish) level start I might say it counts as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage resistance/immunity, but nothing more powerful than that.
Supposing the campaign was starting around 7th level or higher, we could talk.
*(Uncommon, Rare, Very Rare, and Legendary Magic Items that were published either before or in Xanathar’s Guide got further subdivided into “minor” or “major” magic items for DMs who cared. Anything published after Xanathar’s is up to individual DMs to subdivide if we wish to. You can find those tables here 👉Magic Item Tables in Xanathar’s Guide.)
I'm making a Goliath who is mostly nothing but simple minded strength, more like a "me am strong" vibe. I'm wanting to put in his backstory that he was put in prison for a misunderstanding and he was put in a cell with magic protection. (simple stuff like fire, ice, acid, etc) The door has the same protection but it doesn't have amazing physical resistance so he broke or unhinged the door and started using it as a weapon. his states are rolled and his strength is a 18+2 and constitution is 18+1, would you allow this as a weapon and if not what kind of changes would have to happen? I was thinking maybe the protection spells have to be low, not sure what level most protection spells are.
Let me know if you would like anymore information
Anything can reasonably be used as flavor, so long as it doesn't have any actual mechanical benefit.
A "Door" would most likely be an improvised weapon, however, your DM could let you treat it like a Maul (2d6 bludgeoning, Heavy, two-handed).
The magical wards on the door might protect the door, but shouldn't protect your character, unless you are starting in a High-Magic campaign, or at a high level that warrants starting with magical items. If you are starting in a high-magic campaign, you could ask your DM to let the Door Maul double as a Mantle of Spell Resistance.
Bottom Line: As long as you aren't trying to get an advantage over the rest of the players, your DM will probably be fine working something like this into your character.
Personally I would rather flavour a door as a shield than as a weapon. If you give him the Tavern Brawler feat (I think it's that one) then you become better with improvised weapons, and then you can use the shield-door as one.
As a DM, I would rule it be a shield which offers an extra +1AC against spells which need to hit, and let you choose whether you wanted to get the tavern brawler feat at the next ASI to use it better as a club!
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Anything that bears no real resemblance to an actual weapon is an Improvised Weapon. It deals 1d4+STR bludgeoning damage.
Not only that 👆, but unless your character has the Tavern Brawler feat, attacks made with improvised weapons do not allow use of the character’s Proficiency bonus to the attack roll either.
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This will be a brand new PC it seems. Is that correct?
I do not allow characters to start in Tier 1 (1st-4th levels) to start with any magic items. Flat out, hard no. In my opinion, the first tier of play is for ratcatchers who wish they were real adventurers (and their players) to have a “safe(ish) place” to prove to themselves and each other that they really do have what it takes to make it as adventurers. Part of that process involves acquiring your first magic items. Usually, during the first two levels the party would find nothing. Mind that, in campaigns I DM, that’s only the first 3 sessions.
During the next two levels the party would start coming across common magic items, minor* uncommon items, and common to major uncommon consumable items. Right around the end of Tier 1, beginning of Tier 2 (4th-6th levels) would be when you would all start collecting “good stuff,” so major uncommon items up to major rare items. By 7th(ish) level everyone would have found at least something in that range. It obviously goes up from there.
So, if I was the DM for that campaign:
I hope that helps.
*(Uncommon, Rare, Very Rare, and Legendary Magic Items that were published either before or in Xanathar’s Guide got further subdivided into “minor” or “major” magic items for DMs who cared. Anything published after Xanathar’s is up to individual DMs to subdivide if we wish to. You can find those tables here 👉Magic Item Tables in Xanathar’s Guide.)
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting