Hey, I have a barbarian in my group. The first thing he asked on his very first attack was "Can I swing and hit the 2 guys next to each other?". Honestly, when thinking of personal items for each player I instantly thought of some form of cleaving capability and his question confirmed it.
I was thinking of creating am armband/bracer/bracelet magic item (as opposed to a specific weapon because there are really cool melee weapons in our campaigns and don't want to limit him). Once per turn, on an attack he can attack creatures 5' next to the original target (so he can't spam it on multiattacks).
I'm aware of the variant rule to allow you to attack a nearby creature if your target reaches 0 hp, you have 'leftover damage' & the nearby target can be hit by the original attack roll.
So I had some questions on how to make this balanced but also bad***.
1) I originally wrote - Once per turn, when making an attack you can choose any number of creatures within 5 feet of the original target and, if the original attack roll can hit it, apply half of the damage hit (rounded down) to those creatures.
2) Similarly to Green-Flame Blade - Where the nearby target(s) would be hit automatically for the attack modifier (or should I allow it to be weapon dice + attack mod like higher level GFB?) --- depending on the roll, this can be way too much damage especially if I include an actual weapon dice as well as the modifier. I'm also debating on whether allowing ONLY 1 other target or any number of creatures within 5' of the original
3) a separate attack roll for each nearby creature with full damage rolls (or half or mod?) waaaaayy too strong, way too long to roll individually each and every time. Just throwing it out there though.
I'm open to entirely new ideas or mix and matches of any of mine, or new ideas.
My thought is that the original attack roll should apply to a single second target as well, but only if the initial attack lands. So if, say... they're attacking a target with 16 AC with a roll of 15, and the second target has an AC of 14, the second attack is completely off the board since it's only an option if the first attack lands. In that same vein, I think it should be something that they have to declare they're attempting before the attack roll, rather than being able to confirm the hit before deciding to turn it into a cleaving attack. I'd also say that the second hit should deal half damage, since it's just a nice little bonus on top of an attack rather than a full-on extra attack.
Alternatively, I would say that if you turned it into a Bonus Action instead then I would say that it would be fair to say that it deals full damage and they can decide to turn an attack into a Cleaving attack after it lands.
Hey, I have a barbarian in my group. The first thing he asked on his very first attack was "Can I swing and hit the 2 guys next to each other?". Honestly, when thinking of personal items for each player I instantly thought of some form of cleaving capability and his question confirmed it.
I was thinking of creating am armband/bracer/bracelet magic item (as opposed to a specific weapon because there are really cool melee weapons in our campaigns and don't want to limit him). Once per turn, on an attack he can attack creatures 5' next to the original target (so he can't spam it on multiattacks).
I'm aware of the variant rule to allow you to attack a nearby creature if your target reaches 0 hp, you have 'leftover damage' & the nearby target can be hit by the original attack roll.
So I had some questions on how to make this balanced but also bad***.
1) I originally wrote - Once per turn, when making an attack you can choose any number of creatures within 5 feet of the original target and, if the original attack roll can hit it, apply half of the damage hit (rounded down) to those creatures.
2) Similarly to Green-Flame Blade - Where the nearby target(s) would be hit automatically for the attack modifier (or should I allow it to be weapon dice + attack mod like higher level GFB?) --- depending on the roll, this can be way too much damage especially if I include an actual weapon dice as well as the modifier. I'm also debating on whether allowing ONLY 1 other target or any number of creatures within 5' of the original
3) a separate attack roll for each nearby creature with full damage rolls (or half or mod?) waaaaayy too strong, way too long to roll individually each and every time. Just throwing it out there though.
I'm open to entirely new ideas or mix and matches of any of mine, or new ideas.
Thanks in advance!
My thought is that the original attack roll should apply to a single second target as well, but only if the initial attack lands. So if, say... they're attacking a target with 16 AC with a roll of 15, and the second target has an AC of 14, the second attack is completely off the board since it's only an option if the first attack lands. In that same vein, I think it should be something that they have to declare they're attempting before the attack roll, rather than being able to confirm the hit before deciding to turn it into a cleaving attack. I'd also say that the second hit should deal half damage, since it's just a nice little bonus on top of an attack rather than a full-on extra attack.
Alternatively, I would say that if you turned it into a Bonus Action instead then I would say that it would be fair to say that it deals full damage and they can decide to turn an attack into a Cleaving attack after it lands.
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