I've crafted a weapon for one of my players that is a longbow that will essentially power up at certain milestones (that I will determine at random when I feel like the weapon/player could use a bit of a power boost). It's due for a level-up soon and I'm trying to make sure that the description is logical.
One element of the weapon is that when it powers up this next time (currently it's a +1 longbow with nothing else special about it) it's going to go to a +2 longbow and allow the player to add the damage type of a chromatic dragon's breath weapon to 2 arrows per day (so it's not super OP). The caveat on that is that they can only add the breath weapon of a chromatic dragon they've fought and once selected (by default if they've only fought one type of dragon or by DM's dice roll if they've fought more than one type since the player obtained the weapon) it remains that same type forever. (At later power ups they get to add an additional type to choose from and it'll max out at 2 or 3 total types.)
My players have fought a white and a blue dragon so far so the choice is going to fall to me and my dice rolls (though I'll probably let the player call odds/evens and maybe fudge the roll so he gets what he's hopin for since he's 10).
Does this paragraph from the description (paragraph is below) of the powered-up weapon accurately convey that once the damage type is set it's that way forever and they can't just pick and choose each time they fire an arrow and decide to activate the ability?
If you have fought a chromatic dragon since obtaining this weapon, you may now add the damage type of that dragon's breath weapon to any arrow fired from this bow. You may use this ability twice per long rest. The ability does not stack with any other magic items attached to the bow. If you have fought more than one type of chromatic dragon since obtaining this weapon, the breath weapon damage type is randomly selected at the Dungeon Master's discretion.
The wording seems good enough for a homebrew thing, but here's how I'd probably word it:
This bow has 2 charges, and regains all expended charges after a long rest. Each time this weapon powers up, the bow chooses one type of chromatic dragon that you have personally fought before from the following table. The DM chooses which type, or determines it randomly. Afterwards, when you fire an arrow from this bow and hit a target, you can expend a charge replace the damage type of the attack with a damage type corresponding to one of this bow's chosen dragons.
Dragon
Damage Type
Black
Acid
Blue
Lightning
Green
Poison
Red
Fire
White
Cold
I'm assuming you meant arrows deal x type of damage instead of piercing. If you meant it deals extra damage, replace that last part with, "...you can expend a charge to deal an extra (for example) 1d6 damage of a damage type corresponding to one of this bow's chosen dragons."
I think having a physical marking showing what dragons the bow's chosen would be helpful, kind of like the runes on a moonblade. It ensures the properties of the bow retain between users and tells people a bit about the bow just by looking at it. For example, instead of having the bow choose a dragon that you've fought before, you have to press a scale from a chromatic dragon to the bow and speak the dragon's name. Just throwing ideas out there, good luck on the campaign!
This is the full description (other than the lore bits). I've tweaked it a bit based on your post though I'm not using the charge mechanic. Better?
You have a +2 to attack rolls made with this weapon.
The weapon is resistant to damage from piercing, bludgeoning, force, and slashing from magical and non-magical weapons.
After proving yourself in battle against a chromatic dragon, the weapon decides you are ready to wield a portion of its greater power. Twice per long rest, you may speak the command word levex to imbue your next arrow with the breath weapon of a chromatic dragon you have previously battled. The damage type chosen from the table below is permanent and cannot be changed once chosen. If you have only fought one type of chromatic dragon since obtaining this weapon, the type defaults to that dragon's breath weapon. If you have fought more than one type of chromatic dragon since obtaining this weapon, the bow chooses the damage type from those choices at random. On a hit, the magicked arrow deals an additional 1d6 damage of the type chosen by the bow at power up.
This ability does not stack with any other magic items attached to the bow.
The Save DC for any of these damage types is 8+your Constitution modifier+your Proficiency bonus.
1) Is the bow itself resistant to this damage or does it give this resistance to the wielder? If it's the former, I don't really suppose you need it, since the bow doesn't have HP or anything (as far as I know). If it's the latter, try this:
You have resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage damage while you carry this bow.
2) Oh, so the arrow's supposed to force a saving throw? If I'm understanding this correctly, is the arrow supposed to deal its normal damage and carry the effect of that dragon's breath weapon? If that's the case, change it to something like this:
On a hit, the target suffers the attack's normal effects, and must make a saving throw (determined by the dragon's type). The DC for this saving throw equals 8+ your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. A creature takes 6d6 [or however much damage you want] damage of the dragon's type on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one.
You can throw around that wording however you want. If it's supposed to be an AoE, change it to something like, "...and each creature in a [10-foot radius/20-foot cone/etc.] must make a saving throw..." If I'm completely wrong, I'd like to know what it does lore-wise.
3) I'd probably change "This ability does not stack with any other magic items attached to the bow." to "When you use this property of the bow, the imbued arrow loses its magical properties for the attack, if it has any." just to specify what it means. And I'd take out "If you have only fought one type of chromatic dragon since obtaining this weapon, the type defaults to that dragon's breath weapon." just to keep it more concise, but if you feel like it's better with it that's totally fine.
Bow is resistant. A low power way to make the weapon (it being a bit of a legacy-esque weapon) more durable. The arrow deals its normal piercing damage and the damage of the breath weapon. I added the save to make it not be too OP too early. (You're seeing its rare iteration. There's an uncommon one that hasn't powered up to include the breath weapon trait and then a very rare and a legendary that add a second and third choice of breath weapon and an additional use of the feature per long rest.)
I built it for my ten year old nephew playing a ranger who hates dragons. We're also running through tyranny of dragons so it's basically designed to mean the adventure lets the weapon naturally level up at major milestones. (The party killing an adult white dragon at level 9 seemed momentous enough to level it up.)
I added the bit about the not stacking because he has a blazing bowstring so I wanted it to be clear in the wording that he couldn't use the blazing bowstring and the breath weapon on the same arrow. I guess I could solve that with just making this a bonus action to activate.
Ah, I see. Welp, that works1 Considering your party is at level 9 and the extra damage ability only has 2 uses, I'd say you should at least make the extra damage 4d6 (half on a save), but that's just me. I think it should be fine. Also, I like the way you're handling an item that levels up as the party does, and good luck with the campaign!
I don't get why the damage chosen is permanent or Random I feel it would be more fun to mix and match different dragon breath attacks (Though having it be randomized at a long rest and re-randomized at the next would be fun)
I don't get why the damage chosen is permanent or Random I feel it would be more fun to mix and match different dragon breath attacks (Though having it be randomized at a long rest and re-randomized at the next would be fun)
Trying to convey that you get one breath weapon type at this level up. Next time it powers up (at which point the player will get the updated description), he'll have two breath weapon types to choose from when he activates the ability and at its most powerful there will be three. The random bit is chosen at random from the types the player has already fought but the permanent is to mean that once the type is set it doesn't change. Right now the bow has cold damage, chosen by dice roll between blue and white dragons. Depending on how the campaign goes between now and next power up, he could have faced a green dragon or maybe just the blue dragon again. If he's faced the green, the dice roll will happen again. If he hasn't, then he'll get the blue dragon breath weapon effect added.
Ah, I see. Welp, that works1 Considering your party is at level 9 and the extra damage ability only has 2 uses, I'd say you should at least make the extra damage 4d6 (half on a save), but that's just me. I think it should be fine. Also, I like the way you're handling an item that levels up as the party does, and good luck with the campaign!
I think I will buff the damage output given the save. Thanks for all the help!
I've crafted a weapon for one of my players that is a longbow that will essentially power up at certain milestones (that I will determine at random when I feel like the weapon/player could use a bit of a power boost). It's due for a level-up soon and I'm trying to make sure that the description is logical.
One element of the weapon is that when it powers up this next time (currently it's a +1 longbow with nothing else special about it) it's going to go to a +2 longbow and allow the player to add the damage type of a chromatic dragon's breath weapon to 2 arrows per day (so it's not super OP). The caveat on that is that they can only add the breath weapon of a chromatic dragon they've fought and once selected (by default if they've only fought one type of dragon or by DM's dice roll if they've fought more than one type since the player obtained the weapon) it remains that same type forever. (At later power ups they get to add an additional type to choose from and it'll max out at 2 or 3 total types.)
My players have fought a white and a blue dragon so far so the choice is going to fall to me and my dice rolls (though I'll probably let the player call odds/evens and maybe fudge the roll so he gets what he's hopin for since he's 10).
Does this paragraph from the description (paragraph is below) of the powered-up weapon accurately convey that once the damage type is set it's that way forever and they can't just pick and choose each time they fire an arrow and decide to activate the ability?
If you have fought a chromatic dragon since obtaining this weapon, you may now add the damage type of that dragon's breath weapon to any arrow fired from this bow. You may use this ability twice per long rest. The ability does not stack with any other magic items attached to the bow. If you have fought more than one type of chromatic dragon since obtaining this weapon, the breath weapon damage type is randomly selected at the Dungeon Master's discretion.
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The wording seems good enough for a homebrew thing, but here's how I'd probably word it:
I'm assuming you meant arrows deal x type of damage instead of piercing. If you meant it deals extra damage, replace that last part with, "...you can expend a charge to deal an extra (for example) 1d6 damage of a damage type corresponding to one of this bow's chosen dragons."
I think having a physical marking showing what dragons the bow's chosen would be helpful, kind of like the runes on a moonblade. It ensures the properties of the bow retain between users and tells people a bit about the bow just by looking at it. For example, instead of having the bow choose a dragon that you've fought before, you have to press a scale from a chromatic dragon to the bow and speak the dragon's name. Just throwing ideas out there, good luck on the campaign!
This is the full description (other than the lore bits). I've tweaked it a bit based on your post though I'm not using the charge mechanic. Better?
You have a +2 to attack rolls made with this weapon.
The weapon is resistant to damage from piercing, bludgeoning, force, and slashing from magical and non-magical weapons.
After proving yourself in battle against a chromatic dragon, the weapon decides you are ready to wield a portion of its greater power. Twice per long rest, you may speak the command word levex to imbue your next arrow with the breath weapon of a chromatic dragon you have previously battled. The damage type chosen from the table below is permanent and cannot be changed once chosen. If you have only fought one type of chromatic dragon since obtaining this weapon, the type defaults to that dragon's breath weapon. If you have fought more than one type of chromatic dragon since obtaining this weapon, the bow chooses the damage type from those choices at random. On a hit, the magicked arrow deals an additional 1d6 damage of the type chosen by the bow at power up.
This ability does not stack with any other magic items attached to the bow.
The Save DC for any of these damage types is 8+your Constitution modifier+your Proficiency bonus.
Chromatic Type | Damage Type | Save Type
Black | Acid | Dexterity
Blue | Lightning | Dexterity
Green | Poison | Constitution
Red | Fire | Dexterity
White | Cold | Constitution
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A few things:
1) Is the bow itself resistant to this damage or does it give this resistance to the wielder? If it's the former, I don't really suppose you need it, since the bow doesn't have HP or anything (as far as I know). If it's the latter, try this:
2) Oh, so the arrow's supposed to force a saving throw? If I'm understanding this correctly, is the arrow supposed to deal its normal damage and carry the effect of that dragon's breath weapon? If that's the case, change it to something like this:
You can throw around that wording however you want. If it's supposed to be an AoE, change it to something like, "...and each creature in a [10-foot radius/20-foot cone/etc.] must make a saving throw..." If I'm completely wrong, I'd like to know what it does lore-wise.
3) I'd probably change "This ability does not stack with any other magic items attached to the bow." to "When you use this property of the bow, the imbued arrow loses its magical properties for the attack, if it has any." just to specify what it means. And I'd take out "If you have only fought one type of chromatic dragon since obtaining this weapon, the type defaults to that dragon's breath weapon." just to keep it more concise, but if you feel like it's better with it that's totally fine.
Otherwise, seems good!
Bow is resistant. A low power way to make the weapon (it being a bit of a legacy-esque weapon) more durable. The arrow deals its normal piercing damage and the damage of the breath weapon. I added the save to make it not be too OP too early. (You're seeing its rare iteration. There's an uncommon one that hasn't powered up to include the breath weapon trait and then a very rare and a legendary that add a second and third choice of breath weapon and an additional use of the feature per long rest.)
I built it for my ten year old nephew playing a ranger who hates dragons. We're also running through tyranny of dragons so it's basically designed to mean the adventure lets the weapon naturally level up at major milestones. (The party killing an adult white dragon at level 9 seemed momentous enough to level it up.)
I added the bit about the not stacking because he has a blazing bowstring so I wanted it to be clear in the wording that he couldn't use the blazing bowstring and the breath weapon on the same arrow. I guess I could solve that with just making this a bonus action to activate.
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Ah, I see. Welp, that works1 Considering your party is at level 9 and the extra damage ability only has 2 uses, I'd say you should at least make the extra damage 4d6 (half on a save), but that's just me. I think it should be fine. Also, I like the way you're handling an item that levels up as the party does, and good luck with the campaign!
I don't get why the damage chosen is permanent or Random I feel it would be more fun to mix and match different dragon breath attacks (Though having it be randomized at a long rest and re-randomized at the next would be fun)
Trying to convey that you get one breath weapon type at this level up. Next time it powers up (at which point the player will get the updated description), he'll have two breath weapon types to choose from when he activates the ability and at its most powerful there will be three. The random bit is chosen at random from the types the player has already fought but the permanent is to mean that once the type is set it doesn't change. Right now the bow has cold damage, chosen by dice roll between blue and white dragons. Depending on how the campaign goes between now and next power up, he could have faced a green dragon or maybe just the blue dragon again. If he's faced the green, the dice roll will happen again. If he hasn't, then he'll get the blue dragon breath weapon effect added.
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I think I will buff the damage output given the save. Thanks for all the help!
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