A player in my campaign is trying to walk in with a Frost Brand, and because of their level its within reason, but he wants to add a +3 enchantment to it. His reasoning is "There isnt anything in the rules saying I can't". So I'm here to see if this is allowed in the rules.
Are you the DM? Because then the answer is “I don’t want it to be.” End of discussion.
If you want to go rules lawyer, ask him to show you the entry for a+3 frost brand. That is actually the way it works. The RAW is, here are magic items that exist. It is not, feel free to add together different items to make a whole new item without DM approval.
As an aside, this feels like a big red flag — at least from having only one side of the story — keep an eye on the player for other shenanigans.
You as the DM can make any magical items you want or limit magical items in any way you like. Are there +3 weapons in your world? Is the +3 enchantment reserved for weapons of legend? I usually don't make +3 weapons unless it is a very special weapon for a specific person in the party. I've made +2 swords of sharpness,+2 holy avengers even a vorpal with no plus to hit. It is entirely up to you what you want to allow.
As Xalthu points out your player is incorrect. Magic items in 5e work only as they are described in published materials. Frost Brand for example does not have any static bonus to attack rolls or damage.
Also what level are the characters your players are making? Frost Brand is a Very Rare magic item and the DMG doesn't even recommend letting a level 20 character start with a Very Rare magic item unless you are running a high magic campaign setting. Even then the DMG only recommends it in high magic settings for characters level 17-20.
Finally, did you tell all your players they could start with one Very Rare magic item and this player isn't quite happy with Frost Brand, or did this player ask for this magic item all on their own? If it is the former then there is no problem telling the player that magic items work as they are written and your not comfortable homebrewing something. If it is the later then it would also be a good idea to decide what kind of starting equipment would be appropriate for your players and communicating this to all of your players.
You, as the DM, are the one that decides which magic items exist and how. Not the player.
RAW. Only the items described in the dmg or respective book exist, but you can change the parameters or availability of any one, if its in accordance to your world and rules.
As for answering your player, follow Xalthu's advice. Rule 0 means you overrule any rule or no-rule as long as it applies consistently, and are the final judge of any rulings, including what your player said.
We don't really have much in the way of rules for enchanting in D&D.
However, a weapon, +3 is a very rare magic weapon on its own, frost brand is likewise a very rare item; as Fangeye points out your players shouldn't really be starting with either of these even in a high level campaign, unless that's a decision that the DM has made.
Frost brand is fairly balanced as a very rare attuned weapon; its bonus damage is similar to the +3 weapon (3-4 average cold damage per hit) and its trading the +3 to hit for fire resistance, light and a once per day extinguishing effect. You could probably argue that giving it +3 to hit wouldn't necessarily tip it into legendary rarity, but it'd definitely be on the strong end of very rare if this was allowed.
But yeah, there's no built in option to just combine weapons however you like, it's up to the DM to homebrew some kind of combination, and up to the DM to decide what magic equipment a player can ask for.
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I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
There is a mention about doing something like this in either the beginning of the magic item chapter in the DMG or the homebrewing magic items section. The example is combining a helm of telepathy and a helm of comprehend languages. As others have said, this is a very powerful weapon, and players should not be starting with it. It would probably be legendary, and seems like something you might find in the hoard of a very powerful white dragon.
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A magic weapon doesn't have bonus unless it specifically say so, many don't, such as frost brand weapon. As a DM you are free to have one in your campaign or not, as some unique unique items exist that do have +3 like the Ice Claw in the FORGOTTEN REALMS Setting.
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A player in my campaign is trying to walk in with a Frost Brand, and because of their level its within reason, but he wants to add a +3 enchantment to it. His reasoning is "There isnt anything in the rules saying I can't". So I'm here to see if this is allowed in the rules.
Are you the DM? Because then the answer is “I don’t want it to be.” End of discussion.
If you want to go rules lawyer, ask him to show you the entry for a+3 frost brand. That is actually the way it works. The RAW is, here are magic items that exist. It is not, feel free to add together different items to make a whole new item without DM approval.
As an aside, this feels like a big red flag — at least from having only one side of the story — keep an eye on the player for other shenanigans.
You as the DM can make any magical items you want or limit magical items in any way you like. Are there +3 weapons in your world? Is the +3 enchantment reserved for weapons of legend? I usually don't make +3 weapons unless it is a very special weapon for a specific person in the party. I've made +2 swords of sharpness,+2 holy avengers even a vorpal with no plus to hit. It is entirely up to you what you want to allow.
As Xalthu points out your player is incorrect. Magic items in 5e work only as they are described in published materials. Frost Brand for example does not have any static bonus to attack rolls or damage.
Also what level are the characters your players are making? Frost Brand is a Very Rare magic item and the DMG doesn't even recommend letting a level 20 character start with a Very Rare magic item unless you are running a high magic campaign setting. Even then the DMG only recommends it in high magic settings for characters level 17-20.
Finally, did you tell all your players they could start with one Very Rare magic item and this player isn't quite happy with Frost Brand, or did this player ask for this magic item all on their own? If it is the former then there is no problem telling the player that magic items work as they are written and your not comfortable homebrewing something. If it is the later then it would also be a good idea to decide what kind of starting equipment would be appropriate for your players and communicating this to all of your players.
Here are the DMGs recommendations for starting equipment for characters higher than first level: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dmg/creating-a-campaign#StartingatHigherLevel
As many have said.
You, as the DM, are the one that decides which magic items exist and how. Not the player.
RAW. Only the items described in the dmg or respective book exist, but you can change the parameters or availability of any one, if its in accordance to your world and rules.
As for answering your player, follow Xalthu's advice. Rule 0 means you overrule any rule or no-rule as long as it applies consistently, and are the final judge of any rulings, including what your player said.
We don't really have much in the way of rules for enchanting in D&D.
However, a weapon, +3 is a very rare magic weapon on its own, frost brand is likewise a very rare item; as Fangeye points out your players shouldn't really be starting with either of these even in a high level campaign, unless that's a decision that the DM has made.
Frost brand is fairly balanced as a very rare attuned weapon; its bonus damage is similar to the +3 weapon (3-4 average cold damage per hit) and its trading the +3 to hit for fire resistance, light and a once per day extinguishing effect. You could probably argue that giving it +3 to hit wouldn't necessarily tip it into legendary rarity, but it'd definitely be on the strong end of very rare if this was allowed.
But yeah, there's no built in option to just combine weapons however you like, it's up to the DM to homebrew some kind of combination, and up to the DM to decide what magic equipment a player can ask for.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
There is a mention about doing something like this in either the beginning of the magic item chapter in the DMG or the homebrewing magic items section. The example is combining a helm of telepathy and a helm of comprehend languages. As others have said, this is a very powerful weapon, and players should not be starting with it. It would probably be legendary, and seems like something you might find in the hoard of a very powerful white dragon.
Pronouns: he/him/his.
My posting scheduled is irregular: sometimes I can post twice a week, sometimes twice a day. I may also respond to quick questions, but ignore harder responses in favor of time.
My location is where my character for my home game is (we're doing the wild beyond the witchlight).
"The Doomvault... Probably full of unicorns and rainbows." -An imaginary quote
A magic weapon doesn't have bonus unless it specifically say so, many don't, such as frost brand weapon. As a DM you are free to have one in your campaign or not, as some unique unique items exist that do have +3 like the Ice Claw in the FORGOTTEN REALMS Setting.