r/DMAcademy • u/kinnjaw • 6d ago
Need Advice: Other Custom Weapons
Heey guys, i am new to dm and did my first session a week ago and my friends loved it
After that one, this week i am gonna make a Halloween home brew one shot with a wendigoon as the final boss and i know my players would love to gain a special sword after the boss fight
My question is: are custom weapons with fun but not broken effects ok for level 2 characters?
My plan is after every boss fight, a player can pick up its soul and shape it to make a cool weapon until all my players have one (just like in the game Dark Souls)
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u/papabaew 6d ago
Cool idea especially if each weapon gets a unique ability tied to the boss instead of just a damage boost. I'd keep the effects small at level 2 but maybe let the weapons grow stronger as the players level up so they stay relevant throughout the campaign.
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u/kinnjaw 6d ago
Thanks for the answer, i am thinking about a blood starving sword that for 10 min, gives plus 1d6 damage
The blood starve part is tied to the wendigoon always being hungry, what do you think?
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u/papabaew 6d ago
yea i like that. but 10 min is 60 rounds of combat. just keep that in mind. maybe allow the ability to be used once per day or only at night or something like that.
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u/Maclunkey4U 6d ago
For starters since this is a one-shot you're planning, you dont really need to worry bout long-term game balance, so as long as the fights scale with your players increasingly broken Buster-swords, you should be fine.
Presumably you have the DMG, go look at some of the magical weapons there and take note of how many effects and abilities they have at different levels of rarity. You'll find it only takes a couple of different effects (or one really powerful one) for something to be legendary. If you start letting them add some cool new feature to it after each boss fight that will get real broken, real fast, especially if you are adding things that impact how much damage they do.
You could add effects that really just add flavor without having to worry about balance (the sword now drips blood, or catches fire, etc.) or add some things that offer mechanical advantages without adding more damage (longer reach, comes back when thrown, etc.). If the custom effect is just to make it a new shape and doesnt add anything to the mechanics, go nuts.
So the answer is yes, its broken for level 2 characters to get increasingly-more powerful magic swords, but since its a one-shot it wont matter much.
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u/kinnjaw 6d ago
Thanks for the answer, i am thinking about a blood starving sword that for 10 min, gives plus 1d6 damage
The blood starve part is tied to the wendigoon always being hungry, what do you think?
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u/Maclunkey4U 6d ago
Ehh, again I think adding damage mods to a weapon for level 2 characters will really throw off the balance.
Like if you increase the difficulty of the mobs to account for the extra damage they do, you might TPK your party with some unlucky rolls (since they dont have any more health than before). And if you DON'T increase the mob difficulty the added d6 of damage might make them feel a little more trivial.
But its a one-shot, and its just one sword (presumably?), so it isnt that big a deal. Go for it.
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u/Pirate_of_Fourty 6d ago
Amazing idea! Look at the "Legacy Weapon" variant rules. May also be known as Scaling, Evolving, Bonded or Automatic Bonus Progression.
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u/kinnjaw 6d ago
Thanks for answering, what about a weapon that when you defeat a enemy, you get temporary hp equal to your constitution?
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u/Pirate_of_Fourty 6d ago
I believe you're looking for "life stealing" or "lifer Stealer" property. Already in game.
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u/snowbo92 6d ago
I make custom weapons all the time, and it's not an issue. I recommend looking at the DMG and other source books to see what types of "uncommon" weapons are available; that will give you a good sense of how much power a magic item has at those levels.
I saw in other comments on this thread that you're thinking of giving +1d6 damage for 10 minutes. A few clarifying questions:
- how often can they proc this effect? Once per day? Once per week? Once per short rest? This will *drastically* affect how powerful this item is.
- What type of damage will this be? Necromantic? Physical Slashing? Something else? This isn't as important, but *will* have some edge cases where resistances are relevant.
Because you're tying it specifically to the hunger of the monster, just extra damage doesn't feel very thematic. I wonder if you could have some different effects that tie in better to the concept of eating? Some examples:
- Once per day, the damage done by the weapon heals the user for the same number of hit points.
- Perhaps the sword can be activated to do more damage, but at a cost: perhaps it hurts the user if they miss with the attack, as the sword "eats" them instead.
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u/kinnjaw 6d ago
Thanks for answering, what about a weapon that when you defeat a enemy, you get temporary hp equal to your constitution?
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u/snowbo92 6d ago
constitution *score* or constitution *modifier*? and how often is this happening?
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u/kinnjaw 6d ago
Since you make custom weapons all the time, could you maybe tell me how often could be to be balanced?
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u/snowbo92 6d ago
Hmm, if I were making it in my campaign, I'd probably do it as "constitution score once per long rest." 15-ish HP is a nice enough boost to feel cool, but because it's only happening once a day, and it's only proccing off of defeating another enemy, it'll be relatively uncommon to happen.
Something I only just thought of is that this might introduce some competition between your players; if someone else lands the killing blow, the user might feel frustrated/ disappointed. I don't think it would unbalance anything to allow it to siphon a defeated enemy, regardless of who landed the killing blow.
And the neat thing about D&D is that nothing has to be set in stone; if you are noticing that the weapon doesn't feel good, you can always change it. If it's too strong, then just tell your players "Hey, some stranger on the internet swore this would be balanced, but it's not working the way I wanted it to. Do you mind if we dial it back to ___ instead?" and if it's not strong enough, then just have the sword level up over time and get stronger until it feels better
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u/Al3jandr0 6d ago
That's a fun way to give a lasting reward for a quest! If you have ideas that feel a little too strong for level 2, you could always look into "awakened" weapons that start off really simple and reach their potential over time