D&D 5E Melee Weapons and Proficiency Reimagined - Homebrew

[Ganymede81]

These changes are an attempt to streamline both the melee weapon rules as well as the rules for proficiency. It also has a secondary goal of making a player's choice of weapon primarily a thematic choice as opposed to a mechanical choice.


Note how proficiency now affects how much damage a weapon can do as opposed to what weapons you can wield. In other words, a fighter will still inflict 1d8 damage with a longsword, but a warlock will only inflict 1d6 and a wizard will only inflict 1d4. This frees up players to select their weapon of choice in a way that best reflects the background of their character. (As an aside, this system also leaves open the possibility of future exotic weapon proficiency, which could conceivably grant damage dice of 1d8, 1d12, and 2d8, respectively).

Another change is that weapons are only organized by size category: light, one-handed, and two-handed. This eliminates the clutter of redundant weaponry. It also makes construction of magical weapons more streamlined as different weapons in the same category are essentially fungible. Attributes such as damage type are adjudicated by the DM on a case-by-case basis.

The last big change is to the rules for fighting with finesse and fighting with a weapon in each hand. These departures are a bit more extreme than the others. Fighting with a weapon in each hand is now more directly comparable to fighting with a two-handed weapon, while fighting with finesse allows players to select weapons other than the obligatory rapier but also adds in a not-insignificant drawback to fighting with guile instead of might.

Let me know what you think.


[TABLE="width: 505"]
[TR]
[TD]Name
[/TD]
[TD]Damage Dice
[/TD]
[TD]Throwing Range
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]No Weapon Proficiency
[/TD]
[TD]
[/TD]
[TD]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] Light
[/TD]
[TD]1d4
[/TD]
[TD]0/20
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] One-Handed
[/TD]
[TD]1d4
[/TD]
[TD]0/20
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] Two-Handed
[/TD]
[TD]1d4
[/TD]
[TD]0/20
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Simple Weapon Proficiency
[/TD]
[TD]
[/TD]
[TD]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] Light
[/TD]
[TD]1d4
[/TD]
[TD]40/80
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] One-Handed
[/TD]
[TD]1d6
[/TD]
[TD]20/40
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] Two-Handed
[/TD]
[TD]2d4
[/TD]
[TD]0/20
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Martial Weapon Proficiency
[/TD]
[TD]
[/TD]
[TD]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] Light
[/TD]
[TD]1d6
[/TD]
[TD]60/120
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] One-Handed
[/TD]
[TD]1d8
[/TD]
[TD]30/60
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] Two-Handed
[/TD]
[TD]2d6
[/TD]
[TD]0/30
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Light Weapons – These are small weapons that only require one hand to wield and are often balanced for throwing. These include daggers, sickles, short swords, hand axes, scimitars, and other similar weapons.

One-Handed Weapons – These are larger than Light Weapons but are still comfortably wielded in one hand and are often paired with a shield in the other hand. These include longswords, quarterstaves, military picks, battle axes, war hammers, maces, and other similar weapons.

Two-Handed Weapons – These weapons require two hands to wield in combat. These include greatclubs, grand maces, greatswords, mauls, halberds, and other similar weapons.

Proficiency – Weapon Proficiency describes the level of combat familiarity you have with particular weapons, and the type of proficiency you have with a weapon determines how much damage you can inflict with it in a melee weapon attack. For example, if you have Simple Weapon Proficiency in all weapons, a Light weapon will have a damage die of 1d4. If you have Martial Weapon Proficiency in all weapons, that same Light weapon will have a damage die of 1d6.

Fighting with Finesse – Whenever you make a melee weapon attack, you may elect to Fight with Finesse. If you do, you may use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier for attack rolls and damage rolls with that attack, but you must reduce the total damage from the attack by one for every weapon damage die rolled. For example, if you choose to Fight with Finesse with a Martial Two-Handed Weapon, a hit with it will inflict 2d6-2 damage before modifiers. If you managed a critical hit with the same weapon, you would inflict 4d6-4 before modifiers.

Fighting with a Weapon in each Hand – If you are wielding a melee weapon in each hand when you make a melee attack, you may choose to strike with both at once. If you have Simple Weapon Proficiency in both weapons, their damage dice is 2d4. If you have Martial Weapon Proficiency in at least one of the two weapons, their damage dice is 2d6. You may not fight with a weapon in each hand if you are not proficient in one or more of the weapons.

 

[Lanliss]

It seems like this is actually more likely to cause mechanical choices over thematic ones. If I want to use a Wizard with a longsword(not a bladesinger) then right now I just add strength, and am not too much worse off than someone with proficiency in longsword. With your system though, taking that thematic choice would be a serious blow, and seems more like it is meant to dissuade such out of the box choices, IMO.

 

[Salamandyr]

Looks good to me.

The thrown range for a light weapon seems a little long to me-it's not unbalanced, but it seems a little out of realistic range.

Likewise, I think it would be simpler for two-handed weapons to do 1d8 & 1d12 damage rather than the 2d4 & 2d6. For one thing it keeps a similar even progresssion from earlier weapons.

That would make fighting with finesse an easier hack-doing so drops the damage die by one step (for anything other than light weapons which wouldn't have to be affected)-from 1d12 down to 1d10 or 1d8 or 1d8 down to 1d6. Easier all around.

 

[Ganymede81]

It seems like this is actually more likely to cause mechanical choices over thematic ones. If I want to use a Wizard with a longsword(not a bladesinger) then right now I just add strength, and am not too much worse off than someone with proficiency in longsword. With your system though, taking that thematic choice would be a serious blow, and seems more like it is meant to dissuade such out of the box choices, IMO.

I don't follow. In the PHB, that hypothetical wizard would no longer be able to use his proficiency bonus on the attack, which is huge. In this system, the wizard's longsword would work largely the same as his dagger. He wouldn't have much success throwing it, but otherwise it'd work fine.

Likewise, I think it would be simpler for two-handed weapons to do 1d8 & 1d12 damage rather than the 2d4 & 2d6. For one thing it keeps a similar even progresssion from earlier weapons.

That would make fighting with finesse an easier hack-doing so drops the damage die by one step (for anything other than light weapons which wouldn't have to be affected)-from 1d12 down to 1d10 or 1d8 or 1d8 down to 1d6. Easier all around.

I used 2d4 and 2d6 for two-handed weapons so they could be more directly comparable to the 2d4 and 2d6 of fighting with a weapon in each hand. That way, a greatweapon and a pair of weapons both have the same hit die.

Regarding fighting with finesse, the -1 to damage per die is mathematically equivalent to lowering the die by one step, but avoids the need for exotic dice smaller than 1d4s. It also avoids needing a new chart listing finessed damage dice.

 

[Lanliss]

I don't follow. In the PHB, that hypothetical wizard would no longer be able to use his proficiency bonus on the attack, which is huge. In this system, the wizard's longsword would work largely the same as his dagger. He wouldn't have much success throwing it, but otherwise it'd work .

Currently a longsword Wizard would use 1d8+str. At first level this is only 2 less than someone with equivalent strength and proficiency. With your method he would be swinging at 1d4, making it obviously worse than just defaulting to spells. That makes the choice a much larger mechanical gap, which makes it increasingly unlikely that someone who wants such a Wizard would bother making one, unless they really wanted it.

I know it is a bit of a corner case of an example, but the basic idea is that this discourages swinging outside your classes default weapon list, far more than the current system.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

I used 2d4 and 2d6 for two-handed weapons so they could be more directly comparable to the 2d4 and 2d6 of fighting with a weapon in each hand. That way, a greatweapon and a pair of weapons both have the same hit die.

Depending on how strictly you keep track of what characters are doing with their hands, two-handed weapons may have an advantage over two weapons. You can hold a two-handed weapon one hand even if you can't swing it, so you can have a free hand to cast a spell or drink a potion or manipulate an object if you need to. With two weapons, you need to sheathe or drop one to free up a hand.

Just some things to think about when you aren't fighting in a white room.

Regarding fighting with finesse, the -1 to damage per die is mathematically equivalent to lowering the die by one step, but avoids the need for exotic dice smaller than 1d4s. It also avoids needing a new chart listing finessed damage dice.

The "exotic die" you're referring to here is the d2. Also known as the coin.

 

[Ganymede81]

Currently a longsword Wizard would use 1d8+str. At first level this is only 2 less than someone with equivalent strength and proficiency. With your method he would be swinging at 1d4, making it obviously worse than just defaulting to spells. That makes the choice a much larger mechanical gap, which makes it increasingly unlikely that someone who wants such a Wizard would bother making one, unless they really wanted it.

In your scenario, he trades away two points of average damage per hit to get +2 to hit.

Do you really think trading -2 damage for +2 to hit would transform a wizard's longsword strike from a reasonable alternative to a cantrip into something "obviously worse?"

Depending on how strictly you keep track of what characters are doing with their hands, two-handed weapons may have an advantage over two weapons. You can hold a two-handed weapon one hand even if you can't swing it, so you can have a free hand to cast a spell or drink a potion or manipulate an object if you need to. With two weapons, you need to sheathe or drop one to free up a hand.

I didn't address it in this article, but I've worked with the idea that a non-martial spellcaster always needs a spellcasting focus in one hand while a martial spellcaster may use a melee weapon as a focus. That, paired with the ability to draw a weapon freely when you make an attack with it, eliminates a lot of the weapon juggling issues.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

Currently a longsword Wizard would use 1d8+str. At first level this is only 2 less than someone with equivalent strength and proficiency. With your method he would be swinging at 1d4, making it obviously worse than just defaulting to spells. That makes the choice a much larger mechanical gap, which makes it increasingly unlikely that someone who wants such a Wizard would bother making one, unless they really wanted it.

The average of 1d4 is also "only 2 less" than that for 1d8. And attack roll bonuses are generally considered to be more valuable than damage.

 

[Lanliss]

In your scenario, he trades away two points of average damage per hit to get +2 to hit.

Do you really think trading -2 damage for +2 to hit would transform a wizard's longsword strike from a reasonable alternative to a cantrip into something "obviously worse?"

Maybe it is just me then, or is just in my head. it just reads as a poor comparison to me.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

I don't follow. In the PHB, that hypothetical wizard would no longer be able to use his proficiency bonus on the attack, which is huge. In this system, the wizard's longsword would work largely the same as his dagger. He wouldn't have much success throwing it, but otherwise it'd work fine.

There are several ways that a Wizard can be proficient in Longsword.
I think assuming that a wizard build with the intent to use a longsword won't actually be proficient in that weapon is probably a mistake.