The Bitter & Twisted Equipment

When you play Dungeons & Dragons, especially for the half of the characters who are martially focused as opposed to magical spellcasters, the equipment you have has a major impact on your character.

Honestly, we think the equipment in 5e is over-simplified and its one of the few things that has gotten less enjoyable in the movement to 5th Edition. If you're like us, you'd appreciate something to add in a bit more complexity to help the Martial Classes feel more special.

One note is that we would like to make Strength and Constitution a little bit more powerful, becuase we do feel its a little weaker than using Dexterity.

Armour

Armour in 5e is abstracted, passive, and simple. It serves to determine a creature's Armour Class (AC), which is the difficulty (like a DC) of hitting the creature with attacks and dealing damage to them.

To us, there are two problems that could be addressed. One is that there is no difference between a Rogue with an 18 Dex and a Fighter in Chainmail. Both have a 16 AC and there is nothing to mechanically distinguish the difference between the heavily and lightly armoured combatants. The other is that there is usually only one optimal choice of armour, and for the majority of characters, it is Studded Leather.

CON for Defense

We have a House Rule for you that fixes a couple of small issues we percieve. The rule is simple: You don't add your Dexterity Modifier to your AC, adding your Constitution Modifier instead.

This may seem totally wild to you, but here's why we came to this: Making Constitution the Ability that you add to your AC doubles down on it being the Ability that represents your defense and resiliense. Its a bit abstract what Hit Points represent, but it is widely accepted that they aren't meat points. Hit Points represent your heroism, luck and ability to stay standing instead of going down.

Constitution does affect this, becuase it affects how many Hit Points you have, but we think it makes sense for AC too. Instead of thinking of your Dexterity being used, because it's your ability to dodge attacks, think of adding your Constitution because its your ability to tank a hit in your armour, ignore the pain or otherwise stop an attack from draining your Hit Points.

Thinking about it another way, we think that, when unarmoured, skilled fighters like Barbarians, Fighters and Paladins should be the hardest to damage. Their higher CON scores could represent their skill in a fight to not let hits take them out of the fight. Them being easy to hit without their armour almost feels like they would just stand their getting punched in the face in a fist fight. You might argue that a slippery Rogue should be harder to hit, but we feel that their features like Uncanny Dodge and Evasion represents that idea better.

In any case, it's up to you if you want to implement this house rule or not. If you do, a creatures AC equals 10 + their CON mod, with armour increasing the base.

DR

DR, which stands for Damage Reduction was much more common in older editions of D&D. It was likely removed for speed and simplicity (which is admirable). But, if you don't mind a bit of simple subtraction, a bit of DR can really make Medium and Heavy armour feel more protective and useful.

The House Rule is simple: Medium Armour provides its wearer with DR 1 from Bludgeoning, Slashing and Piercing damage from non-magical weapons. Heavy Armour gives you DR 2.

Other Changes

We do have a couple other suggested tweaks, if you're interested.

Light Armour is easiest to move in. While wearing Light Armour, you get +1 AC if your Dexterity score is 13 or higher.

Medium Armour is heavier than you'd think. Medium Armour has a Strength requirement of 10.

Heavy Armour tires you out quickly, and all the extra weight you carry around does affect you. You can add a maximum of +2 to your AC from your CON mod.

Shields

If Heavy Armour still lets you add up to +2 if your CON is higher enough, doesn't that mean you could have a 22 with a Shield? Normally, yes. Let's talk.

Shields should be a lot less passive than they are in 5e. With this House Rule, shields do not boost AC. Instead, a Shield is a one-handed simple weapon that deals 1d4 Bludgeoning Damage, and allows you to take a special Action called Raise Shield.

Taking the Raise Shield Action on your turn imposes disadvantage on all attack rolls against you, unlike the Dodge Action which with our House Rules takes both of your Actions.

Weapons

What weapon you use can be a defining choice for your Martial character, and we want some more options.

Two-Handing

Before we get to new weapons, we do humbly suggest this House Rule, inspired by a very similar rule from 3rd Edition. When you hold a weapon in two hands, you may add 1 1/2 times your STR mod to the damage of your attacks.

This means having a STR mod of +2 or +3 gets you 1 extra Damage, and having a mod of +4 or +5 gets you 2 extra. Not a ton, but we think it helps make big, two-handed weapons feel stronger.

New Weapons

The main problem we have with the weapons in 5e is that if you have higher Dexterity than Strength (and most characters do in our experience), a Rapier is the mechanically best melee weapon, and the one that gets chosen much of the time. The game presents a choice, but it feels like there's one right answer. How many characters have you seen with Studded Leather and a Rapier?

Perhaps, you have experienced this, or don't think its a problem. Either way, we would like to introduce a new Weapon List. Our main improvements: every weapon type has a Simple and a more powerful Martial version, and each weapon type has a unique weapon property that makes it different from other weapon types.

Weapon Properties

All weapons have special properties related to their use, as shown in the New Weapons table.

Ammunition You can use a weapon that has the Ammunition property to make a ranged Attack with the weapon only if you have Ammunition. Each time you Attack with the weapon, you expend one piece of Ammunition. Drawing the Ammunition from a quiver, case or other container is part of the Attack Action.

A weapon with this property must have a Range. The Range has two numbers. The first is the weapon’s normal Range in feet, the second indicates the weapons’ long Range. When attacking a target beyond normal Range, you have disadvantage on the Attack roll. You can’t Attack a target beyond the weapon’s long Range. Each time you fire a piece of Ammunition (except for the first time after a Rest), roll a d6. On a 1, you have only one more piece of Ammunition.

At the end of a battle, you can recover expended Ammunition by taking a minute to Search the battlefield with a Wisdom (Investigation) Check. If you use a weapon that has the Ammunition property to make a melee Attack, you treat the weapon as an Improvised Weapon.

Finesse

When making an Attacking with a weapon with this property, you use your choice of your Strength or Dexterity modifier for the Attack and Damage rolls. You must use the same modifier for both rolls.

Heavy

Small Creatures, and anyone else with a Strength lower than 15 has disadvantage on Attack rolls with Heavy Weapons. If you don’t have disadvantage, you still get a -1 penalty. Wielding a Heavy weapon also imposes a -1 penalty on Initiative rolls.

Injure

Some weapons are especially nasty. When you Attack with advantage wielding a weapon that has this proprty, natural 19's or 20's count as Critical Hits. When you get a Critical Hit with this weapon, deal an extra 1d6 Damage.

Light

Light weapons are small and easy to handle. Light weapons weigh less, keeping the wielder less encumbered. While wielding a Light Weapon, you get a +1 bonus on Attack rolls, and a +2 bonus on Initiative rolls.

Loading

Because of the time required to load this weapon, you can fire only one piece of Ammunition from it each round when you use an Action, Bonus Action, or Reaction to fire it, regardless of the number of attacks you can normally make.

Reach

Weapons with this property have extra length that allows you to attack creatures further away from you. While wielding a weapon with this property, you add 5 feet to your Reach when you Attack with it, as well as when making Opportunity Attacks with it.

Slow

Weapons with this property are slow and unwieldy.

Because of the speed at which you can swing one of these weapons, you can only attack once each round when you use an Action, Bonus Action, or Reaction to fire it, regardless of the number of attacks you can normally make.

Thrown

Weapons with this property are designed to be thrown effectively. When you throw a weapon it is a ranged Attack, but uses Strength for the Attack and damage roll by default. If a weapon has both Finesse and Thrown, you may use your Dexterity for the Attack and Damage.

Two-Handed

The weight and size, or simply the function of these weapons requires two hands in order to control them. You cannot Attack with a weapon that has this property without using both of your hands.

Versatile

Light enough to be wielded in one hand; but long enough to be gripped in two. These weapons can be used with one or two hands. When wielded in two-hands, it increases the Damage Die size by one, like it had Two-Handed. Switching between gripping a Versatile weapon in one or two hands is a Free Action.

Unique Weapon Properties

Each weapon type has a unique property that differentiates it from other weapons. These are the properties in Italix on the New Weapons table.

Armour Piercing (Spears)

Spears are designed to puncture through armour. While wielding a Spear, you treat your target's AC as 1 lower while wearing Medium Armour, and 2 lower while wearing Heavy Armour. You also ignore the Damage Reduction from Armour.

Balanced (Polearms)

Halberds were made to kill man before he can get past you. When you make an Opportunity Attack with a weapon with this property, you get Favour on your Attack Roll.

Cleave (Axes)

Axes combine a small cutting surface with a hefty weight behind it, making for great hewing chops. Weapons with this property get a +2 Bonus on Damage roll when you attack with advantage.

Concealed (Knives)

Knives are some of the smallest weapons, and some of the easiest to hide. Weapons with this property deal extra Damage when you attack with advantage. You roll and add an additional Damage Die on such attacks. You also get advantage on Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) Checks made to hide these weapons.

Defensive (Shields)

Shields sacrifice some offence for great defence. While wielding a weapon with this property, you may take the Raise Shield Action on your turn. If you do so, all attacks against you have disadvantage.

Devastating Blow (Greatsword)

Greatswords can be more difficult to control, but those skilful with them can yield a deadly advantage. When making an attack with a weapon with this property, you can choose to attack with a -1, -2, or -3 penalty to your attack roll. If you do so, you gain a +2, +4 or +6 Bonus to your Damage roll. The bonus to your damage roll is always double the penalty you took on your attack roll.

Lunge (Thrusting Swords)

Thrusting Swords can strike at those that would usually be out of reach. By capitalising on the space between you and your opponent, you build momentum for your strike.

Once per turn, when you make the Attack Action, you may target a creature that is no more than 10 feet beyond your Reach, moving as you attack. This movement does not provoke Opportunity Attacks. If you do so, your Attack gets a +1 Bonus to the Attack Roll and Damage roll.

Manueverable (Unarmed)

Untrained, most wouldn’t consider these weapons to be weapons at all. For those who train to make their hands and feet into weapons, they get certain advantages.

When you attempt to Grapple or Shove a creature, you get a +2 bonus on your roll. In addition, attacking using a weapon that has this property counts as making an Unarmed Attack for all purposes.

Parry (Shortswords)

Shortswords have always been favoured as sidearms, and there’s a reason for it. While you are wielding a weapon with this property, you get a +1 bonus to AC.

Pommel (Longswords)

Longswords are some of the most elegant weapons, studied by martial artists world-wide. Weapons with this property can be held in a couple of different ways to emphasise certain tactics. You can change your grip as a Free Action.

Standard Grip - The standard grip. The weapon has no mechanical changes.

Reverse Grip - The weapon deals Blunt Damage instead of Slashing or Piercing, and gets a -1 penalty to attack rolls, but a +2 bonus to damage rolls.

Half-Hold - The weapon must deal Piercing Damage, and grants you a +2 bonus on attack rolls, but cannot make Opportunity Attacks while holding it this way.

Razor Edge (Curved Swords)

Curved Swords have curved blades, designed to be optimised for slicing. However, the sharp, thin edge is less effective against thick armour.

At the end of a turn in which a creature was damaged by a weapon with this property, it takes an additional 1d4 ‘bleed’ damage. Creatures with an AC higher than 13 + ½ your level have resistance to the damage dealt by this weapon.

Stagger (Clubs)

Clubs are great for either breaking an opponent's guard or simply knocking their weapons aside.

Whenever a creature no more than one Size larger than you misses you with an attack, or you attack such a creature with advantage, you force them to make a Strength Saving Throw (DC 11 + your STR mod). On a Failure, the become Staggered for 2 rounds. On a critical fail, they are Staggered for 5 rounds. On a Critical Success, they cannot be Staggered by you for the rest of the encounter.