A Simple System to UPGRADE Your D&D Weapons!

D&D weapons need UPGRADES like the video game RPGs that were inspired by D&D! Here's an easy homebrew weapon upgrade system for Dungeons & Dragons 5e! ⏬ More below! ⏬
✨ WEAPON CUSTOMIZATION: • 3 House Rules to CUSTO...
📜 dScryb: dscryb.com/?aff=267
💥 Save 10% on dScryb with promo code: BOB
▶️ More D&D videos: • DM & Player Tips
Best ways to support
✅ Like, Comment, Share
✅ Subscribe: kzbin.info...
🔥 Patreon (cool stuff & Discord): / bobworldbuilder
🔥 YT Membership (Discord): / @bobworldbuilder
🛒 Shop DMs Guild (Affiliate): www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?a...
🛒 Shop Amazon D&D (Affiliate): www.amazon.com/shop/bobworldb...
🌟 Donate: paypal.me/bobworldbuilder?loc...
🌟 Be kind
Free stuff
📜 Session 0 Checklist: / 39281630
📜 Beginner Adventure: www.dmsguild.com/product/2804...
📜 Tavern Supplement: / 36929606
Twitter: / bobworldbuilder
Facebook: / bob-world-builder-1128...
All donations and affiliate earnings through qualifying purchases help me make better content for this community! Thank you for all your support, and keep building :D
#dnd #dungeonsanddragons #dndhomebrew

[@BobWorldBuilder]

✨ WEAPON CUSTOMIZATION: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ioHHf4ekmN-Ibc0 📜 dScryb: dscryb.com/?aff=267 💥 Save 10% on dScryb with promo code: BOB

[@yaboi5932]

For magic weapons just have a "Master Smith" ,who can be found in major cities at the DM's discretion, upgrade it for either more gold and time, a magic material, a side quest, or any combination of the 3.

[@greygoblin9491]

Magic weapons need to be damaged by magical attacks, simple.

[@MacroAggressor]

@@greygoblin9491 You could also do it with magical weapons. In my next campaign I think I'll get rid of the whole "magic weapons can't be damaged" thing, and instead make them innately more resilient. Heck, +1 and +2 might not even be treated as a magical quality...

[@MacroAggressor]

Have you considered changing the damage mechanic to a die roll with better odds at higher tiers instead? Would simplify tracking damage state within a tier (eg 1/3 hits left on a reinforced weapon).

[@ryanroyce]

I'd probably still give the Ruined weapon 1+STR or DEX, since even a piece of junk should do as much damage as a plain unarmed strike.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Yeah that sounds fair

[@jones81381]

Honestly if going that route I'd say minimum of 2 +Str or Dex mod. I'm sure if I hit someone with a ruined sword it'd still do more damage to them than if I just punched them. An alternate suggestion for how to handle the ruined weapons would be to, in addition to rolling the extra damage die and taking the lower, reduce the damage die size by 1, so a ruined d12 weapon such as a great axe moves to a d10, a d10 to d8, etc, and a ruined d4 weapon becomes a d2. Then if a ruined weapon is downgraded it's just completely broken and becomes unusable and unrepairable.

[@BouncingTribbles]

I was thinking downgrade the die. D12 is d10 is d8 is d6 is d4 is 1

[@neonavaro25]

No it is worst then just an unarmed strick. Your fists don't cause you to punch yourself 5% of the time.

[@PhyreI3ird]

@@neonavaro25 That doesn't really have anything to do with what they're talking about though...

[@zimmejoc]

I can see the ruined property giving the battle a more cinematic flair to combat! Relatively low level characters could face off against far more low powered monsters since the monsters have ruined weapons and would be doing 1 or 2 points of damage max. The 2nd level barbarian surrounded by 6 skeletons with ruined weapons with more waiting in the wings? This went from deadly to difficult and if described well, could make for an epic cinematic battle.

[@drakinkoren]

Paired with some 4E style minions that drop super easy, you could have some pretty good moments of cutting a swathe through a sea of bad guys, taking hits here and there and really nailing the battle against the odds in a swashbuckling style, all without worrying too much about if the party is going to drop dead.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Very nice point! Thank you!

[@EldritchSunny]

If you like this concept, I highly suggest checking out *Giffyglyph's Monster Maker* free rules (and the online calculator) for easily converting/creating monsters that are minions, elite, or boss monsters with multiple phases (and with a silmplified stat block) ! It really adds diversity to the encounter and cinematic feelings as your players cleave through minions, and are challenged by strong solo monsters (that would be easily run down by a group with the normal rules) !

[@Sporner100]

Careful there, once the monsters would do more damage unarmed this might get silly.

[@nuclearpopsiclestand9245]

Maybe require a special kind of smith to repair or upgrade magical weapons. Perhaps a “RuneSmith”?

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Haha that is the perfect name for it! Wonder if he's interested

[@Mico-Xiyeas]

​​@@BobWorldBuilderI did that for my world. Basically the runesmith is the smith of runes. He creates runes, and he applies it to anything. Could be a vehicle, object, weapon, person, place, etc. The item itself isn't considered magic as the magic comes from the rune, however, sometimes the rune grants things magical capabilities. But they would be channeled through the rune, so for example a damaged rune area would remove the magical effect. Say a ward on a vehicle. If it was damaged somehow and broke the rune area, the rune would not produce the ward around the vehicle. No more magical ward wagon

[@johnnye87]

I think allowing magical items to be Faulty or Ruined (but maybe not allowing them to be improved above standard) could be a really cool way to introduce them to a character at a point where the pristine item would be too powerful. A 1st level character set on the path of adventure after they found a rusty sword in the mud of a forgotten battlefield, it looks like trash and they can barely swing it but they're convinced it's special somehow. It takes a whole subquest til at Level 7 they finally find the legendary smith who's able to restore the Sword of Heroes to a shadow of its potential... but to truly come into its own, it needs to be brought before the Celestial who forged it, who will surely want to see proof that its new bearer is worthy.

[@LetMeintheLibrary]

​@johnnye87 this feels like exactly the comment i needed to see to craft a not-too-powerful weapon for my level 4 players

[@wyattandsarah]

I think The Lord of the Rings gives some interesting insight. 1. A ruined weapon can still do critical damage. See destroying Sauron with the broken sword Narsil. Broken swords probably only work if they are magical and a critical strike. 2. Magical weapons can be broken but only by other magical weapons or magical beings. Again see LOTRs Narsil/Anduril. It seems unnecessary for magical weapons to be degraded by any non-magical means. As far as repairs go: Weapons that are damaged can be reforged or repaired by a very skilled blacksmith (not farm/village blacksmith). Magical weapons can only be reforged by someone as skilled/magical as the original maker.

[@O4C209]

Love this. I think I'll use a simpler version of this first. A Superior weapon has advantage on damage rolls, and an Inferior weapon has disadvantage on damage rolls.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thanks! And that's a very nice adjustment

[@satori2890]

That's how I'm going to use it in Shadow Dark.

[@kd7jhd]

Thank you for sharing your Weapon Quality System from Patreon. I'm not currently a financial supporter, but I certainly plan to do so when I can because your resources and the suggestions you make are very useful.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

You're welcome! I appreciate your support of any kind :)

[@ceno10101]

so a ruined "scorpion on a stick" would just be a stick.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Or just a scorpion lol

[@ceno10101]

@@BobWorldBuilder haha, i guess repairing it would just be some duct tape.

[@satori2890]

And the upgrade is Hal Drake😮

[@ChristnThms]

I think three tiers (damaged, standard, improved) are about as complete as I'd go on weapons. The "advantage/disadvantage" on damage is simple and fast. The downgrading to avoid criticals is more complicated, as it is both a consumable resource and changing rolls. On armor, I think that adding damage thresholds makes more sense. It makes sense that better armor mitigates minor hits better, but a smash from a thrown Boulder is going to hurt no matter what.

[@peteonretreat2023]

Oh, I like the 3 tier idea!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Very nice adjustment!

[@agilemind6241]

Agreed 3 tiers is easy and straightforward. And for the degradation threshold I'd use "falling unconscious during a battle" as dropping your weapon during combat is likely going to result in it being stepped on, kicked, or otherwise damaged before you can pick it up again.

[@Josh_Green44]

I found the "same scimitar" on every goblin a bit underwhelming, too, so I've varied the weapons by shape or style, while keeping the damage potential on par for the enemy creature's weapon stats. I like your idea of faulty or junk weapons, scavenged by lower level enemies. Adds a layer of realism to the encounters.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Yeah in one of my very first encounters we took out a bunch of goblins and I really expected them to have some variation! Glad you like these ideas!

[@schwarzerritter5724]

That is why so many dungeon masters have enemy weapons just disintegrate when they die.

[@MatthewBosk]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="5">0:05</a> Yes!! Champions of Norrath!! Played this with my friend and my dad SOOO much as a kid. Part of what got me into D&D also :D

[@madprophetus]

If Daybreak was smart (they're not), they'd remaster these games for PS5 and PC.

[@HouseDM]

For me it was the Baldur's Gate series but I feel you Bob! It can be tricky adding a house rule that strictly weakens the PC's but I think this can definitely enrich your game. Thanks for sharing!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Yeah I’m expecting some flak for that haha, but I know if it was purely about upgrades I’d get called out for power creeping! So these tiers of quality are split between better and worse than normal :P

[@HouseDM]

@@BobWorldBuilder Honestly, 5e favors the players waaaaay too much. As a fellow DM, i'm all for nerfing the players a bit

[@JefAlanLong]

It can equally weaken the monsters and bad guys...

[@TheClericCorner]

I like the 'roll 2 take the lowest/highest' mechanic. I've been doing that for certain effects to hit die when the party takes short tests

[@coolintruddle]

This seems like a very useful mechanic. I'm going to immediately implement it in a one shot I'm preparing for next week and see how it does. Thanks!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thanks!! Have fun with it!

[@Killer66hitman]

How'd it go?

[@coolintruddle]

@@Killer66hitman It works great for one shots. After a few sessions, the players found themselves with no gear to 'call their own' as they were constantly just replacing damaged stuff. Maybe if I had adjusted the prices of new gear or given them less treasure, that might have helped.

[@nickchivers9029]

I swear dude every time I think about something to add depth to my game you come out with the exact thing I'm looking for. Your hair must have psychic powers.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Lol what else do you want to add to your game? Always looking for new video ideas!

[@nickchivers9029]

@@BobWorldBuilder not sure if you've covered this already but I'd love to hear your take on making exploration more engaging, like I love the idea of an adventure where the characters have to actually follow a cryptic map to discover a location and have obstacles and sidetracks and stuff but I find that very daunting.

[@Felixpotato]

This is exactly what I was needing last night when a player asked if can he improve his sword.

[@twilightgardenspresentatio6384]

He’s gonna smile when you tell him

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Now you can prep it for the next session! :)

[@beardalaxy]

Typically what we do in our campaigns is have it upgraded to a +1 (and etc.) weapon, or be able to enchant it with some sort of property, like elemental damage. I had gemstones that could be purchased in my campaign that the players could meld with their weapons and armor in order to add or negate 1d4 of whatever damage type correlated with the color of the gem, for instance. Some other ideas are giving it a serrated edge so it tears into enemies and deals a bit more damage (or inflicts a bleeding status if you're using a system for that, or just akin to the Sword of Wounding), making the grip have a bit more texture to it so it is harder to drop (meaning they'll never lose their sword on a failure or by an attempt to disarm), carving runes into the blade that can call upon certain spells once per day... the sky's the limit! Often times it's cool to let the players figure out a way that they might want to improve their weapons and let them do it. For instance, we killed a dragon in my current campaign I'm a player in, and we took the dragon bones to a dwarven smithy who was able to craft weapons made out of the dragon bone. I believe they ended up just being +1 weapons but still, the idea came from the players and the dungeon master went with it, so that should be something you encourage at your table!

[@peteonretreat2023]

Good stuff. I’d only allow reliable property weapons to take 1 critical hit simply because I don’t want to have to track a weapon’s hp.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Totally valid point 👌🏻

[@woerkntwerk5245]

Orrrrr, you could have the higher upgrades reduce the chance of a weapon being broken by a single hit. A Well-built sword is reduced by a D6>2 but a Perfectly-Crafted sword is only reduced by a D6>5.

[@coltonbuhler7011]

I think just giving a weapon hp relative to its quality would be okay. Say 6 if it's a d6 of damage. And when it's below half it's disadvantage on damage. If it's at 0 and you use it you break it. When it's at full you get advantage. I love the flexibility in DnD and you don't have to like this idea, but Bob has got me thinking a lot! What if every time you hit it reduces the sharpness of a blade, and you have to roll to sharpen on a short rest and fully sharpen on a long rest. It would affect piercing too, but not bludgeoning. And magical weapons could just have 10× as many points. But be 10× harder the sharpen. Good weapons could have 2x as many and great weapons could have 3x as many, and stays sharp for 2 hits or 3 hits or 10 hits.

[@bryansmith844]

Is this video a refinement of the previous one about weapons? I really like the idea of using the advantage/disadvantage mechanic for other dice rolls like damage. What other rolls could it apply to? Superiority Die? Inspiration Die? A whole can of design worms has been opened. Thanks Bob!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

It is! Glad you like it Bryan!

[@happygilmore511]

For magic weapons, each church my party finds has an enchanter who can place religion specific runes into magical or high material weapons. For example, a shield that lights an attacker on faerie fire

[@BobWorldBuilder]

I really like that!

[@AlexnicholasBlakely]

Nice little system there. I just bought DC's complete weapon and armour overhaul. It looks so fun

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Awesome! Yeah I think Coach and I might try to work on something together :)

[@floramew]

I think magic weapon upgrading/ down grading would be interesting! Maybe it requires both a smith and an enchanter working together to upgrade? Not sure what, if anything, would feel right but not be too number crunchy to down grade magical weapons, though.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Yeah it's definitely tricky!

[@wilsontabb8222]

It would be pretty easy to say that a magical weapon is also upgraded already. So if it’s a +1 long sword, you add a die and keep the best and then you add 1 to attack and damage. I think the negating crit feature is interesting, but it’s something that seems more suited to armor, and you could say a suit of armor has a number of uses per day = its bonus. So a +2 breastplate negates 2 crits per game… I really like these ideas to spice up 5E, which I think is mechanically quite dull. But they could also be added to systems like pathfinder to make them deeper as well.

[@wilsontabb8222]

On the flip side, you could say cursed weapons and armors are downgraded, so they attack with disadvantage on damage, subtract their bonus from your roll or ac and you could even give the gm the option of turning regular hits into crits on cursed armors.

[@pouncerlion4022]

While it wouldn't affect the weapon's resulting quality, I would go with needing at least a reliable quality weapon for making a magical weapon. The would reflect the classic need for a "masterwork" weapon from older editons.

[@henryohenry1504]

Hello my friend! I LOVE THIS Its so good and adds some simple but interesting flavor!!! I might just have to start calling you chef with all this awesome homebrew you got going on! My personal idea for weapons is that they should have their own magical levels as well. Like a first level enchantment is that the weapon is magical. And thats it not even a plus 1, it literally just has magic embed into it. So that even a low level party member can fight a creature or ghost that has resistance to magical weapons. Now a level 2 enchantment would be a plus one and POSSIBLE other properties like control water. The level 3 enchantment would have other properties for sure or if it doesn't have another property you can get it enchanted with a magical property. When you get to a level 4 enchantment now the item is practically a legendary weapon. And lastly a level 5 enchantment would mean the item is so magical it is most likely sentient. Now here is the tricky thing, items with curses will typically start at a level 3 enchantment. So when you cast Identify you can only read a basic level 1 enchantment from an item. So to get a deeper understanding of an item you must 1. take it to an enchanter 2. Atune to the item 3. Know how to cast not identify but "reveal" (5th level spell) And with that you can gain knowledge from the item. Because just like curses some items can have enchantments that can be unlocked. Especially if the item is rare enough. I can elaborate more if you like. Or of course feel free to take anything I've given you and rework/fix anything you may find wrong with this system.

[@twilightgardenspresentatio6384]

I’m definitely sharing this with my too old to watch tv on KZbin buddies. This is good. Strong, fast, simple and very rewarding. I love mundane, low level play and this makes every looting a treasure hunt. And being able to choose to mitigate critical damage is just fire.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

I really appreciate your comment here- that’s exactly what I was going for! Glad you liked it and thanks for sharing :)

[@zachattack461]

I might have to use this. I've always loved the idea of weapons breaking during combat, and having multiple weapons for multiple rules. It does a lot to flavor up the martial classes!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Glad you like it!

[@ClassesandConstructs]

This video is great. Efficient clean system without too much weight but with plenty of consequence. Another home run Bob! Thanks for sharing.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Glad you enjoyed it! :)

[@Cyberfender1]

Good to think about Bob. I have an example... In the movie Excalibur, King Arthur Was battling Sir Lancelot when he hit him with a hit that Broke the magic sword! ( but was repaired by The lady of the Lakes even though she was in a pond at the time) Not every character has a "sword giving tart". Anther is the Shards of Narsil( LOTR) so I say it is possible for magic weapons to break( very hard to do)

[@kevindufresne6865]

Funny thing two years ago, I added reliable (yup even used the same name) and unreliable weapons to my games. I like how it feels like an upgrade but doesn't really mess up the math.

[@kevindufresne6865]

And I will be using the RUINED property for my monsters !

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Awesome! :)

[@VitalBite]

LOVED the Champions series, so I really appreciate this video, thanks Bob! I feel seen.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

There are dozens of us! Dozens!!

[@calebv.6610]

i LOVE weapon upgrades and changes. I have one question bob, however, when is the next Icewind Dale video? love all of your content but i’ve been so excited for that video!!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thanks! My campaign was on hold for a few weeks so the series was set back for a while. We’re back at it now, so probably end of October or early November. I kinda want to do one big video that covers the last several chapters, so it may be later. I really appreciate your enthusiasm for it :)

[@DjigitDaniel]

This is fantastic. Inspiring. I love your videos, but something like this makes me regret not having thought of it myself years ago. Brilliant.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Haha, thanks! And I'm sure you've come up with some cool homebrew of your own 😎

[@0501AJ]

Awesome ideas, i really love the concept of improving weapons and not just use the same weapons stats all the time, so i've be thinking in a lot of methods to make that viable but i never think about the way you make it. Thanks for the PDF i'll definily use it on my sessions and gave you a feedback about.

[@schecter006]

Champions of Norrath, holy shit what a throwback! Me and my brother played hours upon hours of it on co-op!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Yep! My best friends and I have fond memories of this game :)

[@ghosttraintittiebeaan4879]

my ttrpg uses slots in order to buff, debuff, and customize items; it's amazing how much it adds to the martial system, really makes players bond to their items too.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

That’s awesome! And actually it’s another cool feature of weapons from Champions of Norrath lol

[@Balcamion79]

"Minuscule guard stretches out..." made me think of a wee halfling waking up from a nap on guard duty.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Haha yep, dScryb is very inspiring!

[@maitrecorbeau_gm]

Quick, simple, interesting and satisfying. Nice job Bob !

[@ItsLukeCollingham]

Bob amazing job, i love the work you have put into the pdf file and is very well detailed and easy to understand! Me and my friends, will have a huge laugh about this, when did this happened for them for the first time! Also, i got a question are we aloud to use this in maybe a stream? And we do give props where ever it is needed and will promote your channel for ever is watching!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thanks! Can you email a link to your stream ([e-mail])? and I’d appreciate it if you included the link to this video in sessions where you use it. No obligation, but it would certainly help your audience understand the combat :)

[@ItsLukeCollingham]

@@BobWorldBuilder Of course! Me and my friends are just starting out, in a few weeks we should be online! and i will send you the link of the stream!

[@AmpleGames]

This was a great video! I loved your previous Customizing Weapons video and it seems like you've just built on that here. I downloaded the PDF and I'm excited to try it out in my campaign :D

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thank you very much!

[@jacoblindberg8915]

Really liked this idea! Will most likely try it out in our game!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Awesome! Have fun with it!

[@Pijetlo91]

A very elegant idea, I must say. It's super easy to remember and brings up more role playing and cinematic opportunities.

[@BlackDragonRPGReviews]

This is such a great home brew weapon system! Well done, Bob!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thank you!

[@Brandon-dj2ep]

I’m so impressed with this homebrew idea Bob World Builder, thank you as usual for the excellent content

[@pez5767]

Thank you for the free link! Also, I'm really enjoying this content about custom basic weapons. I think it's one area that 5e is just a little too simplistic and these videos are some great idea-fuel for spicing things up.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

You’re welcome, and thank you for the kind words! :)

[@24Joak24]

Yo, this is GREAT. Keep up the good work!

[@charliehaskell1926]

This is a fantastic video, so glad I found this channel.

[@bud389]

Weapon quality already existed. In 2nd edition you had Poor (which gave a -1 penalty to hit and to damage and on a 1-5 on a 1d20 attack roll, they broke), Standard, Fine (+1 to hit or +1 to damage) and Exceptional (+1 to hit AND damage). Those rules are taken from the Complete Fighter's Handbook.

[@orandor6249]

This is a well thought mechanic that doesn't encumber the gameplay and sounds like a lot of fun! I will definitely give it a try in my games! Thank you for sharing with us!

[@Groovebot3k]

Oh cool, a weapon durability system! I've made that a core component in a system of my own, and you just added another action to justify its implementation!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Durability is definitely a better name than just ‘quality’ like I used haha, well done!

[@afonsollima]

I really loved this idea. I'll give it a go on my next DMing session.

[@elliotreid2280]

This is such a great system! Thanks, Bob.

[@Access1296]

I really like these modifications! Thanks for the video. I’ve seen upgrading or downgrading die sizes for masterwork weapons, but not these modifications. I think using a combination of both allows for a good diversity of weapons.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thanks! And yes, both of those mechanics would add a ton of variety!

[@MrPrat91]

Firstly, love the video and have subscribed. I already use a lightweight weapon tier system but will be modifying it with some of the ideas here (advantage/disadvantage damage, sacrificing weapons and armor to negate damage). Thanks!

[@rob7041]

Simple to implement and adds a lot of fun variables/situations Thank you!

[@WallyDM]

Gives me a real Diablo II feel as well. I dig the system... well done!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thanks Wally!

[@wadekothmann431]

This gives me major flashbacks to the various weapon materials and associated modifiers from 2e Dark Sun, and I love it. You’ve added in great flavor here with a relatively simple homebrew, thanks for sharing! I could see keeping track of how many crits a reinforced or reliable weapon has absorbed as being a little painful for some, but that could be tweaked to fit the ‘crunchiness’ of the player group.

[@jordenaylard4626]

That is a great system I will definitely start using that in my campaigns, thanks for the video.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

I’m glad you like it!

[@TabletopMisfits]

These are fantastic Bob, such a cool idea

[@RobertWF42]

Very cool, thank you. More videos on D&D weapon & combat mods would be appreciated! D&D 3.5 included a lot of optional rules like armor absorbing damage and adding a defense bonus to character's AC.

[@Spiceodog]

This goes perfectly with kobald presses weapon maneuvers. We can have both

[@BobWorldBuilder]

I really need to check that out!

[@Spiceodog]

@@BobWorldBuilder you can find it in the Midgard heroes handbook, it’s more complicated but completely compatible with this rule set and the other video you did on your weapon system.

[@byronkooper]

Love this content Bob. Would be great to see you give the same run over for armour too!

[@DrMindmasher]

This was pretty clever, thanks!

[@chessenta3479]

Interesting stuff! I do appreciate efforts at differentiating armor and weapons. Especially the non magical versions.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thank you! Yeah I really like lower fantasy stuff and giving mundane items more attention when possible :)

[@kadel300]

THIS. IS. GENIUS. Wow. I am ABSOLUTELY using this!

[@pauldimitrievich9726]

Thank you Bob. This is gold tier awesomeness. Instantly inserting this into my game.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Happy to help! :)

[@brentroberts8602]

Bob, you brilliant and reliable sage, you've done it again! This is simple and fantastic. An easily memorized homebrew rule that adds great flavor to any game. I will definitely use this in future games and campaigns I DM. 🤓👏👏👏👏👏

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thanks a lot Brent! You’re too kind!

[@brentroberts8602]

@@BobWorldBuilder you're welcome and you're correct. 😀

[@jacobyspurnger8488]

Common and uncommon weapons would be easy, they mostly do what normal weapons do with added flair. Even rare +2 and very rare +3 are simple add-ons. You might even be able to upgrade to +1,+2 and +3 with any weapon with this system.

[@dustinthewin]

I love this idea. I'm adding this to me next campaign

[@skullsquad900]

I like it, and would definitely let the same effects work on Magical Items, but they can only be damaged by magical items of a higher Rarity.

[@shfhthgh]

For roll20, you can implement the “damage advantage” by changing the die roll from 1dx to {1dx,1dx}kh1, for example with a reinforced dagger it would be {1d4,1d4}kh1, and for a greatsword it would be {1d6,1d6,1d6}kh2 For “damage disadvantage” it works the same way but change the kh to kl

[@cjsmith5482]

Bob pin this man, I spent 45 minutes trying to figure this out, and as a last ditch effort came to the comments and scrolled till I found this gem. It’s so important for online play to be able to do this! Thanks @shfhthgh

[@brettcardon4552]

Great ideas, I love the creativity! Yes, I would love to hear your thoughts on upgrading magical weapons. After playing many, many hours of Skyrim, the idea of being able to improve my weapons and damage is something I would love to see in my own D&D games.

[@shawnhuls1606]

Good video Bob. I agree with the need for more variety and weapon quality. I had my own similar tags that I use: masterwork, superior, common, damaged, and broken. But your mechanics are much better than mine. I had a weapon durability system too that could result in a downgrade, but superior and master craft required a special smith or forge. Unfortunately, it never really got much use, and turned into one of those good ideas that was forgotten.

[@amnonvonabrimoch]

Thanks Bob for this brilliant inspriation. Best greetings from Switzerland (yes, we play there DnD too xD)

[@MatthewSmith-pv6gd]

Very nice set of mechanics. I like this a lot.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Glad you like it!

[@joshuamoberly4974]

And with just one mention of the word Norrath an entire galaxy of memories of a childhood spent playing EverQuest just unlocked themselves from the recesses of my mind.

[@mikk01975]

Thank you Bob! I rarely play D&D anymore, but these are actually really useful ideas to use in any RPG. I'm going to go with the extra die and choosing lowest or highest with weapon quality.

[@modtyrant1784]

Good job man, i'mma use this.

[@dannybeane2069]

Another idea is maybe give other sets of tools the ability to upgrade weapons in different ways. Had a few ideas here: Tinkering tools: The player rebalances and modifies the weapon to add one of the following prosperities to a weapon: Finesse, Light, Versatile, Thrown. The cost to make this adjustment is half the cost of the standard weapon and takes 1-2 work days to complete. A weapon can only be given a property this way once, but can revert the modification by first spending 1-2 reverting it to its original state. Cobbler's Tools: The player hollows out the interior of their hilt to put a hidden compartment in it. The compartment is large enough to hold a tiny object or a weapon weighing 1lb or less, such as dagger, blowgun, sling, or dart (and up to 2 pieces of ammo). While wielding a weapon modified this way, a player may use their free object interaction to access and use the contents of this compartment. The cost to make this modification is half the cost of the standard weapon and takes 2-3 work days to complete. A weapon may only be given a hidden compartment this way once and it cannot be removed. A creature can make an Investigation Check (DC 12 + proficiency bonus of the crafter at the time of making the modification) to find the hidden compartment on a weapon. Let me know if people think of other ideas.

[@davehoyle9865]

Good idea. I like the concept. Don’t know if I would use it al my table but would definitely play at a table that’s used it.

[@nikodemos71]

Just letting you know, I just included this on a homebrew of mine that I'm writing for my custom campaign, I dedicated a space in the credits to you for this great idea :D

[@robertmasengale9366]

This video is better than most of your other videos. It has some really inspired ideas in it that put it above and beyond what you normally do. I feel your normal videos are good, but that this is great content. As an extension in order to be able to apply it to magical weapons: Reduce the number of mitigations required before downgrade to one per tier, but add two caveats: A weapon only lowers in quality when it is 'sacrificed' to lower a crit by a weapon of equal or higher "rarity" and a weapon that is higher quality lowers a weapon's quality more when its crit is deflected (detailed below). Rarity ratings are as follows: Garbage Common Uncommon Rare Very Rare Legendary Artifact Mythic Notice all but the first and last are part of the common list for magic items and such. This is intentional. Any item that is ruined quality is one rarity lower than it would be otherwise. Any item that is reinforced quality is one rarity higher than it would be otherwise. In order to upgrade an item, you must find someone with sufficient skill to make an item of that quality. For normal weapons, that means up to Uncommon quality, which could be done by someone with expertise in blacksmithing, a good forge, or minor magical skill combined with average tools... Your average blacksmith wouldn't be able to do it, but if you go to the local lord's manor or town, it's reasonable to find someone to create it. This means that a normal reinforced longsword could cancel the critical of ANY reliable or lower normal weapon without downgrading to reliable, but the moment it comes into contact with a reinforced normal weapon, or a normal adamantine or magical weapon, it could reasonable be downgraded to stop that critical. Any weapon that tries to deflect a crit from a higher rarity weapon downgrades one extra tier level per difference in rarity level. The cost for upgrade is based on the range of value of the normal quality of the item and the new value. (Garbage is worthless. Common is typically between 50-100 gp but can be lower, uncommon are worth up to 500, rare are worth up to 5,000, very rare are worth up to 50,000, Legendary are worth 500,000, Artifacts are worth 5,000,000, and Mythic is worth 50,000,000 for these purposes.) Moving in the same tier is going to double the cost of the item, going up a tier will cost half of the max cost of an item of the new quality level. The cost divided by 10 is also the amount of time it would take to upgrade the item to the new tier. The cost cannot be reduced, but the time can be. For each tier above the item that can be forged at the repair site, the time is reduced by a factor of 10. This means that to upgrade a common item, such as a normal scimitar, to reliable would cost 25 gold and 2.5 days, as you stated, but to raise it from reliable to reinforced would cost 250 gold and 25 days and would require an uncommon quality forge. If the location can produce rare weapons, the cost to upgrade to reinforced becomes 2.5 days. This does mean that to upgrade an artifact to Mythic quality, it would take nearly 137,000 years and someone with the power of a god of crafting to perform, though gods of that caliber likely have means to do this even more quickly (at the DM's discretion, obviously). Due to all of this and how it functions together, a faulty weapon would have half the value of a normal weapon of its type, and a ruined weapon is half the value of the newly lowered tier's cap. A reinforced weapon would be half the value of the "cap" for the new tier. A reliable would have double the value and would be worth roughly twice what other items of that tier are... This means that the price range for a +1 scimitar would be as follows: Ruined +1 Scimitar, 50gp; faulty +1 scimitar, 250 gp; normal +1 scimitar, 500 gp; reliable +1 scimitar, 1000 gp; +1 reinforced scimitar, 2500 gp. The Ruined scimitar is now common quality, so a crit deflected by a normal quality weapon could destroy it all together, but getting to this point is difficult. A +1 reliable Scimitar (uncommon) blocking a +2 reinforced Scimitar's crit (effectively very rare). Would instantly downgrade the weapon 3 quality levels to ruined instantly, but a +2 reliable Scimitar would downgrade the +1 reliable to faulty immediately and a +2 ruined scimitar would only drop the +1 reinforced to normal. The same system, overall, but simplified the very basic aspect of reduction in quality in order to have it account for overall quality/rarity of the item, and gives a good guideline for when to hand them out. It's only marginally more complex than the system you created. You could make it a bit more complex by altering how blacksmiths, their expertise, and the quality of their forge and tools play into the whole thing for time and cost of upgrade, but this still expands while keeping the original intent. Doing the system from scratch, however, I would make the reduction of a crit to normal be a function of armor and make weapons a choice to have advantage on a strike when you wouldn't otherwise.

[@ericgronkiewicz7318]

This is great! I’m going to implement a version of this in my recently-begun Ghosts of Saltmarsh campaign, we’re all pretty seasoned players who like the simplicity of 5e over other editions of D&D, but have enough experience with other systems with much more robust weapon customization rules (like Edge of the Empire) that this should scratch the itch for most of them without changing systems, also it’ll give the party’s artificer a lot more to do during downtime!

[@WisdomThumbs]

Thank you for the weapon upgrade and durability ideas! One of my house rules for the Four Winds players is they can turn enemy Savage Crits into regular hits, but only if they sacrifice a weapon/shield or a piece of armor/equipped equipment. Other players within 5 feet of them can use their reaction to sacrifice their own weapon, shield, or armor. It gives helmets a reason to exist lol. And the more magical the item, the more likely it is to survive without even being dropped. BTW it has led to some EPIC moments!

[@schemage2210]

Damn, that is quite ingenious. Will definitely be considering using this in the future. :)

[@MrGUYWITHFACE]

Solid system it’s giving me a lot of ideas!

[@foolwise4703]

That sounds great - I might try this! I would be interested in how you do this with armor and magic weapons!

[@FunnyLittleGnome66]

I like the idea a lot! I think this could work best in a sortof survival-oriented campaign where most characters have *some* skill with the forge. One extra way I'd make weapons feel more special or personalized is if different classes had a different forging style with some extra boons to give each weapon. A Wizard or Sorcerer could enchant the weapon using magically infused gems or even have their arcane focus embedded into it, an Artificer could give the weapon a secondary attack or mode (see Monster Hunter's weapons), Clerics and Paladins can bless the weapon with holy water to gain advantage against undead, Monks can make the weapon even more durable and Rogues can add an extra effect on crits. I'd even go as far to say that Blood Hunters can add some form of lifesteal onto the weapon *should* they infuse the weapon with their own blood. Select classes could even make weapons from scratch like Rangers, Artificers and Barbarians given how two of those classes are scavengers by nature and one literally makes stuff. Artificer would be able to make most of the stuff but Rangers and Barbs could make stuff like bows and (spiked) clubs respectively.

[@ricardo.sander]

I liked your ideia Bob. It remembered me DW's Tag mechanic

[@matthewward4636]

Yes!! Exactly what I've been looking for, thank you so much for this! Also Champions of Norrath is a great game, completed it only to start again with the same character at higher levels with even greater equipment, it needs a remaster for newer consoles

[@dustinahonen6518]

I absolutely love this! I’m going to incorporate this into my home game for sure. There are two things that I’m going to change… 1) Have weapons degrade whenever the player rolls a 1. Makes fumble rolls even more consequential without adding too much complexity. 2) Give shields the ability to turn crits into normal hits but degrades the quality. This would make two-harder vs sword and board choice much more meaningful than just the straight bonus to AC.

[@brandons2592]

Love this idea!

[@KVrya]

That's a very interesting idea ! In a low magic campaign, it makes you actually go to the blacksmith to other reasons than sell the 10 shortswords you pilfered off the dead goblins...and it would give a reason why the blacksmith wouldn't want these swords. "They're ruined, I wouldnt make enough money from fixing and selling them". I'm not sure about giving free advantage on every attack for reinforced weapons (I shudder to think of a rogue getting their daggers reinforced), but I do love the concept of choosing between taking the crit or breaking down your weapon a bit.

[@matthewparker9276]

I like this. I have in the past just applied a +1/-1 modifier to indicate weapon quality, but this feels more fun.

[@christopherhelton3372]

sounds fun i'm implementing it immediately

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Woo! Thanks!

[@DStrormer]

Simple and clean, I like it.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thank you! That's what I was aiming for!

[@christophermadison801]

improv minis Bob is best Bob

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Haha thank you!!

[@roonocerus]

Super interesting and useful. If'n I had to fanagle magic weapons into this, I'd probably make a rule something like, "when negating a critical hit, if the attacker's or defender's weapon is of a higher magical rarity than the other, the weapon that is less magic decreases in quality." A faulty magic weapon would probably have to roll when its user tries to activate its magical property, kind of like that scene where Cohen the Barbarian is banging his sword on the ground trying to get it to light up in Troll Bridge. "Still got the old knack-a-roonie!"

[@danbourlotos5188]

I'm digging this. Always felt that D&D had poop for weapon customization. Even back in 2e, with all of the optional weapons available, there was not that much actual variation. However, I still see this system being ditched as soon as the players find their first +1 weapons. Would definitely like to see some way to incorporate this idea. Maybe a tweak to the critical hit vs damage chart?

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thanks! Yeah I'm sure there's a good way to incorporate magic weapons

[@ruga-ventoj]

Why not add use this Quality system for magic weapons too? At least for the basic +1 to +3 types.

[@markgnepper5636]

Great stuff friend 👏 👍

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thank you 👍

[@NageIfar]

Interesting approach. I've recently been working on my own homebrew and added quality and a degrading mechanic to Armor instead. Though each level only gives +1AC from the base type (one per light, medium and heavy). To make up for degrading, armor now has a flat damage reduction value. For weapons, i instead made new properties like Bracing (basically a better version of Spear Mastery Feat), Cleaving (roll high, deal some damage to enemies nearby 1/turn), Denting (ignore armor damage reduction) or Crushing (move enemy 5ft 1/turn). I really like the weapon dice advantage idea and might integrate it into my system. What i REALLY like is that i theoretically could just plug your system onto mine and everything would work just as well! Good job.

[@Miniaturegeek]

Love the idea of using your weapon to block a critical! Very cinematic.