Some cultures have few weapons. Others have many. The Archive details each clearly. Reduced to museum exhibits, and with no one to wield them, their threat and menace is gone. All that lingers is a sense of sadness. The designers, makers, wielders, and victims of all such weapons are equally long dead. Only in the Archive are the countless conflicts remembered, but in a world beyond worlds the pettiness of border disputes, prideful kings, and shared resources is exposed.
Last time we identified some issues with the weapons list of 5e. There are frustrating options like the Heavy property that add unhelpful limitations. Other weapons are too complex or circumstantial. Still more are just poor choices. Today we are going to try and move forward from complaining, and make better weapon lists tailored to different settings. By the end of the article, you should have some ideas about how to make a weapons list for your own campaign world.
The Icereach States
My homegame is a West Marches-style campaign set in a region called the Icereach States. It has a generic early medieval Europe-based setting, and a custom weapon list to match. Here is how I made it.
Hack Away
First, I identified the parts of the existing list I did not want. Unsurprisingly, I removed the Heavy property. I also removed Light, instead allowing any one-handed weapon to be used in the off-hand — this gives a very small boost to damage to a combat style that generally scales poorly at later levels, so does not through off balance. Also, this is just one of several bonuses given by the Dual Wielder feat, so the published rules clearly do not consider this a major change. If I wanted any weapons with the Special property, I would create new properties for the special behavior, rather than using a wildcard one, so that is also gone.
I considered removing the Versatile property. It is a shorthand for adding two different weapons, and does not really introduce new tactical options (see the last article). It potentially lets us add more flexible magic weapons — a Versatile magic sword could be used by a two-handed or one-handed build. However, allowing magic weapons to be reforged into different forms does a better job of this, as it also provides a way round proficiency limits. Reforging is also common in fiction (Narsil to Andúril, Ice to Widow’s Wail and Oathkeeper, any repurposed alien tech weapons), so I have no issue allowing it. Ultimately, I kept the Versatile property, partly as a shorthand, and partly because I could not think of good distinct names for the one-handed and two-handed versions of versatile weapons.
I removed 1d4 weapons. Instead, I assume that the average adventurer can deal 1d4 damage with whatever they have at hand, but will normally prefer a more effective weapon. This assumption seems reasonable, as it has not come up in many months of play.
Fine Carving
In some cases, I simplified rather than removed. Rather than picking arbitrary ranges for all weapons, I condensed it into the Thrown property, with a short range, and the Ranged property, with a longer range.
I added the Shield property so that I could add shields to the weapon list. This makes shield bashing simpler, and opens my options to add a parrying dagger with the same property later if I wish.
A final detail to highlight is proficiency. Proficiency is an implicit tutorial in how to play the game. It tells players which weapons they should be using as which classes (eg, finesse weapons for rogues, and weapons for fighters). It also tells players when they should not use weapons (wizards only have access to weak weapons, so should find more productive ways to act). I will not go over every class here, but keep that in mind when identifying weapon proficiency based on new lists.
The List
Here are the properties and list I use:
- Two-Handed: This weapon requires two hands to use.
- Versatile: This weapon can be used with one or two hands. The value in brackets indicates two-handed damage.
- Shield: This weapon provides a passive +2 bonus to AC.
- Sword: By stabbing, slashing, or striking with the pommel, you can deal your choice of bludgeoning, slashing, or piercing damage.
- Reach: This weapon adds 5 feet to your reach when you attack with it.
- Finesse: When making an attack with a finesse weapon, add your Dexterity modifier to the attack and damage rolls in place of Strength.
- Thrown: This weapon may be thrown to make a ranged attack. It cannot be used again until it is retrieved (normally at the end of the encounter). The weapon has a normal range of 20ft, and a maximum range of 60ft. Attacks beyond normal range have disadvantage.
- Ranged: This weapon can only be used to make a ranged attack. The weapon has a normal range of 120ft, and a maximum range of 360ft. Attacks beyond normal range have disadvantage.
- Ammunition: Using this weapon consumes ammunition.
The Light property is ignored. Any one-handed weapon can be used for two-weapon fighting.
| Weapon | Damage | Descriptors |
|---|---|---|
| Simple | ||
| Hatchet | 1d6 s | Versatile (1d8) |
| Dagger | 1d6 p | Finesse |
| Spear | 1d6 p | Thrown |
| Quarterstaff | 1d8 b | Two-Handed |
| Martial | ||
| Halberd | 1d10 s | Two-Handed, Reach |
| Maul | 1d12 b | Two-Handed |
| Pike | 1d6 p | Reach |
| Axe | 1d8 s | |
| Mace | 1d8 b | |
| Rapier | 1d8 p | Finesse |
| Knife | 1d6 s | Finesse, Thrown |
| Shield | 1d4 b | Shield |
| Bow | 1d8 p | Ranged, Finesse, Ammunition |
| Sling | 1d6 b | Ranged |
| Expert | ||
| Sword | 2d4 * | Versatile (2d6), Sword |
Notice that there are very few simple weapons. There are enough to give damage type options, but not so many as to require complex analysis. Picking simple weapons should be very easy, and using them should almost always be a last resort.
Reach weapons are available, and have often been taken and used as backup weapons. Each two-handed weapon offers a different tactical compromise, so choosing one or the other is a meaningful decision. The Axe and Mace differ only on damage type, but that is alright — having a few similar options is manageable, especially when they have different tropes associated with them (dual-axe barbarian, mace/shield cleric, etc.). Similarly, the Finesse weapons offer a choice: extra damage, or throwable. In play, rogues commonly use a rapier most of the time, but keep a handful of knives for emergencies — this creates new tactical options.
Far Away
There are two ranged weapons, and both are martial. The proficiency issue is not a big deal, as the classes that cannot use them often have cantrips with similar functions. The bow is explicitly a Finesse weapon — this is a change from the core rules. By default, I rule that all attacks (melee or range) use strength. Finesse weapons instead use Dexterity. Bows require Dexterity, while Slings are a strength-based ranged weapon. The ammunition for bows is another way I can add new options — perhaps it is easy to change the damage type by purchasing broadhead or fire arrows.
There are no crossbows. Although they existed in China, and there is evidence of Greek/Roman weapons, early medieval Europe did not have many crossbows. This is a subtle way that I try to inject the flavor of my setting: industry and technology are not well-advanced, so mass production of crossbows is absent.
As an interesting aside, crossbows do not compete well with bows. For a long time, the bow was both more powerful, and much faster. The advantage of the crossbow was ease: you could quickly train peasant conscripts to use a crossbow effectively, but training longbowmen took time and effort. With enough crossbows, the difference in rate of fire became irrelevant. To reflect this, if I were to add crossbows, they would be the simple ranged weapon that is notably absent from the list.
The Best Weapon
In addition to simple and martial weapons, I have added the expert category with the sword. The sword is the best weapon. Not only does it inflict the optimal damage type, but it is reliable and has higher average damage that similar weapons. This adds a degree of wonder for the few classes (fighters and paladins) to which I give them. It also communicates that anyone the players meet who has a sword is likely a dedicated warrior with the specialist training to use one well.
Admittedly, much of this is a personal indulgence in verisimilitude. In history, swords were the tools of professional warriors. Axes, spears, and knives could all be repurposed from daily tools. Swords are good for nothing but killing. They also need a lot of metal, which requires lots of labour, so are very expensive. They are found only in the hands of well-equipped, well-trained professional soldiers.
Adventure on the High Seas
We now have a list for a generic fantasy setting. But what if we want something more specific? Clearly, we could reskin weapons, giving setting-appropriate names to the same list. However, there is more we can do. Combat in different settings and styles of games can feel different. My list is melee-heavy — thrown and ranged weapons are the exceptions, not the rule. It also encourages specialisation by offering lots of different weapons. Now I am going to do the opposite.
The following is a draft showing how I would approach this. I have not playtested it, and would likely need to change things if I did. If you try it out, please tinker and let me know how it goes!
Swashbuckling Pirates
When I think of fantasy pirates, I have a few images of combat. I see sabers clashing back and forth across the deck; duels with pistols; boarding parties with a sword in one hand and a gun in the other; and everyone diving for cover as cannons splinter the wooden gunwale. This is not what combat with the above weapon lists looks like.
Now, we could create an entirely new system with different mechanics for combat, or find an existing one if that is easier. However, given the ubiquity of D&D, you or your players may prefer it, whether because you want to emulate your favorite AP, have a particular build or 7 in mind, or just want to be part of the crowd. How far can we bend 5e without breaking it?
Swashbuckling Weapons
The first difference I want to focus on is variety. I could put together a long list of weapons, but what immediately came to mind were just two: the cutlass and the pistol. Is that alright? Could we really make a weapons list with just two weapons? Well…yes. Weapon choice is a small part of character customization, even for martial characters. If we make the cutlass versatile, and offer a shield or buckler, then two-handed, two-weapon, and shield options are all still available.
Here is the table, using RAW weapon properties.
| Weapon | Damage | Descriptors |
|---|---|---|
| Cutlass | 1d8s | Versatile (1d12), Swashbuckling, Light |
| Pistol | 2d4p | Ammunition (Ranged (20/60)), Light |
In addition to the normal options, I want to offer a sword & gun two-weapon combo. Normally, this would require something akin to the Crossbow Expert feat, however that would not work here. With 2d4, pistols have higher average damage than cutlasses. They pack a punch, and should be exciting to use, but the single cutlass would be redundant if pistols could be fired in melee at no penalty. Instead, I will add a Swashbuckling property to the cutlass:
- Swashbuckling: While using this weapon in one hand, being within 5 feet of a hostile creature doesn’t impose disadvantage on your ranged attack rolls.
This has several consequences. First, the best two-weapon fighting combo is now the pistol and cutlass due to the pistol’s damage output (or the double pistols if you can stay at range). Second, buckler and two-handed builds will likely be less effective than two-weapon fighting, as the extra ranged weapon adds versatility at no cost. We could just remove those options, but I would consider leaving them in in case a player has a cool idea based on those builds. However, I anticipate two-weapon fighting being the preferred build due to the mechanical advantages and the fact that it is just really cool.
You may have spotted a few weird points about weapon properties. First, I have not made the cutlass Finesse — this means players will have one weapon they are better with. It also means rogues only deal sneak attack with pistols, turning them into a specialised sharpshooter class. Second, I have not made pistols loading, despite them needing time to load. I do not want to make the game perfectly resemble reality; I just need it to be fun and mechanically interesting, which I can achieve without the loading property. Finally, I have made all weapons Light, even though the Cutlass can be used in two hands. This just saves me changing the two weapon fighting rules more than necessary.
Pirate Battles
Ubiquitous ranged options change the dynamics of a fight. If the PCs are the crew of a pirate ship, perhaps many of their foes will be boarding parties or enemy crews who are similarly armed. This creates interesting tactical options. I would ensure that battlemaps had plenty of cargo crates, masts, and barrels to use as cover from ranged attacks from all sides. Players will also need to decide whether to make their Action Attacks with the cutlass, focusing on taking down what is threatening them, or with the pistol, focusing fire as a group. Combat should feel more changeable, as almost anyone could attack almost anyone else. We have changed the feel without significantly changing the mechanics.
…Ninjas!
And now a completely different weapon list. What if the PCs had access to a wide range of specialised weapons, and could use whatever worked best on the occasion? This gives the players a huge array of tactical options, and an unusual flexibility to explore it. For this, we need ninja weapons, and ninjas.
- Ninja: This property can be applied to a weapon or creature. When applied to a weapon, it has no effect. At the start of a combat, a Ninja creature may draw any Ninja weapon they wish. Unless deprived of their freedom and possessions, Ninja creatures always have access to all ninja weapons. Some Ninja weapons have additional effects on a hit. If a save is required, the DC is 8+attacking ability modifier + proficiency (if proficient).
For this campaign, the players will be Ninja creatures and can choose different weapons in every fight. Some players will choose just to use one. Others will pick what sounds thematic or fun in the moment. Finally, some will make tactical decisions based on what they are fighting.
| Weapon | Damage | Descriptors |
|---|---|---|
| Katana | 2d6s | Sword Stances, Two-Handed |
| Shuriken | 1d4p | Thrown (20/60), save vs Blinded until end of their next turn |
| Kusarigama | 1d8s | Reach, Two-Handed, save vs Prone |
| Nunchaku | 1d6b | Light, save vs Grappled |
| Sai | 1d6p | Parrying, Light |
| Naginata | 1d10s | Reach, Two-Handed |
| Blowdart | 1 poison | Ranged(20/60), save vs Poisoned (1 minute, save at start of turn) |
- Sword Stances: This weapon can be used aggressively or defensively. When used aggressively, it deals 2d6s damage. When used defensively, it deals 2d4s damage, and you gain +2AC. You must choose whether to use it aggressively or defensively at the start of your turn.
- Parrying: Provides +1 to AC. Stacks with other AC-boosting weapons and shields to a maximum of +2.
This table and set of properties is a starting draft. Judging the balance between status effects and damage is tricky, so expect adjustments after playtesting — and that is fine! A big part of making a weapon list is finding what works for your players and campaign, and that requires some testing. There is also plenty of space to add new weapons as you or your players think of them!
Now You
I have outlined some approaches here. One is a generic fantasy setting with subtle twists. The second is highly constrained in order to encourage a certain kind of fight. The last one is extremely flexible, but introduces more complexity. The weapon list is an extremely modular block of rules, but by changing it in these ways, or others, we can drastically change the tone of a campaign or the style of combat.
Now it is your turn. Pick out your setting, and the feel you want combat to have, and put together a weapon list. Does it look like the core list, one from here, or something else? Let everyone know in comments or on Twitter, but more importantly try it out and see if it makes your game better.