A Simple System to UPGRADE Your D&D Weapons! 

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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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

0:05 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

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

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.

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!

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

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!

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.

I’m definitely sharing this with my too old to watch tv on RU-vid 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.

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

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

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!

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.

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

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

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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!!

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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!

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

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)

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

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

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

This is such a great system! Thanks, Bob.

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

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

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.

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!

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!

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

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!

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

These are fantastic Bob, such a cool idea

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.

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

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.

This was pretty clever, thanks!

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

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. 🤓👏👏👏👏👏

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

Good job man, i'mma use this.

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!

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

improv minis Bob is best Bob

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

Love this idea!

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.

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

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

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

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

sounds fun i'm implementing it immediately

I'll be running this as taking a reaction to block a melee crit. although i do run a sci-fi 5e game, so blocking an alien beasts bite attack crit with a gun to stop your legs getting gnawed off seems thematically AWESOME.

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.

Simple and clean, I like it.

Love this!

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?

Damn, I loved Champions of Norrath. So glad you put that in the beginning there, makes me want to play it again. I really hope they do a remaster of that like they did Dark Alliance. This is a very interesting system, I'd probably run this in my game. I just don't really enjoy how it falls apart once the party gets their hands on a magical weapon. I think you could still rule that it works with standard, non-named non-artifact magical weapons and be fair if you give players heads up before damage got out of hand so they may not lose the weapon or have it degrade severely. I wouldn't rule the enchantment downgrading, just the physical vessel being damaged and taking these modifications like a template.

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!

Pretty cool system. I´ll add it (or a variant of it) to my next campaign.

This kinda reminds me of a mechanic in my favourite video game Barony. Every item has one of 5 qualities, which combined with the material of the weapon as well as how trained you are in that weapon determines damage.

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.

Great stuff friend 👏 👍

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