Introduction

The Weapon and Armor tables as they appear in the Player's Handbook are, to be perfectly blunt, incredibly lacking.

At least, in my opinion.

And the opinion of quite a few others, given how many people revise, rework, or expand the tables to better fit their view of how they feel they should be. At their core, they aim to fix the biggest issue with the tables, particularly the weapon table: redundancy.

By which I mean, why do the glaive and halberd have the exact same... Everything?

And that's just one instance. Of the 28 melee weapons, you could reasonably eliminate 11 of them, or almost half and lose nothing from a mechanical standpoint.

At that point, I could see why there's a homebrew or two that reduces the chart down to damage die, damage type, and properties rather than having individual weapons.

The one issue I have with many of the other homebrews that seek to fix this problem is that they're often a little too extensive, adding in dozens of new properties to make things feel more unique on top of expanding the tables to a huge degree.

My goal was to keep things as simple as possible, only introducing a minimum number of properties (or reworking a couple) and largely introducing personality into the weapons through the addition of two new die types: the d3 and d5.

To that end, I think I succeeded, as most everything feels fairly distinct from one another, even if it's only in a minor way.

Design Notes

One thing I did to better fit how I perceive some weapons was to rearrange their position on the tables, making them Simple when they were Martial, Exotic when they were Martial, or Martial when they were Simple.

This is largely from how I feel the weapon would be categorized based on how it was used in history, despite the fact that Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy game.

For the most part, Simple weapons are the weapons of the common man, Martial weapons are the weapons of the soldiery, and Exotic weapons are mostly ones that might not be native to the setting (which is generally European-styled fantasy) or just had a small niche use that prevented it from seeing wider spread popularity.

I go over each one that was changed at the end of the document where I detail what's changed from the PHB tables.

Weight Classification

One thing I don't go over in the changelogs is the weight classification and how it changed the way the weapons function.

In the PHB, the Heavy and Light properties are almost completely arbitrary, being based on the weapon's perceived size rather than its actual weight, which is how a greatclub that weighs 10lbs (making it tied for second as heaviest melee weapon) is somehow not a Heavy weapon despite weighing the same as the maul.

I rectify this by classifying the weapons based on their weight: weapons under 3lbs get the Light property, weapons over 6lbs get the Heavy property, and everything in between gets the newly created Medium property that entirely supplanted the Versatile property.

Speaking of Versatile, a large part of why it's gone is that you can two-hand or one-hand any melee weapon now, though you have certain penalties for one-handing a Heavy melee weapon because, sure, you can wield a greatsword in one hand, but you won't be anywhere as effective with it as if you just two-handed the sucker.

As a result, the Two-Handed property is now almost entirely the domain of ranged weapons, with a few edge cases where it makes sense for it to appear on melee weapons.

Ammunition

You can use a weapon that has the ammunition property to make a ranged attack only if you have ammunition to fire from the weapon. 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 (you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon). At the end of the battle, you can recover half your expended ammunition by taking a minute to search the battlefield.

If you use a weapon that has the ammunition property to make a melee attack, you treat the weapon as an improvised weapon. A sling must be loaded to deal any damage when used in this way.

Brutal

Weapons with the Brutal property deal devastating critical hits. When you score a critical hit, you roll the weapon's damage dice thrice instead of twice.

Bypass

Owing to their extremely curved shape, these weapons ignore any bonuses to Armor Class granted by shields.

Ensnaring

These weapons feature chains, hooks, or other parts that entangle. When you hit with an ensnaring weapon, you can use your bonus action to attempt to shove the target prone or pull it into a space within 5 feet of you. You can use your weapon attack bonus instead of your Strength (Athletics) bonus when you attempt this action.

Finesse

When making an attack with a finesse weapon, 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. Some weapons have a Strength score, indicated in parentheses, in order to utilize their Finesse property.

Heavy

These large sized weapons impose disadvantage on Small creatures wielding them, as they are too small to properly maneuver them. These weapons may be wielded in one hand or two, but because they are designed to be used with two hands, they lack the balance necessary to make a rapid recovery when wielded in only one hand.

When wielded in one hand, you can't take bonus actions or reactions until the start of your next turn after making an attack unless you have a Strength score of 17 or higher.

When wielded in two hands, use the damage value indicated under the weapon's properties in parentheses.

Keen

These weapons are finely honed to allow their wielders to more easily score a devastating blow against an opponent. A weapon with this property scores a critical hit on a roll of 19-20.

Light

These weapons are lightweight and ideal for dual wielding, but offer no real benefit when used in two hands.

Loading

Because of the time required to load this weapon, you can fire only one piece of ammunition from it when you use an action, bonus action, or reaction to fire it, regardless of the number of attacks you can normally make.

Medium

These average sized weapons are easily wielded in one hand or two. When wielded in two hands, use the damage value indicated under the weapon's properties in parentheses.

Momentum

Using the Attack action, you can make a special melee Attack to build momentum with your weapon. If you're able to make multiple attacks with the Attack action, this action replaces one of them. When you have momentum, you use the damage value in the parentheses. You lose momentum after a successful attack, if you're knocked prone, or incapacitated.

Parry

If a creature hits you with a melee attack while you are wielding a weapon with the parry property that you are proficient with, you can use your reaction to add half your proficiency bonus (rounded up) to your AC for that attack, potentially causing it to miss. If you are wielding two weapons with the parry property, you add your entire proficiency bonus instead, so long as you have proficiency with both items.

Reach

This weapon adds 5 feet to your reach when you attack with it, as well as when determining your reach for opportunity attacks with it.

Thrown

If a weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon to make a ranged attack. If the weapon is a melee weapon, you use the same ability modifier for that attack roll and damage roll that you would use for a melee attack with the weapon. For example, if you throw a handaxe, you use your Strength, but if you throw a dagger, you can use either your Strength or your Dexterity, since the dagger has the finesse property.

Two-Handed

This weapon requires two hands to use. This property is relevant only when you attack with the weapon, not when you simply hold it.

Boomerang

An unsually shaped throwing club, when you make a ranged weapon attack with it and miss, it returns to your hand, provided you have an empty hand to catch it.

Crossbow, Repeating

This unique, complicated weapon is fitted with a simple magazine system that gives it multiple fire options. It can fire single shots, as normal, in which case it can be fired four times before needing to be reloaded. You must use a bonus action to reload the crossbow after firing it this way.

You can also fire a spread burst that effects a 30-foot cone originating from you. Each creature in the area must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take the weapon's normal damage. You must use an action to reload the crossbow after firing it this way.

You can also fire a rapid burst at a single target within the weapon's normal range, firing up to four bolts at a time. Make a separate attack roll for each bolt. You must use an action to reload the crossbow after firing it this way.

Crossbow, Siege

This heavy, thick limbed crossbow, designed to punch through armor during a siege requires the use of a sturdy ratcheting winch in order to reload it, slowing the loading process. After making an attack with this weapon, you must use a bonus action to reload it.

Greatbow

An enormous bow with a massive draw weight, this bow uses your Strength score instead of your Dexterity score for attack and damage rolls.

Hook Sword

An unusually shaped sword with a point that curls into a hook, allowing it to excel at ensnaring things. If you are wielding two hook swords, you can use a bonus action to link them together by the hooks. While they are linked, the hook swords are treated as a single melee weapon that deals 2d5 slashing damage and has the Momentum (4d8) and Reach properties in place of its Ensnaring property.

Lance

A lance can only be used with one hand while mounted and you have disadvantage when you use a lance to attack a creature within 5 feet of you while using it with one hand. It does not gain the Unwieldy property when using it with one hand while mounted.

Quarterstaff

A simple, straight length of wood, the quarterstaff is an incredibly versatile weapon. While wielding this weapon with two hands, it has the Finesse property and you can engage in two-weapon fighting with a single quarterstaff.

If you do so, you use the weapon's one-handed damage value for the second attack and you add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.

Tinbei Rochin

Although consisting of two separate items, a small shield and a short spear, the tinbei rochin is considered a single weapon that effortlessly combines offense and defense, as well as allowing its wielder to engage in two-weapon fighting with its two halves.

When you use the Attack action with this weapon on your turn, you can make an additional attack with this weapon as a bonus action. You do not add your ability modifier to the damage roll of this attack.

Heavy Armor

Armor that fully encases its wearer from head to toe, offering little in the way of weak points for an enemy to exploit; this protection comes at a significant cost, requiring high strength to wear properly.

Light Armor

Simple, lightweight armor that primarily covers the upper body, while occasionally extending down to mid-thigh; as a result, it doesn't hinder its wearer's mobility at all, though this comes at the cost of reduced protection.

Medium Armor

Sturdy armor that covers the torso, forearms, and shins, and may or may not include a helmet. While it offers greater protection than Light Armor, it also impedes the wearer's ability to maneuver easily.

Buckler

Due to this shield's small size, it functions quite differently compared to other shields, acting more like a weapon than armor: it is considered a light weapon with which you are proficient, it deals 1d4 bludgeoning damage on a hit, and has the Parry property.

Bulwark

Due to this shield's large size, it reduces the movement speed of creatures wielding it by 5 feet. As a reaction, you can attempt to hide behind your shield to gain the benefits of three-quarters cover. You can also use an action to doff the shield and plant it, providing half cover to an upright creature or total cover for a prone one.

Deflective

Due to this shield's size, weight, and coverage, it excels at deflecting incoming blows. When a creature makes a melee attack against you and misses, you can use your reaction to stagger it. If you do, until the start of its next turn, it is incapacitated, its movement speed drops to 0, and the first weapon attack made it against it is made with advantage.

Club

As it existed in the PHB, there wasn't much point to the humble club; it was a worse light hammer and is identical to an improvised weapon, albeit easier to be proficient in... Somehow. To give it more purpose, I gave it the Brutal property.

Dagger

There was nothing wrong with the dagger, but I gave it the Keen property as a nod to how it worked in older editions; plus, if you're that close to someone, hitting a vital area should be easier.

Greatclub

Similar to its smaller cousin, the greatclub doesn't really have much purpose. It's unique in that it has the Two-Handed property without also having the Heavy property, but that's about it; it does the same damage as quarterstaff in two hands. To fix this, I gave it the Brutal and Heavy (1d10) properties.

Mace

Continuing the trend, the mace has no mechanical purpose because of another weapon; it deals the same damage as a one-handed quarterstaff, but lacks the quarterstaff's Versatile (1d8). Thanks to its new Medium (1d8) property, the mace now functions like the PHB quarterstaff.

Quarterstaff

The most changed of the Simple Melee Weapons. I had trouble figuring out a way to tweak it to my liking until I looked to older editions. It does step on the toes of the Polearm Master feat a bit, but it's also not without precedent in 5e due to the existence of the Double-Bladed Scimitar in the Eberron books.

Sickle

There's little to say about the sickle, as it was an even worse position than the club, since it had a smaller damage die than the handaxe. I gave it the Ensnaring property because historical sickle technicals are all about hooking an opponent's limbs.

Spear

I honestly kinda hate the PHB spear. In one hand, it's a javelin with worse range, which its Versatile (1d8) is supposed to compensate for.

Problem is, that's pointless if you want to use spear and shield (like the vast majority of historical armies did), rendering the spear kinda worthless, a theme I noticed a ton of when doing this revision.

To rectify this, I increased its one-handed damage to 1d8, changed its two-handed damage to 2d4 for the same reason as the quarterstaff and gave it the Reach property because it's a spear.

Crossbow, Light

The only change I made to was to make it Martial instead of Simple because of how I view the two and to replace it with the (slightly weaker) stonebow.

Shortbow

I changed its damage from 1d6 to 2d3 and gave it a Strength 9 requirement to reflect the training and consistency in accuracy that comes with being skilled with a traditional bow, as opposed to a crossbow that one can be trained on quite quickly.

Sling

Like the spear, I kinda hate the PHB sling. It has the same range as the hand crossbow, but worse damage that is only kinda, sorta justified by lacking the Loading property... Which then gets ignored as soon as the crossbowman gets their hands on the Crossbow Expert feat. Sure, feats are optional, but since a lot of people use them, it's stupid to pretend they don't exist.

Anyway, I don't feel that its PHB incarnation does the historical weapon justice. To better encapsulate that, I doubled its short and long ranges and gave it the Momentum (4d6) property to really capture the massive windups it's capable of.

Flail

The flail was a slightly cheaper, and worse, war hammer in the PHB. It also reflected neither the absurd pop culture version of the weapon or the historical version of the weapon; basically a segmented quarterstaff that was more or less a repurposed grain flail, which is what prompted me to make it a Simple weapon instead of Martial.

Because of this, I ended up lowering its damage to 1d6 and giving it the Heavy (2d4) property so it didn't overshadow the mace; it also has the Momentum (4d8) property, which was more or less created specifically for this weapon and then distributed to others where appropriate.

Glaive

I think the glaive might have actually been what inspired me to revise the weapon table in the first place a few years ago. I love historical glaives and their variants, but the PHB glaive... It might as well not exist. Literally everything about it is identical to the halberd and there are some who use the two interchangeably (or, shudder, think it's some kind of giant shuriken).

It lost its Heavy and Two-Handed Properties, which necessitated a bit of a damage nerf to 1d8, but it picked up the Medium (2d4) and Finesse (13) properties, instead, giving rogues another option for sneak attack with Reach, if they can get proficiency.

Lance

The PHB lance is just fakkin' weird, mate. It's a 1d12 piercing weapon with Reach, which is fantastic... Until you get to its Special property: "You have disadvantage when you use a lance to attack a target within 5 feet of you. Also, a lance requires two hands to wield when you aren't mounted."

So, somehow, gripping the weapon in two hands and thereby shortening your reach makes it harder to attack creatures closer to you. Headdesk. I inverted this because the illogical nature of its original wording gives me conniptions.

Longsword

Nothing much here, I just changed its damage from 1d8 to 2d4 and its Versatile (1d10) to Medium (2d5) to better differentiate it from the battleaxe; plus, it's a nice nod towards their larger cousins, with one being consistent and the other being great for crits.

I also gave it Finesse (11) so that rogues can finally use their longsword proficiency with Sneak Attack, albeit at a minor Strength investment.

Morning Star

A heavier, more expensive war pick. Yawn. Boring. A morning star is basically a spiked mace, so it should damn well reflect that; now it does, with its 2d4 split bludgeoning and piercing damage, as well as its Medium (1d5 + 1d5) property.

Pike

The pike was basically a worse lance without the mindbending Special property and the more I tried to fix it to my liking, the more dissatisfied I grew with it, so I just removed it.

It also made no sense whatsoever, because we're talking a weapon that's 15-20 feet in length and you're going to use that in an enclosed dungeon? Yeah, not happening.

Rapier

The rapier was fine as it was; it picked up the Medium property just because of how the property works.

Scimitar

The scimitar was a bit of an anomaly in the PHB. All weapons had generic catch-all names so they could serve as stand-ins for just about anything... Except the distinctly Middle Eastern scimitar.

I changed it to the more generic broadsword to fit in line with the other Simple and Martial weapons, so any class feature, spell, or item that refers to the scimitar will refer to the broadsword instead.

To better differentiate it from the shortsword, I changed its damage to 2d3 and gave it the Medium (2d4) property.

Shortsword

I made it a Simple weapon instead of a Martial largely because the shortsword hasn't really been a proper weapon of war since about the Iron Age; after that, it was a tertiary weapon at best, a quarternary weapon more commonly, or just outright replaced by the dagger.

Plus, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really unbalance anything; it gives Artificers, Clerics, and Warlocks access to a Finesse option they didn't have before, but that's about it.

Trident

I made it Exotic instead of Martial because it's a fishing implement that saw combat use in exceedingly few cultures, the most famous of which were the Roman retiarii gladiators; even there, they're weren't really expected to perform as a weapon of war.

I changed its Versatile (1d8) property to Medium (2d4) because, at the end of the day, it is still a polearm and lowered its thrown ranges, both short and long, because it's also really front heavy.

War Pick

I gave it the Light and Bypass properties, because it qualified for the former and the latter just made sense, seeing as its head is at a 90 degree angle to the shaft.

Whip

I went back and forth on this one and ultimately ended up making it a Simple Melee Weapon because, at the end of the day, they're a tool that can be used as a weapon, rather than as a dedicated weapon.

It also picked up the Ensnaring property, because it's a flexible weapon and the property was made with those in mind.

Blowgun

I removed it and made it a piece of Adventuring Gear, because it's a barely passable hunting weapon and mainly relies on poisons, of which a staggeringly large number of creatures are flat out immune to.

Longbow

Similar to the shortbow, and for similar reasons, I gave it a Strength 13 requirement and increased its damage to 2d5.

Net

Like the blowgun, I removed it and made it a piece of Adventuring Gear. Even the retiarii gladiators only used it as a tool to ensnare a weapon rather than as a weapon, in and of itself.

Padded Armor

This stuff had absolutely zero reason to exist. It offered the exact same AC as leather armor, but with an asinine Stealth Disadvantage tacked on. It's basically a thick coat or hoodie, for fuck's sake, the later of which is basically visual shorthand at times for a person trying to be stealthy.

It's telling that not a single class has this as a starting option; the only reason you'd ever buy it is if you had exactly 10gp and needed both armor and a weapon. In which case, you'd probably be generally better off splurging for the leather armor and grabbing a sturdy branch. You could get rid of this and lose absolutely nothing of value.

To fix this, I renamed it to the aketon (a type of padded armor most often worn under heavier armor) and lowered its AC to 10 + Dex, but gave it bludgeoning resistance to make it as attractive as the leather armor's higher AC.

Studded Leather Armor

I positively loathe the concept of studded leather armor, because the only reason it exists is because someone misunderstood what a brigandine is. So I just renamed it to brigandine and increased its AC to 13 + Dex, because a brigandine had iron or steel plates riveted underneath (or between) a fabric cover.

Hide Armor

I renamed it to gambeson, made it light armor, and changed its AC from 12 + Dex (max 2) to 12 + Dex with slashing resistance to offer an upgrade over leather while still being attractive next to brigandine.

Chain Shirt

I renamed it to hauberk (the name for a shirt of chain) to better differentiate it from chain mail; I increased its AC to 14 + Dex (max 2) and gave it slashing resistance to offset its Stealth Disadvantage.

Scale Mail

I made it heavy armor, increased its AC to a flat 18, and gave it piercing resistance because scale was basically the plate of its day: pretty much impenetrable.

Breastplate

I increased its AC to 15 + Dex (max 2) to make it a decent choice instead of just Scale Mail without the Stealth Disadvantage.

Half-Plate

I gave it slashing resistance to offset its Stealth Disadvantage and make it truly top of the line medium armor.

Ring Mail

I renamed it to lamellar and made it medium armor, because while ring mail did exist, it was pretty uncommon and the rings were open enough that it'd be quite the lightweight armor. As a result, I increased its AC from a flat 14 to 14 + Dex (max 2).

Chain Mail

I gave it slashing resistance because chain was one of the most protective forms of armor, especially with scale falling out of favor for being expensive to produce.

Splint Armor

I renamed it to laminar, which is what I believe most people picture when they think of splint: wide, overlapping horizontal bands around the body, such as the Roman lorica segmentata or the Japanese yoroi. I also gave it bludgeoning resistance to make it attractive next to plate.

Plate Armor

I imagine this one will be my most controversial change because 20 AC before a shield or magic effects messes with the concept of bounded accuracy a bit, but the main reason I'll hold firm on this is because as it appeared in the PHB, plate armor just left a bad taste in my mouth.

Sure, you can strap on a shield and have 20 AC, but if you're wearing plate, you're likely to be a Strength-based character with lower Dexterity saves, so you'll often fall prey to any kind of AoE that targets Dex.

Meanwhile, the rogue in studded leather with a +5 Dex modifier who wrangled up a shield proficiency has 19 AC, better saves, and will only ever be harmed by AoEs if they really screw up. That 1 extra point in AC just doesn't seem worth it, especially considering the cost of plate.

So, they get a flat 20 AC, because plate armor made you a walking tank and the numbers should reflect that; I debated giving it bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing resistance, but immediately discarded that as too much. I then renamed it to full-plate to emphasize the connection to half-plate.

Shield

Since I expanded shields to encompass heavy, light, medium, and special options, I couldn't very well leave it as "shield", now could I? So I named it the heater (shield), a popular type of mid-sized shield.

I also wanted shields to (for the most part) be more than a static number, so I gave it the Deflective property, but this made it leagues above the targe, my light shield option, which was just a static +1 to AC, so I gave it a Strength 11 requirement.

It's not an onerous investment, but it prevents it from totally overshadowing the targe.

From Version 2.0 to 3.0

• Keen property added and granted to select melee weapons
• Removed the disarm function from the Ensnaring property
• Removed the Unwieldy property
• Removed the Finesse and Reach properties from the quarterstaff, gave it a Special property instead
• Removed the Strength 13 requirement on the heavy crossbow
• Removed the Parry property from the rapier
• Removed the blowgun from the Weapon Table and made it a piece of Adventuring Gear
• Removed the partizan
• Removed the kukri
• Removed the nunchaku
• Removed the steel whip
• Removed the pike
• Removed the chakram
• Removed the caestus
• Removed the wood axe
• Created the hook sword as an Exotic Melee Weapon with the Light, Ensnaring, and Special properties
• Created the iklwa as an Exotic Melee Weapon with the Light and Thrown properties
• Created the jian as an Exotic Melee Weapon with the Light and Finesse properties
• Created the khopesh as an Exotic Melee Weapon with the Light, Brutal, and Finesse (11) properties
• Created the kodachi as an Exotic Melee Weapon with the Light and Keen properties
• Created the macuahuitl as an Exotic Melee Weapon with the Medium and Brutal properties
• Created the tinbei rochin as an Exotic Melee Weapon with the Medium, Parry, Special, and Two-Handed properties
• Created the slingstaff as an Exotic Ranged Weapon with the Ammunition, Medium, and Momentum properties
• Returned the war pick's damage to PHB values
• Renamed the multishot crossbow to repeating crossbow, changed how its Special property functions, and increased its damage from 1d3 to 1d4
• Changed how the siege crossbow's Special property functions, reduced its damage from 1d14 to 1d12
• Changed the kusarigama's damage type from 1d4 bludgeoning + 1d4 slashing to 1d4 bludgeoning or slashing to better reflect its different halves
• Changed the flail from a Martial Melee Weapon to a Simple Melee Weapon, reduced its damage from 1d8 to 1d6, changed its Medium (2d4) to Heavy (2d4), changed its Momentum (4d10) to Momentum (4d8), and removed its Ensnaring property
• Changed the saber from an Exotic Melee Weapon to a Martial Melee Weapon
• Changed the whip from a Martial Melee Weapon to a Simple Melee Weapon
• Changed the pickaxe's damage from 1d8 piercing to 1d6 piercing or slashing, replaced its Heavy (2d5) property with a Medium (2d3) property
• Changed the scythe's damage from 1d6 to 2d4, gave it the Two-Handed property
• Gave the boomerang a Special property

From Version 1.4 to 2.0

• Brutal property added
• Ensnaring property added
• Parry property added
• Strength requirements added to select ranged weapons
• Club given Brutal property
• Greatclub given Brutal property
• Scythe given Ensnaring property
• Sickle given Ensnaring property
• Sling given Momentum property
• Flail given Ensnaring property
• Rapier given Parry property
• Whip given Ensnaring property
• Caestus created and added to Exotic Melee Weapons
• Kukri given Brutal property
• Kusarigama given Ensnaring property, damage increased from 1d3 + 1d3 bludgeoning and slashing to 1d4 + 1d4 bludgeoning and slashing
• Parrying Dagger Special property changed to Parry property
• Shotel given Ensnaring property
• Steel Whip given Ensnaring property
• Tonfa Special property changed to Parry property, damage increased from 1d3 to 1d4
• Buckler split into buckler and targe, +1 AC bonus changed to Special, Unencumbered property changed to Special property.