Damage by Class instead of by Weapon
For D&D 5th Edition, by Tales of Hermes
Version 2.0, Sep 27th 2022
| Class | Hit Dice | Light Attack | Heavy Attack | Armor | Shield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artificer | 1d8 (5) | 1d6 | 1d8 | Light, Medium | Yes |
| - Subclass: Battle Smith (attacks with INT) | 1d8 (5) | 1d8 | 1d12 | Light, Medium | Yes |
| Barbarian | 1d12 (7) | 1d8 | 1d12 | Light, Medium | Yes |
| Bard | 1d8 (5) | 1d6 | 1d8 | Light | No |
| - Subclass: Swords | 1d8 (5) | 1d6 | 1d8 | Light, Medium | No |
| - Subclass: Valor | 1d8 (5) | 1d8 | 1d12 | Light, Medium | Yes |
| Cleric | 1d8 (5) | 1d6 | 1d8 | Light, Medium | Yes |
| - Subclass: Death, Tempest, Twilight, and War | 1d8 (5) | 1d8 | 1d12 | Light to Heavy | Yes |
| Druid | 1d8 (5) | 1d6 | 1d8 | Light, Medium | Yes |
| Fighter | 1d10 (6) | 1d8 | 1d12 | Light to Heavy | Yes |
| Monk | 1d8 (5) | 1d6 | 1d8 | None | No |
| - Dedicated Weapon | 1d8 (5) | 1d8 | 1d10 | None | No |
| Paladin | 1d10 (6) | 1d8 | 1d12 | Light to Heavy | Yes |
| Ranger | 1d10 (6) | 1d8 | 1d12 | Light, Medium | Yes |
| Rogue | 1d8 (5) | 1d8 | 1d10 | Light | No |
| Sorcerer | 1d6 (4) | 1d6 | 1d8 | None | No |
| Warlock | 1d8 (5) | 1d6 | 1d8 | Light | No |
| - Subclass: Hexblade (attacks with CHA) | 1d8 (5) | 1d8 | 1d12 | Light, Medium | Yes |
| - Pact: Blade | 1d8 (5) | 1d8 | 1d12 | Light | No |
| Wizard | 1d6 (4) | 1d6 | 1d8 | None | No |
| - Subclass: Bladesinging | 1d6 (4) | 1d8 | 1d8 | Light | No |
Melee Weapons
Below is a list of potential melee weapons, these are obviously not all weapons ever created by man, but you can use it as a guideline for whatever weapon you are using.
| Two-handed | Either | One-handed |
|---|---|---|
| Greatswords | Long Swords | Short Swords |
| Pikes | Spears | Daggers |
| Glaives | Battleaxes | Axes |
| Greatclubs | Quarterstaves | Clubs |
Reach. Two-handed weapons also add 5 feet to your reach when you attack with it, as well as when determining your reach for opportunity attacks with it.
Ranged Weapons
Here is a list of some of the ranged weapons that need a type of ammunition to function properly, additionally one-handed weapons can also be used as ranged weapons as explained under Light Attacks on the next page.
| Two-handed (150/600) | One-handed (30/120) |
|---|---|
| Bows | Slings |
| Crossbows (Loading) | Hand Crossbows (Loading) |
| Muskets (Loading) | Pistols (Loading) |
| Blowguns (Loading) |
Loading Weapons. You can fire loading weapons only once per round, regardless of the number of attacks you can normally make. Your damage with these weapons does increase to 1d10, but the range of the two-handed loading weapons is halved.
Why and for whom?
There are two reasons why I wanted to make this. If you get the vibe I am trying to create, feel free to implement these rules into your own games.
One of my groups is composed of people with varying work lives. This means that I can play only once every few months with those guys, sadly enough. And those guys tend to forget a lot of the more intricate rules of D&D that you simply learn by playing D&D more than once every 2 or 3 months. For them I wanted to go back to the basics, so they can lose themselves in both the social and the combat encounters without having to know exactly how to build a fighter that isn't accidentally weaker at fighting with a sword than the party's wizard.
Additionally, as a player but also as a DM, I am very much in favor of flavor as the guiding force in my D&D games. As such, if a player comes to me and says: "I wan't to play a melee damage-dealing rogue, but I don't want to wield a rapier, but something that still does the same damage." I reply with "of course I'll allow that". And I give them an axe for instance, but with the exact same stats as that rapier.
Attacks
All weapon attacks are either light or heavy, and deal one form of physical damage (A greatsword for example could easily be used to make an attack that deals either bludgeoning, piercing or slashing damage).
Heavy Attacks. These are made with two-handed weapons with which you use your Strength as the ability for the attack.
Light Attacks. These encompass all attacks made with one-handed weapons, with which you can either use Strength or Dexterity for the attack.
Ranged Attacks. These are also considered light attacks. These can take the form of a weapon that fires projectiles in which case you use your Dexterity. Alternatively you can throw a one-handed weapons with a range of 20/60, in this instance you use either your Strength or Dexterity.
Armor
No Armor. While not wearing armor, your Armor Class equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier.
Light Armor. While wearing light armor, your Armor Class equals 12 + your Dexterity modifier.
Medium Armor. While wearing medium armor, your Armor Class is 16.
Heavy Armor. While wearing heavy armor, your Armor Class is 18. Wearing this armor requires at least a Strength of 15 and the wearer has disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks.
Shields. Grants an additional +2 to your Armor Class, can only be used with one-handed weapons.
Changes to D&D
Feats
Weapon Master. Instead of gaining proficiency with a number of weapons, your heavy attacks increase to either 1d12 or 2d6, additionally your light attacks increase to 1d8.
Polearm Master. This feat works for all two-handed weapons.
Multiclassing. When you gain a level in a class that has a higher damage dice than your initial class, you can now use these higher damage dice.
Additional Changes
Heavy or Two-Handed. If a rule refers to the heavy or two-handed weapon properties, it now uses the rules for heavy attacks (except for ranged two-handed weapons then you use the rules for light attacks).
Light, Finesse, or Thrown. If a rule refers to the light, finesse, or thrown properties, it now uses the rules for light attacks.
Bludgeoning Damage. If a rule requires the attack to deal bludgeoning damage, that rule now works on heavy attacks.
Piercing & Slashing Damage. If a rule requires the attack to deal either piercing or slashing damage, that rule now works only if the weapon used has an edge to cut or pierce with.