Source
r/UnearthedArcana•
LetMeExplain

From deadly trap to shiny new weapon, Guillotine Greatsword

Item

During a jaunt into cultist and thief ridden sewers our party Fighter who narrowly escaped being sliced by a Guillotine trap immediately tried to retrieve said blade and, with the Sorcerer's help, welded a longsword handle to it using Mend. Afterwards, he paid 150 gold to commission a blacksmith to reforge it. This is what I came up with. First time using Homebrewery so formatting could be better I suppose. I'd appreciate any feedback you experienced home brewers might have.

http://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/SkbXI5Fbyb

Edit: Removed the ability to wield 1 handed at 20 Strength

Added +1 bonus to Intimidation checks

Posted Apr 29, 2017, 4:47 AM UTC · edited

6628
gingerfr0•

So does it do D12+3 plus strength modifier? I would assume so, and that's pretty rad. I would say force them to have a strength above 20 (21 or above) in order to wild it one handed. That entices them to search for ways to increase their maximum strength (potions, magic item, boons or blessings). Makes for a great personal side quest.

Otherwise they will just dump their stats increases into STR.

That said, having a one handed D12 weapon is awesome. (Played a half-orc with a D12 great spear for years. Loved that thing)

19
LetMeExplainOP•

You're right, the Fighter in question currently has 19 strength, but considering that the game only recently started and their heroics haven't really kicked off to the wider world it would be a pipe dream for them currently.

9
Particlepants•

One handed? Oh no... no no no...

14
sinsaint•

Seems balanced as is, but bland.

Maybe ditch the +3, but have it say "if a hit with this weapon with the maximum possible damage roll would kill it's victim, they must make a DC 15 Dex save or die upon being struck."

Gives his enemies the same fear and chance that he did.

Edit: Or, alternatively, you know what enemies have 10 or less hit points, and have advantage to hit them, but disadvantage to hit anything else.

10
Chocozumo•

Or maybe a fear check whenever a killing blow is dealt?

3
The_Elicitor•

Maybe add a bonus to intimidation rolls when wielding?

6
LetMeExplainOP•

A simple +1 couldn't hurt I suppose.

3
elprophet•

It could. Resist the +1s in 5e, that's what advantage is for :)

3
robertah1•

But advantage works out at around +5 so is too much to throw around, often. +1 is fine

9
Charrmeleon•

Advantage doesn't stack. However +X stacks with advantage.

3
DonaldTrumpsCombover•

As a slight clarification, advantage is more like a plus 4. It is exactly a plus 5 if (before advantage) the player must roll an 11 or higher (50% chance of success).

However, outside of that, and in the range of I think 6-17 (I made a chart, but I can't find it right now), it goes between about +4 and +4.5 (it starts to decrease very rapidly outside that range). It's a small correction, but I don't think it hurts.

1
Saint_Justice•

Neat yet unwieldly

5
The_Elicitor•

Oh definitely unwieldy, but for such RP and flavor fluff potential it is worth it

2
DraslinHDF•

On a critical hit, this weapon will deal two additional damage dice to humanoids, beasts and undead.

5
Falcawn•

I personally feel like making it one handed is too powerful. Dual wielding these? 2d12+6+(2x Str mod)?

4
LetMeExplainOP•

It would hit like a truck, to be sure. I'm wondering how long they will forgo bonuses to attack rolls in favor of damage output though.

1
LetMeExplainOP•

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3
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3
LifelikeStatue•

Almost like a Bat'leth

3
sinsaint•

Erm, you know that, rules as written, you can only mend things to their original state, and only if the damage is within a certain size?

Mend could fix a doorknob, but it couldn't replace a doorknob with a new one. It could fix a small hole in the door, but not a long splinter that's larger than a foot.

Of course, DMs can change whatever they want, just thought you should know.

3
AnIdealSociety•

Suspend your belief in the rules of a land filled with magic and dragons, friend.

He was just doing it to have fun, rules are made to be bent and broken, especially in the name of making a badass new weapon

6
sinsaint•

I honestly think mend can get way out of hand. Think about how much work something like this cleaver would take a UA artificer, or someone who puts points into blacksmith's tools. Two possible playstyles, made irrelevant with a cantrip.

It is very creative, and very cool. And changing rules is totally fine. As long as everyone knows what is changing. Players who are more educated than their dm is a recipe for disaster. So it's important that everyone is on the same page.

7
LetMeExplainOP•

Initially when they used Mend on the trap it was essentially a spot weld connecting an old rusty longsword onto the actual blade. I let them get away with it since they rolled high on the spell roll, but the first iteration of the sword had a -2 attack penalty and only +2 damage bonus. This is the finished sword after the PC gave it to a blacksmith and paid to have it reforged.

3
AnIdealSociety•

Absolutely

1
swordNbored•

Wow. This is LITERALLY the weapon that one my NPCs uses. I haven't gotten around to making a stat block for it, but I'll use this as a reference.

2
Kain222•

If you wanted to give it it's hefty weight, a fun bonus could be that if you crit whilst wielding it, you also knock the target prone.

Or, due to it being a guillotine, you could have it deal that +3 damage to enemies who are prone.

2
ch33ri000z•

This may be a little overpowered, but I think that if it crits, the enemy should be infected by some kind of disease or take 1d4 poison damage or something due to the blade being found in the sewers. Seems thematic and would make it less bland for anyone who thinks it so (Though it's pretty sweet imo).

1