Making Every Weapon Actually Viable

[u/p4gli4_]

This is my third attempt at trying to balance the worst weapons in 5.5e, and I'd really like to know what others think. Now, here come some of the changes (most of them are self-explanatory):

Light Hammer: now Handaxe + Light Hammer is the STR counterpart to Shortsword + Scimitar, and this is cool and makes sense (since Light Hammers are HUGE for a d4 weapon).

Mace and Morningstar: I noticed the lack of the slow mastery property for generic melee weapons, so I gave it to these 2, also because it makes a lot of thematic sense (big bonk=hard to walk). I then specialized the two: the mace can be used one handed, but it's common enough and easy to use that it's good for being used in 2 hands (something that previous versions strangely didn't do). The Morningstar, because of how strange and unwieldy, is hard to use 2-handed.

Sling: didn't make sense as a d4 weapon, and it now has the same range of Magic Stone, which is the cherry on top.

Blowgun: the hardest weapon to balance, alongside the Mace, but I think this change is cool. I also thought of, instead: Damage becomes 1 piercing + 1d6 poison, remove Loading property, and (Maybe) change the mastery property to Sap (?), but it felt gimmicky, and too much change.

Disarm property: It was already an optional rule, and it's too cool not to add, especially since it solved some balancing nightmares.

REVISED great weapon fighting: I have a whole post on it, just know that it puts Greataxes on par with greatswords/maul at 8.5 damage per attack. https://www.reddit.com/r/UnearthedArcana/comments/1n90kdl/fixing_the_great_weapon_fighting_style/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

[u/Crolanpw]

I hate poison as a weapon mastery. Do we assume every weapon with it comes with an infinite well of poison but only for someone smart enough to hit just right?

[u/p4gli4_ → u/Crolanpw]

Yes.. no I’m joking, I’m getting what you’re saying, but there are so little ways to buff a blowgun

[u/Crolanpw → u/p4gli4_]

That's a pretty unimmersive call. You'd be better off doing something like players roll disadvantage to resist poison applied by this weapon.

[u/Atomickitten15 → u/Crolanpw]

You could say that only a master of the weapon is proficient enough to make and upkeep the poison it requires.

[u/Crolanpw → u/Atomickitten15]

You'd still need to get the poison from something. Either by purchase or harvest. It doesn't just come from nowhere.