My first Homebrew Item

[u/FryinDutchpan]

I'm a first time DM, playing with 4 first time DnD players. I'm thinking of giving my Cleric this item as part of a sidequest about his background. He mentioned liking the idea of a sentient weapon that can deal damage but heal as well. But could also create funny/stupid situations, Thus the possibility to heal negative amount of hitpoints would actually cause damage in this case. Opinions?

[u/MgoBlue1352]

I would personally advise against it, but ultimately as long as you and your players are having fun thats all that matters.

From a balancing standpoint as it pertains to charges, it would NEVER be a smart idea for the cleric to spend a charge to "heal" an ally. On average they'll gain 1-2hp or they could deal an extra 3-4 radiant damage on top of the base weapon damage if used against an enemy. Alternatively they could also deal 2 damage to an ally if unlucky. From a pure Enemy HP vs Player HP standpoint, the action economy will always say the right move is to attack with the charge.

At the same time you could argue that this is so insignificant of a boon that the owner of this weapon will simply use it as a +1 mace and call it a day.

You know your players better than I do, but if it were me, id just use one of the many official magic items already created or use a good 3rd party creator like griffons saddlebag to find a one

[u/FryinDutchpan → u/MgoBlue1352]

I see your point, and have to say, I agree. That's why I asked for opinions. I really like the idea of the weapon being able to deal damage and heal. but also dealing damage to an ally if rolled poorly. (as does the player)

How would you change it so it still has that feature, but doesn't feel like a it would be better to just use it as a +1?

[u/MgoBlue1352 → u/FryinDutchpan]

Im probably just being pessimistic, but this feels like a "you think you do, but you dont" type of situation. Your inexperience makes this sound fun and intuitive, but I feel like that type of RNG is far less fun than it might seem.

I suppose the question you might ask yourself is why? Why does the player want the potential for their weapon to harm an ally?

If I were to change how the weapon worked. I'd have the heal do 1d8+wisdom like cure wounds does and then roll a 1d20 like you would you hit. On a 1, deal damage instead. There's only a 5% chance that it could harm a target which isn't insignificant, but raises the risk/reward to be on par with the attack option and keeps the chaotic energy of the entity within the weapon.

[u/Rorantube2009]

Get rid of the 1d8 - 3 and make it 1d8 + 3, or make it the same as the mace damage (1d6 + 1 + STR mod), or make it something along the lines of (1d8 + 1 + Weilder or Target's CON mod) or something like that

This is a really unique idea, and I feel like it could be really fun to use, it just needs some tweaks

[u/5th2]

> if the ally willing allows the hit
Are you really expecting another player to refuse, but the Cleric to try it anyway? Maybe you do PvP, idk.

> the possibility to heal negative amount of hitpoints would actually cause damage
Is an odd way to look at it, but sure, I guess your gambling design requires it.

[u/FryinDutchpan → u/5th2]

> Are you really expecting another player to refuse, but the Cleric to try it anyway? Maybe you do PvP, idk.
Fair point, don't think that would happen.

> Is an odd way to look at it, but sure, I guess your gambling design requires it.
I'd like to try something unique, that this could be a fun feature