Post by gamedave on Feb 6, 2019 14:52:33 GMT -5
My suggestion for rewording/reworking the magical sword Irontamer got:
Volcanic Blade
This magical +1 greatsword appears to made of volcanic rock, with veins of glowing magma. When it is unsheathed, the glowing veins shed dim light in a 5 foot radius. At the beginning of your turn, you may invoke an eruption of magical power from the blade. When you do so, you may choose to either gain a +1 bonus to AC while wielding the volcanic blade, or gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it. In either case, the bonus lasts until the beginning of your next turn. Once you invoke this eruption of power, you may not do so again until the next dawn.
Design Notes: I re-worded the "once a day" to bring it into line with how magic item recharging is usually worded in 5E. I added the dim light as a thematic "ribbon" ability. It's a well-established trope in D&D for magical swords to glow, and 5 feet of dim light isn't terribly useful, although it is actually quite handy in the specific case of being in complete but non-magical darkness. I combined the +1 to attack and +1 to damage into a single usage to bring it into line with how these bonuses usually work in 5E. This is the one bit that is a straight upgrade over your original wording. But, I can't think of any other case in 5E where you have only a +1 to attack and not to damage or vice versa. The cases where you only get a bonus to one but not the other are usually much bigger (+2 or +1d4 to attack, or +1d6 to damage, or greater). 5E generally seems to consider +1 to both attack and damage to be roughly equivalent to +1 to AC.
Volcanic Blade
This magical +1 greatsword appears to made of volcanic rock, with veins of glowing magma. When it is unsheathed, the glowing veins shed dim light in a 5 foot radius. At the beginning of your turn, you may invoke an eruption of magical power from the blade. When you do so, you may choose to either gain a +1 bonus to AC while wielding the volcanic blade, or gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it. In either case, the bonus lasts until the beginning of your next turn. Once you invoke this eruption of power, you may not do so again until the next dawn.
Design Notes: I re-worded the "once a day" to bring it into line with how magic item recharging is usually worded in 5E. I added the dim light as a thematic "ribbon" ability. It's a well-established trope in D&D for magical swords to glow, and 5 feet of dim light isn't terribly useful, although it is actually quite handy in the specific case of being in complete but non-magical darkness. I combined the +1 to attack and +1 to damage into a single usage to bring it into line with how these bonuses usually work in 5E. This is the one bit that is a straight upgrade over your original wording. But, I can't think of any other case in 5E where you have only a +1 to attack and not to damage or vice versa. The cases where you only get a bonus to one but not the other are usually much bigger (+2 or +1d4 to attack, or +1d6 to damage, or greater). 5E generally seems to consider +1 to both attack and damage to be roughly equivalent to +1 to AC.