Summary
Weapons are an important part of any high-levelDungeons & Dragonsplayer’s kit, and can make the difference between life and death in a terrifying boss encounter. While, of course, as you traverse through your campaign, you may always find plenty of magic items and weapons to acquire, it’s also worth investing in homebrewing weapons of your own to take with you on your adventure.
However, if you need some inspiration for crafting your own homebrewed weapons, we’ve created this list to help with just that. Here are some of the best, most powerful homebrewed weapon ideas for high-level Dungeons & Dragons players.
Attunement
Yes
One of the best waysyou can homebrewyour own weapons is by taking a pre-existing spell and mapping it onto a pre-existing weapon for a combination effect. Talk to your DM about crafting magical weapons and how they might want to approach the process, or if this is even allowed in your campaign.
However, if homebrewed crafting is allowed, try crafting this Thunderwave Hammer, which has the standard qualities of a normal Warhammer, but with the Thunderwave spell attached. Each day, at dawn, roll 1d4. The number on the d4 represents the number of charges the hammer has. By spending one charge, you may forgo a normal melee attack with this weapon, instead striking the ground and casting Thunderwave through the weapon. The DC equals eight + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier.
No
This homebrewed scimitar has two blades instead of one, functioning like a dual-blade lightsaber of sorts. The Dual Scimitar, like a normal scimitar, has the finesse and light weapon property, meaning you’re able to take another attack as a bonus action on your turn with the light property.
However, for the purposes of this weapon, the second blade counts as your secondary light weapon. As an extra perk, with this weapon in tow, if you are flanked, your second bonus action attack has advantage thanks to the proximity of your second blade. This does not negate other advantageous attacks on you.
This javelin functions the same as normal javelins; however, its damage counts as magical to overcome resistance. When you are attuned to this javelin, which also has the thrown weapon property, you can toss the javelin as an attack action, and then subsequently use your bonus action to recall the javelin magically to you.
You can do this a number of times equal to your Strength modifier once per short or long rest. Another great way to come up with homebrew weapons is to ascribe utilitarian effects like this one to normal weapons.
Before bringing this weapon into your campaign, talk to your DM and make sure it’s okay with them for you to use futuristic weapons or firearms. This weapon, ideally, feels most at home in an Eberron-based or steampunk campaign.
This firearm has the same stats as a Laser Rifle, which can be found in the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide in Chapter Three. Once you’ve unlocked this weapon’s mastery property, known as Slow, you can also implement an added effect. When you hit a creature with this weapon, instead of using the Slow mastery property, you can instead choose to forgo all damage and stun the creature, granting it the Stunned condition instead. You can do this a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, though the creature can make a Constitution saving throw (DC 14) to overcome the effect at the start of its turn.
These darts contain the effects of a Charm Person spell. When you hit a creature with this dart, they must make a Wisdom saving throw (DC 13) or suffer the effects of a Charm Person spell. The dart can subsequently be removed, and the charm effect will continue.
However, once a dart has successfully or unsuccessfully been used to charm someone, the effects of the spell wear off, and the dart becomes a regular, nonmagical piece of ammunition. The range and damage effects of the dart are still in effect, but the damage does not count against ending the charm.
This whip is great for players who want to borrow from the monk class to be more sturdy against incoming ranged attacks. When you attune to this whip, which has the normal stats of a whip, you’re able to use your reaction to ensnare incoming missiles or projectiles with the whip.
This effect works only for ranged attacks, like the legacy version of the monk ability Deflect Missiles. When you use your reaction in this way, roll 1d10 + your Dexterity modifier to reduce the incoming damage. You cannot redirect the force of the attack, but if you reduce the damage to zero, the projectile falls inert on the ground.
This special sling comes equipped with a supply of semi-magical ammunition in the form of smoke bombs. While you can use this sling normally, you can also load it with special ammunition and make a Dexterity check to fire it precisely to a point within range.
When the ammunition hits its target, it triggers the effects of a 1st-level Fog Cloud spell with a special twist. The fog, which extends into a 20-foot-radius sphere, is also toxic. Any player or enemy caught in the sphere must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or take 1d4 poison damage for each round they remain in the fog.
Weapon mastery propertiesare one of the most unique additions to the 2024 Player’s Handbook, allowing for a lot of improvements to skill ceilings and creative usages of weapons. Talk to your DM about mixing and matching weapon properties to create homebrewed creations like this one.
This dagger is infused with a mysterious necromantic energy. While the dagger functions like a normal dagger in every other way, its mastery property is Sap instead of Slow. When you use this weapon’s mastery property in this way, the dagger’s damage also becomes necrotic as opposed to piercing for the purposes of resistances and vulnerabilities.
Another great way to homebrew weapons is to mix and match ranged and martial properties. Obviously, this can get tricky, as you can very easily break your game in this way. However, if your DM allows it, this type of homebrew can also prove highly rewarding.
This longbow functions like a normal longbow. However, it has an additional mastery property in the form of Push, similar to other two-handed weapons like the Greatclub. If you are wielding this weapon, and a creature comes into melee range, you may make a melee attack with this weapon (using your Strength modifier and Proficiency bonus) to magically push the creature in your range 10-feet away as if using the Push mastery property. There is no damage for this attack, rather, the effect is meant to be utilitarian for ranged combatants. When you do so, you do not incur an attack of opportunity.
Another unique form of weaponry you can usein your campaign is explosives. Of course, you’ll want to check that your DM allows explosives, much like firearms, but if they do, this next choice is a great option for high-level players.
This weapon has the statistics of a Grenade Launcher, which can be found in Chapter Three of the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide. When you fire ammunition from this weapon at a point within range, up to ten nonmagical objects within a 20-foot radius sphere become Animated Objects and are under your control for one minute. You can only have ten nonmagical objects at a time. When you do so, these items function like they do in the spell Animated Objects, and you are considered concentrating when you do so.
