Workshopping Question about picking the right weapon

Question

As I have talked about here in a bit more detail, I have always had an issue wrapping my head around certain core (and simple) concepts within D&D 5e. In this particular case, the issue pertains to picking the right weapon for a build, beyond the simpler "longsword and a battle axe are the same things with different flavour" answers, such as why one would pick a mace over a greatclub as they both do the same amount and type of damage. I've tried asking the community in a few different ways getting either very specific answers pertaining to the weapons I've exampled, all the way to having my questions closed for being too vague, opinion-based, or confusing.

I've recently compiled all my data into an easy, clear, and concise form answering my concerns, and I wanted to share it with the community as a free resource for anyone who's been having/will come here having the same issue. However, Thomas Markov wisely pointed out that even the best answer can have issues if it doesn't proceed with a clear and concise question, which he suggested I workshop both first (and here I am).

QUESTION:

What are the basic aspects to look for when deciding on your character's initial weapon? >Aside from the flavouring, such as between the 1d8 slashing damage of a longsword and battle axe, what other factors would come into consideration when choosing from among the weapons you're proficient in?

ANSWER:

There are quite a bit of factors to consider, such as any class and subclass bonuses you might get by favouring a certain kind of weapon, but I find a great place to start is by considering what kind of character you want to play and what modifiers are available to you during character creation.

Where you want to position your character in battle becomes rather important, as it will heavily determine what kinds of options are available to you; Frontline fighters tend to gravitate towards the bulkier weapons as they focus on taking a hit and dishing it right back, whereas midline fighters often focus on fineness and one-handed weapons as it keeps them more versatile and utilitarian, back-line fighters focus on ranged attacks and taking that perfect shot, while spellcasters focus on staves as they double as a spellcasting focus.

From there, you can gather all the ways to add a modifier to your roll. While there are class features like Sneak Attack or Hex Warrior that might limit/alter your choices (but often comes at a bonus to damage), I find that there are 3 major categories of basic modifiers that you'll be dealing with going up from level 1 to level 4:

• Proficiency and Ability Scores: From among the weapons you are proficient in, each one will be influenced by either your Strength modifier or Dex modifier for Fineness and Ranged weapons. For example, a level 1 fighter with 16 Strength and 15 Dexterity can add a +5 to their longsword attack rolls and +4 to their longbow attack rolls. Note, proficiency only applies to attack rolls and not damage rolls. However, there are a few ways that a character might base their attacks on a different ability score, which Groody the Hobgoblin and User2754 have kindly listed, however they would be subjected to the same application of proficiency + ability mod.

• Feats and Fighting Styles: While maintaining a theme (such as polearms, ranged, or bludgeoning) here can make for a rather powerful build, this too can add quite the outlier to your choices and each deserves their own consideration. For instance, a fighter might choose to compliment their Halbert with Great Weapon Fighting and Great Weapon Master to become a heavy hitter, while a ranger might opt to accent their druidic staff with Dueling, and Polearm Master for better area control.

• Magic Weapons: While it won't be likely that a DM will grant you a +1 sword from the start, it is important to remember that +1, +2, and +3 weapons of all kinds exist in D&D, and even the most basic of models are considered magical and add the modifiers on top of all those you gain with their non-magical copies.

There are also weapons that break the rolls between two dice. While it won't affect the max damage between, say, a greataxe and a greatsword, it does affect the probabilities you might wish to achieve: single dice have a higher chance to roll max damage, but the double dice roll average damage more frequently.

As a final bit of help, below you'll find a chart listing all the weapons available, what dice they use, and the average damage you can expect to gain from them with modifiers up to a +10. You can use it to compare different combinations of weapons and modifiers available to you to get a better understanding of what you can expect and maybe discover new combinations that will work better for you.

Weapon	Dice	+0	+1	+2	+3	+4	+5	+6	+7	+8	+9	+10
Blowgun, Fists	1	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Club, Dagger, Dart, Hooked Shortspear, Light Hammer, Sickle, Sling, Whip	1d4	2.5	3.5	4.5	5.5	6.5	7.5	8.5	9.5	11	12	12.5
Double-Bladed Scimitar	2d4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Hand Crossbow, Handaxe, Hoopak, Javelin, Mace, Quarterstaff (single), Scimitar, Shortbow, Shortsword, Spear (single), Trident (single)	1d6	3.5	4.5	5.5	6.5	7.5	8.5	9.5	11	12	13	13.5
Greatsword, Maul, Oversized Longbow	2d6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17
Battleaxe (single), Flail, Greatclub, Light Crossbow, Longbow, Longsword (single), Morningstar, Quarterstaff (Dual), Rapier, Spear (dual), Trident (dual), War Pick, Warhammer (single), Yklwa	1d8	4.5	5.5	6.5	7.5	8.5	9.5	11	12	13	14	14.5
None	2d8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
Battleaxe (dual), Glaive, Halberd, Heavy Crossbow, Longsword (dual), Pike, Warhammer (dual)	1d10	5.5	6.5	7.5	8.5	9.5	11	12	13	14	15	15.5
None	2d10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21
Greataxe, Lance	1d12	6.5	7.5	8.5	9.5	11	12	13	14	15	16	16.5
None	2d12	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	21.9
Great Weapon Master
Double-Bladed Scimitar	2d4	6	6.7	7.7	8.7	9.7	11	12	13	14	15	15.7
Greatclub, Morningstar, Quarterstaff (Dual), Spear (dual), Trident (dual)	1d8	5.5	6.5	7.5	8.5	9.5	11	12	13	14	15	15.5
Battleaxe (dual), Glaive, Halberd, Longsword (dual), Pike, Warhammer (dual)	1d10	6.5	7.5	8.5	9.5	11	12	13	14	15	16	16.5
Greataxe	1d12	7.5	8.5	9.5	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	17.5

ALTERNATIVE If the question I posed seems off, then would there be a feasible way to share this chart?

Answer 1

The question is unclear and too broad

The issue with the question as it is currently presented is that you began with it on the stack as "I made this helpful table, how do I share it?" That isn't a great way to start a question, but it doesn't mean it isn't salvageable.

It does mean that a question needs to be more than just a vehicle for sharing work performed.

The question itself

As I said in a comment, the first thing you really need to do is step back and think back to before you made the table. What problem were you really trying to solve for yourself and why does the table help solve that particular problem (including verifying that it, in fact, does solve the problem.)

The broadness

If you are able to narrow down your question, then you can look at the table to see if it still fully applies.

You have currently clarified your question to be

What are the basic aspects to look for when deciding on your character's initial weapon?

However, you haven't defined when "initial" begins. What level is this character at? But this is just the start of unclear constraints. I don't see a path where a single question can ask what all the possible combinations are for optimal choices at level X for every race/class/Ability score/etc. There's just too many permutations.

The table doesn't match your question

If you are really are just asking about the aspects for considerations when choosing an optimal weapon, then the table doesn't answer that. It doesn't give an analysis of considerations or reasons why to pick one weapon over another due to whatever build design is currently being looked at.

Begin at the beginning

Go back to what really generated your desire to ask this question. What are you really to solve? And then think about what an answer to that might look like.

Even if you remove soft rp considerations, there are still mechanical decisions to be made that will define optimal for a build. Without those constraints, then this remains too broad.

And honestly, it does sound like you may be interested in the question you are posing - it's just that your table doesn't answer that question, and that's okay. You may not be able to use your table as a self-answer, but you absolutely could get an answer to help clarify what to consider when picking for optimal damage only.

Answer 2

I would definetely add a paragraph about the fact that these tables contain the "everything else being equal" data. I say this because I have not played at a table where that happens to be the case for at least a decade. Others do. Both is great. Both is roleplaying.

Soft/Meta considerations may be the campaign constraints you play in, the loot you expect to get, roleplaying considerations and other things I problably have never thought about.

For example, if for your character, a nimble elven rapier were the best weapon dictated by the numbers:

• the fact that you are playing a book adventure about robbing the tomb of a dwarven hammersmith probably means there will be no magical rapiers. More like the default vanilla magical longswords, more likely a warhammer of sorts.

• the fact that you are playing a dwarf and your whole clan will laugh about you and not take your seriously with an elven rapier might be a problem for your character

• if you are using optional rules, the fact that you don't have a different damage type from the archers might be a problem.

• if your campaign world is full of evil oppressive regimes that do not tolerate fighters, carrying more than a simple weapon might make you a target more than a bigger damage dice might be worth.

Am I saying that those considerations have to come into play?

No. Many people just play very simple vanilla games, where optimization is a trivial math problem, no roleplaying involved at all. And it is perfectly fine to play that way and it would really help to have tables for that.

All I'm saying is, add a little text explaining that those calculations are not the absolute truth, just the mathematics for the time when all else is being equal.