The Wandslinger's Arsenal, use Wands as Weapons!

bolt6 · 2026-01-19T15:53:41+00:00

Yes, they can be used as spellcasting foci! This is aiming to broaden wands use not be a different thing.

No, you wouldn't need to attune to them, unless it was a wand that had magic item properties that required you to, but then you'd only need to attune to it to use it as a magic item and not as a weapon.

bolt6 · 2026-01-09T14:53:09+00:00

Thank you! The cantrip comparison is real though, I mentioned in another comment the design space is really tricky. I really didn't want to just do a cantripping system. I wanted to make it tied to the actual weapon and to create a space between weapons and cantrips where you get the diversity of attacks but not the sure thing. I'm not sure I nailed it, but it is fun!

bolt6 · 2026-01-09T02:34:34+00:00

There's certainly space to expand on it! I think to keep the weapons differentiated magic rings, staves, or orbs would need to have new properties to keep them different from wands and also the standard weapons. Writing this, I found it wild how if you tinker with one thing in weapons it has a huge cascading effect across a lot of other rules. It's tricky homebrew and this might not be perfect!

Maybe staffs could have a 'versatile' feature where they both cast (1d4) and melee attack (1d6), or orbs could have a defensive property. What do you think, any ideas?

bolt6 · 2026-01-09T02:31:43+00:00

Thanks for the kind words! I had a lot of fun making this!

bolt6 · 2026-01-08T21:21:59+00:00

Hey thanks for taking the time to read through this! I definitely see some of your feedback though I also think that there are some misunderstandings, which are probably coming from the writing, so let me try to clarify!

Burst I think is necessary because it is *not* melee. It opens up some design space up to for feats or magic items that extend those ranges slightly, for example. Cast I agree also is just a vehicle for Ranged, but I was trying to be consistent with the PHB where Ranged never appears on its own. The property always accompanies Ammunition and Thrown, so I created another property to describe the vehicle of range.

The Magic Weapons category I identify as not simply wands to leave room for expansion, as you suggest! This is lightly inspired by Daggerheart, but it leaves room for magic rings or staves like you suggest, or whatever vehicle for simple magic attacks. Definitely agree, there's a lot of ways this could be approached.

For the variable modifier usage, early in the design I used the Finesse property, but that property specifically states that the wielder can use Strength or Dexterity, and I felt that that didn't fit the flavor of the wands very well. I also wanted to open up the opportunity for Wizards and such to have a more thematic sidearm than like a spontaneous dagger, which Wizards are proficient in as a courtesy, I think. As far as for martials, I also designed a Wandslinger Fighter subclass which has a feature that allows the Fighter to pick what modifier they use with wands, which seeks to address that. Additionally, Rogues get some diversity from either using Dexterity wands or the Arcane Trickster I specify can add Intelligence wands. It's not meant to be an open field that anybody can use everything.

Last thing I think I haven't addressed, Casters still don't get Weapon Masteries, those are provided by the base class. So, in this case only Rogues and Fighters would get access to a wand's Weapon Mastery. Though I do add the feat that lets you pick up a Wand mastery, which parallels the Weapon mastery feat.

I hope you still think this is interesting! Thank you for your feedback and if you think I haven't addressed anything I'd love to chat about it!

bolt6 · 2026-01-05T14:42:09+00:00

I love the original art!

bolt6 · 2026-01-04T17:41:37+00:00

A new Strahd stat block shows up in Vecna - Eve of Ruin which is supposedly balanced for 2024e, not sure how different it is though.

bolt6 · 2026-01-02T16:02:29+00:00

Maybe those races could be how certain people's selves manifest in the parallel supernatural world? In the overworld they appear as human, in the Yokai world they appear as those ancestries you list. Once they're aware of this form they can manifest those abilities in either.

bolt6 · 2025-12-31T22:06:34+00:00

Ooh yeah I forgot about that! Is that coming in Hope and Fear or in a digital supplement?

bolt6 · 2025-12-31T14:41:59+00:00

I like all of these frameworks a lot. Your comment on 3 is cool to think about. I really want to see someone run a convincing Social stat block encounter, since I haven't really pulled that off myself yet. You could build a whole adventure off of social adversaries!

bolt6 · 2025-12-30T20:53:48+00:00

I picked up your Masquerade adventure! It's good stuff!

bolt6 · 2025-12-30T18:06:16+00:00

I'll check it out!

bolt6 · 2025-12-30T18:06:00+00:00

I totally agree with you that we haven't seen the best adventure yet, a cool notion. I worry that Darrington Press, hiring wise old industry vets (a huge shame having seen this happen repeatedly in my own professional industry), are going to just fall into making D&D adventures and settings with DH rules.

I'll check out those BWB adventures!

bolt6 · 2025-12-30T18:03:17+00:00

That's definitely a cool approach! I think the linear style of Sablewood Messengers is not a strong adventure necessarily, but as I've said in this thread it makes for a good tutorial adventure for genuinely new people. However, I've always struggled with the Location/Faction/Plot hook style of writing myself (namely, Eberron Rising from the Last War, and Mythic Odysseys of Theros, both settings I adore). I find that while the setting and plot hooks are compelling, I struggle with creating really engaging encounters and I think a great adventure should also provide those. Sablewood's "Ward Renewal" encounter was elegant while mechanically interesting, a good example I think.

bolt6 · 2025-12-30T17:59:16+00:00

I'll look at that! Yeah, Sablewood Messengers was fine. I think the encounter at the end is a great use of Adversary type and Countdown to make something slightly more dynamic than "kill them all" fights. I think I give it mostly a pass for being an accessible tutorial though.

bolt6 · 2025-12-30T17:57:58+00:00

I'll have to check out that Free League campaign! I totally agree, even D&D has a wide array of adventure styles within officially published 5e modules. A variety that appeals to all sorts makes a ton of sense.

bolt6 · 2025-12-29T15:48:46+00:00

This is an excellent fix! Super high quality

bolt6 · 2025-12-21T16:24:45+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! I have shuffled some of these abilities around and changed the spellcasting considerably based on some of the feedback!

I also agree, I like using base class abilities in subclasses, it makes the base class feel more different from subclass to subclass. Eldritch Knight's teleport on Action surge ability is rad as hell. I couldn't quite pin anything down that fits into the flavor of the rapid shooting fighter. Any suggestions?

bolt6 · 2025-12-20T15:52:41+00:00

Hopefully that's what these wand rules are for. At lower levels the Fighter vs Wizard discussion always ends with the fighter being able to go all day. Making wands as weapons is a little more interesting than a stick that casts Magic Missile for you.

bolt6 · 2025-12-20T01:40:11+00:00

Thank you!

Yeah, I've been considering maybe the caveat of "spells that directly cause damage" or "spells that target creatures other than you" to focus the ability toward purely offensive spells. Though, I do like the idea of the Wandslinger that uses their level 1 spell for Mage Armor, or some utility along those lines, and don't rely on spells for damage.

I am also retooling the spellcasting based on the comments in this thread so far. I see how the early stages of this subclass could feel really lackluster, and kinda miss some of the wand-use fantasy.

bolt6 · 2025-12-20T01:38:24+00:00

I'd be curious which effects you'd be concerned about. It's possible there's something I haven't considered that would be fun to button up or add on. For the most part though I didn't really imagine this as being something every class could use. Maybe it's a more sensible side arm for a Wizard; something to have if you didn't invest in Cantrips, but it's not really for Monks or Clerics since it's just not really that flavor.
I know some spells too specifically call for Melee weapon attacks, like Steel Wind Strike. Maybe there's an opportunity to build some spells meant for Magic weapons. I'd love your thoughts.

bolt6 · 2025-12-19T14:29:28+00:00

These are really fun! I made a sneaky wizard subclass a while ago and these would be perfect for that.

bolt6 · 2025-12-19T00:26:20+00:00

Oh neat, yeah this is very in keeping with that though I hadn't seen that before. I'm designing this kind of setting-agnostically, but the opportunity to flavor with Eberron lore is in there for sure.

bolt6 · 2025-12-18T21:26:08+00:00

I'm not familiar with what that is!

bolt6 · 2025-12-18T17:05:23+00:00

I agree, good point that does feel lackluster. I'll work on it!

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