Create EPIC custom weapons for your D&D players

One fun way one of my characters received their ancestral weapon. He didn't have any noble lineage or anything like that, but he befriended a old swordmaster. As he mentored my character they formed a strong bond, and as he later died he handed that sword over to my character. We had the rule that ancestral weapons could only reach their full potential when passed down the family, and my character and the old swordmaster weren't blood related at all. Yet the swords powers activated for my character, and at first my character thought it was because they were secretly related. But after alot of investigation into the bloodlines it turned out they weren't related, and the old swordmaster had come to consider my character as a son. It was a strong moment, as the sword didn't discriminate between blood relatives and found family. It showed that the family you find is equally valid to the one you were born into.

We had a character die in game and the DM imbued some of his essence in the long sword he use to wield. Now once a day it cast spirit guardians in the form of our deceased friend. Now the sword has a story to it and its ours....:)

"So Ginny, how many different swords do you have?" "Yes."

Puns usually aren't my cup of tea but I really saber the flavour of this video

This would be a great addition to the Ancestral Guardian Barbarian! Imagine inheriting a weapon passed down the family line doing different feats and resetting with each new wielder. This is giving me such Fables 3 vibes and I'm here for it!

I thought of this idea a year ago, though it wasn't nearly as developed as this. Basically, instead of having the players find a +1 sword, the players should have their starting equipment (likely an heirloom) get upgraded in a moment of heroism or as a quest reward. Maybe a sword becomes a dragon slayer when it's drenched in dragon's blood, or a paladin's sword becomes a holy avenger when he finally defeats an evil overlord and the archbishop blesses his blade. Or the spirit of an ally could possess it, or an angel could touch it, or a fire giant could reforge it, or any other number of awesome ways. I've found that at least 50% of the fun of a magic item is the story behind it, so I highly recommend a system like this.

Sword of Gryffindor is a perfect example of a non bloodline ancestral weapon. Also, the way it disappears and appears is a very convenient dm/author tool.

I bow to you, queen of the puns. Thanks for the reminder about this! I bought this a while ago when I was a pc, but it kinda got buried in the 100 other things I've bought from them. Would be excellent to incorporate for my druid player's staff and paladin player's greatsword.

Of all the examples you gave, the Skywalker lightsaber is the closest to fitting both thematically and mechanically. Lightsaber crystals are alive and they grow and change through their bond with the wielder and can even influence them, and some have even gained interesting abilities as a result of certain events

We're back! And we're back with a great topic to boot. I love weapons that are a greater part of a character's identity. There is a reason why looters are so popular, people love their loot. There is a very real sentimental value to the weapons you use in a game and if a game's mechanics reflect that, you can carry that sentimentality to your own game. Player investment is a major part of what makes a game great and having another avenue for that investment (I.E. an Ancentral Weapon) can make your game all the better.

One member of my group in DnD had an ancient very powerful knife. The hook: The knife got stolen when she got banned from her thieves guild. Moreover a Big Bad Guy used it against our group while we were travelling. This was definetely a very thrilling part of the story which showed the power of the dagger - although she never got her hands on it because our group had to split up for different reasons.

I could adapt some of these to be things other than weapons. Like a ring with Deathward, or a circlet with Will of Ancestors.

For those familiar with the Moonblade in the DMG, it's basically the Moonblade but waaay more versatile. It's good!

Really great way to make the mechanics of the moon blade match the lore.

Yay!! I’m like a kid at Christmas when there’s a DM-focused vid from Ginny Di!!

Some well hammered-out ideas 👌

best custom weapon we had in a campaign was a sentient sword named Gramklinge. or Tristan. the player literally had to pull it out of a sword in a dungeon designed to test him by the Red Lady. it was battle-hungry and played Blind Guardian whenever it was used in combat. in one of the final battles, Tristan sacrificed himself to defeat a strong entity sent by Shar. in more recent campaigns, our DM tends to give us powerful magical weapons which, upon identified, come with their stats as well as the info that there's greater power within them, which can be unlocked through great effort. this allows for interesting character choices, as well as artifacts which scale with our progress.

Hi Ginni, I used the book to create a ancestral set of plate mail for the pally in my game. You can use the rules in this book to make anything ancestral with just a little effort.

I love the sound of this, I'll check it out! I made a home brewed ancestral weapon recently for my Bladesinger, but factored in some mystery from the beginning by saying that my character refuses to attune to or Identify the sword (which he took as a child when fleeing the site of his mother's murder by an unknown group) because he's still rebelling from his mother's heroic legacy and feels that if he used the sword's special abilities it would imply willingness to step into her shadow and become a hero like she was. I asked the DM to include his mother's killer as one of the minor boss fights in the game, after which my character will have to make the decision to either take on the mantle of responsibility she left behind, and wield her sword proudly to its full effect, or forever walk away from that life, and leave the sword behind as well.

Your storytelling is always immaculate, I struggle to believe that you play every character in your videos sometimes. Great work :D