- I see you noticed my sword. It's called Serpent's End.
My great, great grandfather slew Auvris the Sky Devourer
with this very blade, liberating thousands
from the dragon's tyrannical rule.
It's been passed down through the generations since,
and each who wielded it has accomplished noble deeds.
Now that it's my turn, my heart has no greater desire than-
- Wow awesome, I just found a +1 rapier!
- Ooh! Dibs! (sword clatters)
- Sometimes, mechanical choices override narrative ones.
And who can blame 'em, right?
I mean, backstory doesn't give your heirloom family weapon
a bonus to hit and damage. But what if it did?
Today we're gonna go over a system that allows you to create
magical ancestral weapons that gain new features
as they level up alongside player characters.
Plus, this system lets you quick-build magic weapons
for loot or shops, and even allows your players
to craft their own.
Ready to steel some ideas?
Get it, like steel, like the metal? Like...
whatever, I'm hilarious. Roll the intro.
(gentle twinkly music) (air whooshes)
The system I'm talking about is called Ancestral Weapons.
It's a short and sweet supplement
by Matt Vaughan of Dungeon Rollers
and it's only five bucks.
We're gonna dive into it today
because the Dungeon Master's Guild has been kind enough
to sponsor me for a third time now
to just explore a book that I think is cool,
and help you decide
if it's worth picking up for your own game,
or at least spark some ideas.
DM's Guild is a community content program
partnered with Wizards of the Coast
where creators can legally use official D&D material
to create and share their own game content,
from adventures and character options
to monster collections and magic items.
There are thousands of PDFs, all created by DMs like you
to open doors and solve problems in your games.
You can use my code for a discount
on your DM's Guild purchase of $10 or more,
whether or not that includes Ancestral Weapons.
You can find the link and the code in the description.
So what is an ancestral weapon?
I'm so glad you axe. (metallic swoosh)
The first thing to understand is that an ancestral weapon
isn't just a magic item.
You can't get one by looting it or buying it in a shop.
It's something deeply respected,
symbolic of family and history,
with a long tradition behind it.
Think Narsil from "Lord of the Rings,"
Ice from "Game of Thrones,"
or the Skywalker saber in "Star Wars."
It's tied to a character's story,
and as they progress through the game,
this book ensures that their weapon progresses with them,
so players don't have to decide
between a weapon's narrative value and its practical value.
There are two main ways
to introduce an ancestral weapon into your game.
First, a character can just start with it.
This way, it's written into their backstory.
- It's strange to wear it now.
Mother used to get so angry with me when I was younger
and I would sneak into her room to swing it about.
"Serpent's End isn't a toy," I remember her telling me.
"It is a protector, capable of great violence."
But in the end, it couldn't protect her.
I don't know if it will protect me,
but I do know she'd want me to have it by my side.
- Or the character can receive the weapon in-game.
This can be a really cool development
to play out at the table.
- Anything interesting in that chest, Wisteria?
- Um... I think you should see this.
- This is a beautiful blade, great find!
- Look at the inscription.
- That's my family name. Where did you get this?
- There are a million ways to handle this!
Maybe your player character stole their family weapon,
maybe they have to earn it
by proving themselves to their parents,
maybe the player is on a quest
to recover a lost or stolen ancestral weapon,
maybe they don't know their heritage,
and finding or receiving the weapon is their first clue.
The author seems pretty focused on bloodline in this book,
but it's your game,
and you can use the mechanics however you want.
If you want to relate this powerful weapon to
some other type of connection, I think you totally should.
Maybe it gets passed on alongside a certain title,
or from master to apprentice.
As long as the weapon has weight, history
and expectation associated with it, go wild, honestly.
Now, any time you wanna use third-party content in a game,
it's ultimately a DM decision.
But if you're a player and you think this would be
a good addition to your character,
you can always pitch it to your DM!
Personally, I think something like this
is a great addition to a martial class,
since those classes can sometimes struggle
as they reach higher levels to keep up with casters
in terms of interesting new features and abilities.
A weapon that changes over time and unlocks new options
both in and out of combat can keep a Fighter or a Barbarian
from feeling like the only changes from level to level
are hitting more and hitting harder.
Like, is it just me
or do martial classes get shafted?
(air whooshes) (gentle music)
Ancestral weapons gain their power
through a mechanic called spirit points.
Players earn spirit points by performing acts
that would please their ancestors.
Depending on the ancestors, that could be anything from
heroically rescuing innocents,
to taking revenge on someone who wronged the family,
to getting famous or achieving a noble title.
Spirit points are associated
with characters' choices and actions, not level,
but the book does recommend
that players earn around one spirit point per level.
Once earned, these spirit points can be used
to purchase upgrades.
They can be spent as they're earned,
saved up for bigger point-value upgrades,
or even swapped out, which we'll talk about in a second.
There are a few different ways these upgrades can be chosen.
DMs can allow players to choose their upgrades themselves,
which can be really fun and can make sure that each upgrade
is something the player feels excited about.
But if you wanna keep a tighter handle
on what the weapon can do
or if you want the development of the weapon
to feel more mystical or pre-determined,
the DM can pick the upgrades instead.
You don't even have to tell players
that their weapons will change! It can be really compelling
if each new ability comes as a surprise.
- What's happening? Wisteria, are you doing this?
- No! I'm detecting... transmutation magic?
It's changing somehow!
- Perhaps they're pleased with me.
- The upgrades themselves are incredibly cool.
There are 130 different upgrades to choose from,
which means there are literally tens of millions
of possible combinations.
Every ancestral weapon will be different.
Each has a price, from one to ten spirit points.
For example, you can pay one spirit point
to take the Bully upgrade,
which gives you advantage on intimidation checks
when the target can see you holding the weapon,
or the Deathward upgrade,
which gives you advantage on death saves.
But if you have more to spend,
you can take stuff like Telepathic Link for 3 spirit points,
which lets you communicate telepathically,
or Blood-drinker, for five spirit points,
which lets you take some of the damage you deal
on 19s and 20s as temporary hit points.
Some of these upgrades have levels, too.
You can buy an upgrade,
and then later improve that upgrade
with a few more spirit points.
Like, Blood-drinker
gives you half the damage as temporary hit points,
but for four additional spirit points,
you can upgrade it to Level 2
and get all the damage as temp HP.
A few abilities are class or weapon-specific,
like the Druid-only upgrade Wild Spell,
which lets you ready a spell
and then cast it while in wild shape,
or the ranged-only upgrade Sniping,
which reduces the effect of cover for your targets.
Also, some abilities are marked "limited,"
which means you can only have two of 'em at a time.
This helps keep a weapon from becoming overpowered.
Limited upgrades are stuff like
granting extra spell slots or flying.
Now, if you're wondering how anybody
would even get those 10-point upgrades
when you're only supposed to get
around one spirit point per level, don't worry!
You can always overwrite one upgrade,
regaining the spirit points you spent on it
to purchase another.
So let's say you buy a one-point upgrade
and then when you've gained two more spirit points,
you overwrite that one-point upgrade
and buy a three-point one.
Even later, you can overwrite that three-point upgrade
to buy a four-point one or a five-point one and so on.
If it ever becomes necessary
to adjust the upgrades more heavily, the book advises
that DMs have players complete an in-game quest or ritual
to earn the ability to refocus the weapon
and make multiple changes to the build.
And of course, that's only with DM approval.
These have a lot of flavor
so if you want choosing the upgrades
to be a DM responsibility, I think it could be really fun
to pick upgrades that line up with the family's history,
the weapon's origin, or even the actions
that the player took to earn their spirit points.
For example, Serpent's End is a dragon-slaying sword.
Giving it the Infusion upgrade
to make it deal additional fire damage
or the Flying upgrade to give the wielder flight
would really drive home
the narrative of the weapon's origin.
As you can see, a lot of this depends on the weapon
and the ancestors who provide it with power having a story,
but you don't have to come up with that on your own.
The book has some guidance.
So let's take a stab at it! (metallic sound)
There are two whole chapters full of rolling tables
to help you figure out the weapon's history,
materials and appearance,
ancestral traits and even personality.
Ancestral traits each have
some sort of small effect on the game.
For example, a weapon with the trait Longing
will start to hum when away from its owner for too long,
and a weapon with the trait Malice
will deal a small amount of damage
to anyone besides the wielder who picks it up.
Ancestral personalities are more about roleplay flavor
than about mechanics, and should help DMs identify
what sort of achievements could earn spirit points.
For example, a weapon that has come to you
from Violent ancestors will respond strongly to bloodshed,
while a weapon with a Calculating personality
might reward clever, cautious choices.
- The first time I had a dream
where I was holding Serpent's End, I thought nothing of it.
Just a nightmare, I thought.
But that nightmare came true. It was an omen.
The blade, or perhaps my ancestors, were warning me.
I pay more attention to my dreams now.
- Of course, the weapon's traits and personality
had to come from somewhere.
That's where the history comes in.
You can roll on a table to determine how many generations
the weapon has been in the character's family,
and which feats of legend are associated with it,
from slaying a ruler to being blessed by a god.
There are even tables to determine what race crafted it,
what type of wood or metal was used,
and even what identifying features
make this weapon look different from your average one.
You can use these tables for ideas
or just roll at random. You know... if you're on the fence.
(metallic sound)
(air whooshes) (soft flute music)
Now, ancestral weapons are special.
They can't be sold or stolen or looted,
or at least, if they are,
they don't retain all their ancestral powers.
But all these same mechanics can be used
to quick-build standard magic weapons
that you can use as loot, stock in shops
or arm your NPCs with.
There's a nice, simple table
that tells you how many spirit points
correlate with item rarity
and how much the weapon should cost.
This makes it super quick and easy
to not just create cool magic weapons
but understand their power level and impact on the game.
As someone who hasn't done a ton of item homebrew,
I'm often nervous to introduce items I've built into a game
for fear that they'll end up broken or overpowered.
I can tell you that for me, personally,
this section makes me feel very confident
that I could bring in some really exciting custom weapons
that will function as-intended in play.
In fact, the use of spirit points
to easily identify an item's power level
also makes it possible to allow your players
to craft magic weapons without worrying
that they're gonna create something game-breaking.
There's a table that helps DMs determine
how much it should cost and how long it should take
for a character to craft their own weapon
with some of the abilities in this book.
The author also suggests requiring unique materials,
like a dragon's claw,
to make the creation of the weapon part of the story
and to really emphasize
that building a truly legendary weapon is no easy task.
Of course, no matter if the DM or the player builds a weapon
using these rules, it's still not an ancestral weapon.
It's static, it doesn't gain spirit points.
Only weapons that have been empowered by epic feats
and generations of power can do that.
Who knows?
Maybe at the end of your campaign,
a character will pass their weapon down
to their next of kin, and the heroic acts
that played out at the table
will become the stuff of legends generations down the line,
turning what was once a normal weapon
into an ancestral weapon.
I guess you'll only know if you stick with it!
Honestly, for under five bucks, I can't think of a reason
not to pick up Ancestral Weapons.
This feels almost like a Dungeon Master cheat code
because giving players a weapon that ties their backstory
to the actual mechanics of gameplay is a next-level DM move,
and this supplement makes it so easy to execute.
But if it's not your thing, there's so much on DM's Guild,
all you have to do is browse
and I'm sure you'll find something
to use this discount code on.
Check the description for the link and the terms,
and if you're hungry for more homebrew,
check out the last video I did for DM's Guild,
all about An Elf and an Orc Had a Little Baby,
which allows you to create playable,
mixed race D&D characters.
I cosplay a tiefling centaur in that video,
I guarantee you will not regret clicking it.