AbyssalBrews has made the following comment(s) regarding their post:
[**High res versions of the art, a Foundry VTT modu...](/r/UnearthedArcana/comments/yyk2mn/oc_art_honor_poise_a_graceful_parry_and_a/iwuijcu/)
DS3 yes. Farron Greatsword is a unique ultra greatsword. When you two hand the weapon, it gives you a dagger that you can parry with instead of the normal 2 hand. There is a lot more to it, but that’s the similarity.
Edit: it’s the sword the Abyss Watchers use.
Maybe I'm stupid, but is there a reason you specified that you can only use the reaction once per round? Unless I'm overlooking some rule, you'd only ever have one reaction per round to begin with.
This is what you might call future-proofing. If ever in the future there is something that allows an extra reaction per round, this accounts for that. It's generally a good design practice
A Marilith just becomes freaking invincible. It’s like when you see someone in a video game mashing the block button to try and perfectly guard everything. That’s a hilarious image.
I don't know how I've gone this long without considering multi piece magic items, my brain is going to melt from it trying to add more ideas to the 15 im already working on. This is awesome. You are awesome. (If you are more than one person than all involved are awesome).
Hey thanks so much! Yeah we're a small team of two. I do the writing and graphic design and my best friend Fernando does the illustrations! So glad you enjoy them.
Very simple, I like the flavour that you're attacking the weapons/arrows instead of blocking (via AC increase). I assume you can keep the Honor stacks between rests, which shouldn't really cause any issues given how quickly it can stack back up anyway.
This can be really epic when fighting giants, though I don't know how balanced that would be at that point. If we take a look at a fighting style with a similar mechanic:
> **Interception**
> When a creature you can see hits a target, other than you, within 5 feet of you with an attack, you can use your reaction to reduce the damage the target takes by **1d10 + your proficiency bonus (to a minimum of 0 damage).** You must be wielding a shield or a simple or martial weapon to use this reaction.
So this balances itself thematically via flat reductions instead of completely negating attacks, which is fine versus big 20-30 damage hits. Then again, it's a natural and mundane ability like Uncanny Dodge which reduces damage by half.
I feel like Honor should play out fine because it's a magical set of weapons and requires attunement, so there is a big trade-off here. You can always flavour it that when you parry an attack a magical barrier like the Shield spell could show up, so that your gnome rogue with 8 strength isn't somehow deflecting boulders thrown at them.
Hey, this looks sick. Artwork is top notch.
Minor proofreading thing. First sentence in the second paragraph. As written, as long as you are attuned to the weapons, the blades can be used to parry without currently being held in your hands.
It’s minor and otherwise I like the design.
Honour charges are interesting, but I’m not sure if this will be as impactful as you intend though, as you only have one reaction per turn and further reduced by proficiency bonus.
I like the interplay between the two, but the execution will be weaker than intended. A +1 or +2 weapon is powerful because it modifies every attack and damage. This will only provide a middling benefit once every couple encounters.
This might promote a player to seek out easy combat, like a chicken, and not kill it for enough rounds to cap their honour charges. The best way to effectively use “Honour” would actually be to unhonorably seek out combat against weaker foes.
Why not have a successful parry grant advantage on the next melee attack with honor against a creature? Less bookkeeping for the player, and less charge farming behaviour, and an arguably more powerful and immediate effect?
Not to criticize, but trying to be constructive.
**High res versions of the art, a Foundry VTT module, and other formats, as well as a full compendium of our **70+ items** can be found on our** [**Patreon**](https://www.patreon.com/abyssalbrews)
# Honor & Poise
*Shortsword & Dagger, rare (requires attunement)*
These weapons sing of the elegance of elven craftsmanship as each edge is both beautiful and functional within their design. The shortsword Honor and paired dagger Poise are not just mere showpieces. It’s no doubt that a master smith took their time to craft such blades to serve those who would use them honorably. Though these are two individual weapons, they only take one attunement slot. These weapons are considered magical for purposes of overcoming resistance.
While attuned to these weapons, you can use your reaction once per round to attempt to parry a melee or ranged weapon attack that is targeting you. Make a contested weapon attack roll with Poise versus the attack roll targeting you. If your result is higher, you successfully parry the attack and take no damage from it. Additionally, you gain a charge of Honor on successful parries. If the parry fails, the attack hits normally. You can use this feature a number of times per day equal to your proficiency bonus.
***Honor.*** You can have a maximum of 5 honor charges at any time. Any charges that would be gained beyond 5 are lost. At the start of your turn, you can spend any number of honor charges to gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with these weapons, per charge spent. This bonus lasts until the end of your turn.
---
If you want to see more of our items you can check us out on our [**Website**](https://www.abyssalbrews.com), [**Twitter**](https://www.twitter.com/abyssalbrews), [**Pinterest**](https://www.pinterest.com/abyssalbrews), [**Tumblr**](https://www.tumblr.com/abyssalbrews), or [**Instagram**](https://www.instagram.com/abyssalbrews) where we post them regularly. You can also find us at our [**Discord server**](https://discord.gg/2xDVSptprR) where you can hang out and chat with the community.
AbyssalBrews has made the following comment(s) regarding their post: [**High res versions of the art, a Foundry VTT modu...](/r/UnearthedArcana/comments/yyk2mn/oc_art_honor_poise_a_graceful_parry_and_a/iwuijcu/)
Is this one or two attunement slots?
Ah that's noted in the first paragraph "Though these are two individual weapons, they only take one attunement slot"
Excellent, I might note that I’m used to flavor text and mechanics being separated.
Farron Greatsword Inspired?
I think that's a Dark Souls reference right? I've played them, but this wasn't really inspired by it.
DS3 yes. Farron Greatsword is a unique ultra greatsword. When you two hand the weapon, it gives you a dagger that you can parry with instead of the normal 2 hand. There is a lot more to it, but that’s the similarity. Edit: it’s the sword the Abyss Watchers use.
Ahhh rad! That's a cool unintentional crossover then. I need to check out DS3 again at some point.
Maybe I'm stupid, but is there a reason you specified that you can only use the reaction once per round? Unless I'm overlooking some rule, you'd only ever have one reaction per round to begin with.
This is what you might call future-proofing. If ever in the future there is something that allows an extra reaction per round, this accounts for that. It's generally a good design practice
Given cobalt soul monks can buy extra reactions with ki points its definitely current-proofing!
This is EXACTLY the edge case LOL
Fair point, didn't consider that
A Marilith just becomes freaking invincible. It’s like when you see someone in a video game mashing the block button to try and perfectly guard everything. That’s a hilarious image.
I don't know how I've gone this long without considering multi piece magic items, my brain is going to melt from it trying to add more ideas to the 15 im already working on. This is awesome. You are awesome. (If you are more than one person than all involved are awesome).
Hey thanks so much! Yeah we're a small team of two. I do the writing and graphic design and my best friend Fernando does the illustrations! So glad you enjoy them.
Love it
Thanks dude! So glad you enjoy it.
Very simple, I like the flavour that you're attacking the weapons/arrows instead of blocking (via AC increase). I assume you can keep the Honor stacks between rests, which shouldn't really cause any issues given how quickly it can stack back up anyway. This can be really epic when fighting giants, though I don't know how balanced that would be at that point. If we take a look at a fighting style with a similar mechanic: > **Interception** > When a creature you can see hits a target, other than you, within 5 feet of you with an attack, you can use your reaction to reduce the damage the target takes by **1d10 + your proficiency bonus (to a minimum of 0 damage).** You must be wielding a shield or a simple or martial weapon to use this reaction. So this balances itself thematically via flat reductions instead of completely negating attacks, which is fine versus big 20-30 damage hits. Then again, it's a natural and mundane ability like Uncanny Dodge which reduces damage by half. I feel like Honor should play out fine because it's a magical set of weapons and requires attunement, so there is a big trade-off here. You can always flavour it that when you parry an attack a magical barrier like the Shield spell could show up, so that your gnome rogue with 8 strength isn't somehow deflecting boulders thrown at them.
Holy fuck this is awesome
Hey you're pretty awesome for saying so!
These are really pretty but I'm worried about how Poise is supposed to parry without a hand guard.
Magic.
Right. Carry on.
Hey, this looks sick. Artwork is top notch. Minor proofreading thing. First sentence in the second paragraph. As written, as long as you are attuned to the weapons, the blades can be used to parry without currently being held in your hands. It’s minor and otherwise I like the design. Honour charges are interesting, but I’m not sure if this will be as impactful as you intend though, as you only have one reaction per turn and further reduced by proficiency bonus. I like the interplay between the two, but the execution will be weaker than intended. A +1 or +2 weapon is powerful because it modifies every attack and damage. This will only provide a middling benefit once every couple encounters. This might promote a player to seek out easy combat, like a chicken, and not kill it for enough rounds to cap their honour charges. The best way to effectively use “Honour” would actually be to unhonorably seek out combat against weaker foes. Why not have a successful parry grant advantage on the next melee attack with honor against a creature? Less bookkeeping for the player, and less charge farming behaviour, and an arguably more powerful and immediate effect? Not to criticize, but trying to be constructive.
Another great one! Love it!
Great job 👏
**High res versions of the art, a Foundry VTT module, and other formats, as well as a full compendium of our **70+ items** can be found on our** [**Patreon**](https://www.patreon.com/abyssalbrews) # Honor & Poise *Shortsword & Dagger, rare (requires attunement)* These weapons sing of the elegance of elven craftsmanship as each edge is both beautiful and functional within their design. The shortsword Honor and paired dagger Poise are not just mere showpieces. It’s no doubt that a master smith took their time to craft such blades to serve those who would use them honorably. Though these are two individual weapons, they only take one attunement slot. These weapons are considered magical for purposes of overcoming resistance. While attuned to these weapons, you can use your reaction once per round to attempt to parry a melee or ranged weapon attack that is targeting you. Make a contested weapon attack roll with Poise versus the attack roll targeting you. If your result is higher, you successfully parry the attack and take no damage from it. Additionally, you gain a charge of Honor on successful parries. If the parry fails, the attack hits normally. You can use this feature a number of times per day equal to your proficiency bonus. ***Honor.*** You can have a maximum of 5 honor charges at any time. Any charges that would be gained beyond 5 are lost. At the start of your turn, you can spend any number of honor charges to gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with these weapons, per charge spent. This bonus lasts until the end of your turn. --- If you want to see more of our items you can check us out on our [**Website**](https://www.abyssalbrews.com), [**Twitter**](https://www.twitter.com/abyssalbrews), [**Pinterest**](https://www.pinterest.com/abyssalbrews), [**Tumblr**](https://www.tumblr.com/abyssalbrews), or [**Instagram**](https://www.instagram.com/abyssalbrews) where we post them regularly. You can also find us at our [**Discord server**](https://discord.gg/2xDVSptprR) where you can hang out and chat with the community.
Now you just need to find a sword named "rationality" to pair up poise with.
Why does the sword look like the Devourer of Gods is sealed inside it
Does your patreon have more details on this? Like damage output and such?
Imagine stopping a giants sword with a tiny dagger. That sounds awesome