Making 5e Weapons More Eastern

I grew up watching classic samurai movies like Yojimbo, Seven Samurai, Harakiri, and Sanjuro. There’s just something alluring about that era to me. It’s no surprise then that I have always wanted to play in a Dungeons and Dragons game setting that is closer to Japan than it is to medieval France. So, when I started creating a campaign for 5e, I began looking for resources. There is not really much to choose from unfortunately. Yes there have been options, like “Oriental Adventures”, which while well meaning, highlighted some problematic views, such as adding so many weapons that all in all do the same thing but are “exotic” (we have to remember, these weapons are not exotic, they are normal for this region). During the reign of 3.5 we had the katana as a weapon, which was just a bastard sword (which I have no problem with as we’ll see). Lastly, homebrew, that relative we all side eye at reunions, I’m not opposed to homebrew at all, but wary of balance issues. In the end, I decided on lots of reskinning, and a bit of homebrew.

There were a few criteria I was going for in my list.

1. Can this weapon just be one from the Player’s Handbook?
2. Will my players WANT to use this weapon?
3. Does this weapon trivialize current weapons?
4. All weapons should follow in the spirit of 5e’s current weapons.

That last rule leads to the reskinning, are these weapons already under an umbrella?

Katana = Longsword

Kukri/Tanto = Dagger

Nodachi = Greatsword

Naginata/Podao = Halberd/Glaive

Ninjato = Shortword

Nunchaku = Club

Wakizashi = Scimitar

Kanabo = Warhammer

Jian = Rapier

Otsuchi = Maul

Next are the weapons that I could not find adequate counterparts, or needed a homebrew property to have them fit the concept.

War Fan = Club (properties finesse, light, Concealed, {advantage on Dex to hide the weapon})

Chakram = Handaxe (thrown (range 20/60), light finesse, returning (returns to wielder at the end of their turn, this takes up your reaction)

Three Sectioned Staff = 1d6 bludgeoning (reach, you are considered two weapon fighting with this weapon, the second attack deals 1d4 which is also reach)

Monk Spade = Quarterstaff (may choose whether to deal slashing or piercing damage).

Hook sword = Warpick (finesse, light)

And then I have added this feat as an option, which I found from the r/DnD subreddit from u/ashlacon which I think captures a portion of the hook sword flavor that people want.

Hooked Blade Master

(You master the use of hooked weapons.)

While wielding a hook sword, warpick or a sickle you gain the following benefits:

You do not need a free hand to grapple.

On your turn when you hit a creature with a hook sword, warpick or a sickle on you may use your bonus action to attempt to grapple the creature.

When you successfully grapple a creature they take slashing damage equal to your Strength Modifier. If the creature ends its turn while grappled by you, they take slashing damage equal to your Strength Modifier.)

Lastly is my personal favorite weapon that I want so desperately to exist in game, but it does not have a clear parallel.

The nagamaki is a bizarre longsword that can’t really just be an alternative longsword due to it being impossible to wield one handed, but just being a longsword that is always 2h and 1d10 seems weird in 5e. So I’m still working on that, even though probably nobody will play it, but that’s for me. The other option is to just make it another choice for a greatsword, which would work as well.

Nagamaki = Longsword (two handed only {1d10}, can take disadvantage once per round to gain reach)

The setting that I’m working on is a reimagining of the Sengoku Jidai of Japan, and while I’ll be taking heavily from Japanese myths and history, the stories of China, Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, India, and more will all be influential in this world.

I don’t want these to be seen as “exotic” weapons (for one, exotic is such a problematic term) because these would be normal weapons, the same way that a gladius would not be an exotic weapon, it’s a type of Shortword in 5e.

I hope these help inspire you, the handbook has so many great options, and there are all sorts of possibilities you can add to make your world fit the vision, and all you need to do is find where they fit under the umbrella weapon.

Picture: Miyamoto Musashi Killing a Giant Nue, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/file:Miyamoto_Musashi_killing_a_giant_nue.jpg