Last Updated on February 14, 2023
What Is Frost Brand in D&D 5e?
Frost Brand is a magical sword that has a number of abilities suited to its frigid theme. From dealing cold damage to extinguishing flames, this sword is sure to send chills down the spines of your enemies.
Weapon (any sword), very rare (requires attunement)
When you hit with an attack using this magic sword, the target takes an extra 1d6 cold damage. In addition, while you hold the sword, you have resistance to fire damage.
In freezing temperatures, the blade sheds bright light in a 10-foot radius and dim light for an additional 10 feet.
When you draw this weapon, you can extinguish all nonmagical flames within 30 feet of you. This property can be used no more than once per hour.
There are a whopping four different properties to this blade: damage, resistance, light, and extinguishing. This is pretty characteristic of a “very rare” weapon, although the actual abilities themselves don’t quite feel like they hold up their end of the bargain. Of course, before we start talking about how good this is, let’s look at how it actually works.
The first two parts of this weapon are incredibly straightforward. The blade deals 1d6 extra cold damage, and you get resistance to fire damage while holding it. The latter is definitely impressive as fire damage is one of the most common damage types in 5e, but the extra damage you deal is really lackluster for a weapon of this rarity.
Next up, in freezing temperatures, this sheds a bit of light. Freezing temperatures are an environment that can cause exhaustion, but they aren’t necessarily dark. This feels like the answer to a very specific environmental problem that just simply isn’t going to be in most campaigns.
Lastly, you get to snuff out a bunch of nonmagical flames, something a level-1 druid could do with a cantrip and a couple of minutes at the most.
Is the Frost Brand a Good Magical Item in D&D 5e?
Honestly? No. This weapon has one good ability (fire-damage resistance), one okay ability (extra cold damage), one highly situational ability, and one useless flourish. While this collection of abilities isn’t bad on its own, it certainly isn’t indicative of a very rare item, which is the highest rarity tier before unique legendary items.
Frost Brand has so much potential. In order for it to be good though, it needs some changes.
First off, we need to have a bonus to attack rolls to make a magical item worth it at this level. Let’s say just a +1 since we are going to be making other buffs to the other abilities.
Our damage is weaker than a Flametongue, a rare item, so let’s boost it to 2d8 cold damage.
Since the main problem with freezing temperatures is the fact that it causes exhaustion, let’s add a clause that prevents the wielder from taking exhaustion levels from cold weather. We can leave the light in since it really doesn’t make a big difference as our characters already have so many ways to light up an area at this level of play.
Lastly, this is a magical blade, so let’s allow it to snuff out all flames, whether or not they’re magical. Now we’ve gone from a silly flourish to something few other abilities can achieve.
The final result is an item that feels much more worthy of its rarity:
Weapon (any sword), very rare (requires attunement)
You have a +1 to attack rolls made with this sword. When you hit with an attack using this magic sword, the target takes an extra 2d8 cold damage. In addition, while you hold the sword, you have resistance to fire damage.
In freezing temperatures, the blade sheds bright light in a 10-foot radius and dim light for an additional 10 feet. Additionally, you don’t receive any exhaustion levels from cold environments while wielding this sword.
When you draw this weapon, you can extinguish all flames within 30 feet of you. This property can be used no more than once per hour.
F.A.Q.
Why Is Frost Brand Rarer than Flametongue?
This is a great question. The best answer we have is that someone on the design team for 5e either messed up or had a very specific vision for Frost Brand in a very specific campaign.
Can Frost Brand Be a Rapier?
Yes, a rapier counts as a sword in 5e. If a weapon has a handle and a long blade, it typically counts as a sword in D&D 5e.
How Much Does a Frost Brand Cost?
A Frost Brand should technically cost between 5,000 and 50,000 gp since it is a very rare magical item. However, since it’s not a great very rare item, we’d price it at about 2,000 and call it a day.
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As a kid, I was often told to get my head out of the clouds and to stop living in a fantasy world. That never really jived with me, so I decided to make a living out of games, stories, and all sorts of fantastical works. Now, as an adult, I aspire to remind people that sometimes a little bit of fantasy is all you need when life gets to be too much.
