Can others refluff their weapons in AL, or are “Unique Weapons” exclusive to Monks?

Question

As long as you use the stats of an existing weapon, is it legal to describe/name a weapon something else?

Monks are explicitly given this leeway (PHB page 79):

Certain monastaries use specialized forms of Monk weapons. For example, you might use a club that is two lengths of wood connected by a short chain (called a nunchaku) or a sickle with a shorter, straighter blade (called a kama). Whatever name you use for a mok weapon, you can use the game statistic provided for the weapon in chapter 5, 'Equipment.'

Adventurer's League officially condones a similar practice as far as races go (ALPGv4 page 3):

You can indicate that you are a member of a rare elf subrace for the purpose of roleplaying, but you can use only the subrace traits for elves given in the Player’s Handbook

So as long as the stats match an existing weapon (and you don't use the same name as an existing weapon, to limit confusion), is it legal for any player to do the same thing as Monks with any weapon?

My thinking is that in AL you will likely have many DMs, so while "DM decision" would be a nice answer, it can be frustrating to a player who has built a concept around a custom weapon (for example a barbarian who uses a greataxe that is restyled as a Soul Calibur style zweihander to set it apart from a regular greatsword) to have to ask at every session if it's "okay to use his imagination" so that his character isn't "Generic Barbarian #2" (which is inertia you already have to fight in AL games). I think in most private games the DM would shrug and say "sure," because refluffing is generally considered legal, but is it "official" enough to do in an AL game with at least some degree of confidence? I've met many AL DMs who have never even heard of refluffing and might reject it just out of uncertainty and not because it's against the rules.

Answer 1

Your character can call things differently than your character sheet. If your sheet says "greatsword," but your character keeps referring to his zweihander, an AL DM would not have any grounds to stop you, as there are no rules for role playing (aside from alignment restrictions, rules of conduct, etc). You can play a halfling that insists, in character, that he's a hill giant, or calls his dagger a potato, so long as your character sheet is AL legal.

As for what is considered legal to put on your sheet, Jeremy Crawford tweeted in response to a very similar question on 9-May-2016:

The wuxia weapon names in the DMG (p. 41) are available to a member of any class, if the DM gives the OK. #DnD

So, only those weapon names listed in the DMG can be used on your sheet, and only with DM approval. Without it, only those listed in the equipment chapter should be on your sheet.

Source: https://mobile.twitter.com/JeremyECrawford/status/729786362010869760

Answer 2

The Adventurer's League Player's Guide explicitly states both what is ALLOWED (which books, character creation methods etc) and what is DISALLOWED (for example- Evil alignments outside certain LE exceptions). The Allowed Rules includes everything in the PHB except rolling for attributes and hit points.

The rule under Monk specifically states that "Whatever name you use for a monk weapon, you can use the game statistic provided for the weapon in chapter 5, 'Equipment.'"

As long as the weapon is statistically something the same as in the book, there is no grounds to disallow it.

That said, for the sake of both common courtesy and to head off confusion, it might be wise to put an asterisk beside the item and list the standard name somewhere on your character sheet.