D&D 5E Ranged party member keeps running off the map

Blue · May 9, 2017

I wouldn't sweat it. They are playing their character. It does mean other characters will end up eatting the attacks that would have been spread more if they took some - focus fire is bad for the team getting focused.

But you may want to make it more interesting by varying up terrain and such so that it's a bad option. Not to stop the behavior nor punish the player, but to provide them with new challenges to overcome. [MENTION=6808925]Cyrinishad[/MENTION] had a great list to start from. But not every time - don't invalidate a player's character build choices, just make that their go-to isn't always the best option.

Mephista · May 9, 2017

Kiting has been cited as an issue for some GMs for some time now. And, to be fair, its a valid tactic. The answer is that most adventures don't take place in wide open areas. There's forests, there's towns, there's caverns. The world is filled STUFF, and at a far enough distance, yes, that's going to be full cover as all that stuff gets in the way. Enemies attack under the cover of night, or in dim light. It doesn't matter if you can blast things at 300 feet away if your vision is limited to 60 or 100.

rgoodbb · May 9, 2017

I had a DM who ruled that if you left the map, your combat was over and you couldn't return. Seemed harsh.

Warmaster Horus · May 9, 2017

BTW, a good archer will strive to have a pair of Slippers of Spiderclimbing to get that advantageous shooting location.

CapnZapp · May 9, 2017

Cyrinishad said:
My suggestions are about encouraging the DM into exploring a variety of tactical scenarios, while not discouraging the Player from playing or building the character however he or she wants to play. I am certainly not talking about creating a PC vs. DM arms-race. He asked for suggestions, and I listed many... AND I made sure to advise against nerfing the player...

Sure.

CapnZapp · May 9, 2017

Mephista said:
Kiting has been cited as an issue for some GMs for some time now. And, to be fair, its a valid tactic. The answer is that most adventures don't take place in wide open areas. There's forests, there's towns, there's caverns. The world is filled STUFF, and at a far enough distance, yes, that's going to be full cover as all that stuff gets in the way. Enemies attack under the cover of night, or in dim light. It doesn't matter if you can blast things at 300 feet away if your vision is limited to 60 or 100.

Many MANY encounters take place in places where you easily have 100 ft sight. You don't have to see as far as you can shoot - all you need is for your friends to carry a torch so the monsters are illuminated.

You don't need 300 ft, by the way - you only need whatever is more than what the monsters can cover if they spend their entire round running.

This way you force them to choose between fighting your friends or running towards you and essentially doing "nothing" for a whole round. Doing nothing is a losing proposition; my monsters will choose the first option 9 times out of 10.

Not to mention if they can't even see you since you're so far away.

CapnZapp · May 9, 2017

rgoodbb said:
I had a DM who ruled that if you left the map, your combat was over and you couldn't return. Seemed harsh.

Perhaps I need to edit in a

in my earlier reply then...?

iserith · May 9, 2017

As a DM, I think this is fine. While I do like varied terrain, I don't purposefully set forth to frustrate the players' preferred tactics.

As a player, I agree with [MENTION=12731]CapnZapp[/MENTION] - the player is not contributing to the party's defense and placing a heavier burden on the rest of the party's hit point pool. Whether that will actually become a big problem depends highly on the game, but it can be an issue. There is no prize for ending the day with all your hit points and hit dice and if this is causing one or more PCs to drop, then the kiter in my opinion should come back into the fray to take some of the heat.

CapnZapp · May 9, 2017

This is a huge ASIDE to the original topic, and I recommend the OP skips this post completely.

Mephista said:
Kiting has been cited as an issue for some GMs for some time now. And, to be fair, its a valid tactic.

The end analysis is that WotC have made it too cheap to build a ranged characters. Compared to 3rd edition, ranged fire is better/cheaper/less restrictive in at least seven ways, some more significant than others.

Roll back some or all of these ill-advised changes is the only true solution:
- getting to add ability bonus to damage (you didn't in 3E)
- getting to add Dexterity not Strength to damage
- being able to ignore cover (Sharpshooter)
- being able to ignore range (Sharpshooter)
- being able to ignore elf/target being attacked in melee (Crossbow Expert)
- being able to effectively "dualwield" a ranged weapon (Crossbow Expert)
- being able to effectively stack two weapon fighting styles (Crossbow Expert effectively gives you Two-Weapon Fighting which you can stack with Archery)
- being able to stack bow and ammo magic bonuses
- being able to "power attack" with ranged weapon (the -5/+10 part of Sharpshooter)
- being able to shoot effectively while on the move (a requisite for "kiting"). In 3E, you only got "extra attack" if you stood still

Okay, so this wasn't seven points. It was ten. And still I've probably forgot one!

Just sayin' lest we forget there is a definite price to be paid for all these cool "dex builds"...

hejtmane · May 9, 2017

I do not use maps of minatures so not an issue with me but terrian matters heavy wodded forest you lose sight of targets, I counter wiht my own NPC snipers from 600 yards away with sharpshooter opps that hurts, ambushes some times I drop spell caster

D&D 5E Ranged party member keeps running off the map

Blue

Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal

Mephista

Adventurer

rgoodbb

Adventurer

Warmaster Horus

Explorer

CapnZapp

Legend

CapnZapp

Legend

CapnZapp

Legend

iserith

Magic Wordsmith

CapnZapp

Legend

hejtmane

Explorer

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