Mearls House Rule: Two-Weapon Fighting

[plisnithus8]

https://twitter.com/mikemearls?ref_...9586421761&ref_url=https://www.sageadvice.eu/

Mike Mearls on Twitter:
"So here’s the first part of my two-weapon fighting house rule. Note that at this stage I’m ignoring the effect of feats, will get to those later:
If you wield two light weapons you gain +1 AC and you can make one extra attack. All your attacks on your turn take a -4 penalty. Penalty drops to -2 if you have the Extra Attack feature, -1 if that feature gives you 2 more attacks, 0 if it gives you 3.
You can forgo the extra attack to increase the AC bonus to +2 and ignore the attack penalty.
I feel like dual wielding aims for flexibility, and that’s what I’m aiming at here. It’s a little more complex but lets the player feel like they have a lot of options.
It’s at the cost of a light weapon, so you’re dealing less damage than if you went longsword and shield.
TWF is *super* good at low levels, setting aside feats and class features. Since levels 1 - 4 are all about single attacks, it turns you into two characters.
...I think about it might be interesting to allow choice after first attack. That opens up possibilities a lot more."

What do you guys think?

 

[SkidAce]

I currently see no reason to mess with it as it is....there are trade offs, and I'm cool with that.


I find his process fascinating though, and am willing to follow along to the final result before deciding.

 

[plisnithus8]

I like the idea of making it different than using a heavier weapon by making it more flexible in the sense that it could be used for a better attack or better defense.

 

[5ekyu]

I think ugh. Why bother? Too much back n forth for a basic choice.

If your goal is flexibility "with two light weapons and an attack action you may use your bonus action for +1 AC or an extra attack with no attribute boost to damage."

Then let feats turn or into and, restore the stats dmg boost etc.

Personally, I would have liked single weapons just being 1 die for damage and TWF being weapon combos (on weapon chart) that caused two dice damage and let the rest sort itself out.

Two daggers, 2d4
Two shortswords 2d6
Ss+dagger d4+d6 etc.

 

[dave2008]

Thank you posting. The discuss on the twitter chat is interesting. At first read I didn't like it, but it is starting to grow on me.

 

[André Soares]

are we in 3.X again????

All this complexity has nothing to do with the design goals he stated last month...

 

[Hawk Diesel]

are we in 3.X again????

All this complexity has nothing to do with the design goals he stated last month...

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Bitbrain]

Honestly, I wouldn't use this house rule. In my opinion, it is too complicated.

In my opinion, the official rules for Two-weapon fighting in 5e are perfect, and I say that as the DM of a no-feats game with a player that is a Lvl 5 dual-wielding Eldritch Knight Fighter.

 

[André Soares]

Honestly, I wouldn't use this house rule. In my opinion, it is too complicated.

In my opinion, the official rules for Two-weapon fighting in 5e are perfect, and I say that as the DM of a no-feats game with a player that is a Lvl 5 dual-wielding Eldritch Knight Fighter.

GFB and Booming blade all day long? Nice. hahahaha

 

[Ristamar]

Way too complex for 5e.

Two weapon fighting is fine in a game without feats. It just needs a small boost in the games that do use feats.

My house rule for Dual Wielder: Add a benefit inspired by Elven Expertise feat into the Dual Wielder feat. It differentiates the style from GWF, focusing on accuracy rather than pure damage.

Dual Wielder
You master fighting with two weapons, gaining the following benefits:

• You gain a +1 bonus to AC while you are wielding a separate melee weapon in each hand.
• You can use two-weapon fighting even when the one-handed melee weapons you are wielding aren't light.
• You can draw or stow two one-handed weapons when you would normally be able to draw or stow only one.
• Whenever you have advantage on a melee weapon attack roll while you are wielding a separate melee weapon in each hand, you can reroll one of the dice once.

Essentially, when you have an opening (advantage), you're capable of overwhelming an opponent's defense with your skill and coordination using two weapons simultaneously.