D&D (2024) Dexterity too good?

[Vaalingrade]

Make Strength matter by actually enforcing encumbrance and carrying capacity.

Please no. I don't want to pretend to care about logistics. Bag of holding becomes starting equipment just to avoid tracking it.

As for Dex, I used to have an issue with it, but I've since softened on it as MAD tends to be too frustrating to players to make trying to split it worth while.

 

[Pauln6]

I would actually remove Dex from damage on ranged attacks unless thrown/hurled by muscle power and go back to bows adding Strength to damage.

As for crossbows, well, they've suffered a lot in D&D, so if you want to keep the loading property, they should have dramatically boosted damage (especially if you remove Dex from the equation). At close ranges, the power of a crossbow can be devastating (a real crossbow, not that cheap one-handed toy, lol). Another thing that is usually forgotten (save in 4e, ironically), is that crossbows are very accurate weapons; never underestimate the advantage of an iron sight!

The game should make crossbows an alternative to bows, not their poor cousin, alas, the bow has been enshrined in D&D since forever...but that's a personal rant, lol, so I'll stop now.

you could just give crossbows flat damage bonuses - hand +0, light +2, heavy +5.

 

[p_johnston]

So I think the answer depends on how you define the to in to good. The two stats almost every character wants are dex and con, and dex applies to a lot more. I would in fact say dex is likely the single best stat, ignoring any that are class specific.

But does dex being so good make the game less fun? Not terribly in my experience. People will still (generally) play heavy armor, big weapon fighters when they want to and they'll do fine. Not quite as good as a dex based character often, but good enough.

If you want people to pick strength more make it more fun/enticing. Maybe Up the AC of heavy armor or give it some DR or make grappling/shoving more useful or make strength weapons hit harder.

 

[Cruentus]

Make damage always dependent on Strength. Want the precision of your finesse weapons to add more damage? Take rogue levels.

At our table we removed Dex from Init.

We also use Dex ‘to hit’ for ranged weapons, and in melee for finesse weapons, but all damage bonuses are Str. Want to be good at finding the weak spot, great, now have the strength to drive it (throw it, or shoot it) home.

We’ve seen Str matter more.

 

[Horwath]

Melee weapons that are based on STR just need a slight damage bump.

Finesse CANNOT be valued as the same item property as Versatile, as Versatile is more or less useless property.

that means longsword, battleax, warhammer needs damage increase to 1d10(d12 versatile) and greatsword/greatax, maul damage increase to 2d8.

Then Flex weapon mastery would not be so much laughed at if you get 1d12 one-handed damage with STR based weapon vs. 1d8 finesse with Vex property.

 

[Clint_L]

The classes that really rely on dexterity are the weaker classes, except for dexterity-based fighters. So a nerf to dexterity is effectively a nerf to rogues, monks, and rangers. That would need to be addressed. Similarly, giving a bump to str-based weapons is, again, a nerf to those same classes.

Rangers, rogues, and monks don't need a nerf.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Please no. I don't want to pretend to care about logistics. Bag of holding becomes starting equipment just to avoid tracking it.

When I run encumbrance I run "anti-hammerspace" where it's bulk (and with it location) that's tracked not exact numbers.

As for Dex, I used to have an issue with it, but I've since softened on it as MAD tends to be too frustrating to players to make trying to split it worth while.

The one thing I do to downplay Dex is add some non-Dex dependent light and medium armours to the game (heavy robes at AC 11 but trippy, reinforced leather at AC 13 light but no Dex, a Coat of Plates as cheap medium AC 15 (with disadvantage on stealth), Lamellar at AC 15 on Stealth with no disadvantage and a Brigandine over a chain hauberk at AC 16 with disadvantage.

The Dex 14 characters will always have higher AC than these offer and it doesn't nerf rangers, rogues, or monks - but it makes Dex 8 viable for people not in heavy armour. I don't mind the high Dex classes/builds; I do mind the preponderance of Dex 14-16 among everyone else.

 

[reelo]

Please no. I don't want to pretend to care about logistics. Bag of holding becomes starting equipment just to avoid tracking it.

As for Dex, I used to have an issue with it, but I've since softened on it as MAD tends to be too frustrating to players to make trying to split it worth while.

Bag of what?
You want to haul more loot, bring a pack-mule or a cart.
But also YES to removing Dex from ranged damage. The power of bows is a function of the user's strength. Dex for accuracy, but Str for damage.

 

[Corinnguard]

Bag of what?
You want to haul more loot, bring a pack-mule or a cart.
But also YES to removing Dex from ranged damage. The power of bows is a function of the user's strength. Dex for accuracy, but Str for damage.

Back in 3e, there were bows that required a certain STR score to pull their string.

 

[Oofta]

Back in 3e, there were bows that required a certain STR score to pull their string.

That's what I did for a while but eventually just simplified to make all longbows versatile.