D&D 5E Missile weapons atk and dmg.

[Mage of Spellford]

Is it boosting it to a level you feel is too high? Is it exploitative? Or are you just pointing out something that caught your eye?

Nope just a comment about a difference (for me as I only played 4E once or twice) from other editions.

I don't honestly worry too much about the exploitative aspects of a game, not much of a simulationist. It does however mean that a bow's damage is proportional to the accuracy of the shooter (more like a modern weapon than a medieval one) and I can also see that it makes the average fighter-type less of a threat at range than the average rogue which I don't really like.

MK

 

[MerricB]

This isn't quite true. Thrown weapons use the same ability you use to attack with them in melee. So you can only use Dex for Thrown finesse weapons (such as the dagger)

Ah, thanks!

 

[heptat]

How would people feel if their DM house ruled this and said, DEX bonus to hit, STR bonus to damage for all weapons (except maybe crossbow). (Basically how GURPS works, as mentioned above.)

 

[scramasax]

the equipment is the part of the book that i like the least. They removed too much of it. The cost , range and damage is often tweak to fit a system rather than what is logical and happen in the real world. Among those that I found:

-quarterstaff with reach that could be used with one hand to make it a monk weapon
-singing padded armor(disadvantage on stealth) because they want to make a difference with the leather armor that has the same AC
-ring mail a heavy armor and half plate a medium
-shield reduce to only one type and still offer few protection
-letting a shield fall on the ground take an action beecause they don't want pc to get the protection of a shield and cast in the same round they let if fall
-range of many weapon too low to not have too much weapon in the same range.
-light crossbow and heavy crossbow in two category while it is basically the same thing to use.
-dart, sling , shortbow and handaxe throwing in simple weapon while blowgun is martial. Blowgun was the thing the kid used to hunt squirrel because it was easy to learn
-longsword versatile because they got ride of the bastard sword.
-pike a heavy weapon that weight 18lb , somebody at wizard must have mistaked them for the fish when they looked on wikipedia
-bow , quarterstaff, blowgun, cost too much while ammunition could be raised

 

[The Crimson Binome]

How would people feel if their DM house ruled this and said, DEX bonus to hit, STR bonus to damage for all weapons (except maybe crossbow). (Basically how GURPS works, as mentioned above.)

I would feel like it might be interesting to play a party of all spellcasters, as we laugh at the feeble goblins striking for 1d4-1 or the clumsy giants who can't even manage to land a blow.

Honestly, at this point, it's probably too far integrated into the mechanics to allow for such a shift. I would not hold such a thing against any new game I tried, though.

 

[heptat]

I would feel like it might be interesting to play a party of all spellcasters, as we laugh at the feeble goblins striking for 1d4-1 or the clumsy giants who can't even manage to land a blow.

Honestly, at this point, it's probably too far integrated into the mechanics to allow for such a shift. I would not hold such a thing against any new game I tried, though.

Good point.

PCs only then

 

[ExploderWizard]

I really, really don't know about that. Melee combat is hectic enough that you could make arguments either way for Strength or Dex, particularly regarding precision, but I suspect there would be sufficient resistance to the idea that huge muscles will allow you to better hit a small target at 100 yards.

In the case of a STR bow it would be more like hitting the target because someone of lesser strength wouldn't be able to draw the bow.

 

[jodyjohnson]

I would add Bows with str pre-reqs like the armors.

Damage is modelled on the dice and the bonus. Strength bows just increase the dice.

Heavy Bow: Str 15, d10
Ogre Bow: Str 19, d12

Basically you get an average of half your strength as a bonus to archery damage.

Or change the default bows to:

light short bow: d4
short bow: Str 11, d6
light long bow: d6
longbow: Str 13, d8

 

[The Crimson Binome]

Good point.

PCs only then

In that case, I would feel that it's time for me to find a new group. I have absolutely zero desire to play in the sort of game that would use such different rules for PCs and NPCs, where it's just flatly different (and not just a simplification for ease of bookkeeping, as is the case with NPC classes).

 

[BrokenEggGames]

Why not create a Feat that adds a STR bonus to bow damage?

On another note, how do you all keep track of ammunition in games? What is your opinion on it and what do the rules say?