D&D 5E Do DM's feel that Sharpshooter & Great Weapon Master overpowered?

[Blue]

So take the feat after you get your attack stat to 20.

Which I addressed in my original post with the same conclusion. You're not adding anything.

 

[CapnZapp]

I see the issue is not so much -5/+10 but that not all weapon feats do and aren't given as better effect too.

If you want to solve it by making more feats equally attractive, I guess that is at least in theory a viable solution.

Only I must wonder if that really is the best strategy. After all, at some point you will need to start boosting the damage output of spellcasters too... and what is then the point of doing all that damage (other than to obsolete the entire MM )

To my mind, a much more practical approach would be to acknowledge -5/+10 doesn't work in practice, since the -5 bit is so comparatively easy to minmax, while the +10 is such a big part of your total damage output (after all, it commonly DOUBLES the average damage of a character).

And in general, acknowledge that the design idea that damage is a "special interest" only some martials will want to maximize... well... while it might be true for SOME campaigns, it is probably not a good assumption to base your entire feat subsystem on.

regards

 

[CapnZapp]

No the poll is about Sharpshooter and Great Weapon Master feats being overpowered or not. I made clear in my first post that competitiveness between martial vs spellcaster was a concern of mine.

Nerfing these feats would just give more ground to spellcasters supremacy, not the opposite.

This is two separate things.

Okay so you believe casters reign supreme. Fine. Let's not question that and just take it for given.

Then you fix that by increasing weapon damage output across the board. (And possibly more generous special maneuvers that impede and disable foes, making martials better in other ways etc).

Don't oppose the balancing of the feat subsystem just because you have a completely separate fish to catch

 

[CapnZapp]

The ideas of 3.X and 4e where characters can only function with their one weapon is on the rise.

Yes.

I would much rather they focus on combat feats that enable every (or most) martial character to do something they could not previously do, or do something better.

While giving the weapon specialization a rest.

At most these feats could all be weapon-neutral. As in, not mentioning any given weapon; instead leaving that choice to the player.

And the benefit must be carefully calibrated. On one hand, you need to gain enough of a benefit to take the feat in the first place. On the other, if the benefit is large enough, you will never want to fight without that weapon. And then they have fallen in the trap.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

The ideas of 3.X and 4e where characters can only function with their one weapon is on the rise.
It's unfortunate that many of the WotC 5e designers have left the building. I wish they were still here to stop Mearls' poor design.

Who exactly do you speak of?

 

[Krachek]

Limit GWM to an attack that deal at least a D10 damage. --> Avoid using GWM the bonus d4 attack of polearm master.
And limit SharpShooter to D8+ (Long Bow, Crosbow) ranged weapon. --> Avoid using SS with hand crosbow, and eventually crosbow expert combo.

 

[Kryx]

Don't oppose the balancing of the feat subsystem just because you have a completely separate fish to catch

This. If martials need help then a more global manuever system or flat damage increases if necessary is the way to go. Boosting a few martial options is not.

And the benefit must be carefully calibrated. On one hand, you need to gain enough of a benefit to take the feat in the first place. On the other, if the benefit is large enough, you will never want to fight without that weapon. And then they have fallen in the trap.

Ya, giving weapon specific options is hard to make work. For my game I made most of the weapon specific feats Inherent Weapon Properties. See page 2 of my houserules:

• Charger is now a default option: "When you use your action to Dash, you can make one melee weapon attack or shove a creature. If you move at least 10ft. in a straight line immediately before this, you either gain a +5 bonus to the attack's damage roll or push the target up to 10 feet away from you (if you succeed in pushing)."
• Cleave (see GWM). Greataxe, Greatsword, Maul
• Polearms. While you are wielding a glaive, halberd, or pike in two hands, other creatures provoke an opportunity attack from you when they enter your reach.
• TWF. Ability score bonus and draw 2 light. See TWF above.
• Shield. If you take the Attack action on your turn, you can use a bonus action to try to shove a creature within 5 feet of you with your shield.

Now you can switch weapons without concern. I should probably add a few more for options like daggers or others, but no player has inquired.

Who exactly do you speak of?

Rodney Thompson's departure was a big one. He left 6 months after 5e released. In my perception the UA content that has been published since has varied quite a bit from some of 5e's core concepts that Rodney talked about extensively during the 5e process.

Greg Bisland left on June 21, 2016. He was a lead producer/designer for WotC. He "worked closely with Mike Mearls and Christopher Perkins to develop the 5e core books"

James Wyatt moved to Magic in April 2016, but I have no idea if that had an impact as I think he's more of a writer

 

[SkidAce]

Important points to remember when nitpicking:
* Be correct

Hint: Those two aren't acronyms, they're initialisms

But I pronounce them "Gwif" and "Gwim". hehe....

 

[Yunru]

The character I mentioned above? At 6th level, he already has a +10 Attack bonus with a bow (+5 Dex, +3 Prof, +2 Archery style). Tack on bless, advantage, etc. and it gets out of hand pretty quickly. He does 1d8 (bow) + 1d8 (colossus slayer) +1d6 (hex) +1d6 (sneak attack) +5 (Dex mod) damage. He obviously doesn't get all of that for every attack, but often enough that adding a potential +10 damage...nope. Other groups may not mind.

Which requires two ASIs, two classes, and a feat (not mentioning levels needed to throw up Hunter's Mark every combat). I'm guessing you rolled stats, in which case that's simply a result of the rolled stats: characters can start further into an attribute's progression.

 

[Prakriti]

No special racial abilities,
no darkvision,
just one extra skill,
and you're a lame human.

Hmm, there is a tradeoff.

A level 12 character of ANY race can max his primary ability score AND take GWF. The problem still stands.