D&D 5E Buffing up Greatweapon fighting style a little

[MrHotter]

They should have kept the restriction against shields in the Dueling style, and consciously intended the GWF re-roll about ALL damage dice being re-rolled. It would still leave the versatile weapon conundrum I just described, but it would have a niche.

That way, the four ways of fighting (two-hander, single-hander, sword & board, two-weapon) would each have a Fighting Style and those Styles would be mutually exclusive.

I'd agree with that. The dueling style would probably not get picked very often unless it's at a table that enforced the 'free hand to cast' rule for spells that have somatic and material component requirements. +2 to damage and -2 to AC (or more if you have a magic shield) is not very appealing.

EDIT: After thinking about it, I've changed my mind. Removing the ability to hold a shield makes the dueling style useless. If you are not going to hold a shield you should just go with the great weapon or two two weapon fighting style. The great weapon fighting style also lets you use material components and somatic gestures for your spells without needing to drop or stow a weapon/shield.

 

[Corwin]

That doesn't address the absurdity of the same versatile weapon suddenly doing less damage in 2H than it does in 1H when you have both styles.

Shrug, I guess. Absurdity? I believe this all boils down to you being overly attentive to minuscule maths that by-and-large do not impact the game enough to get this worked up about. I don't find 5e to be this hyper granular.

BTW, your math is wrong anyway. They both have the *same* damage range (3-10). Rerolling 1s and 2s means you end up with a minimum of 3.

 

[Willie the Duck]

He means less damage on average, but also long sword used 2h with great weapon does not have a minimum of 3 damage. You can roll a 1 or 2 on your reroll.


And a second thought aimed at no one in particular:
Before we house-rule GWFstyle, can we all just agree that greataxes need to be houseruled into dealing 2d6 damage and then the aside about how GWFs is even worse for them doesn't need to be mentioned? It makes no sense, continues the legacy of swords being better for no particular reason (+ mauls, for some reason), and makes one wonder if the designers think we can't figure out the average of simple dice rolls.

 

[Corwin]

He means less damage on average, but also long sword used 2h with great weapon does not have a minimum of 3 damage. You can roll a 1 or 2 on your reroll.

That's an interesting interpretation. Lets just say you can play how you like. We don't read it that way.

 

[Willie the Duck]

That's an interesting interpretation. Lets just say you can play how you like. We don't read it that way.

I don't know how you can read "When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2. The weapon must have the two-handed or versatile property for you to gain this benefit." and read it any way that does not include the "and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2" part.

 

[Corwin]

Interestingly, I just checked and noticed two instances of the fighting style are worded differently. Fascinating. I never noticed that before.

 

[Willie the Duck]

Really? Huh. I'm pulling off the 5e srd. What's the wording in the books?

 

[Corwin]

Check paladin. It doesn't mention the, "even if a 1 or a 2" bit. I guess paladins are the supreme 2-hand weapon users!

 

[Arial Black]

Shrug, I guess. Absurdity? I believe this all boils down to you being overly attentive to minuscule maths that by-and-large do not impact the game enough to get this worked up about. I don't find 5e to be this hyper granular.

BTW, your math is wrong anyway. They both have the *same* damage range (3-10). Rerolling 1s and 2s means you end up with a minimum of 3.

If you re-roll, and the re-roll is also 1 or 2, you do not get to roll again!

Great Weapon Fighting

When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die....you can re-roll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2.

If you had unlimited re-rolls, then '1d10, re-roll 1 or 2' would just equal '1d8+2'.

The greatsword would not be '2d6, re-roll any die that comes up 1 or 2' would become '2d4+4'.

....I suppose this could be a potential fix.....

 

[Corwin]

If you re-roll, and the re-roll is also 1 or 2, you do not get to roll again!



If you had unlimited re-rolls, then '1d10, re-roll 1 or 2' would just equal '1d8+2'.

The greatsword would not be '2d6, re-roll any die that comes up 1 or 2' would become '2d4+4'.

....I suppose this could be a potential fix.....

See my post just above yours...