D&D 5E Ranged party member keeps running off the map

[Cyrinishad]

- being able to stack bow and ammo magic bonuses

I learned something new today... This hasn't come up in my games yet, but I'll be sure to remember this for my Ranger & Rogue PCs. Good to know. Thank you.

 

[CydKnight]

If the issue is that he is literally off the physical map you use to play the game, I would not personally consider it a huge issue as long as I know which direction he is relative to the map and position relative to a focal point on that map. Theater of the mind should be fine given that minimal amount of information.

If the issue is separation from the rest of the party thereby creating the need for having two separate narratives, then he has simply not encountered enough reasons not to stray so far from the party. You can talk to him regarding how this makes it more difficult to run the game. If it's an issue for the other players then perhaps an open table discussion should be had before beginning the next game session.

 

[CydKnight]

NM.

 

[Sacrosanct]

My suggestions are about encouraging the DM into exploring a variety of tactical scenarios, while not discouraging the Player from playing or building the character however he or she wants to play. I am certainly not talking about creating a PC vs. DM arms-race. He asked for suggestions, and I listed many... AND I made sure to advise against nerfing the player...

Yeah. If I had a concept clearly in mind (like a ranged kiter), and the DM flat out told me I should probably stick close to the party and fight in melee because it's an inconvenience to him or her, I'd tell them to pound sand. What incredibly lazy DMing. Your options are much more reasonable because it only encompasses things that may normally occur in the adventure, and not just flat out telling the PC "you can't do what you want."

Note: I'm not saying the DM should metagame to find ways to thwart the PC, only that the DM should run the world and creatures as they would naturally act. In many cases with intelligent creatures, they would do things like take full cover (or shield wall), or prepare in advance if they knew what PCs are entering their area. And certainly not all combat areas are going to be huge wide open spaces.

 

[BoldItalic]

No-one seems to have suggested using a bigger map ?

 

[Sacrosanct]

Edit double post

 

[Sacrosanct]

As a player, I agree with [MENTION=12731]CapnZapp[/MENTION] - the player is not contributing to the party's defense and placing a heavier burden on the rest of the party's hit point pool. Whether that will actually become a big problem depends highly on the game, but it can be an issue. There is no prize for ending the day with all your hit points and hit dice and if this is causing one or more PCs to drop, then the kiter in my opinion should come back into the fray to take some of the heat.

I guess we play D&D totally different. I don't view PCs as pools of HP to be a shared resource. And I don't think every PC has to contribute to every part of the game and am perfectly OK with niche specialization. And I view the contributions mostly from the personality and actions of the PC, not the DPR, or group damage reduction, or any of the other behind the scenes math. That's all secondary.

 

[Cyrinishad]

Yeah. If I had a concept clearly in mind (like a ranged kiter), and the DM flat out told me I should probably stick close to the party and fight in melee because it's an inconvenience to him or her, I'd tell them to pound sand. What incredibly lazy DMing. Your options are much more reasonable because it only encompasses things that may normally occur in the adventure, and not just flat out telling the PC "you can't do what you want."

Note: I'm not saying the DM should metagame to find ways to thwart the PC, only that the DM should run the world and creatures as they would naturally act. In many cases with intelligent creatures, they would do things like take full cover (or shield wall), or prepare in advance if they knew what PCs are entering their area. And certainly not all combat areas are going to be huge wide open spaces.

Yes, definitely. As the saying goes... Variety is the spice of life... (and death)

 

[CM]

Had a similar situation running a game in the Fallout setting. One player, the ex-military guy playing the ex-military sniper (obviously) tried to be 300 yards away from the party in defilade on a hill or behind a brick wall. Doesn't work so well when the rest of the party is attempting to clear a ruin.

That behavior kept up until a deathclaw "treed" him alone in an old tower with only a few rounds of .308 left.

Anyway, I would just make sure you keep in mind what the roaming player has a chance of encountering out there all by his lonesome. Perhaps the noise draws in additional enemies, or there are uncleared traps to deal with. Don't be vindictive about it, though: stick to what's reasonable, don't hit them over the head with random encounters every time.

One of the biggest reasons nobody in my 5e groups tends to roam too far is the quite short range of most healing and buffing spells and abilities discourages it.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*