Ranged Options for All Classes

[cbwjm]

Sadly I think the main options are just thrown weapons or a back up bow. Fighters and barbarians might have to rely on thrown weapons if they are strength focused although even a +2 dexterity modifier will make them okay with a bow. The monk is probably high dex and they are proficient with simple weapons which includes the shortbow, might be worth them carrying one around as well.

Otherwise, the best way to help, I think, is to provide a way for the melee characters to be able to engage, you changed up the encounter to do so which sounds like it made for a memorable one, but for future you might want to have a way for them to cross that fiery magma and engage the bad guy and/or his minions without having to make changes on the fly. That or trust that the players will make choices that will help them engage. If a wizard commonly preps the fly spell then you might rely on them casting that on the melee PCs to allow them to get into melee range. You might also want to provide magical items that will help early on in the campaign. Give boots of flying at levels 5 or 6 so that they are available to (hopefully) one of the melee PCs for encounters like this one.

 

[Greenstone.Walker]

I am still looking for solutions for barbarians, fighters and monks.

Given the Barbarian and Monk AC calculation, you should have a reasonable DEX, so the solution is "carry a bow".

A Barbarian can use a bow while raging. They won't get the damage boost but the other features still apply.

Monks definitely get the shaft here (heh, archery pun . Crossbows and shortbows have the two-handed tag so they aren't monk weapons. You might just have to live with shooting a bow for default damage for one or two rounds while you use your items of flying to close with the dragon.

Fighters are supposed to spread their features around. They get lots of feats so that they can become good at both melee and ranged. If a fighter's player has spent all their feats and ASIs getting solely at melee then the tradeoff for that is being poor at ranged. The GM shouldn't do anything about this - that would invalidate the player's choice.

Most battlemaster manoeuvres work fine at ranged. If there is a dedicated archer in the party then using Commander's Strike is an awesome move.

And as other people here have said already... flying items.

 

[Oofta]

Short version: give PCs the option to buy longbows that add their strength to their attack and damage instead of dex.

Longer version/rant: Personally, I think dex being the only thing that influences damages from longbows is silly. Traditional longbows required significant strength to use (most were 150 lb pull or more), so I allow reinforced bows that let you add strength to your damage.

In addition, dex is already an uber- stat. You can do as much melee damage if you use a shield (more with dual rapiers), aren't limited to javelins which have extremely short range and limited number of attacks per round (usually only 1 per round) and you can get an AC nearly as good as the full plate guy. Add in better saving throw for dex that matters far more often than strength, you only need a slightly above average strength to succeed at most strength/athletics checks and to carry most of your gear if anyone even tracks it. Let's not forget better initiative to boot.

It's why I made my AL sword-and-board paladin Oath of the Ancients, so he could at least get misty step. But barbarians? Yeah, find a way to fly buddy. Good luck.

Anyway, giving strength based characters an option to be decent at ranged fits historically and with myth (only Ulysses was strong enough to wield his bow) and I don't think it hurts the game in the least.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

Any martial character can use a longbow. That will allow a contribution at most ranges that combat is likely to take place at.

There is the environment: Is there somewhere to hook a grapple and swing across? Can a pillar or wall be toppled to form a path or jumping-off point?

There is the rest of the party: are they team players who would be willing to aid the other character in reaching a place where they can be effective.

Its pretty hard to get to the point where a character is unable to contribute in 5e. Levels of acceptance can vary depending upon the success of your last munchkin fumigation, but most characters can find something to do to help the group, even if that something doesn't rely on making damage rolls.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Have the wizards and sorcerers take the Fly spell and then the melee fighters can get into melee.

 

[5ekyu]

I am still looking for solutions for barbarians, fighters and monks. Rangers have spells that I am sure would help them and Rogues, with their typical high Dex and sneak attack can probably do pretty well. So if you can think of something for those three classes I would be happy to hear about them.

Teamwork.
DnD 5e is built as a team game. If your group doesnt take time or prep to get melee guys the mobility to get to the target in a puzzle fight, they lose out.

 

[Ath-kethin]

Have the wizards and sorcerers take the Fly spell and then the melee fighters can get into melee.

Teamwork.
DnD 5e is built as a team game. If your group doesnt take time or prep to get melee guys the mobility to get to the target in a puzzle fight, they lose out.

I was about to make these two points (which are really the same point), and found two good folks already had.

 

[Lord Twig]

Given the Barbarian and Monk AC calculation, you should have a reasonable DEX, so the solution is "carry a bow".

A Barbarian can use a bow while raging. They won't get the damage boost but the other features still apply.

I didn't realize that making ranged attacks would keep up rage, but I guess it does. That's good to know. Also, if the barbarian goes totem path they can pick up limited flying at level 14 from the eagle attunement.

Monks definitely get the shaft here (heh, archery pun . Crossbows and shortbows have the two-handed tag so they aren't monk weapons. You might just have to live with shooting a bow for default damage for one or two rounds while you use your items of flying to close with the dragon.

Yeah, picking up a short bow isn't something I immediately thought of, but it works. Step of the Wind allows for long jumps, Shadow monks get shadow step at 6th level (needs darkness, but could work), and an Four Elements monk can get fly at level 14 (that seems to be the magic number) plus ranged attack spells.

Fighters are supposed to spread their features around. They get lots of feats so that they can become good at both melee and ranged. If a fighter's player has spent all their feats and ASIs getting solely at melee then the tradeoff for that is being poor at ranged. The GM shouldn't do anything about this - that would invalidate the player's choice.

Most battlemaster manoeuvres work fine at ranged. If there is a dedicated archer in the party then using Commander's Strike is an awesome move.

True, and champion fighters get their expanded critical hits with anything, so there is something for them. Plus they could pick up the Archery fighting style as their second style for another +2 to hit. (I think champions are better than most people give them credit for. Still not great, but not that bad either.)

And as other people here have said already... flying items.

I think this is the major way to fix things without adding house rules. There are a lot of items that can give characters something to do when the enemy is at range. The eldritch knight in the party had a wand of fireballs that he was blasting away with.

Finally I think another factor was that the situation was that this was the big climax fight at the end of a campaign. It shouldn't have been setup as a ranged only combat. This is when all of the characters should have been pulling out their big guns and just barely winning (hopefully) after a big fight and expending every available resource. At just about any other time I would have been fine with the melee heavy hitters standing on the sidelines for a bit. Firing arrows and doing a little damage while the ranged combatants have their moment to shine.

Oh, I guess there is one more thing. I really hadn't thought ahead about ranged options in advance. I don't know why I didn't. In previous versions of the game I would hit up character optimization boards and study up on effective builds. But I don't have that kind of time anymore and I let the simpler/streamlined feel of 5th edition lull me into complacency. At character creation it suggests thrown weapons for melee characters and I just assumed they would be good all the way to 20th level. So this has been a good exercise for me and I will definitely keep it in mind in the future.

 

[Dessert Nomad]

Why don't any of the characters have ranged weapons, magic items that let them fly or otherwise cross the gap, and failing that why don't any of the casters in the group prepare spells like conjure animals, fly, dimension door, teleport, or the like? These are 11th level characters, not 3rd level, there are a lot of ways to cross a gap to engage an enemy in a fight. Exactly what to do will depend on the party makeup and magic item availability, but there are a lot of ways to get across the gap to engage the enemy in melee. And failing that, 11th level characters should at least be able to afford bows so that they can do something other than sit around after tossing javelins.

 

[Lord Twig]

Have the wizards and sorcerers take the Fly spell and then the melee fighters can get into melee.

Teamwork is another great option. Good suggestion. In this case I think the party was so used to cramped space that it didn't occur to anyone that it would be needed. None of the casters had a way to fly. A couple had Misty Step, but that can only be used on yourself.