D&D 5E When RAW goes too far

[FrogReaver]

If only JC's first part of that tweet had made it into the actual rules

"In D&D, everyday things—walls, gravity, bread, laughter—work the way we expect them to, except for when the rules say otherwise."

That would have saved so much argument over the years.

 

[CapnZapp]

The fun part was the second hand crossbow was never needed. A player can freely use one to get off normal attack and the bonus attack provided by the feat.

Exactly. I'd simply allow the two hand crossbows, per Rule of Cool, since it's not better than the RAW at all.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

The fun part was the second hand crossbow was never needed. A player can freely use one to get off normal attack and the bonus attack provided by the feat.

The truly expert rules lawyers were arguing that you could wield a shield in one hand while rapid-firing a hand crossbow with the other hand.

 

[FrogReaver]

The truly expert rules lawyers were arguing that you could wield a shield in one hand while rapid-firing a hand crossbow with the other hand.

And what's most ironic is that no one would have cared either way without Sharpshooter feat.

 

[Stoutstien]

And what's most ironic is that no one would have cared either way without Sharpshooter feat.

aye. when i shifted weapon focused feats onto the weapons as features and the modifed SS only applied to ranged weapons with the two handed property.

The truly expert rules lawyers were arguing that you could wield a shield in one hand while rapid-firing a hand crossbow with the other hand.

which is now pretty easy to pull of with an artificer in the party thanks to repeating shot infusion.

 

[MGibster]

Many, many years ago someone from Palladium had a good response. Someone wrote in complaining that a character could just jump on a grenade and absorb the damage with no problem. Whoever wrote back suggested that the PC who does this should either be automatically killed or the damage applied directly to their hit points.* It wasn't rules as written but it made sense.

There's the old standard of a D&D character being able to survive a fall from any height. I've never seen this put to the test but if a PC jumped off the ramparts of Castle Ravenloft I'd probably just rule it a death.

*Palladium games have Structural Damage Capacity and Hit Points for PCs. Typically when a PC takes damage it's applied to his SDC, which is typically has a lot of, and once he runs out of that damage is applied to HP which he has less of.

 

[Oofta]

Exactly. I'd simply allow the two hand crossbows, per Rule of Cool, since it's not better than the RAW at all.

The rule has been rewritten, original:

When you use the Attack action and attack with a one handed weapon, you can use a bonus action to attack with a loaded hand crossbow you are holding.​

​

So the first round you could fire, but then after that you need to reload.

 

[Coroc]

well my all time favorite still is the dual wielding of jousting lances to get two attacks from one mounted charge, please don't ask for the nonsensical justification.

my reaction: Help! (like in the tweet)

 

[Coroc]

Many, many years ago someone from Palladium had a good response. Someone wrote in complaining that a character could just jump on a grenade and absorb the damage with no problem. Whoever wrote back suggested that the PC who does this should either be automatically killed or the damage applied directly to their hit points.* It wasn't rules as written but it made sense.

There's the old standard of a D&D character being able to survive a fall from any height. I've never seen this put to the test but if a PC jumped off the ramparts of Castle Ravenloft I'd probably just rule it a death.

*Palladium games have Structural Damage Capacity and Hit Points for PCs. Typically when a PC takes damage it's applied to his SDC, which is typically has a lot of, and once he runs out of that damage is applied to HP which he has less of.

dice it out anyway, depending on the surface someone falls onto there are some RL miracles, like the confirmed fall of 14000 ft of a WW II Lancaster bomber crewman on some scrubbery covered in a thick layer of snow which he survived injured.

 

[Weiley31]

Make sure that opening doors are RAW as well. I hate to think if I was turning the door handle wrong too!