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I like both @GreyLord and @Laurefindel 's ideas. Grey's holds up lethality, and "yes it's still valuable to carry a one-shot pistol", while Laure's - as stated - holds ups ease of use and "this is different from a crossbow" mechanics.

Yes, to really start trying to model it, you need a computer. Pillars of Eternity starts getting into that math, for example, with armor providing damage reduction and deflection and taking into attacker skill with "grazes", hits, and crits. And doing this across each body part (since you can...

Watching the Vox Machina animated show gives a good impression of firearms in fantasy. Percy has a "pepperbox" (a revolver), and "the List" (a sniper rifle). The revolver's main benefit is ease of use - he can snap off a half-dozen shots while running, with reasonable accuracy. But they don't...

In a game with "Hit Points" - already discussed a thousand times, so just leave it - and Levels that add more Hit Points, why does a Firearm need to be anything more/different than a "noisy crossbow"? A d8 or d10 weapon will kill a normal person, and mortally wound other comparable threats...

I had an idea IMC for a boost from INT, and this was the first feedback I got. "The rich get richer." Which I think is kinda of a BS answer because looking at my PCs, the INT scores are 8, 10, 8, 10, 8, and 10. No wizards or artificers; a fighter/rogue (INT 8 arcane trickster, no less!)...

Actually, I recall just this thing coming up in a CHAMPIONS (HERO system) game. The character had a "Taser", defined as inflicting a single point of BODY, with a linked massive stunning attack "Only if the taser hits and inflicts damage". A single point of BODY damage pretty much never gets...

[that = shield bash as an Improvised Weapon] Well, the thought that came to mind immediately was "Fighter with sword and shield, facing a foe [like a skeleton] that has resistance/vulnerability that you want to avoid/exploit." Is it better to do d8 half damage, or d4 doubled? Maybe - like the...

TL;DR = Just realized everything I say below is "I hate ASI being in Background." I feel like Class+Race is the core of your character; Background should be an extra layer of bonus goodness, not a key part of your optimization. For example, in the old MechWarrior RPG, you could purchase the...

My campaign has "Herbal Healing Pots", separate from healing potions. The HHPs have a 0-3 round "onset" time, then heal 2hp a round for 5 rounds. (So yes, a guaranteed 10pts, everytime.) And you can get them cheap (like 6-10gp) or expensive (40gp)... cheap ones are "Fresh", and will expire in...

BG3: Chuck a potion at them from across the room, works just as well!

Also, this made more sense back when the Combat Round was one minute, not 6 seconds. Talked about this in another thread -- many things made more sense on that time scale, and it also allowed for changes in environment (reinforcements, spreading fires, etc.).

I made a host of herbalism / Medicine skill-based non-magical items for PC. Burnsoothe Ointment is great on burns (fire, acid, extreme cold); Woundbind Poultices help with long-term healing (i.e. spending Hit Dice during a rest) - particularly slashes; and Fireberry Smokes restore the illusion...

Actually, I'll jump in on this one. You totally can, as a core rule, without a Feat. It's called "attacking with an Improved Weapon". You're not proficient (without Tavern Brawler or some other such), and it does 1d4 damage (a one-handed improvised weapon - probably bludgeoning, but you might...

@Thomas Shey This has been my experience in every game I've played, from BattleTech to D&D, from Champions to GURPS, even for massive wargames. Battles are always resolved with what's there when the battle starts, because combat in games is so fast, there isn't time to move more than 1 room /...

I have alternated my approach to Religion and the Gods. Some campaigns have had full custom Creation Myths, establishing custom pantheons; about half those games have the gods directly meddling, while the other half is "... and that's why they died/left/pulled-back." More campaigns have used...

I'm basically with @Edgar Ironpelt .... if it's on your sheet, you have it. If it's not on your sheet, and you decide to have it, I'm probably okay with it... and now make a note of it on your sheet. Yesterday we didn't have a reason to know your mom was a Wainwright, today we do, how...

I think the name "Prestige Class" couldn't be used because of 3e trauma of this kind, but the concept is valid, right? :-) (I totally agree, hard to be excited about your metamagic candle when the Oracle is scry-and-die-ing across the multiverse with no chance of failure.) In short, yes. If...

And the funny thing is... WotC could capitalize more on having an "advance subclass at 12th level" -- that's a minimum of 3 more class options, per class... what a great set of splatbooks (like 2e, and 3e) we would all buy, because yay more options!

For starters, not playing or reading published adventures. Running my own homebrew campaigns entirely. (Not even "repurposing" pieces.) So this is partially informed by my own struggles with balancing skill checks - especially lockpicking! - and multiple characters having exceptional skills...

Cycling back to the OP and Uncanny Dodging out of the maths discussion... A few things have stuck out at me several times through these 10 pages. First, most "take advantage of Rogue abilities" examples seem to be "give the rogue a bow" / "be a sniper". Second, Expertise is either meaningless...