D&D General (2024) Is it just me or has Unarmored Defense become really common, now?

[Horwath]

This is pretty massively overstated. Strength melee had the better feats in 5.0 and still does in 5.5. And STR melee is even better off vs. DEX melee in 5.5 due to having a much more flexible range of Weapon Mastery options. DEX melee is largely restricted to Vex and Nick.

I would still say that STR weapons are little bit on underpowered side. Due to flexibility of dexterity.
all non finesse weapons should get a damage die bump in damage.

Versatile is not a real weapon property. Finesse is.

 

[Gladius Legis]

Versatile is not a real weapon property. Finesse is.

Finesse is a required property for a DEX melee to function at all. Versatile is a minute bonus on the already fully functional by default STR melee. The two have different purposes and are not comparable.

 

[Horwath]

Finesse is a required property for a DEX melee to function at all. Versatile is a minute bonus on the already fully functional by default STR melee. The two have different purposes and are not comparable.

longsword should have default d10 damage vs rapiers d8 because of DEX versatility.

 

[ECMO3]

I would still say that STR weapons are little bit on underpowered side. Due to flexibility of dexterity.
all non finesse weapons should get a damage die bump in damage.

Versatile is not a real weapon property. Finesse is.

This is just not accurate. There are 5 finesse melee weapons and all of them except Scimitar are outclassed by a non-finesse weapons.

Short Sword: 1d6, light, Vex, Slashing. Hand axe is also light, Vex, Slashing but it only requires simple weapon proficiency, can be thrown and is less expensive.

Dagger: 1d4, light, Nick, thrown. The Light Hammer has the same statistics and mastery but with a better damage type

Whip: 1d4, Slow, Reach. The main thing this has going for it is reach, but the 1d4 damage is dwarfed by other reach weapons that are all 1d10.

Rapier: 1d8, Vex: Rapier is outclassed by a host of melee weapons. If you are using a Shield then War Pick, Longsword, Morning Star and Flail all do the same damage and have a better mastery for use with a Shield and Flail and Morning Star also do bludgeoning damage which is a better damage type to boot. Add Trident which has does identical damage with a Thrown capability. If you are not using a shield then War Pick, Longsword, Warhammer, Battleaxe, Trident, Glaive, Halberd, Greatsword, Greataxe, Pike, Javelin and Maul all do better damage than a Rapier.

Scimitar is the only finesse melee weapon that is not outclassed by one or more non-finesse counterparts.

 

[Silam]

This is just not accurate. There are 4 finesse melee weapons and all of them except Scimitar are outclassed by a non-finesse weapons.

Short Sword: 1d6, light, Vex, Slashing. Hand axe is also light, Vex, Slashing but it only requires simple weapon proficiency, can be thrown and is less expensive.

Dagger: 1d4, light, Nick, thrown. The Light Hammer has the same statistics and mastery but with a better damage type

Whip: 1d4, Slow, Reach. The main thing this has going for it is reach, but the 1d4 damage is dwarfed by other reach weapons that are all 1d10.

Rapier: 1d8, Vex: Rapier is outclassed by a host of melee weapons. If you are using a Shield War Pick, Longsword, Morning Star and Flail all do the same damage and have a better mastery for use with a shield and Flail and Morning Star also do bludgeoning damage which is a better damage type to boot. Add Trident which has does identical damage with a Thrown capability. If you are not using a shield then War Pick, Longsword, Warhammer, Battleaxe, Trident, War Pick, Glaive, Halberd, Greatsword, Greataxe, Pike, Javelin and Maul all do better damage than a Rapier.

Scimitar is the only finesse melee weapon that is not outclassed by one or more non-finesse counterparts.

Why is Piercing a worse damage type than Bludgeoning? Are monster resistances very unevenly distributed? I had not noticed that (not disputing it though, I just don’t know).

 

[ECMO3]

Certainly… so is the statement that it’s the most useless stat based on your personal experience of combat being a very small % of the game? (If so, it would be a valid take, though not universal…)

No it is my statement based on the idea that combat is one of three pillars and nominally one third of the game. It is an ability that is going to be nearly useless in 2 out of 3 pillars.

Even if combat is a full half of your game, Constitution is still nearly useless for the other half, but the other abilities are all useful both in and out of combat.

 

[ECMO3]

Why is Piercing a worse damage type than Bludgeoning? Are monster resistances very unevenly distributed? I had not noticed that (not disputing it though, I just don’t know).

More enemies are Vulnerable to bludgeoning. There are 2 pages of monsters vulnerable to bludgeoning. There is 1 monster (goon balloon) vulnerable to peircing.

On the resistance side they are similar, although I think a few more are resistant to piercing and not bludgeoning.

 

[Silam]

No it is my statement based on the idea that combat is one of three pillars and nominally one third of the game. It is an ability that is going to be nearly useless in 2 out of 3 pillars.

Even if combat is a full half of your game, Constitution is still nearly useless for the other half, but the other abilities are all useful both in and out of combat.

Ok, yeah. It certainly varies by campaign and from sessions to sessions, but I would say that on average, at my tables, at least half of the time is spent on combat, and it would not be unusual to spend the vast majority of time on it. Not because there is no exploration, but those challenges are usually quick. As for social, it can take a long time (sometimes all of the time) in games where there is any, but it could very well be short and sweet too. But most importantly, combat tends to be slow. If it’s a session with more than a single combat encounter then likely we’re blowing the majority of the time just resolving the outcome of those. Also, as I mentioned here, the stakes are different: if you fail combat, you die, whereas failing social or exploration often means simply being stuck, needing to find another way in, retrying the next day, etc.

All that said, D&D is as many different games as there are DMs for it, so it is totally normal for our experiences to be different.

 

[Vael]

Honestly ... I'd be in favor of just making Unarmored Defense a General or Origin Feat. Or, especially for the mages ... give out more armor proficiencies. What if all classes had light armor proficiency by default?

 

[ECMO3]

What if all classes had light armor proficiency by default?

If that is the case why even have light armor at all?

I mean Studded Leather and Leather Armor are not real things anyway. Just make the base AC 12 and be done with it. The reason light armor is there is so Rogues, Warlocks and Bards have a better AC than Sorcerers and Wizards.