D&D 5E 5th Edition has broken Bounded Accuracy

[Umbran]

"Bounded Accuracy" doesn't really mean, "The modifiers the PCs can accrue are capped". It seems more that the modifiers *required* grow only very slowly, so that efforts to accrue high bonuses are exercises in diminishing returns.

 

[Jeff Albertson]

I do have to question how you are "easily" getting prime attack ability to +5. It starts at no better than +3. You would need TWO stat increases to get it to 20. Which means you didn't spend those on feats. So it should be taking a long time to get to that point.

With rolling for abilities you can start with a 20.

 

[Goemoe]

A typical monster may have an AC of say 15, so with the Prof Bonus the player would need to roll an 11 to hit. Great, he should be hitting half the time. Once you roll in other bonuses however things, in my opinion, go south. It's very easy for a player to max out a characters prime attacking ability to +5, add in anticipated magical bonuses of +2 by 9th-14th level and the character suddenly has a total bonus of +11 so he now only needs to roll a 4 to hit the typical AC of 15.

This isn't what I was really expecting from 5th edition so I've started think of ways to fix it.

What do others think, should monsters become this easy to hit by mid levels? A creature with an AC of 12 can only be missed on a natural 1 so is hit 95% of the time. This makes taking feats that give -5/+10 damage a no brainer as you'll still hit most of the time. I was hoping for more!

So a seasoned adventurer is able to hit most of the creatures easily. *shrug* I believe the system is prepared for this. I agree, the -5/+10 feat feels wrong considering this. But if it is only a feat or two making the system feel wrong, just disallow/change them. We use the proficiency dice rule which spices up the rolls too. Works well for us.

 

[Agamon]

If the PCs miss half the time, the fights are twice as long. No thanks to that.

 

[Grimstaff]

In my RotL campaign, the PCs are nearly 10th level, many have maxed out their prime attribute, and all have at least one magical weapon. And they still miss stuff all the time.

Really the only stuff they hit reliably are the mooks with 20hp or the lumbering behemoths with 200 hps, and that's really as it should be.

So, ime, no problem with the bounded accuracy.

 

[jgsugden]

There is a faulty assumption here: Most PCs should have a +5 attribute by this point (although not all), and the +4 proficiency, but assuming a +2 magic item is not a safe assumption if you use recommended item distribution.

If you follow the guidelines in the book, PCs are unlikely to find a +2 weapon by this point. They *might* find one, but there is a less than 50% chance of it - much less the chances of finding enough to go around to an entire party. So we're talking about a +9 or +10 - meaning they'll hit a 15 about 75 to 80% of the time. Of course, with the prevalence of advantage, the amount of times they hit a 15 is probably much higher... but that is ok. They're meant to be hitting these ACs most of the time at this level. It is only ACs in the high teens and 20s that are meant to be hit and miss foes.

Some builds, like archer fighters, can really be over the top on accuracy - but that is a design feature to make them distinct and special. Archers in fantasy stories are cool because they never miss... that is what they're emulating in 5E.

 

[Chocolategravy]

There is a faulty assumption here: Most PCs should have a +5 attribute by this point (although not all), and the +4 proficiency, but assuming a +2 magic item is not a safe assumption if you use recommended item distribution.

It is an extremely safe assumption thanks to the magic weapon spell. Your paladin will have a +2 weapon if they want it, and if they're smart enough to go Devotion then for that BBEG they're also guaranteed another +4 or +5 to hit from sacred weapon. +4 str +4 chr +4 prof +2 magic weapon +2.5 cleric's bless = +16.5

And lets not forget he was using a melee weapon, were he talking about a bow then archery master hands you +2 to hit on top of the magic weapon for free! 5E doesn't have bounded accuracy, it was just something mentioned as a nice to have during beta but it never made it to release, it is as simple as that.

 

[DEFCON 1]

5E doesn't have bounded accuracy, it was just something mentioned as a nice to have during beta but it never made it to release, it is as simple as that.

It does have Bounded Accuracy... it just isn't as tightly bound as you'd prefer it to be.

 

[jgsugden]

It is an extremely safe assumption thanks to the magic weapon spell. Your paladin will have a +2 weapon if they want it, and if they're smart enough to go Devotion then for that BBEG they're also guaranteed another +4 or +5 to hit from sacred weapon. +4 str +4 chr +4 prof +2 magic weapon +2.5 cleric's bless = +16.5

If they use up all of their resources (and a share of the cleric's - bless is also concentration), then they can nova their chance to hit. However, a +2 AB requires a 4th level casting of magic weapon (available once at 13th level for paladins) and is concentration for an hour. Accordingly, assuming it for all combats would be hasty - and sacred weapon is a channel divinity that lasts one minute and grants Chr bonus, which may or may not be as high as +4 at the low teen levels... Paladins have a lot of need for feats, strength, and constitution. Further, there are a lot of other paladin spells that require concentration that are combating for that benefit. If the paladin Novas their bonuses they might get up the +16/+17 range... but I think the rest of their combats would be back down to the +9 or so range. Further, we're not just talking paladins here - fighters, rangers, rogues, etc... do not necessarily have access to bonuses to hit as easily.

And lets not forget he was using a melee weapon, were he talking about a bow then archery master hands you +2 to hit on top of the magic weapon for free!

I noted that as well...

In 5E there is an assumption that you'll have a few combats per short rest - some of which are easy battles - and that you'll have one or two short rests before a long rest (which you'll use about once per day). Some DMs stray from the guidelines that point in this direction, but if you follow them you will not end up with PCs walking around with +16s in every combat. You'll find the low teen levels to be a place where a +9 to +11 is the norm, and the higher attack bonuses coming in the big battles against the most dangerous foes.

 

[Parmandur]

It is an extremely safe assumption thanks to the magic weapon spell. Your paladin will have a +2 weapon if they want it, and if they're smart enough to go Devotion then for that BBEG they're also guaranteed another +4 or +5 to hit from sacred weapon. +4 str +4 chr +4 prof +2 magic weapon +2.5 cleric's bless = +16.5

And lets not forget he was using a melee weapon, were he talking about a bow then archery master hands you +2 to hit on top of the magic weapon for free! 5E doesn't have bounded accuracy, it was just something mentioned as a nice to have during beta but it never made it to release, it is as simple as that.

As has been pointed out, it is the HP that ate the factor over the levels, not AC. And in the end, with every high level addition, things are still bounded...at 30, not 20.