D&D 5E Bring Back Bonus Attacks

[Sadrik]

In previous editions, bonus attacks were how martial characters were able to increase their damage. I think this is how damage should be increased in 5e too. For many reasons:

• It naturally scales damage up
• It accounts for weapons, greatsword multiple attacks vs. dagger multiple attacks
• It accounts for a strong/dexterous characters ability score more
• Monsters have multiple attacks regularly and do not utilize a scaling damage bonus, claw/claw/bite routine is normal
• It allows for more natural two weapon fighting rules
• It is grounded in all previous editions save 4e
• It allows for not all in one roll binary hit or fail combat rounds, make 2+ rolls perhaps hit with one miss with another
• It is more fun and a draw for martial characters to roll to hit more often
• Bonus damage mechanic is very abstract and gamey
• Hulk smash once per turn is gone, and a player can split attacks to multiple minion type opponents per turn
• Increases chances of a critical strike, naturally (Currently only the DM has this advantage)
• Sundering objects, should a fighter be able to blast a wall down in one swing?

I know this is a matter of opinion, but suppose martial characters got a bonus attack every 5 levels 5/10/15/20. Suppose a 15th level fighter did 1d8+12 with each sword swing and had +8 to hit, the player would roll 3d20 and adding +8 to each then for each hit rolling d8+12, which if he hit with 2 would be 2d8+24. Now looking at the 15th level fighter as presented, rolls 1d20 pass or fail (no gradation here) and if pass, deals 1d8+6d6+27. So really were do you want the complexity and time constraint? Adding the dice up if you hit or the other way. Both have their complexities

I think this is as simple as the DM does for each monster he has. Should the PCs round be simpler than the DMs? Probably not. If the DM can handle claw/claw/bite routines on several monsters, a player can do the same lol.

 

[the Jester]

No thanks. Multiple attacks slow the game down far too much for my taste- far more than the one attack with tons of damage does. Every attack is a decision point; every bonus die of damage is not (although with maneuvers, you can trade some of the dice off, so there is that).

No, I absolutely think multiple attacks at high levels are a drag on the game. The warrior's surge- get an extra action now and then- is okay, but the "every round four attacks!" model sucks IMHO.

EDIT: And the assertion that what's good for monsters is good for pcs is just silly IMHO. Should pcs have multiple eye rays just because a beholder does? Should a pc have multiple bites just because a hydra does? I don't think so. The dm is usually the most savvy player in a given group; he's far less likely to slow the game to a crawl than five players with option overload are.

 

[A'koss]

Yeah, I can't say as I'm eager to see multiple attacks come back either. There's enough for players to do already. You already have potential extra actions with Haste, Cleave, Whirlwind Attack, Two Weapons, Surge, Reactions, Extra Reaction Feats...

 

[Sadrik]

No thanks. Multiple attacks slow the game down far too much for my taste- far more than the one attack with tons of damage does. Every attack is a decision point; every bonus die of damage is not (although with maneuvers, you can trade some of the dice off, so there is that).

No, I absolutely think multiple attacks at high levels are a drag on the game. The warrior's surge- get an extra action now and then- is okay, but the "every round four attacks!" model sucks IMHO.

I absolutely respect your opinion. But wholeheartedly disagree with it.

EDIT: And the assertion that what's good for monsters is good for pcs is just silly IMHO. Should pcs have multiple eye rays just because a beholder does? Should a pc have multiple bites just because a hydra does? I don't think so. The dm is usually the most savvy player in a given group; he's far less likely to slow the game to a crawl than five players with option overload are.

I think players want some complexity too. Letting them roll their characters in a similar way to how monsters roll is not silly. It is good design to have them both be simple and intuitive and similar. Ymmv.

 

[Sunseeker]

Multiple attacks should be a feature of primarily-martial classes, they should have a limit in number(IMO, 2, one per hand) and weapon type(when dual-wielding)(therefore limiting damage output). They should retain an attack bonus penalty, but it should be minor, no more than -2 IMO. If a character wants to invest in multi-attacking, some feats should allow it, providing additional attacks at an additional penalty.

 

[Kraydak]

Where is the "both" option? Without multiple attacks, damage bonuses have to soar (to be honest, even higher than they are already). This means that they either get restricted to 1/round (which makes AoOs etc quite weak) or they make AoOs and any other free attacks absurdly powerful. Either way, it makes combat very swingy (small numbers of to-hit rolls). Mixing and matching scaling damage bonuses with free attacks lets you scale damage more evenly, and makes extra attacks neither too powerful nor near irrelevant.

Going from the current state with 6 MDD and 1 attack (1 attack roll, 1 damage roll) for 8 dice rolls to 4MDD and 2 attacks leaves the number of dice-rolls constant. The 2-attack version would still take longer, but not by much (as long as you avoid the 3e iterative attack system and make sure that, with the possible exception of the MDD, all attacks are identical).

 

[Stormonu]

It would be nice if you could expend Expertise Dice for attacks - maybe at a 2 dice-for-1 attack ratio or somesuch.

That way, if you need to beat on a single opponent, you can just make one big attack. If, instead, you need to take on many foes at once, you can choose to split your attacks out (maybe trip one, impale another and rush a third into a pit).

Or should the wizard and cleric be the only one who can affect more than one foe in a round, hm?

 

[variant]

I'd rather not have multiple attacks. It bogs down combat.

 

[A'koss]

It would be nice if you could expend Expertise Dice for attacks - maybe at a 2 dice-for-1 attack ratio or somesuch.

That way, if you need to beat on a single opponent, you can just make one big attack. If, instead, you need to take on many foes at once, you can choose to split your attacks out (maybe trip one, impale another and rush a third into a pit).

Whirlwind Attack and Volley maneuvers essentially do just that. For every MDD you trade in you get an additional attack.

 

[timASW]

Whirlwind Attack and Volley maneuvers essentially do just that. For every MDD you trade in you get an additional attack.

Yeah but those both really suck. What it needs is multiple attack options that are actually viable options, not just dummy traps for newbs like the current whirlwind attack.