D&D 5E Difficulty Settings for Advanced Players

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Y'know, oddly, that kind of firing into melee rule makes a lot more sense in TotM (which 5e nominally defaults to), than if you're using mini's & a grid, like in 3.x, and can check line-of-effect to apply cover &c.

Wasn't there a modifier on that in 3.x? Like a -2 or something?

In S&W with its 1 minute round the minis we use are just for rough positional information and during a round its assumed that you are kind of moving around with that. In 5e I ran it that if you missed your target you may hit someone next to him. But I always found hurling ranged weapons into a melee combat to be kind of dodgy. JMO.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Wasn't there a modifier on that in 3.x? Like a -2 or something?

It's been a while, and I think it may have changed between 3.0 & 3.5, but yes, I believe there was a further modifier over and above possible cover adjustments. But I can't recall if there was a meaningful (or very odd) chance of hitting a creature providing cover, or if that was some series of whacky house-rules... ? (Funny how much easier it is for me to remember rules minutiae from almost 40 years ago than from 12 or so.)

In S&W with its 1 minute round the minis we use are just for rough positional information and during a round its assumed that you are kind of moving around with that.

Absolutely. Very 1e, that.

In 5e I ran it that if you missed your target you may hit someone next to him. But I always found hurling ranged weapons into a melee combat to be kind of dodgy. JMO.

I could see some circumstances - if the enemy is much larger than the ally engaged with it, if the level of realism is down with 'trick shots,' if the archer & melee ally are so in synch that the latter can shift out of the way at just the right moment to provide a clear shot, etc - most of them fairly implausible, though infinitely more plausible than wizards & dragons, of course.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

And as to the theme. We just finished ToA and honestly most of the fights were a joke. A lot of deaths due to player drunkeness and stupidity, or the environment effects, but the "boss" fights were pretty much a cake walk. We finished it as a party of 6 8/9th level PC. I almost bought a few of the specific minis to paint but I'm glad I didn't. Ras Nsi was killed before he even took an action, and the big baddie went down pretty quick, even with my PC being in another room and not even taking part. Like when I ran OotA, a

Spoiler

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was the most memorable fight and he was invisible. The DM wants to run the giants campaign down the line so hopefully its more of a challenge.

 

[Oofta]

Wasn't there a modifier on that in 3.x? Like a -2 or something?

In S&W with its 1 minute round the minis we use are just for rough positional information and during a round its assumed that you are kind of moving around with that. In 5e I ran it that if you missed your target you may hit someone next to him. But I always found hurling ranged weapons into a melee combat to be kind of dodgy. JMO.

For a while I was doing something relatively simple: if you fire into melee you apply appropriate cover bonuses. If you miss by 5 or more you have a chance to hit someone else in line of the shot determined randomly. Roll to hit again with disadvantage on the new target (no cover).

It worked okay, but I didn't think it added enough to continue using it.