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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CapnZapp" data-source="post: 8342130" data-attributes="member: 12731">[SPOILER]Tl;Dr: had Great Weapon Master - one of the core game's best feats, I am not up to date on 5E splatbooks -  been a racial feat available only to Dwarfs, I would have agreed with you.No, you miss my point. You're just looking at the Dwarf fighter once he has reached the point where he will make his stand. That is just not the whole picture. Getting there and getting away from there aren't easily translated into DPR numbers, but can easily be the most significant factor in you coming out on top.Mobility and reach are extremely important aspects of being a good fighter type, and the 5E Dwarf is piss-poor in both. That would have been more thanokay if he got really powerful abilities in exchange. But 5E does not value Speed highly. Actually it's almost a ribbon ability "choose your own Speed" much like you get to choose your own eye color. (See below).You get MUCH better results if you instead play a race that can run circles around your hapless opponents (most 5E monsters are really simplistic brutes that aren't particularly dangerous if they can't catch you). Being able to leave a particular duel, and being able to enter another one, is key. Having a Speed greater than the 30 (or even 40) that the overwhelming majority of melee monsters have is such an important and useful ability.But you're not paying properly for great speed or reach/range in 5E.In order to attain a greater speed than 20, 25 or 30 you should need to basically sacrifice heavy armor entirely, AND sacrificing heavy armor entirely should mean a substantial AC penalty (not just a point here and there as is the case in today's game!).In order to shoot at range you need to be penalized several ways: lower base damage, penalties if you end up in melee, penalties for shooting INTO melee, you name it. (You don't actually have to name it. Just compare the 5E rules for ranged combat to 3E and you will have a large selection of tiny tiny rules that at first glance look like useless clutter but collectively REALLY needed to be retained in 5E!)5E has basically forgotten that you're not picking a slow melee fighter just because you want to play one. You picked it because it was the truly great fighter option and anything else came with meaningful compromises.The fact every fighter in 3E is hosed and you should just go play a spellcaster instead is hopefully something we agree is beside the point here... <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Every system needs to actively and mechanically reinforce the conventions of the game. Otherwise people aren't going to pick the choices you thought they would. 5E just takes them for granted. But if you're half-way sensitive to optimizing you will have realized the "Race: Dwarf" option just don't justify the drawbacks. Other choices offer far better speeds without having to give up anything worth mentioning.Many people just play slow Dwarves out of routine, not realizing it is substandard to move so slowly given how little you gain by that choice. 5E basically treats Speed like a ribbon choice, and it definitely should not. Speed is one of the most important abilities to have, even as a melee fighter. Especially as a melee fighter!And PS - everyone else ALSO gets Darkvision. Darkvision is the norm in 5E with Humans (play a Half-Elf with discreet ears), Halflings (play a Gnome) and Dragonborn being exceptions.[/SPOILER]</blockquote>

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