D&D 5E Expert Weapon Damage (a simple thing, really)

[Flamestrike]

In the middle of the quest? Good luck with that.

I didnt say you could swap it mid dungeon. But you can swap it. If you're a Bow specialist and you find a vorpal greataxe in a dungeon, within a session or two, you'll be good to go.

Cant say the same thing about fighting styles and other feats (sharpshooter and PAM). Those suckers lock you in to a narrow band of weapons permanently. My feat... doesnt.

If you're curious, I also allow feats (and fighting styles... and even archetypes) to be retrained using the training downtime activity. It has a number of advantages over players being locked in to a particular style for life.

1) The reason above. If your archery fighter finds a vorpal greataxe in his travels, he can retrain to learn how to use it effectively (taking a great amount of time.. 10 weeks minus Int per feat/ fighting style/ archetype swap). I prefer this to the inevitable 'sell it for half and buy a better bow'. The player has increased options and more directions for growth rather than being channeled into one direction.

2) It speeds up play. If you make a choice that sucks (or you get bored of playing) it can be undone. No need to spend hours fretting when leveling up for fear of getting stuck with a feat or ability thats going to suck later on.

3) New feats or archetypes can be introduced to existing characters. If a player wants to switch from a Battlemaster to say... a brand new shiny Samurai archetype from a new splatbook or unearthed arcana, I can introduce a NPC 'master' who can offer to train him (at a price...). If a new feat comes out that you just have to have, find a master, and learn it. The 'master' requirement is a nice bottleneck for me introducing new stuff or introducing quests. I can also use this system to introduce custom or homebrew feats or spells or whatever.

4) I like downtime, and want to encourage its use. While you're honing your skills, other PCs can be off carousing, buying, crafting and selling magic items, researching and so forth. You know, putting that money you get from dungeons to use.

In fact, now that I think about it, there is no reason not to allow retraining.

Weapons that benefit from Sharpshooter: All ranged weapons,

My feat expressly allows you to switch weapons. So... it benefits every weapon in the game, even ones that might come out in future as yet unnamed splat books.

The problem with Specialization in earlier editions was it was one weapon; period, for all eternity. It locked you into that single weapon for your whole career, meaning that all those other cool magic weapons you found were pointless as anything else other than (half market price in gp). Even if you found 'the coolest weapon of doom eva' if it wasnt your chosen specialized weapon, it was going in the trash (for half market value).

They tried fixing this later in the game with the Warblade (the awesome late game fighter replacement) having an early level class feature that let them swap Weapon specific feats for other weapons (You could swap Weapon Focus with a long sword into Weapon focus with a bow with a short period of training. Exotic weapon proficiency meant you were proficient in all exotic weapons, as you could switch out the weapon you selected training, etc). PF just lets fighters swap whole feats as they level up.

 

[Flamestrike]

I think this is a solution without a problem.

Solution: let some characters (fighters, say) do more damage with only a single weapon type.

What is the problem this is trying to solve?

Does your game have a problem with characters always changing the weapons they use?
Does your game have a problem with characters being able to use magic/treasure weapons competently when they are found?

Neither of these are problems I have observed in play. If they are for you, then the solution might make sense.

Is the problem that fighters are not doing enough damage? If that's the case, then there might be other solutions available, such as giving them more ASIs, so they get to 20 in their attack stat quicker (except the game already does that).

I use weapon specialization for a few reasons:

1) It means fighters are the best at fighting, getting a +1 to hit and +2 to damage over other classes. Its the only feat or ability in the game that adds a bonus to hit, and I keep a close eye on that and keep it that way. This is where I want fighters in my game. To be the best at fighting.

2) Seeing as I reigned in Archery F/S (no hit bonus), and nerfed Sharpshooter and GWM (-5/+10 only useable 1/round), and it's fighters (who get multiple attacks per round) that benefit the most from these feats and fighting styles, they needed a little something to make up for it.

3) The 'stagger' effect on a critical plays nice with Champions improved crit range, who I felt need a little something extra over battlmasters and EK's. As an added bonus weapon specialization (a feat that provides a fixed bonus, with a passive secondary effect triggered entirely off a dice roll with zero decision points for the player) fits the champion playstyle and design.

4) Legacy reasons. I'm old-school, and was looking for an OSR feel to the game. BECMI, 1, 2, 3, 3.5 editions all had it. Wouldn't know if it existed in 4th edition because... well you know why.