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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ashkelon" data-source="post: 6982367" data-attributes="member: 6774887">This has nothing to do with playstyle. The 20% damage difference would occur regardless of players or DM. Numerically, a hand crossbow build deals over 20% more DPR than a greatsword build. The damage difference is not due to me being unable to reach enemies in melee (though that still does happen from time to time). The damage difference comes about because the crossbow archer gets a bonus attack every round and has higher accuracy.I do fight enemies in such a way as to threaten as many OAs as possible. But rarely does an OA actually trigger. I feel lucky if I make just one or two OAs per session. In 5e, enemies are free to run around my fighter to their hearts content without provoking an OA. It makes tanking much more difficult than in previous editions.On top of that however, the archer fighter could threaten OAs as well. The crossbow archer can close into melee range and shoot enemies at point blank range. At the end of each turn he can draw a melee weapon to threaten OAs. At the start of his turn, he simply needs to drop the weapon and make attacks with his hand crossbow as normal.Also, I haven't played in a game that tracked ammo in a long time.A gaming system can definitely enforce parity. It is usually quite simple to do so. You design the game with sound math so that the various options comparable. Then you apply checks and balances to the various options.In fact, the core combat rules of 5e are fairly well balanced. With the core rules, the highest damage melee weapon is the greatsword and the highest damage ranged weapon is the longbow. With a 20 in a prime stat, the greatsword deals 12 average damage per hit and the longbow deals 9.5. This means that the archer deals about 20% less damage than the greatsword wielder, but has the ability to shoot enemies at range.Being able to attack enemies at range is of course a huge benefit, so the archer has a few other checks on him as well. For example, the archer's attacks are made at disadvantage while within 5 feet of an enemy. The archer also suffers disadvantage when enemies have cover.Well, once you add feats and fighting styles into the equation, those checks and balances on ranged combat disappear. Suddenly hand crossbow becomes the highest damage weapon in the game. And the archer no longer suffers any penalties for range, cover, or being in melee.</blockquote>

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