D&D (2024) How to simply balance ranged weapons.

[Horwath]

There is a lot of discussion on (over)power of ranged weapons, and as I agree with most of 5E decision for ranged weapons(dex for both attack and damage), some more penalties should be added for usage of Ranged Weapons.

1. Making attack with a ranged weapon provokes Attack of Opportunity.
2. When you make an attack with ranged weapon, melee attacks vs. you have advantage until the start of your next turn. This counts for triggering the AoO from point 1.

Extra point: archery style should be changed from +2 attack to prof bonus to damage with ranged weapons.

 

[S'mon]

I think #1 is fair, I don't like #2 as it requires tracking & seems very harsh.

 

[Horwath]

I think #1 is fair, I don't like #2 as it requires tracking & seems very harsh.

It's supposed to be harsh,
if you can attack from 150/600ft without any retaliation from melee, then if you get caught in melee, using ranged weapons should be a big pain.

 

[S'mon]

It's supposed to be harsh,
if you can attack from 150/600ft without any retaliation from melee, then if you get caught in melee, using ranged weapons should be a big pain.

Hm. In reality IME 5e archers are typically attacking from more like 30' not 150'+. The game is played mostly in dungeons, after all.

 

[Horwath]

Hm. In reality IME 5e archers are typically attacking from more like 30' not 150'+. The game is played mostly in dungeons, after all.

that is true, maybe you will have rely more on your melee frontliners to hold the line.
Also in playtest Sentinel feat now comes with +1 ASI so it's more attractive to front liners, so they can keep theirs squishy ranged friend safe.

 

[Gorck]

I'm not saying ranged attacks are overpowered and need to be nerfed. But if such an adjustment must be made, the simplest solution would be to revert back to 3e/3.5e where your DEX (or STR for thrown) modifier was not added to the damage.

For the record, I don't like the OP's option 1 and really don't like option 2. Unless the person is making a ranged attack while an enemy is currently in melee range, then I see no reason why doing so would provoke an OA or grant advantage to future attackers.

 

[Andvari]

I'm not saying ranged attacks are overpowered and need to be nerfed. But if such an adjustment must be made, the simplest solution would be to revert back to 3e/3.5e where your DEX (or STR for thrown) modifier was not added to the damage.

For the record, I don't like the OP's option 1 and really don't like option 2. Unless the person is making a ranged attack while an enemy is currently in melee range, then I see no reason why doing so would provoke an OA or grant advantage to future attackers.

STR bonus added to thrown weapon damage in 3E/3.5E, but not to general missile weapons. But composite longbows specifically let you add STR to damage.

 

[payn]

I think I prefer the dropping Dex to damage as a better solution. There should indeed be a drawback to the advantages of ranged combat, and relying on AoO in 5E seems like a bad way to balance.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

#1 again no. Useless, because you would leave melee anyway.

#2 yes. Because that was what I was suggesting in the other thread.

#3 don't care. Probably ignoring partial cover penalty would be the best choice. For firing in melee or someone behind a tree it will be equal to a +2 bonus, whichseems fair enough.
+2 to damage in some way is a buff.

My general ranged nerf is having a point blank range, where after 30ft range you don't get any dextrerity bonus to damage. This makes ranged attacks way more fair, as it limits focus fire and on the way to melee, damage is significantly reduced.

 

[Amrûnril]

There is a lot of discussion on (over)power of ranged weapons, and as I agree with most of 5E decision for ranged weapons(dex for both attack and damage), some more penalties should be added for usage of Ranged Weapons.

1. Making attack with a ranged weapon provokes Attack of Opportunity.
2. When you make an attack with ranged weapon, melee attacks vs. you have advantage until the start of your next turn. This counts for triggering the AoO from point 1.

Extra point: archery style should be changed from +2 attack to prof bonus to damage with ranged weapons.

I think the overarching issue with ranged attacks is that, in outdoor encounters with good visibility, a ranged combatant gets many rounds of high quality attacks before a melee combatant can close to effective range. Penalizing ranged weapons in melee will do relatively little to solve this issue unless the effectiveness of medium to long range attacks against alert opponents is also decreased.

I also wonder about round length as part of a solution. A round in AD&D, if I recall correctly, represented a minute of combat. I don't think I'd go quite that far, but if a round of combat represented 20 or 30 seconds instead of 6, with a corresponding increase to the effectiveness of the dash action over open terrain, melee combatants would take a more reasonable number of attacks while approaching combat.