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General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Making weapon choice matter
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<blockquote data-quote="Li Shenron" data-source="post: 7293632" data-attributes="member: 1465"><p>Not including the obvious shift between a melee and a ranged weapon, there are some but not many reasons why a character would want to switch occasionally:</p><p></p><p>- max damage (from a two-handed weapon) VS having a hand free for other purposes (a shield, a torch); for example my games tend to be dungeon-heavy so almost always someone has to carry a source of light, but it's not always the same character</p><p></p><p>- slashing VS piercing VS bludgeoning because some monsters (not many) are more vulnerable to a specific type of damage: if you are fighting skeletons, it pays off to switch to a staff or mace</p><p></p><p>- a thrown weapon is sometimes a reasonable choice if you want to be ready for either a melee or ranged attack</p><p></p><p>- random magic weapons found as treasure, as soon as you have more than one you might want to switch to change what effects you can use</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The shortbow is mainly meant for small characters and classes not proficient in martial weapons, although the latter also don't normally have multiple attacks and thus are better off using a light crossbow... I guess this leaves the shortbow a weapon of choice only for halflings or gnome warrior-types of level 5+.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It's the only simple one-handed ammunition weapon.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Not everyone has proficiency.</p><p></p><p>You cannot leave proficiency out of the picture or you would miss the main point: not all weapons are equally good. You are <em>supposed</em> to use the best weapon for the situation or chosen tactic. Just because you can use a kitchen spoon as a weapon doesn't mean there should always be a reason to choose doing so.</p><p></p><p>If everyone in the party has martial weapons proficiency, then there is no reason to purposefully use slings and daggers, just like there is no reason to just throw rocks and swing twigs when you have a better choice.</p><p></p><p>And by the way, getting more weapon proficiency is not at all easy, since they require either feats or multiclassing, two expensive character options that not even every DM allows.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Li Shenron, post: 7293632, member: 1465"] Not including the obvious shift between a melee and a ranged weapon, there are some but not many reasons why a character would want to switch occasionally: - max damage (from a two-handed weapon) VS having a hand free for other purposes (a shield, a torch); for example my games tend to be dungeon-heavy so almost always someone has to carry a source of light, but it's not always the same character - slashing VS piercing VS bludgeoning because some monsters (not many) are more vulnerable to a specific type of damage: if you are fighting skeletons, it pays off to switch to a staff or mace - a thrown weapon is sometimes a reasonable choice if you want to be ready for either a melee or ranged attack - random magic weapons found as treasure, as soon as you have more than one you might want to switch to change what effects you can use The shortbow is mainly meant for small characters and classes not proficient in martial weapons, although the latter also don't normally have multiple attacks and thus are better off using a light crossbow... I guess this leaves the shortbow a weapon of choice only for halflings or gnome warrior-types of level 5+. It's the only simple one-handed ammunition weapon. Not everyone has proficiency. You cannot leave proficiency out of the picture or you would miss the main point: not all weapons are equally good. You are [I]supposed[/I] to use the best weapon for the situation or chosen tactic. Just because you can use a kitchen spoon as a weapon doesn't mean there should always be a reason to choose doing so. If everyone in the party has martial weapons proficiency, then there is no reason to purposefully use slings and daggers, just like there is no reason to just throw rocks and swing twigs when you have a better choice. And by the way, getting more weapon proficiency is not at all easy, since they require either feats or multiclassing, two expensive character options that not even every DM allows. [/QUOTE]
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