D&D 5E Nerfing Archery

[Stoutstien]

Cover provides bonus to Dex saves, yes, but cover for spells is determined based on line of “sight” from their point of origin, not from the caster’s space. This is relevant for spells like Sacred Flame, for example, which is avoided with a Dex save, but the point of origin is in the target’s space, so there is no way to gain cover from it.

Sacred flame explicitly bypasses cover where other spell as you say rely on LOS from the origin of the spell which in turn rely on the LOS from the caster.
There isn't an attack cantrip I can name that doesn't follow this. You still need to 'see' the space for chilling touch hence cover.

 

[Guest 6801328]

Archers were a thing historically and counters were made to deal with them. Why don't you DMs do the same with your encounters? Have a spell caster or enemy archer target the party's ranged fighters, flying creatures that will soar over the other melee attackers to attack ranged fighters 1v1 in h2h combat, etc.?

That's fine, but it seems....broken?....to have to explicitly design every encounter to rebalance poor rules.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

That's fine, but it seems....broken?....to have to explicitly design every encounter to rebalance poor rules.

"There are dangerous squishy people in the back line, try to get them" seems like a pretty normal tactical situation, and one that occurs irrespective of specific rules.

 

[Charlaquin]

That's fine, but it seems....broken?....to have to explicitly design every encounter to rebalance poor rules.

I don’t feel like just changing monster tactics really fixes the problem. Like, sure, it helps keep archers from face rolling encounters, but it doesn’t help keep archery builds from being more optimal than melee builds.

 

[Zardnaar]

Archers were a thing historically and counters were made to deal with them. Why don't you DMs do the same with your encounters? Have a spell caster or enemy archer target the party's ranged fighters, flying creatures that will soar over the other melee attackers to attack ranged fighters 1v1 in h2h combat, etc.?

NPCs don't benefit from feats and it's harder to buff them.

Feats like sharpshooter, and anything that buffs concentration saves benefit ranged PCs more.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

I know there are a number of you out there who agree with me that archery is too powerful in 5e. (If you don't agree that's fine; my goal with this isn't to argue the point.). Rather than rein in the damage across the board, I'd like to see its effectiveness vary situationally.

Assuming you agree, at least to some extrent, what are thoughts about the following options? Any other suggestions?

(These aren't meant to be applied all together....these are just different ideas.)

1. No sneak attack beyond a certain range (30' or whatever)
2. Disadvantage against targets in melee combat with creatures their size or larger.
3. Archery provokes AoO if used within 5' of an enemy. (Maybe only applies to crossbows/bows, but not thrown.)
4. Use cover rules if other characters are in melee combat with. (No rule change needed here.)
5. If shooting into a melee, if you miss by 5 or more, roll an attack against an ally. (DM's choice)
6. Options for negating penalties, or maybe granting Advantage if there aren't penalties.
   1. Use your bonus action (to aim)
   2. Voluntarily roll with disadvantage (not cancelled if you have Advantage for some reason)
   3. Forego additional attack(s) if you have one (again, to aim)
   4. Feats

I like 5 and 6.1

What is the rationale behind #2?

 

[Nebulous]

While ammo tracking would be a great way to mitigate ranged weapon abuse, PCs would find a way to A) fill a bag of holding with 500 pounds of ammunition, or B) argue that their downtime is always spent crafting new arrows to replace spent ones, or C) something else I didn't think of.

And I also do think the SS feat is broken.

 

[Stoutstien]

While ammo tracking would be a great way to mitigate ranged weapon abuse, PCs would find a way to A) fill a bag of holding with 500 pounds of ammunition, or B) argue that their downtime is always spent crafting new arrows to replace spent ones, or C) something else I didn't think of.

And I also do think the SS feat is broken.

Retrieving an item from the bag of holding requires an action so even it is only filled with loaded quivers the action cost of 'reloading' is there.
Crafting arrows requires a tool proficiency in most cases so there is an opportunity cost involved. Time is the big factor here.

SS impact on the game varies greatly but generally +2 Dex still wins most of the time. Powerful and clunky yes. OP maybe.

 

[Seramus]

#4 is the best solution in my mind. It's elegant and creates the tactical choice to overextend their lines by flanking around the cover/ally like an X-Com soldier.

"A target with half cover has a +2 bonus to AC and Dexterity saving throws. A target has half cover if an obstacle blocks at least half of its body. The obstacle might be a low wall, a large piece of furniture, a narrow tree trunk, or a creature, whether that creature is an enemy or a friend."