D&D 5E Point Buy system for weapon proficiency or something.

[Benjamin Olson]

Well naturally as someone who likes to make all his martial characters carry at least 4 or 5 different weapons at all times I say nay.

On the other hand, as someone who thinks his Sorcerer would look stylish with a handcrossbow, I am intrigued.

 

[jasper]

How about this? Damage by spell casting type. Wizards do 1d6. Thief does 1d6+2. Cleric 1d8. Fighter does 1d10. Those are the base. Subclass would +/- some pts. Or a more simple approach. Every pc gets a free weapon choice (family weapon, I just pick up this axe and it is cool, privately own weapon) however they are at -4 to hit and damage when do using their POW. And feats etc does not remove their POW penalty. Or one POW but if not in your class reduce the damage by a slot.

 

[DEFCON 1]

For me its as simple as this...

• Find out from the player what they would normally be doing/attacking with if they didn't have any grand ideas for things like "character concept".
• Then, find out what the player WANTS to do/attack with because of some grand character concept idea.
• If the numbers are relatively equivalent... then just give it to them. No need for trading mechanics, spending character points or any of that crap.

I mean really... if a wizard would normally be throwing around 1d10 firebolts and instead wants to shoot 1d10 longbows... then just give it to them. Why make them go through hoops? What's the issue? And if you reply "But the longbow allows the wizard to add their DEX mod to the damage!", I'd say "Well, DEX most likely wouldn't be the wizard's primary stat so that's only like 1 or 2 additional points per hit"... and "How tightly wound is your game's so-called 'balance' that it will get thrown off by an extra point of two of wizard longbow damage on those off-rounds they actually fire it?"

 

[GlassJaw]

If the feat system was more granular, it would support a concept like this.

 

[delphonso]

For me its as simple as this...

• Find out from the player what they would normally be doing/attacking with if they didn't have any grand ideas for things like "character concept".
• Then, find out what the player WANTS to do/attack with because of some grand character concept idea.
• If the numbers are relatively equivalent... then just give it to them. No need for trading mechanics, spending character points or any of that crap.

I mean really... if a wizard would normally be throwing around 1d10 firebolts and instead wants to shoot 1d10 longbows... then just give it to them. Why make them go through hoops? What's the issue? And if you reply "But the longbow allows the wizard to add their DEX mod to the damage!", I'd say "Well, DEX most likely wouldn't be the wizard's primary stat so that's only like 1 or 2 additional points per hit"... and "How tightly wound is your game's so-called 'balance' that it will get thrown off by an extra point of two of wizard longbow damage on those off-rounds they actually fire it?"

This can also be achieved with flavoring. One of my characters is shooting a shortbow, but we describe it as a blowgun, since it fits his character's aesthetic. He doesn't have proficiency in the real blowgun, but that also does very low damage, so why not just use a shortbow stats and call it something different.

 

[jasper]

This can also be achieved with flavoring. One of my characters is shooting a shortbow, but we describe it as a blowgun, since it fits his character's aesthetic. He doesn't have proficiency in the real blowgun, but that also does very low damage, so why not just use a shortbow stats and call it something different.

True that one my players Kobold PC is running around with a +1 spear aka +1 rapier.

 

[Jediking]

How’d you work that value out? Not disagreeing, just curios about your method, as a reliable way to convert race features to point buy could be a very useful tool, but I haven’t found most attempts at such things entirely satisfying.

Using Human, Half-Elf, and Elf races as a rosetta stone, you can figure out how balanced each racial trait is worth and then compare to other races to gage what other traits are valued at. Elves get racial weapon training, which is equal to +1 to any ability score (typically a “primary”* score, so I would balance it to that).
*During point buy it takes (2) points to raise a “Primary score” above 13.

Weapons have a low impact, typically +1 damage. So not a huge balance issue even if you are way off.

If a wizard used a 2d8 melee weapon it doesn’t really affect the balance as much as a fighter using a 2d8 weapon. Giving a wizard longsword for free doesn’t matter, as they are balanced around cantrips, but giving it to a monk might. You need to balance it to the class, not to the game.


Some easy points to quickly adjust sub/races:

All races have 12 points built into them:
2 pts each:
+1 to any ability score
1 skill
1 cantrip

Ribbons (worth 0 points)
-languages
-darkvision
-trance
-fey ancestry

I won’t bother posting the whole chart, but I have a pretty robust racial chart where characters can be a half-dwarf, half-halfling character, or any other pair by selecting racial traits to reflect their parentage and/or upbringing. Ex: a Half-Orc raised in a city to reflect a less tribal-like upbringing that the standard race block pushed towards Fighter or Barbarian.

I run a pretty cosmopolitan world, and find this just increases character options beyond race/class/background. Players have enjoyed it and I haven’t seen any balance issues, even when a couple of them try to optimize it.

 

[Jediking]

I think armor would be more worth the points. If we're talking 25 out of 27 point-buy, I'd let a barbarian have access to Heavy Armor.

My fear would be robbing the martial classes of something. Fighters and Paladins have access to everything, so what do they get out of this deal?

You are correct, armour proficiency is worth more than weapons.

Fighter and Paladins would not be losing any of their 27 point buy - so they might not be getting anything extra, but they don't need to sacrifice anything either.
Whereas a wizard using a longsword would only have a 25 point buy.

Conversely, maybe a martial class like the Fighter could give up their martial weapons proficiency and gain a skill? I could see a Fighter running around with two handaxes and a spear, and gaining Stealth or Sleight of Hand in return. Or a Barbarian who spent more time reading than raging, using a simple spear instead of a greataxe - but he can sure tell you his tribal tales (prof in History)!

 

[Jediking]

I am not even considering armors yet, because those are even more complex considering there is a hierarchy to satisfy: light before medium before heavy. So what are you going to do here? Would you allow to buy proficiency in a single heavy armor without having lesser armors proficiency? Would you require at least one, half or all the proficiencies in the lower tier? There are many possible rules here, each with pros and cons.

In this case, you can look at the existing feats as a template - they require proficiency in previous armour types before being able to be acquired. For example, the Heavily Armoured feat (gain heavy armour prof) requires you to be proficient in medium armour first. This is reinforced by looking at the class list, and subclasses like Valor Bard. Any class proficient in heavy armour is also proficient with medium, light, and shields. Any class with medium armour prof is also proficient with shields and light armour.
Medium Armour and Shields seem to go hand-in-hand, so I always give them out together

 

[Dausuul]

What is the problem you are trying to solve here?