D&D 5E Question from a newbie about cantrips

[Calendyr]

We decided to start a D&D 5th edition campaign and there is 1 rule I am not sure how to apply.

Situation: Level 1 fighter, Soldier background, High Elf (Moon Elf) with an Int of 11.

As moon elf, the character gets 1 free cantrip. The one chosen was Fire Bolt.

Question: With an INT of 11, the bonus would be 0. Do any other type of bonus apply to the to hit? Is this considered a proficiency and does it get a +2 for level 1?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I can see it as well. A fire bolt dealing 2d10 at 5th level beats people at my table shooting a bow for 1d8+3.

Your fifth level fighter's damage in a single round is 1d8+3? That feels unlikely to me.

Also my table never uses the big 3-4 feats, so this damage does appear to outpace most.

"This feat is a problem because my players don't use the good feats" is a strange argument.

 

[Umbran]

Almost everything else is tied to class level.

Is the goal consistency, or a cool play experience?

If weapon damage increased by character level similarly, I'd use the character level for cantrips. To me to use character level for cantrips shafts the martials in yet another way.

We should also note that the rules on multiclassing in the PHB specifically don't agree with you:

"If a cantrip of yours increases in power at higher levels, the increase is based on your character level, not your level in a particular class."

You can still play how you want, of course. The PHB rules aren't binding. But I'd want something more meaty than it enforcing a pattern on the rules for my own table.

Like, if you've done the math, and this specifically means that another martial character in the party is getting eclipsed by one cantrip, that'd be a good reason.

 

[Clint_L]

I can see it as well. A fire bolt dealing 2d10 at 5th level beats people at my table shooting a bow for 1d8+3. The benefit of range never comes up. Also my table never uses the big 3-4 feats, so this damage does appear to outpace most. Maybe if the rogue was using sneak attack or if the fighter hits with both attacks- only if he did not multi-class.

Presumably you are referring to a rogue, since a fighter would have two attacks. But the rogue can't add sneak attack damage to a cantrip, so the bow remains the better option. Also 1d8+ 3 is 7.5 average damage, but with +3 to hit over the cantrip, so even without sneak attack the damage difference is minuscule (e.g. against AC 15 it's 4.5 damage with the one longbow attack vs. 4.95 with the two firebolt attacks). Unless the rogue also has high intelligence...but by level 5 they should have at least a +4 dexterity bonus, anyway.

As for other martial classes (fighter, paladin, barbarian), at level 5 firebolt does 11 damage (average) - not great, but better than a martial class would get from, say, a longbow (9 average damage) if the martial had no dex bonus. If the martial class has a dex bonus of +1 or better the longbow pulls ahead (same average damage, better chance to hit).

So we are talking about a tiny damage increase from having the cantrip only in the case of martial classes with low dexterity. Which doesn't seem worth worrying about. Frankly, I think they could pick a much more useful cantrip and just carry a bow, unless they are taking something like firebolt for the flavour. In which case, bless.