D&D 5E there aren't enough slow Dwarves with Axes! ;)

[CapnZapp]

Just don't use feats. They are an optional rule, if using Sharpshooter and Crossbow Expert is causing imbalance - don't allow them.

That is a working solution, yes.

Of course, I'd far prefer it if the feat system offered choices (feats) balanced with the alternative (the ASI).

But that might just be me wanting the stuff I pay for to actually, you know, work.

 

[CapnZapp]

Also in environments where ranged weapons are superior (i.e. outside) then the monsters should also have them, surely?

Tell that to the Monster Manual writers, Shirley!

 

[CapnZapp]

I wonder why range is so good for you.

From my experience 90% of all the battles are inside a dungeon and a room is probably never larger that 40 by 40 feet, so usually you can always melee reach any enemy. Even outside dungeon my group usually tries to negotiate first before fighting, so they will usually start combat close to the enemies.

Our Fighter uses melee attacks to 95%. The remaining 5% he threw a Javelin.
Our Cleric uses melee attacks to 80%. To 19% he casts an offensive ranged spell. And one single time he threw a hand axe.
Our Wizard is pretty much 50/50. Half of the time he goes into melee to tank damage and use short-range spells. The other half he stays back and launches ranged spells.
Our Rogue does ranged attacks 90% of the time. Mostly because this allows him to hide around a corner every round. He switches to melee only when an enemy moved next to him.

So for me it's pretty balanced.

I hope you see that nothing I say invalidates your experience, Rya.

This is what I mean when I jokingly talk about slow axe dwarves.

If your players are set up for melee, it isn't so surprising when they choose to fight... in melee

And the game works much better there.

I hope you have an answer to your initial question, Rya. If I had run dungeons with 40x40 rooms. They key is "if".

The thing is, I would have hoped the game provided good support for other types of D&D adventures than the 6-8 dungeon by now, since we're after all in the fifth edition.

And when I say "other adventures", I do include the official adventures themselves. Out of the Abyss in my case.

I haven't heard anyone say it's drastically different from Strahd, or Princes, or Thunder, but I guess it's possibly I've just been unlucky and have chosen the one official adventure that doesn't play by the same rules expected by the game... (And yes, I'm not entirely truthful there because... I simply don't believe it)

 

[CapnZapp]

You might want to go with DEX-based attack, STR-based damage for all ranged weapons, projectile or thrown. That would make ranged weapon combat MAD, and thus less optimal.

But this is exactly what I have done?

(Except the part about thrown weapons. I have never had a player specialize in thrown weapons, so I'm assuming I don't need to nerf that.)

 

[Horwath]

It's good to see a fellow poster agree Monster Manual statblocks are insufficient

It is sufficient.

all monsters have str,dex and int atribute written.

Dex and str gives you best option to chose between throwing or projectile weapons.

int describes are they are capable to craft them or mantain them.

Also it is important to have limbs that are able to use weapons.

 

[CapnZapp]

That's probably enough cantrips to toss one on most rounds that you're not casting an actual spell.

Not sure you say that as a congratulation on a job well done or an objection on a change not doing its job... so I'll give two answers:

That's probably enough cantrips to toss one on most rounds that you're not casting an actual spell.

Thanks! Yes, the idea is to not nerf regular combat while still remove the abuse originating in the endless feature of the original cantrip system

That's probably enough cantrips to toss one on most rounds that you're not casting an actual spell.

You misunderstand. I'm not trying to deny the Warlock the ability to chuck a few blasts, not primarily. Yes, the agonizing eldritch blast is way better than most archer fire, but we'll see if everybody switches over to Warlock 2/Fighter X builds (or Warlock 2/Sorcerer X builds for that matter). I'm hoping you wouldn't want to base your entire build on something you can only do for six rounds per short rest, but I do see your point.

I'm hoping I don't have to nerf EB though. It does need to be better than other cantrips, since the blastlock is supposed to be a major archetype of that class.

 

[CapnZapp]

I haven't noticed this issue in game play, but I play without the options of sharpshooter, crossbow expert or great weapon master.

Makes perfect sense. Thanks for posting

 

[intently]

First off, RAW requires PCs to keep track of their ammunition. You may waive that rule (it's boring) but it's an important balancing factor.

Some tactics a DM can use to mitigate ranged PCs:

• Monsters position themselves to keep melee PCs between themselves and PC archers. This would give partial cover at least. No AoO if you don't leave melee range.
• Enforce "interact with an object" free action rules. Don't let archers freely swap weapons, cast spells, etc.
• Use Ready actions to snipe archers that duck in and out of cover
• Similarly, force PCs to use the Ready action. This will limit your archers' ability to spread their multiple attacks across multiple targets. Have monsters duck in and out of total cover.
• Use the Dodge action to advance monsters, and put a clock on the PCs that discourages infinite kiting (e.g., princess being lowered into lava). Clocks are just good practice anyway.
• Use tower shields to provide total cover while advancing. This is completely RAW... a tower shield is just a big piece of wood.
• Use fog cloud (1st level spell, create heavily obscured area, total cover, blindness), gust of wind (2nd level spell, arguably disadvantage on ranged attacks), or wind wall (3rd level, completely prevents ranged attacks) to hamper archers. Fog cloud is very low level and completely wrecks archers.
• Use natural weather conditions. It's not always bright and sunny. Incorporating more weather will make your game more fun, anyway.
• Combined arms. Some monsters use bows, armored mobs dodge and charge, skirmishers dash and flank. DPS mobs hide behind tanks. Casters have Shield spell.

Finally, a potential house rule: How about combining the Dodge and Dash actions? Then your melee mobs can approach, prevent kiting, and mitigate arrows at the same time. Maybe DodgeDash gives disadvantage to attacks against you, and increases movement speed by 50% (instead of 100%).

 

[CapnZapp]

Option 4:

Start the lions share of your combat encounters 20' away. Stop starting them 200' away.

Fixed.

I am glad this fix works for you.

It does not for me. Magically placing the foes that close without explaining how they weren't spotted or heard ruins the verisimilitude for us.

In my OotA campaign, perhaps 1 in 6 encounters start that close. Neutral monsters that suddenly attack. Enemies bursting through a door. Undead sailing in from walls and through the floor.

On the other hand, only perhaps 1 in 6 encounters start as far away as 200 ft away.

A more representative range would be that the monsters ambush the heroes from 100-120 ft away. They get one round (the surprise round) before initiative is rolled.

 

[CapnZapp]

Ranged is superior to melee. That's why the English Longbowman decimated the French. That's why we use guns. That's why we deliver nuclear weapons with missiles and not carts. Ranged is going to decimate all but the fastest and cleverest of enemies. As it should.

Now you are talking about real life.

D&D is different, has always been different and should in my opinion remain different.

Cheers