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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ninja-to" data-source="post: 3817941" data-attributes="member: 19551">As I posted just now we could fix this with a feat. Because deflecting ranged weapons with a melee weapon is pretty 'buff' and hard for all but the most skilled, then the feat may require high dex as a pre-requisite or high levels, or simply say that melee weapons don't reduce your AC vs ranged (just as it wouldn't vs a spell saving throw).As what's been suggested, BaB might be re-written as 'Base Defense Bonus' and could be on a seperate table for each class. Also, a bow could be treated like an improvised weapon. You've seen the crazy stunts Jackie pulls off with skis and refrigerators etc...If you go with 'feat required' rule then it won't make any difference who the archers aim at. They're just as likely to hit the melee fighters in full plate than the archers in full plate, unless they're unlucky enough to come up against a highly skilled swordsman who can cut them as they fly (which we've seen in movies and read about in fantasy).I also think that people are kind of forgetting something here. The idea that holding a melee weapon in your hands helping you defend yourself is by no means guaranteeing your safety. If you have a bow in your hand and people are shooting at you with theirs, your bow isn't going to help much (let's say it's an improvised melee weapon) and you're most likely going to get drilled. But perhaps either by amazing fluke (a lucky roll) or by fantastic, epic skill, the arrows lodge or deflect off the length of the wood of your bow?So make it a feat if you want to deflect using melee vs ranged, or nullify it completely against ranged. Make it vs strictly melee or any melee attacks that come against you. Perhaps this defense bonus doesn't apply to some special cases (two-ton claws) based on DM ruling. It also really depends on how you describe things in game as well. Perhaps that snapping dragon bite from the Huge red isn't being 'blocked' or deflected, the dragon is simply being held at bay by that nasty, glowy sword that only recently stabbed it in the thigh and gave it a grievous wound. The sword is as much a psychological 'shield' as it is a weapon.It might sound complicated after all these posts, but it can be stated fairly simply:Base Defense Bonus: Applies only when a medium or heavier melee weapon is wielded by the defender. Does not apply to AC vs ranged attacks or in circumstances the DM does not approve, such as a dreaded 'two-ton claw' (though as stated above this seems perfectly acceptable to me. If I was a monster with a two-ton claw I still wouldn't want to drive it down on the end of a great-sword).</blockquote>

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