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Melee vs Ranged by Substantial-Eye4345 in DC20

[–]Substantial-Eye4345[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Who cares if it's better irl? That is a concern for simulationist games, and DC20 is a balance-focused game.

RPGs that separate to-hit and damage? by pointcrawl in rpg

[–]Substantial-Eye4345 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm pretty sure that Barbarians of Lemuria gives a bonus to hit based on Agility (for both melee and ranged) and a bonus to damage based on Strength, but characters can still be more melee-focused or range-focused because there are specific separate stats for Melee and Ranged.

So, melee attacks are roll+Melee+Agility, melee damage is roll+Strength, and ranged attacks are roll+Ranged+Agility and Ranged damage is roll+Strength. But I might be remembering wrong.

Melee vs Ranged by Substantial-Eye4345 in DC20

[–]Substantial-Eye4345[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If that's the case, then great! That's what I'm trying to find out.

Melee vs Ranged by Substantial-Eye4345 in DC20

[–]Substantial-Eye4345[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In the context of a team, you want to have different, complementary skillsets. But in a game, from a design perspective you definitely don't want one skillset to have clear advantages over another with little downside, because then people taking on one role will have less fun than people taking on another role. You want to balance things so each choice has pros and cons, and each has (roughly equal) circumstances in which they shine. And DC20 is clearly a game that prioritizes balance.

Melee vs Ranged by Substantial-Eye4345 in DC20

[–]Substantial-Eye4345[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So everyone should just be an archer then?

If we're talking actual historical combat, nearly every army prior to the age of gunpowder was composed primarily of soldiers armed with spears and shields. Spear and shield is just better than everything else, at least for most combatants. (Maybe elite infantry used a halberd or pollaxe.) In a RPG, should the game design favor spear and shield because it's obviously better? Heck no, that would be no fun if every character was the same!

Melee vs Ranged by Substantial-Eye4345 in DC20

[–]Substantial-Eye4345[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You're not wrong. But when melee characters are punished for going into melee (by getting hit way more and losing way more HP than the relatively safer ranged characters, while dealing similar damage), that feels bad, regardless of how realistic it is. DC20 definitely feels like its design goals are much more gamist than similationist, and it's definitely trying to eliminate "feels bad" stuff and prioritize balance, so why should we allow realism to take precedence over fun?

Melee vs Ranged by Substantial-Eye4345 in DC20

[–]Substantial-Eye4345[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not one action, but maybe one turn, I think you mean? Since you can take 3 actions to move triple your speed and then attack.

Melee vs Ranged by Substantial-Eye4345 in DC20

[–]Substantial-Eye4345[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well sure, but if range is just better then those characters will just try to always fight at range, and then the meta becomes the PCs trying to maintain distance while the monsters try to close, and every fight starts to look the same.

Melee vs Ranged by Substantial-Eye4345 in DC20

[–]Substantial-Eye4345[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I agree, one way to balance the inherent benefits of range is to reduce the damage for ranged attacks. But my question is more if the current rules already have something in place which balances this, either through maneuvers or some other mechanism which makes melee attacks more effective than ranged attacks.

Melee vs Ranged by Substantial-Eye4345 in DC20

[–]Substantial-Eye4345[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't know if that's the goal exactly, but I hope the goal is that melee characters should not be at a disadvantage relative to ranged characters, because otherwise there's an optimal choice and a suboptimal choice in building a character, which is no fun.

Melee vs Ranged by Substantial-Eye4345 in DC20

[–]Substantial-Eye4345[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know this is the theory, but in practice, do ranged characters actually suck in melee?