Vadskye
2012-08-20, 05:19 PM
This would replace the normal Two-Weapon Fighting rules (p. 160 of the PHB):
If you wield a second weapon in your off hand, you can attack with both weapons at once when you attack. If you hit on the attack roll, you deal damage with both of your weapons independently. Precision-based damage, such as sneak attack damage, is only dealt once. Damage reduction only applies once against the damage dealt by both weapons. You can only critical with your main hand; your off-hand weapon's critical threat range is ignored.
Fighting in this way is very hard, however, and you suffer a -6 penalty to your attack roll. You can reduce these penalties in two ways:
If your off-hand weapon is light, the penalty is reduced by 2. (An unarmed strike is always considered light.)
The Two-Weapon Fighting Feat and the Improved Two-Weapon Fighting feats each reduce this penalty by 2.
TL;DR: You use the same attack roll for both weapons instead of rolling twice.
Design notes:
I want to change this rule for two reasons. First, extra attacks take a lot of time, particularly at mid to high levels. I want to streamline my game so the ranger doesn't take twice as long to attack as the fighter or barbarian (and therefore hog twice the spotlight). Second, two weapon fighting is just plain weird mechanically. It's generally a bad choice for everyone, with the exception of rogues, for whom it is a godsend. It is a very immobile fighting style, since you lose so much damage by moving, which doesn't fit the classic archetype of the mobile, dexterous two-weapon fighter.
This change streamlines the two-weapon fighter, gives them more appropriate rewards for being hasted, and doesn't penalize them nearly as much for moving. It is simple; it does not change any fundamental mechanics, except for getting rid of the Greater Two-Weapon Fighting feat (which may be added back in if I can think of an appropriate bonus.) Finally, I admit that rogues (and other precision-damage characters) suffer somewhat with the new feat. However, my intention is to improve them in a way that does not punish them for choosing to use a single weapon rather than two.
Thoughts?
If you wield a second weapon in your off hand, you can attack with both weapons at once when you attack. If you hit on the attack roll, you deal damage with both of your weapons independently. Precision-based damage, such as sneak attack damage, is only dealt once. Damage reduction only applies once against the damage dealt by both weapons. You can only critical with your main hand; your off-hand weapon's critical threat range is ignored.
Fighting in this way is very hard, however, and you suffer a -6 penalty to your attack roll. You can reduce these penalties in two ways:
If your off-hand weapon is light, the penalty is reduced by 2. (An unarmed strike is always considered light.)
The Two-Weapon Fighting Feat and the Improved Two-Weapon Fighting feats each reduce this penalty by 2.
TL;DR: You use the same attack roll for both weapons instead of rolling twice.
Design notes:
I want to change this rule for two reasons. First, extra attacks take a lot of time, particularly at mid to high levels. I want to streamline my game so the ranger doesn't take twice as long to attack as the fighter or barbarian (and therefore hog twice the spotlight). Second, two weapon fighting is just plain weird mechanically. It's generally a bad choice for everyone, with the exception of rogues, for whom it is a godsend. It is a very immobile fighting style, since you lose so much damage by moving, which doesn't fit the classic archetype of the mobile, dexterous two-weapon fighter.
This change streamlines the two-weapon fighter, gives them more appropriate rewards for being hasted, and doesn't penalize them nearly as much for moving. It is simple; it does not change any fundamental mechanics, except for getting rid of the Greater Two-Weapon Fighting feat (which may be added back in if I can think of an appropriate bonus.) Finally, I admit that rogues (and other precision-damage characters) suffer somewhat with the new feat. However, my intention is to improve them in a way that does not punish them for choosing to use a single weapon rather than two.
Thoughts?