Aiming Attack action.

[Battlebooze]

I like the idea of a new Attack action.

Instead of making any attacks, you spend your action taking aim at a target. This would count as Concentration via the spell rules. If your concentration isn't broken, the first ranged attack you make while still maintaining Concentration gains advantage.

Reasonable?

[D.U.P.A.]

This is exactly what cantrip True strike does.

[Yagyujubei]

This is exactly what cantrip True strike does.

i think it makes sense to be able to do it without the cantrip too though

[Battlebooze]

This is exactly what cantrip True strike does.

You are right, but I'd say that it's a legit action though. Do archers really need magic to take aim?

Just change True Strike so that it gives a +5 to hit. True Strike also works on Melee, and Aiming wouldn't.

(Changed to match the bonus that Advantage usually gives.)

[campskully]

It's a good idea but you're using two actions and gaining one d20 and relying on your ability to concentrate. It sounds like you're getting the bonus of making the two attacks you could've used your actions for at the cost of one possible hit and needing to maintain focus. How about we add a chance for injuring the target in a way that disables them. Imposes disadvantage on a targeted enemy? I like the +5 to hit as long as it adds a disabling effect. Maybe you could add something from the lingering injury table? What do you guys think?

[Gritmonger]

It's a good idea but you're using two actions and gaining one d20 and relying on your ability to concentrate. It sounds like you're getting the bonus of making the two attacks you could've used your actions for at the cost of one possible hit and needing to maintain focus. How about we add a chance for injuring the target in a way that disables them. Imposes disadvantage on a targeted enemy? I like the +5 to hit as long as it adds a disabling effect. Maybe you could add something from the lingering injury table? What do you guys think?

Put in trick-shot effects that impose disadvantage: blinding (cut above the eye, etc), headshot (stunned?) disarm (unlike Battlemaster, imposes disad on the attack) -

Aiming kills the disadvantage by giving advantage.

You shoot normal, your trick shot is at disadvantage.
You shoot after aiming, your trick shot is straight d20
You shoot after aiming, no trick shot, you have advantage.

[D.U.P.A.]

You are right, but I'd say that it's a legit action though. Do archers really need magic to take aim?

Just change True Strike so that it gives a +5 to hit. True Strike also works on Melee, and Aiming wouldn't.

(Changed to match the bonus that Advantage usually gives.)

You are making already an useless cantrip even more useless :P I think that advantage is better than +5, at least from rogue's perspective.

[Orbis Orboros]

Put in trick-shot effects that impose disadvantage: blinding (cut above the eye, etc), headshot (stunned?) disarm (unlike Battlemaster, imposes disad on the attack) -

Aiming kills the disadvantage by giving advantage.

You shoot normal, your trick shot is at disadvantage.
You shoot after aiming, your trick shot is straight d20
You shoot after aiming, no trick shot, you have advantage.

Sharpshooter seems to me to already be part of this - aiming for a headshot, you get a bonus to damage, but it's a smaller target, so you get a penalty to hit.

[ruy343]

As was partially pointed out previously, doing this would guarantee that a rogue would get bonus sneak attack damage. That's dangerous, but if you're not worried about it, then you can do it at your table

[Malifice]

I have something similar on a homebrewed feat that I use:

Gunslinger

You gain proficiency in firearms and gunsmithing tools
On your turn, if you spend a bonus action to aim, your first ranged attack with a firearm this turn has advantage. You cannot move before or after this attack to gain this benefit. Aiming provokes an attack of opportunity from any foe that can reach you.
You obtain a battered firearm; either a musket or a pistol. If you ever roll a natural 1, 2, 3 or 4 on an attack roll when firing this weapon, it misfires requiring an action to clear. You can spend 1 week of downtime and gp equal to half the price of the weapon to remove this last property from the firearm.


You could quite easily adapt the above to a feat... say:

Precise shot:
On your turn, if you spend a bonus action to aim, your first ranged or spell attack this turn has advantage. You cannot move before or after this attack to gain this benefit. Aiming provokes an attack of opportunity from any foe that can reach you.

[Person_Man]

From a metagame perspective it would probably be a bad idea for 5E, because it privileges ambushes and kiting, which are already very potent in 5E.

In other words, if you can sneak up on your enemies and Aim without being seen, then during the first round of combat your party is a lot more likely to take out one or more foes. If you do this at a distance, then you can also fall back (around a corner, into the woods, whatever) and repeat the process until your enemies run you down, which may be impossible if your party has superior movement abilities like Cunning Action or teleportation magic or whatever (kiting).

It also makes the game more dangerous for players. If they are ever ambushed, then one or more of them is a lot more likely to be knocked out before they ever get a chance to act. That's not very fun game design. Player death should occur because the player made a decision that put them into danger, not because they failed a Perception check.

Star Wars Saga Edition has Aiming rules (and various class abilities make the Aim action more effective, and IIRC one that makes it a Swift Action). And I can tell you from personal experience that it strongly encouraged the tactics and issues I described above.

This is notably far more limited with True Strike, which has a range of just 30 feet, in addition to the important Concentration requirement, which your proposed house rule does intelligently account for.