Ranged attacks question

[Sans.]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that ranged attacks are guaranteed to hit within range unless armour class negates. Shouldn't there be some sort of penalty for trying to shoot something 50 feet away with a longbow beyond whether they're wearing armour?

[tieren]

Armor class doesn't necessarily equate to what armor you are wearing, it is better described as how hard you are to hit.

So your question becomes more like "ranged attacks are guaranteed to hit unless you miss", which is a truism.

[RickAllison]

Two parts to this answer. First, the range you are talking about is not the full range of the weapon. A longbow hits to 150 ft without penalty, but gets disadvantage beyond that.

Second, I would bring up how an alternate system handles this. In World of Darkness, you have ranged attacks like from bows that skip over normal defense (the person can't exactly deflect it like they would a sword) but suffer problems at relatively close range. 5e simplifies this by saying that the benefit of making the enemy unable to defend as well is relatively close to the trade off for being able to miss more easily. Thus they chose to treat it like an ordinary attack until they reach a certain range.

[SilverStud]

First of all, I'm confused. Are you sure you're in the correct forum? If you did, indeed, intend on posting in the 5e forum, did you read the Player's Handbook?

If you haven't read the Handbook, I suggest you read it. They are incredibly clear about how ranged attacks work. If you don't have a PHB, download the free basic rules .pdf. It explains attacks as well.

What on earth would make you think that a ranged attack is any different than a melee attack? Do you know how attacks work, at all?

To avoid being one of those posts that only questions and contributes nothing, I will explain.

To make an attack (melee or ranged), you roll 1d20. You add bonuses to the roll based on what weapon you use and whether you are Proficient with that weapon. In order for your attack to 'hit' the target, the total of your d20 + bonuses must be greater than (or equal to) the target's Armor Class. Melee attacks can only be made when you are right next to the target. Ranged attacks can be made against anything within the range of the weapon. Ranged weapons have two ranges: effective and maximum. If you fire at something within the effective range of the weapon, you make a normal roll. If you fire at something further than the effective but within the max range, roll with disadvantage (roll 2d20, take lower result). You cannot fire at something further than the max range.

Example:
Bob the Ranger wants to shoot the wolf with his longbow. The longbow has a range of 120/600, and the wolf is 140 ft away, so Bob moves 30ft closer and takes the shot. He rolls.
1d20 + Dexterity Modifier + Proficiency bonus = 10 + 3 + 2 = 15. The wolf has an Armor Class of 13, so Bob hits. Bob rolls damage.
1d8 + Dex Mod = 2 + 3 = 5. The wolf takes five damage, and it is now Jane the Cleric's turn.

[BW022]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that ranged attacks are guaranteed to hit within range unless armour class negates. Shouldn't there be some sort of penalty for trying to shoot something 50 feet away with a longbow beyond whether they're wearing armour?

In D&D, especially 5E, your attack roll determines if you hit. However,

There are lot of factors which affect your attack roll and/or the AC on an opponent

a) AC. Itself factors in dexterity, hardness of skin, shields, spells, magic, etc.
b) Cover. Cover affects AC with +2 or +5 or automatically missing.
c) Range. You are at disadvantage beyond the first
d) In Melee. Disadvantage to attack rolls with ranged weapons.
e) Magic. Blur, displacement, bless, bane, curses, etc., etc. can all affect attack rolls -- with advantage, disadvantage, or adding/subjecting from them.
f) Invisibility, stealth, opponent otherwise can't see you. You have advantage on the attack roll.
g) Weather or environment. Attacking while holding onto a rope, firing in a wind storm, firing on a rowboat in heavy sees, etc.
h) Whether the creature is prone, unconscious, held, etc.

There are also factors which make the attack itself nearly impossible:

a) You can't see the opponent. DM may prevent the attack, require you to guess where they are, or impose disadvantage.
b) Mirror image, duplicates, etc.

Even if you 'hit', there are lots of abilities which negate hits or damage.
a) Temporary hit points,
b) Immunities or resistances

The DM can simply rule that the arrow bounces off.

If you are firing at a werewolf, behind a castle arrow slit, 200' away, in a wind storm, in the dark, who has a mirror image spell up, and you are using normal arrows and under the effects of a bane spell... the AC of the werewolf is kind of meaningless. All these factors either result in the DM not allowing the attack, disadvantage, or else an effective AC so high you aren't likely to hit.

[Sans.]

All I'm saying is that it's probably a lot harder to miss with a sword from 5 feet away than with a longbow from 50 feet IRL, and that I therefore find it weird that both attacks in D&D have the same basic attack roll. I know that there isn't any difference in D&D but I think there should be.

[Vorpalchicken]

If you are dealing with unarmed targeting dummies, perhaps. It's a lot trickier to affect a moving, armored, possibly shield-toting target with a sword blow. You need to hit an unprotected spot, as swords generally fare poorly versus many types of armor.
Now an arrow at 50 feet will not really be dodgeable. True, plate armor will defeat most arrows unless you hit a vulnerable spot like an arm or a face but a decent archer can hit a one and a half inch target at that range so I don't think he has it much worse than the swordsman.

[Tanarii]

All I'm saying is that it's probably a lot harder to miss with a sword from 5 feet away than with a longbow from 50 feet IRL, and that I therefore find it weird that both attacks in D&D have the same basic attack roll. I know that there isn't any difference in D&D but I think there should be.
I'm not a combat expert. But my uniformed opinion would be that ranged attacks can't be parried or (usually) dodged. Whereas melee attacks can.

That said, it's just an abstraction. Not a simulation. Any more than hit points are. It's just a method to determine how long it takes to remove an enemy from play. So perfect realism isn't possible. Not only that, different people with uniformed assumptions (like yours and mine) will have different assumptions about what is 'realistic' based on their lack of information anyway. So attempting perfect realism isn't even desired.

[Cybren]

All I'm saying is that it's probably a lot harder to miss with a sword from 5 feet away than with a longbow from 50 feet IRL, and that I therefore find it weird that both attacks in D&D have the same basic attack roll. I know that there isn't any difference in D&D but I think there should be.

D&D abstracts a lot of combat mechanics. The disadvantage range for weapons is the most you'll get from a ranged attack having worse accuracy at different ranges. (GURPS is great tho, and if you're after a detailed small unit combat game that models the difficulty of hitting targets at range)

[DKing9114]

All I'm saying is that it's probably a lot harder to miss with a sword from 5 feet away than with a longbow from 50 feet IRL, and that I therefore find it weird that both attacks in D&D have the same basic attack roll. I know that there isn't any difference in D&D but I think there should be.

I view the attack roll as not just "do I hit" but "do I hit in a way that actually affects the target". A miss (according to the dice) with a sword from 5 feet away could mean he dodged, he parried the attack, or your attack hit but deflected off his armor. IRL, it takes significant training to reliably deliver a good sword strike to a stationary target, let alone someone who is resisting-the same way it takes significant training to hit a target at 50 feet or more (seriously, talk to people who practice cutting and ask if they've seen someone bounce a sword off of their target). You could adjust AC for various attacks, but that gets overly complicated very quickly.