Segev
2022-03-21, 01:23 PM
Extra arms is one of those features that is often very carefully moderated when it is applied at all, at least to a PC-available race or build. In earlier editions, preventing super-multiattack or dual wielding two-handed weapons was a major concern, which led to such things as the two extra arms often being either cosmetic, or very carefully restricted to holding things without manipulating them, or otherwise limited in utility. In 5e, the loxodon, which has a prehensile trunk that ends in a "hand," has a very limited list of things it can do with it, and explicitly cannot wield weapons nor shields, nor use tools.
While my initial thought was towards a four-armed creature, let's start, then, with analyzing what a Loxodon who has a full 3 usable hand-limbs could do that a more normally-limbed humanoid could not.
The Loxodon trunk is explicitly forbidden from wielding weapons or shields, which hints that this is an area that 5e's designers fear would break with an extra limb. Shields provide the most obvious cause: with three limbs, a Loxodon could wield a two-handed weapon and a shield, or could dual-wield and carry a shield, leading to greater damage output coupled to higher AC, or, with the Dual Wielder feat, an even higher AC still (+1 from the dual wielding, +2 from shield).
Alternatively, a Loxodon could wield a two-handed weapon and a second one-handed weapon. This has very limited utility in 5e, though: dual wielding requires light weapons in both hands, or one-handed ones with the feat, and so it only provides variety for the Loxodon to choose from with its normal allotment of attacks. However, it would permit the wielding of weapons such as the lance with two hands, and another that lets them attack in five foot reach without disadvantage. It would also permit them to have a bow in two hands and a weapon in another, which aids with action economy if they need to switch between ranged and melee attacks frequently. (In my personal experience, DMs tend to be lenient about switching weapons as long as you're not doing it multiple times per round, though, so this is a minor convenience.) It would likewise permit wielding a weapon, a spellcasting focus, and a shield, or otherwise keeping a hand free for spellcasting while still having a weapon and shield, two-handed weapon, or two weapons.
Similarly, permission to use tools would only allow for holding one more thing, effectively, since it wouldn't permit more actions at a time.
Of all of this, it seems to me that the most concerning is the ability to wield higher-damage weapons and a shield at the same time, due to how powerful +2 AC is in bounded accuracy and the general desire to make you pay for that with decreased damage.
If we up this to four arms, I don't think much changes in the analysis. Ability to wield a two-handed melee weapon and a bow, or a shield, one-handed weapon, and a bow, or 3-4 weapons... none of that is much stronger than what's already been discussed, I don't think.
Are there any features for any races that amount to the kind of damage boost that going from a one-handed to two-handed weapon represents? Or which equate to +2 AC? (Tortle base 17 AC comes to mind, but is inherently capped by being a replacement for the other calculations.)
Am I missing any tricks that a fully-functional "third arm" trunk on loxodons would enable? That having an extra pair of arms might enable?
While my initial thought was towards a four-armed creature, let's start, then, with analyzing what a Loxodon who has a full 3 usable hand-limbs could do that a more normally-limbed humanoid could not.
The Loxodon trunk is explicitly forbidden from wielding weapons or shields, which hints that this is an area that 5e's designers fear would break with an extra limb. Shields provide the most obvious cause: with three limbs, a Loxodon could wield a two-handed weapon and a shield, or could dual-wield and carry a shield, leading to greater damage output coupled to higher AC, or, with the Dual Wielder feat, an even higher AC still (+1 from the dual wielding, +2 from shield).
Alternatively, a Loxodon could wield a two-handed weapon and a second one-handed weapon. This has very limited utility in 5e, though: dual wielding requires light weapons in both hands, or one-handed ones with the feat, and so it only provides variety for the Loxodon to choose from with its normal allotment of attacks. However, it would permit the wielding of weapons such as the lance with two hands, and another that lets them attack in five foot reach without disadvantage. It would also permit them to have a bow in two hands and a weapon in another, which aids with action economy if they need to switch between ranged and melee attacks frequently. (In my personal experience, DMs tend to be lenient about switching weapons as long as you're not doing it multiple times per round, though, so this is a minor convenience.) It would likewise permit wielding a weapon, a spellcasting focus, and a shield, or otherwise keeping a hand free for spellcasting while still having a weapon and shield, two-handed weapon, or two weapons.
Similarly, permission to use tools would only allow for holding one more thing, effectively, since it wouldn't permit more actions at a time.
Of all of this, it seems to me that the most concerning is the ability to wield higher-damage weapons and a shield at the same time, due to how powerful +2 AC is in bounded accuracy and the general desire to make you pay for that with decreased damage.
If we up this to four arms, I don't think much changes in the analysis. Ability to wield a two-handed melee weapon and a bow, or a shield, one-handed weapon, and a bow, or 3-4 weapons... none of that is much stronger than what's already been discussed, I don't think.
Are there any features for any races that amount to the kind of damage boost that going from a one-handed to two-handed weapon represents? Or which equate to +2 AC? (Tortle base 17 AC comes to mind, but is inherently capped by being a replacement for the other calculations.)
Am I missing any tricks that a fully-functional "third arm" trunk on loxodons would enable? That having an extra pair of arms might enable?