I think the best nerf to hand crossbows its just making at 10m range weapon, so now the bow and heavy crossbow are sniper types while hands needs to keep a close distance. Its like danger/reward type of thing.
Dual wielding hand crossbows has got to one of the dumbest things about this game. After my first playthrough they were one of a number of things I wont touch any more, alongside tavern brawler feat, explosive arrows, and strength elixirs.
This mod doesn't really fix that but I like the sentiment.
The solution is to make alternatives worth it. Right now 2H-melee and 2 xbows are undeniable winners. I don't have a problem with it and tbh, the style of 2 xbows is incredibly cool in-lore and visually. It's just that it's too "meta", so installing mods that improve other builds is a solution here.
Of course, it will usually require the increase in difficulty too - because if a lot of builds is as good as 2 xbows, then it naturally becomes easier to play. So the suggestion above isn't wrong, just incomplete.
TBH I'm not that worried about the balance of the dual wielded crossbows, for example when it comes to explosive arrows I just don't pick them up or buy them. It's more that if you know how crossbows work in real life then dual wielding them makes about as much sense as dual wielding regular bows, AKA none at all.
Hmm, I never thought about requesting a mod to fix them before, but thinking about it how would I want them changed to make them more realistic but still an interesting choice...
Remove the ability to dual wield them but grant them the ability to make a ranged opportunity attack against enemies that approach within 5 metres of the character (the polearm master feat works similarly). And of course they still have mobile shot too.
Well, that's a different issue. If both crossbows are loaded then shooting them both while holding one in each hand is just fine. The issue is that the game doesn't have a proper implementation of a "loading" weapon property. This could actually be a solid balance fix too. If one turn it was possible to shoot and then another turn a user would need an action + bonus action to reload (with maybe a feat that makes it only an action), it wouldn't be so over-powered and it would also make it impossible to shoot them in succession in one turn getting those 10+ attacks.
Now this is all jank, to be honest. If 2 xbows will become worse like that, people will just always resort to 2-handers melee. Something has to be done there first, because to be frank, in BG3 a melee class on level 11 gets more attacks per round than in NWN1 it gets at level 40. Adding the fact that in BG3 there's no BAB and no consecutive attacks penalties, all those attacks are done with full AB which is ridiculous. So nerfing 2 xbows in isolation won't help anything and only make the problem of build diversity far worse.
Well the change in BAB et al is how things changed between 3e and 5e
3e had iterative attacks, but accuracy dropped. 4e, I have no clue, played it once, never wanted to touch it again. 5e, has extra attacks, no accuracy drop, but its only available to martial classes, while in 3e it was determined by your BAB.
I really really like the idea of requiring dual wielder. makes an underwhelming feat worth picking up and possibly swings the TWF play style a bit more towards ranged AND melee weapon usage
In Advanced D&D Module D3 Vault of the Drow 1978/80 (One of the very first Underdark adventures) the hand crossbow only did 1-3 dam and had a sleep poison -4 save).
"Each Drow carries...50% or more carry small crossbows which are held in one hand (6"range light crossbow) and shoot dart coated with a poison which makes the victim unconscious. Save is at -4. They inflict 1 to 3 hit points of damage in addition."
So, you can imagine my shock as I read 5E rules and the OP weapon that is the current hand crossbow...Guess I'm hinting at my age here. :P
Endorsed! Yes, hand crossbows are now guns, and every character must have 2 of them, so they can cosplay gun katas (because there aren't enough anime games already?) There's countless abominations just like this in 5e that make me run for a barf bag. Remember the warning in the DM's guide about 'Monty Hall Syndrome'? Well that warning is now the published rules, across the board. Don't even get me started on the removal of the alignments - you know, the structure the entire multiverse was based on..
I've got no experience with anything prior to 5e, but it's always fascinating hearing how things used to work in earlier versions. I am real sad the alignments didn't make the trip to BG3 though, would have been excellent for roleplay.
d4 to d6 will likely do absolutely nothing to the dual x-bows dominance (if talking ranged builds), because even on sheet it's just 13.5 avg damage down to 12.5 avg damage since everybody will have that SS. So.. 8% reduction. Not terribly bad, but then we add modifiers on top of modifiers - like elemental bonuses, enchant, etc .. and it suddenly makes almost no difference.
i like the genre of bg3 mods where you just make something slightly worse to be more accurate to 5e or an older version of dnd it's funny to me. the dedication is real and i respect it
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This mod doesn't really fix that but I like the sentiment.
It's weird that this is the thing that Larian decided had to ported into the game.
Of course, it will usually require the increase in difficulty too - because if a lot of builds is as good as 2 xbows, then it naturally becomes easier to play. So the suggestion above isn't wrong, just incomplete.
Hmm, I never thought about requesting a mod to fix them before, but thinking about it how would I want them changed to make them more realistic but still an interesting choice...
Remove the ability to dual wield them but grant them the ability to make a ranged opportunity attack against enemies that approach within 5 metres of the character (the polearm master feat works similarly). And of course they still have mobile shot too.
Now this is all jank, to be honest. If 2 xbows will become worse like that, people will just always resort to 2-handers melee. Something has to be done there first, because to be frank, in BG3 a melee class on level 11 gets more attacks per round than in NWN1 it gets at level 40. Adding the fact that in BG3 there's no BAB and no consecutive attacks penalties, all those attacks are done with full AB which is ridiculous. So nerfing 2 xbows in isolation won't help anything and only make the problem of build diversity far worse.
3e had iterative attacks, but accuracy dropped.
4e, I have no clue, played it once, never wanted to touch it again.
5e, has extra attacks, no accuracy drop, but its only available to martial classes, while in 3e it was determined by your BAB.
"Each Drow carries...50% or more carry small crossbows which are held in one hand (6"range light crossbow) and shoot dart coated with a poison
which makes the victim unconscious. Save is at -4. They inflict 1 to 3 hit points of damage in addition."
So, you can imagine my shock as I read 5E rules and the OP weapon that is the current hand crossbow...Guess I'm hinting at my age here. :P
Yes, hand crossbows are now guns, and every character must have 2 of them, so they can cosplay gun katas (because there aren't enough anime games already?) There's countless abominations just like this in 5e that make me run for a barf bag.
Remember the warning in the DM's guide about 'Monty Hall Syndrome'? Well that warning is now the published rules, across the board. Don't even get me started on the removal of the alignments - you know, the structure the entire multiverse was based on..