Talk:Anti-Tank Rifle (5e Equipment)

Love this concept! Suggestions to improve game balance: Anti-tank *rifles* (ATRs) are generally optimized to pierce armor and to be portable by a single person at the cost of smaller ammunition size and damage, compared to anti-tank *guns* (ATG's) which are generally larger, crew-served, and fire larger ammo, but are only movable by a horse, truck, or (for smaller ATG's) a team of persons. You could improve balance by giving the ATR a high "to hit" modifier *only vs. heavily armored targets* (such as tanks, siege monsters, buildings, etc.) to overcome the high AC of heavily-armored targets due to the heavy armor, but no "to hit" bonus vs. unarmored targets. Also, for balance, the ammunition should do relatively little damage (similar to a sniper rifle, maybe) after piercing the armor, because the ATR's ammo is much smaller than an ATG's ammo. Also, I suggest removing the ATR's thunder damage (let the larger ATG deal thunder damage). Compared to a sniper rifle, the ATR should be able to pierce thicker armor, but it should not do much more damage than a sniper rifle. Compared to a regular rifle or sniper rifle, and ATR is heavier (more encumbering), requires heavier ammunition (more encumbering), and, importantly, has a slow rate of fire (maybe half that of a regular rifle, maybe similar to a sniper rifle, if the sniper is spending a long time aiming). If you are an average human (STR 10-12) carrying at ATR (in your arms or slung over a shoulder) and 12 rounds of ammo in a backpack, that should be about all you are able to carry if you plan to walk/explore all day.ProfessorBumblefingers (talk) 17:49, 10 August 2023 (MDT)