Talk:Major Threat Weapons Legacy (5e Variant Rule)

This is one of the more baffling pages on the wiki. Hurting a creature in D&D means either making an attack roll, or having the target make a saving throw. What this rule does is set a threshold at which you change from an attack roll to a saving throw.

For example, let's take Major Threat .22 Pistol (5e Equipment). If the attack bonus is +6, the threshold is AC is 13 or less, then it changes to a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw.

I don't know what the this is supposed to physically represent except negating the armor contribution to AC, for which there are simpler methods.

Then there's the excruciating decision to have 4d3 damage, the bizarre statement "They can only attempt this save if they understand that they must dodge the aim of the user, not the ammo being fired.", and the "one critical hit every 10 rounds" (so now we have to count rounds).

If you want guns to be deadlier, just increase the amount of damage they do. If you want them to hit more often, give them a bonus to the attack roll. If you want guns to penetrate armor, have them use a Dexterity saving throw in every instance, or use the Armor Piercing from Firearms (5e Variant Rule). Marasmusine (talk) 09:40, 27 November 2018 (MST)

Making guns deadlier isn't quite the goal of this page. This is already a 2nd draft of one of the most difficult things I've attempted to do, and yes, I know it's still not really viable. The idea for Major Threat Weapons is based off the completely ignored fact that guns are WAY deadlier than other weapons in real life. The game outright ignores this for the sake of balance with other items, but in real life guns are so ridiculously efficient and powerful that we no longer use any of the normal fantasy weapons and armor that exist in D&D because none of it stands a chance. If you have a better way to represent weapons that throw their ammo at up to the speed of sound, outright ignore all mundane armor (Since armor built for modern weapons simply doesn't exist in game) and it not feel cheap, unbalanced, or baffling I will GLADLY take it. This rule tries to fix something the actual developers of the game messed up, and that's not an easy task. --Supersmily5 (talk) 11:03, 1 December 2018 (MST)

I will take a look at that other homebrew rule though.

It's finally over! Long nights of pure contemplation! See Major Threat Weapons (5e Variant Rule). It's better, simpler, less likely to cause problems, and completely fails to address the original concern of the power of guns. However, years later, my compounded, more advanced understanding of D&D's existing rules has made this simply inviable. Thank you for your help in bringing this to my attention, I know better now. Now the next thing I need to address has also been a long time coming, epic magic... --Supersmily5 (talk) 12:20, 22 March 2020 (MDT)

I do like the new variant rule much more than the older one due to how much easier it is to implement the new variant rule among the other reasons stated above. No matter what though, it seems that you can not completely emulate how guns would act in D&D without butchering balance or reworking the system. Kudos on creating a new rule that works with the system though.--Blobby383b (talk) 22:02, 9 April 2020 (MDT)