IggythePyro

The FGHP is from Traveller, it deals a shedload of damage (2d6 times ten in a system where the average person has 21 'hp'), but has the unfortunate side effect of venting radiation all over everything when you fire it. It's meant to be used in conjunction with a pretty good hazmat suit, but those can get expensive and a cheap enough hireling could run cheaper...

I'd disagree, for example in the specific case of the sharpshooter feat a thrown dagger is a ranged weapon attack, but not an attack with a ranged weapon- so, per Jeremy Crawford, the first two parts of the feat apply when throwing a dagger but not the third.

As far as I can see, the rule for using a ranged weapon for melee is just: "If a character uses a ranged weapon to make a melee attack, or throws a melee weapon that does not have the thrown property, it also deals 1d4 damage." That says nothing about changing the traits of the weapon, nor that the weapon is treated as an improvised weapon for the purposes of the attack- the rules for improvised weapons are a seperate clause within the same paragraph. As such, I'd argue that hitting someone with the butt of your heavy crossbow is effectively an attack with a martial weapon, damage 1d4 bludgeoning, with the traits Ammunition (range 100/400), heavy, loading and two-handed- of which ammunition doesn't apply because it's not a ranged attack, and thus loading doesn't constrain multiattack (because only being able to load 1 piece of ammo per round doesn't affect the bonks per round). Per the thrown weapon rules, I'd also argue that bonking people with a crossbow would rely on the attacker's dex, because it doesn't have the finesse property and as a ranged weapon it's dex based.

I won't- per Jeremy Crawford, a thrown melee weapon isn't an attack with a ranged weapon, so by the same logic a melee attack with a ranged weapon wouldn't become a melee weapon attack.

Sharpshooter specifies "an attack with a ranged weapon"- so the only argument I could see against using a crossbow for bonking counting for that is if using a crossbow as a melee weapon makes it not count as a ranged weapon. That's an interpretation I disagree with, though, per the sage advice on thrown weapons and sharpshooter- if throwing a dagger isn't an attack with a ranged weapon, it implies that "ranged weapon" is inherent to the item rather than how it's used. Throwing a dagger at someone is an attack with a melee weapon, ergo hitting someone in the face with a crossbow is an attack with a ranged weapon.

Honestly, coming from Pathfinder 1e (where you needed a feat to use combat maneouvers without provoking an AoO) I was a real fan of 5e allowing for more use of those mechanics without paying a feat tax. It's unfortunate that they're rarely worth using in place of dealing damage, but that's a seperate issue. Shoving, Disarming and Grappling are available to everyone in 5e without any feat or class investment, at least.

Presumably you're talking about subclasses? If so, I disagree to an extent- a lot of the subclasses have a valid reason to be included, since they fit more specific archetypes that people might want to play, for instance the conquest paladin fills a niche that doesn't really have any strong alternatives. The issue I have is power creep- it feels like Strixhaven, for instance, throws the balance right out of whack with Silvery Barbs, while Tasha's Cauldron gives us the Twilight Domain cleric with all it's issues. If the new subclasses were balanced well, I'd be fine with having more of them, since players only need to remember the rules for the one they're playing at the table, if that makes sense.

I think there's a rules oversight on the choking side of things; while a creature can hold it's breath for a minimum of 30 seconds (if it has a negative con modifier, which hardly ever comes up), the next paragraph of that rule says: "When a creature runs out of breath or is choking, it can survive for a number of rounds equal to its Constitution modifier (minimum of 1 round)." (emphasis mine) So I'd say that there's a difference between holding your breath, and being actively strangled- the latter I'd probably rule as a second opposed athletics check during a grapple instead of dealing damage, which puts the creature down after Con Mod consecutive successes.

Yeah, but there's also plenty of magical martial arts right, like hamon? DnD wizards have a particular flavour of spellcasting (int based, using a spellbook and weird spell components) which doesn't really fit well with stands or nen, right? Like, performing magic through sheer martial prowess rather than study and arcane research feels like something that DnD doesn't have much support for.

That would be a good point if this was an argument, and not just me bellyaching. Also, the supernatural side of anime swordsmen tends to be "They studied the sword so much that they've got these expert abilities" rather than "they spent long enough in the library to unlock these techniques". To my understanding, I'm not a big anime person.

Grizzly? I thought the pun was koala-ty, but I guess I can't panda to all audiences- I bet you just don't like puns because of astrology, what's ur sine?

"Fiend pact warlock? No, you misheard- I took Pact of the Demon Core"