abgamble@water.UUCP (abgamble) (08/04/85)
In a recent Dragon magazine (#98), the Forum section had a letter
from someone complaining about the new Weapon Specialization rules in
Unearthed Arcana. He wrote that the new rules make Bow specialists far
too powerful, and I have to agree totally. As it is now, a Bow
specialist standing 30 ft away is a *much* more formiddable opponent
than a fighter trying to beat you with a bastard sword.
I'd have to go further, though, and say that the rules for melee
weapon specialization are unfair too. Consider a 1st level fighter
with 18(65) strength and a +1 magic sword. If this fighter has taken
double weapon specializtion then he suddenly becomes +6 to hit and
+7 to damage. If we improve him a bit ( 18(95) str. and a +2 sword),
he is then +7 to hit and +10 to damage! Those are extrordinary pluses
for a *1stlevel* charactor to have. Not only that but he gets to swing
twice every other round! Think of the poor cleric fighting beside him
who does a max. of about 8 pts of damage. Not exactly a balanced game.
Opponents strong enough to challenge the fighter, will slaughter the
cleric.
My solution to all of this is quite simple.
1) For melee weapons - eliminate double specialization.
2) For bows - At "point blank" range the specialist is +2 to hit
and +2 to damage (instead of the current double damage).
Using these changes, one arrow from a specialist would probably
kill a zero level type, and with the extra attacks each round, the
bow specialist is still quite powerful. Ditto for the melee spec.,
but they are no longer walking destruction machines.
Bruce Gamble