This is going to take some explaining so bear with me.
One of my characters, Varek for the staff that can look through my characters, has several homebrewed bows that I've made as recreations of 3.5's composite bows. I've added them, they work just fine, they add strength and dex to damage rolls, all the math works out perfectly. Varek has a +3 in dex and a +3 in strength so all the bows list the damage die+6. However, the reason for this post is that the normal Longbow, not my homebrewed creations, lists the damage as 1d8+6. I've checked with my other characters and there's no discrepancy there, the math is just fine for my Barbarian wielding a longbow. Varek's Crossbow lists the correct damage but Varek's Shortbow also lists +6 to damage. My concern is that somehow the item Composite Longbow and Composite Shortbow I created, based off the original versions of those weapons but adding Str to damage as well, have corrupted the normal versions of those weapons for characters that have the homebrewed items equipped.
Same problem. Math works just fine with just the longbow but then I added and equipped the Composite Longbow and re-checked the normal longbow and it lists damage incorrectly.
I had a look at the item and it looks to me like you added the bonus correctly, but the way it's implemented does indeed cause that bonus to be added to all longbows the character has.
I'm afraid the issue here is that you're trying to do something the game technically doesn't support.
There's a reason that composite bows don't exist in fifth edition. The way this is working on your character, you're getting both your Dexterity and Strength modifier to damage, which shouldn't be happening (Dexterity used to not be added by default to ranged attacks in 3.5).
If this is something you want to have, we will definitely provide a way for you to override the damage of that particular attack to have it display correctly on your character sheet (coming soon), but it won't be possible through the homebrew system.
I think that in general, being able to homebrew a magical item, regardless of the name, that adds to separate modifiers to damage, is something I would like to see DnD Beyond support. To that end, it seems that it does, I was able to get the items to behave the way I wanted to, but the problem is with the item it is based off of. For instance, a separate item I've created, The Wise Quarterstaff, behaves in the same way. It adds wisdom to damage on top of the original modifier. However, this causes all quarterstaffs to display this change.
EDIT: I think I've isolated why: When I add the Damage modifier to an item and then select Longbow, Shortbow, One-handed melee, etc, it attaches those bonuses to all weapons of that type. Which makes sense if it were some sort of item that made you a better longbowman or what-have you. But I'm looking to edit the damage done as a function of the character's skills instead of a set magical +X bonus. Am I correct in interpreting that this is not a supported feature at this stage in DnD Beyond?
I would like to chime in here, as I was trying to do the same thing as the original poster: create a homebrew Composite Longbow which uses Dex as the attack bonus and both Str and Dex as the Damage Bonus (because it requires a certain strength to even use the bow). BUT when those modifiers are added to the HomeBrew Longbow they are ALSO getting applied to ALL Longbows. How can this be corrected?
This is going to take some explaining so bear with me.
One of my characters, Varek for the staff that can look through my characters, has several homebrewed bows that I've made as recreations of 3.5's composite bows. I've added them, they work just fine, they add strength and dex to damage rolls, all the math works out perfectly. Varek has a +3 in dex and a +3 in strength so all the bows list the damage die+6. However, the reason for this post is that the normal Longbow, not my homebrewed creations, lists the damage as 1d8+6. I've checked with my other characters and there's no discrepancy there, the math is just fine for my Barbarian wielding a longbow. Varek's Crossbow lists the correct damage but Varek's Shortbow also lists +6 to damage. My concern is that somehow the item Composite Longbow and Composite Shortbow I created, based off the original versions of those weapons but adding Str to damage as well, have corrupted the normal versions of those weapons for characters that have the homebrewed items equipped.
Can you link your character here please? (only moderators or staff can see it from the link)
I have tried to replicate and the longbow calculates correctly for me in my tests.
Pun-loving nerd | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
https://www.dndbeyond.com/profile/Talwren/characters/132360
Absolutely, thanks for taking the time to look at this
I also just checked it out with another of my charachters, https://www.dndbeyond.com/profile/Talwren/characters/143259
Same problem. Math works just fine with just the longbow but then I added and equipped the Composite Longbow and re-checked the normal longbow and it lists damage incorrectly.
Ah, yes, you are correct - your composite longbow homebrew item you created gives you bonuses to all attacks,
Can you link the item for me and I'll take a look at it.
Pun-loving nerd | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/11444-composite-longbow
https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/11450-composite-shortbow
Composite Longbow and Shortbow
Any update on this?
Sorry, I missed your reply.
I had a look at the item and it looks to me like you added the bonus correctly, but the way it's implemented does indeed cause that bonus to be added to all longbows the character has.
I'll ask the staff to take a look.
Pun-loving nerd | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
I'm afraid the issue here is that you're trying to do something the game technically doesn't support.
There's a reason that composite bows don't exist in fifth edition. The way this is working on your character, you're getting both your Dexterity and Strength modifier to damage, which shouldn't be happening (Dexterity used to not be added by default to ranged attacks in 3.5).
If this is something you want to have, we will definitely provide a way for you to override the damage of that particular attack to have it display correctly on your character sheet (coming soon), but it won't be possible through the homebrew system.
Thanks!
I think that in general, being able to homebrew a magical item, regardless of the name, that adds to separate modifiers to damage, is something I would like to see DnD Beyond support. To that end, it seems that it does, I was able to get the items to behave the way I wanted to, but the problem is with the item it is based off of. For instance, a separate item I've created, The Wise Quarterstaff, behaves in the same way. It adds wisdom to damage on top of the original modifier. However, this causes all quarterstaffs to display this change.
EDIT: I think I've isolated why: When I add the Damage modifier to an item and then select Longbow, Shortbow, One-handed melee, etc, it attaches those bonuses to all weapons of that type. Which makes sense if it were some sort of item that made you a better longbowman or what-have you. But I'm looking to edit the damage done as a function of the character's skills instead of a set magical +X bonus. Am I correct in interpreting that this is not a supported feature at this stage in DnD Beyond?
I would like to chime in here, as I was trying to do the same thing as the original poster: create a homebrew Composite Longbow which uses Dex as the attack bonus and both Str and Dex as the Damage Bonus (because it requires a certain strength to even use the bow). BUT when those modifiers are added to the HomeBrew Longbow they are ALSO getting applied to ALL Longbows. How can this be corrected?