I have a Ranger in my group who wants a magic weapon. (All of my other players have been given some cool weapons.) However, in my search for cool and unique longbows, there don't seem to be that many. I feel like the Longbow of Warning might be a bit too good. So I decided to homebrew a lesser version of this weapon by combining a longbow to the feat Alert. So instead of the entire party not being able to be surprised it is only the Ranger. I was just curious which option would be less overpowered: a +5 bonus to initiative (Alert feat) or advantage on initiative rolls (Longbow of Warning).
For added information, the Ranger currently has a +7 initiative.
Theoretically Advantage is supposed to be equivalent to +5, but it’s not. In actuality it’s closer to +3-4ish depending on the circumstance. In this particular case, advantage would generally result in a higher initiative, but keep it within the bounded accuracy of 5e. Any bonus breaks bounded accuracy, which is why a +1-3 sword is so powerful. +5 is even more so.
Generally speaking, Advantage is treated as comparable to a +5 bonus. However, there is a notable trade-off:
A flat bonus allows for beating a higher DC.
Advantage increases the chances of a Nat 20, and reduces critical failures.
For something like a Knowledge check, a +10 would mean a player could beat a DC 30 check with a Nat 20, potentially making them feel entitled to game changing information. It's also worth noting that multiple sources of advantage do not stack, however multiple sources of flat bonuses may stack.
As such, I would recommend sticking with advantage for Initiative, unless you give OP benefits for Natural 20s on initiative rolls.
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I have a Ranger in my group who wants a magic weapon. (All of my other players have been given some cool weapons.) However, in my search for cool and unique longbows, there don't seem to be that many. I feel like the Longbow of Warning might be a bit too good. So I decided to homebrew a lesser version of this weapon by combining a longbow to the feat Alert. So instead of the entire party not being able to be surprised it is only the Ranger. I was just curious which option would be less overpowered: a +5 bonus to initiative (Alert feat) or advantage on initiative rolls (Longbow of Warning).
For added information, the Ranger currently has a +7 initiative.
Theoretically Advantage is supposed to be equivalent to +5, but it’s not. In actuality it’s closer to +3-4ish depending on the circumstance. In this particular case, advantage would generally result in a higher initiative, but keep it within the bounded accuracy of 5e. Any bonus breaks bounded accuracy, which is why a +1-3 sword is so powerful. +5 is even more so.
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Generally speaking, Advantage is treated as comparable to a +5 bonus. However, there is a notable trade-off:
A flat bonus allows for beating a higher DC.
Advantage increases the chances of a Nat 20, and reduces critical failures.
For something like a Knowledge check, a +10 would mean a player could beat a DC 30 check with a Nat 20, potentially making them feel entitled to game changing information. It's also worth noting that multiple sources of advantage do not stack, however multiple sources of flat bonuses may stack.
As such, I would recommend sticking with advantage for Initiative, unless you give OP benefits for Natural 20s on initiative rolls.