Hi, I was planning on making a Sharpshooter class for D&D unfortunately D&D Beyond doesn't allow that so I'm Making a subclass for it to try and work out what I'm interested in. The Sharpshooter will be a ranged online class with no skill in melee and only able to use skills that will hinder their enemies or assist in creating distance for the Sharpshooter. So, I'm here to ask if anyone has any ideas or thoughts they would like to share. Link to Google docs with screenshots of what I have so far
Hi, I was planning on making a Sharpshooter class for D&D unfortunately D&D Beyond doesn't allow that so I'm Making a subclass for it to try and work out what I'm interested in. The Sharpshooter will be a ranged online class with no skill in melee and only able to use skills that will hinder their enemies or assist in creating distance for the Sharpshooter. So, I'm here to ask if anyone has any ideas or thoughts they would like to share. Link to Google docs with screenshots of what I have so far
Easiest would be to make it a fighter subclass. There was actually a sharpshooter UA: UA-Fighter (wizards.com)
While this is not a great design IMO it at least gives you the structure for making the subclass.
The difficulty with a sharpshooter / sniper type class is that it inherently leads to not being fun to play.
Currently, Dexterity based fighters and Blood Hunters and any Rogues all already function perfectly well as sharpshooters. The difficulty is that the playstyle is simply not as interesting as being a melee character because every single turn of combat becomes: I use the attack action to shoot. And maybe Hide, if I'm a Rogue. Up-close combatants have more versatility in options, with grapples, shoves, disarms (technically can be done at range), positioning yourself, blocking lines of attack, flanking (optionally), and simply being in the firing line is fun.
To build a sharpshooter Fighter/Blood Hunter, take the Archery fighting style, Crossbow Expert (so you never have to worry about getting stuck in melee and can always shoot), and Sharpshooter feats. If you're a Blood Hunter, take Order of the Profane, and take Hex. This will allow you to get hold of a heavy crossbow to make Sharpshooter feat shots for 1d10+1dX+1d6+10+dex damage.
Rogues are already basically designed as a Sharpshooter, especially if you're using the optional Steady Aim rule.
All of these classes deal very high damage at range. But ultimately, it's not really that much fun or interesting to just crank out shot after shot. It's a style that lacks versatility. Part of the problem is that you're most effective not when fighting, but when you aren't being seen, which doesn't make for great combats.
The difficulty with a sharpshooter / sniper type class is that it inherently leads to not being fun to play.
Currently, Dexterity based fighters and Blood Hunters and any Rogues all already function perfectly well as sharpshooters. The difficulty is that the playstyle is simply not as interesting as being a melee character because every single turn of combat becomes: I use the attack action to shoot. And maybe Hide, if I'm a Rogue. Up-close combatants have more versatility in options, with grapples, shoves, disarms (technically can be done at range), positioning yourself, blocking lines of attack, flanking (optionally), and simply being in the firing line is fun.
To build a sharpshooter Fighter/Blood Hunter, take the Archery fighting style, Crossbow Expert (so you never have to worry about getting stuck in melee and can always shoot), and Sharpshooter feats. If you're a Blood Hunter, take Order of the Profane, and take Hex. This will allow you to get hold of a heavy crossbow to make Sharpshooter feat shots for 1d10+1dX+1d6+10+dex damage.
Rogues are already basically designed as a Sharpshooter, especially if you're using the optional Steady Aim rule.
All of these classes deal very high damage at range. But ultimately, it's not really that much fun or interesting to just crank out shot after shot. It's a style that lacks versatility. Part of the problem is that you're most effective not when fighting, but when you aren't being seen, which doesn't make for great combats.
I think most martials fall into this as well.
STR build suffer even more because they have less skills associated with that attribute.
Overall martials do fall in the "attack again" rut
I feel rogue styling suits the sharpshooter a little better due to whole array of mobility options in the class, not to mention the optional Steady Aim feature. Something which I'd like to see in regards to this is a ranged martial who can buff and debuff a la Battle Master Fighter, but with the finesse style that is added by the rogue. The added spells are interesting but I do feel like some of the ones included in the list feel out of place. Maybe focus on that which is in the ranger spell list that aren't so nature themed?
I understand what a lot of you are saying, Ranged usually = limited but that is why I want to make this class(sub-class) and change that idea. @Ellza97 thanks for the tips I think you are right I was just kind of adding anything that gave mobility options as spells and was going to filter through them later but I will definitely have a closer look at the ranger's spell list
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Hi, I was planning on making a Sharpshooter class for D&D unfortunately D&D Beyond doesn't allow that so I'm Making a subclass for it to try and work out what I'm interested in. The Sharpshooter will be a ranged online class with no skill in melee and only able to use skills that will hinder their enemies or assist in creating distance for the Sharpshooter. So, I'm here to ask if anyone has any ideas or thoughts they would like to share. Link to Google docs with screenshots of what I have so far
Easiest would be to make it a fighter subclass. There was actually a sharpshooter UA: UA-Fighter (wizards.com)
While this is not a great design IMO it at least gives you the structure for making the subclass.
The difficulty with a sharpshooter / sniper type class is that it inherently leads to not being fun to play.
Currently, Dexterity based fighters and Blood Hunters and any Rogues all already function perfectly well as sharpshooters. The difficulty is that the playstyle is simply not as interesting as being a melee character because every single turn of combat becomes: I use the attack action to shoot. And maybe Hide, if I'm a Rogue. Up-close combatants have more versatility in options, with grapples, shoves, disarms (technically can be done at range), positioning yourself, blocking lines of attack, flanking (optionally), and simply being in the firing line is fun.
To build a sharpshooter Fighter/Blood Hunter, take the Archery fighting style, Crossbow Expert (so you never have to worry about getting stuck in melee and can always shoot), and Sharpshooter feats. If you're a Blood Hunter, take Order of the Profane, and take Hex. This will allow you to get hold of a heavy crossbow to make Sharpshooter feat shots for 1d10+1dX+1d6+10+dex damage.
Rogues are already basically designed as a Sharpshooter, especially if you're using the optional Steady Aim rule.
All of these classes deal very high damage at range. But ultimately, it's not really that much fun or interesting to just crank out shot after shot. It's a style that lacks versatility. Part of the problem is that you're most effective not when fighting, but when you aren't being seen, which doesn't make for great combats.
I think most martials fall into this as well.
STR build suffer even more because they have less skills associated with that attribute.
Overall martials do fall in the "attack again" rut
I feel rogue styling suits the sharpshooter a little better due to whole array of mobility options in the class, not to mention the optional Steady Aim feature. Something which I'd like to see in regards to this is a ranged martial who can buff and debuff a la Battle Master Fighter, but with the finesse style that is added by the rogue. The added spells are interesting but I do feel like some of the ones included in the list feel out of place. Maybe focus on that which is in the ranger spell list that aren't so nature themed?
I understand what a lot of you are saying, Ranged usually = limited but that is why I want to make this class(sub-class) and change that idea. @Ellza97 thanks for the tips I think you are right I was just kind of adding anything that gave mobility options as spells and was going to filter through them later but I will definitely have a closer look at the ranger's spell list