Azzy wrote:
Jeff Martin wrote: Nightshade's Gloves = Big news that will cost me dearly! This token is getting reduced in power because we are going to nerf how the Rogue Neck item and Assassin Crossbow synergize -- stating in 2025. No change until then so y'all can enjoy the crazy damage for another 10 months.
I feel like the best option is also the simplest: just change the section in the PHB that talks about stacking damage multipliers into something along the lines of "if you have multiple damage multipliers, only the highest one applies".
The interaction between +2 Assassins' Crossbow and Raphael's Sneaky Necklace that is problematic is not related to stacking damage multipliers.
The problem is Rogues can get:
3x damage on a slid 17+, twice per room
With the combination of: +2 Assassin's Crossbow, Raphael's Sneaky Necklace, one of the two UR eye slot items that lets Rogues make ranged sneak attacks, and a Bead or Bracers of Guided Strike.
This makes high end ranged rogue builds notably better than the melee rogue build at pumping out damage; while also enjoying higher AC and reflex saves, and not dealing with retaliation damage.
This ranged combo depends on a single 2015 UR (+2 Assassin's Crossbow). When +2 Assassin's Crossbow was created:
a. There was no realistic way for Rogues to get an expanded crit range on the +2 Assassins Crossbow* - so a natural 20 was required for triple damage
b. There was no universal way to bypass crit immunity - only conditional crit immunity bypassers existed that worked for one monster type at a time (e.g. constructs, or plants, or elementals)
c. There was no way to sneak attack the same monster twice in a room
So an effect that was designed to trigger:
On a slid 20; Once per room; Conditional on the monster being vulnerable to critical hits.
Is nowadays triggering:
On a 17+; twice per room; against all monsters.
This in turn creates a strong desire to do one of two things:
1. Make a ranged weapon that deals triple damage on crits available to rogues every few years, so Rogues can pursue this playstyle without tracking down a single 2015 UR.
2. Bring melee Rogues up to par with ranged ones by offering them a way to do triple damage on their 17+ sneak attack crits from Raphael's Sneaky Necklace.
I think above Jeff is proposing a third way of resolving this situation:
c. Restrict the triple damage on crits from +2 Assassin's Crossbow to be more in line with the original design intent (some or all of: requiring a slid 20, once per room, limited to certain monster types).
Doing that would take pressure of both the desire to reprint or duplicate the triple crit function of the +2 Assassins Crossbow, and also the desire to bring triple damage crits to melee Rogues.
* Theoretically a Rogue in 2015 could have used a 2010 Uncommon Keen Arrow on each attack to get 19+ crits, or gotten a caster to use a rare 2003-2008 Scroll Keen Edge to given them 19+ crits for a room.
