Originally Posted by mrfuji3
Originally Posted by The_Red_Queen
I agree thrown weapon damage in 5e seems poor compared to bows.
There seem to be 2 main reasons for this, both involving changes made in 5e from earlier editions (3.5e) that weren't properly accounted for.
1.) Ranged weapons in 5e add their Dex mod to damage. Previously, you didn't add any bonus to normal projectile weapons' damage.
2.) Crossbows in 5e don't cost anything to load. In 3.5e, light crossbows (1d8) took a move action, and heavy crossbows (1d10) took a full-round action.

Both of these changes make projectile weapons (particularly crossbows) stronger. However, the damage table for these weapons has remained the same. In 3.5e, shortspears/javelins dealt 1d6+Str damage when Thrown, while longbows dealt 1d8 damage but had more range. In 5e, longbows deal more damage and have better range.

Thanks for the context!

Yeah, that does sound like a problem, though I admit I’m still not convinced Larian should homebrew a solution. It does make it even more important that they change elements of their existing homebrew that make things worse. And if the shield AC bonus when using a ranged weapon and free swapping between weapon sets after attacking are fixed, then the weaker damage of thrown weapons would at least be balanced by the higher AC of being able to use them with a shield.

"You may call it 'nonsense' if you like, but I've heard nonsense, compared with which that would be as sensible as a dictionary!"