Breachgnome Seal-the-Breach should apply with all weapons

[Kitunenotsume]

Per assistance of Theodore01, we have identified that Seal the Breach from Breachgnomes currently applies only to melee:

Just tested it with shurikans with my gnome, Seal the breach does not work with ranged attacks. (Updated the wiki.) The wiki even had "hand-to-hand combat" in the class description before.

However, the actual text of the class places no such restriction on melee VS ranged: https://www.realmshelps.net/charbuild/c ... nome.shtml

There is mention in flavor that rogues bards and casters "are better off avoiding hand-to-hand", but this seems to reflect the tanky-nature of the class because plenty of rogues stab things - they just don't want to get hit themselves. Case in point the number of TWF rogue builds, and that most of the point of the class is getting hit so other people don't.
From a more cynical perspective, restricting Breach-gnomes to melee only pretty much means they would be doomed if an enemy sits just outside their weapon reach and shoots them to death, since they would technically lose their defensive bonuses simply trying to retaliate either by throwing or moving outside the breach.

I can find some sources on a 2e version of Breach-gnome (I have not validated this source), but while it requires proficiency in certain weapons, the text provided does not state that the defensive bonuses are restricted purely to melee.


It is therefore my consideration that the restriction to Seal-the-Breach to melee-only is an error, and the bonus should be applied to all combat when the terrain conditions are met.

Oh. I did a small investigation, it's clearly stated as melee thing on wiki.bgtscc.net:
https://wiki.bgtscc.net/index.php?title=Breach_Gnome

Could you please post it to suggestions instead, if you believe it should apply to ranged?

Posting in Suggestions, per new bug-report policy.
The wiki stated "Melee" due to the edit Theodore01 made per the quote in my initial post. It was not previously on the wiki and is not the in-game description: I have therefore adjusted it to be a note instead, so that the wiki and the in-game text remain the same.

[matelener]

The 3.5 PnP version does not grant static Attack Bonus. However, he receives bunch of +4 bonuses to trip / bullrush / attack of opportunity whenever the enemy moves within or through the threatened area.

And given that, I don't think it's a good idea to give a bonus to a breach gnome who is attacking an enemy outside of the breach he's sealing.

[Kitunenotsume]

If that is the purpose of the +4 to AB, I understand, but It seems arbitrary to remove the AC bonus for equipping a ranged weapon.
I'm aware they are almost certainly coded into the same condition check, mechanically, and the intention was probably to reduce mechanical overhead.

However, if that is the case, it would seem like casters might get the bonuses to AC (and possibly RTT) that shooters don't. I haven't actually run up a caster/Breachgnome to check, but it's not currently an invalidated possibility.

[matelener]

I believe casters don't get the bonus, judging by the code.

Probably it makes sense to grant +4 AC regardless of the wielded weapon but it's a hassle to make that change, so I wouldn't count on it anytime soon.

[Theodore01]

If anything, the breachgnome bonus should be altered in that way, that it stays active during the whole fight - if conditions are met.

Currently, there is a gap each round - as the bonus gets removed after the round - then granted again. So you are without a bonus for a moment each round.