D&D Next Q&A 9 August

Wizards of the Coast · Aug 9, 2012

D&D Next Q&A with Rodney Thompson is the new home for Rule-of-Three. You've got questions -- we've got answers! This week, combat tricks and fighting styles.

Read D&D Next Q&A on D&D Insider here!

GX.Sigma · Aug 9, 2012

In case you missed it.

Lots of details on Combat Superiority. Fighters are looking awesome. Now how the hell are they going to do those combat maneuver modules?

ZombieRoboNinja · Aug 9, 2012

Very cool. As for combat maneuvers - sounds easy. Here's the one everyone has access to through the narrative combat module:

Pushback: Attack with a -2 to hit. If you hit, after you deal damage, roll a strength contest against your opponent; if you succeed, they are pushed back one square.

...and so on. Meanwhile, the fighter gets:

Clashing Tide of Superfluous Text: use 1 combat superiority die to push the opponent back five feet on a successful attack.

So the fighter gets a guaranteed push if he hits and doesn't have a penalty to attack. (He loses 1 die of damage instead.) But non-fighters, and fighters without that power, can still get the job done, just less reliably.

ZombieRoboNinja · Aug 9, 2012

Also, what's this?

We’re also looking at giving you a third right out of the gate, based on the fighting style you selected.

I'd kind of assumed that once you've picked your combat superiority powers, that's all the in-class customization you get with the fighter. Does this mean there are more specific "fighting styles" built into the class (beyond the themes and backgrounds that all characters get)?

Sammael · Aug 9, 2012

OK, this makes me chuckle. WotC is clearly ripping my Fatebinder system off.

I gave fighters Combat Superiority at 2nd level (though it's just a flat 1/2 Fighter level bonus to damage), they select a Fighting Style at 1st level (gaining a bonus to certain combat skills and several other benefits) and can improve it at levels 10 and 20 (or choose additional Fighting Styles if they prefer), and I also give fighters Maneuvers (replacing the 3.x bonus fighter feats) which sound eerily similar to Combat Superiority options. The last time I edited the Fighter class description on my wiki was in September 2011, by the way.

If any of the fine gentlemen at WotC would like to contact me to discuss adding more features from Fatebinder to D&D Next, I would be happy to discuss it with them

mlund · Aug 9, 2012

I suspect "Fighting Style" probably has at least a little to do with a broad class of weapons - things like Great Weapons, Pole Arms, Bows, One-Handed Weapon & Shield, Empty Handed, or Two-Weapon Fighting.

Some effect probably come earlier or easier depending on what implements you specialize in. Pole-arms are good for tripping and ensnaring. Great weapons are solid for knocking people around. Shield make it easier to press and maneuver in melee. Arrows make it easier to snipe and attack limbs faster than someone can block or dodge.

- Marty Lund

GX.Sigma · Aug 9, 2012

ZombieRoboNinja said:
I'd kind of assumed that once you've picked your combat superiority powers, that's all the in-class customization you get with the fighter. Does this mean there are more specific "fighting styles" built into the class (beyond the themes and backgrounds that all characters get)?

God, I hope not. I thought the point of CS was that you could mix and match to create your own fighting style; not just pick a pre-baked one at level 1 and have all your future progression dictated by it.

Stormonu · Aug 10, 2012

Mike mentioned that the combat superiority dice could be used to deal more damage, soak damage, defend an ally, or some other interesting combat tricks. Could you give us some more examples of any of those combat tricks you’re looking at now? Sure. Right now, we’re looking at the ability to knock people prone, to push people around (think tide of iron, 4E players), to shift around the battlefield, ...

*Facepalm*

I was hoping they wouldn't do this. You shouldn't have to spend the CS dice to trip, bull rush and the like. I wouldn't mind if you spent a dice to do the effect AND damage, but I sure hope they don't make it you have to spend the dice TO do the action.

ComradeGnull · Aug 10, 2012

Stormonu said:
*Facepalm*

I was hoping they wouldn't do this. You shouldn't have to spend the CS dice to trip, bull rush and the like. I wouldn't mind if you spent a dice to do the effect AND damage, but I sure hope they don't make it you have to spend the dice TO do the action.

I thought the idea was that dice spending was an add-on to your ordinary attack- so you make your normal attack, then spend a die if you want to make a trip. Alternatively, you just make a trip attack and do no damage.

Sir Brennen · Aug 10, 2012

Stormonu said:
I was hoping they wouldn't do this. You shouldn't have to spend the CS dice to trip, bull rush and the like. I wouldn't mind if you spent a dice to do the effect AND damage, but I sure hope they don't make it you have to spend the dice TO do the action.

What? No. That's not what's being said at all. Otherwise how would anyone but a fighter trip or bull rush?

The Tide of Iron reference makes that fairly obvious. Make an attack, do damage and use your CS die to do extra damage or trip, push, etc. Other classes will likely have to spend their action for their turn just to make the trip attempt alone. Sure, there'll be other things that can be done with CS dice, but if they're options available to other classes, I'll bet the fighter is going to be better at it.