Someone
Adventurer
I'm trying to figure how this will work within the simple combat frameword 5e has at the moment.
Incredibly useful in 4e, since the marking and OAs mechanics usually meant the enemy couldn't reach other party members without negative effects; in 5e, they flip you the bird, spend at most 5 feet of movement and continue their merry way. Exception made of convenient cliffs and pools of lava.
I don't know what this exactly means, but with a grid 5 feet of movement can be a big deal. In a system where distances are "Am I there yet?", doesn't even have an abstract measuring system, and you can move anywhere you want anyway this has the potential to be pretty useless.
Damaging multiple enemies being the exception (you won't use it when facing just one enemy, so it's situational), those are matematically solvable, meaning you'll choose a combination of movements and spam them round after round.
knock people prone, to push people around (think tide of iron, 4E players)
Incredibly useful in 4e, since the marking and OAs mechanics usually meant the enemy couldn't reach other party members without negative effects; in 5e, they flip you the bird, spend at most 5 feet of movement and continue their merry way. Exception made of convenient cliffs and pools of lava.
to shift around the battlefield
I don't know what this exactly means, but with a grid 5 feet of movement can be a big deal. In a system where distances are "Am I there yet?", doesn't even have an abstract measuring system, and you can move anywhere you want anyway this has the potential to be pretty useless.
to make quick jabs that deal less damage, to be able to damage multiple enemies with a single attack, to riposte when an enemy misses, and so forth
Damaging multiple enemies being the exception (you won't use it when facing just one enemy, so it's situational), those are matematically solvable, meaning you'll choose a combination of movements and spam them round after round.