Putting DoaM back into 5e...

First, let's keep this civil. This thread is about house ruling DoaM back into 5e in some fashion.

My personal preference is if we can hammer a few different possibilities, A Fighting Style (or two), as a Feat maybe, etc.


So I'll get this ball rolling...

Firstly GWF is pretty much out, sure you can just drop it from it's current set up and put the playtest GWF back in, but many like the new GWF. So I'm thinking we need a new style, something that represents the Fighter's shear martial skill allowing him to 'stay on target' regardless of combat circumstances (a miss in this case) and deliver at least some small amount of HP reduction (how ever you want it described).

While we don't yet have feats (thus I can only compare it the playtest), I think the following would work fine as a feat or a Fighting Style:

Unerring Strike
When you fail an attack roll with a weapon that you are wielding the target still takes damage, either from the weapon or from circumstances of combat. The damage equals your Strength (for melee attacks) or Dexterity (for ranged attacks) modifier.

My understanding of D&D 5th Edition rules is still wonky. And we haven't seen the PHB yet.

But here are 2 approaches:

1) Unerring Strike as Bonus Action
One thing comes to mind is that something like "Unerring Strike" could have an opportunity cost each round - so that not neccessarily every attack is "unerring".

During your turn, you can use a bonus action to declare your attacks that turn as "Unerring". If an attack roll during your turn indicates a miss, you still deal damage equal to your strength (melee attacks) or dexterity (ranged) modifier..

2) Perfected Strike
For people that don't quite like the idea of a supposed miss actualyl dealing damage that could kill someone, here's a softened version:

When making a perfected strike, you perform an attack that is so well executed that an enemy can't attempt to dodge or deflect the attack without putting serious effort into it. Even if your attack roll indicates a miss, you can still deal your strength (melee) or dexterity modifier (ranged) damage to the target, indicating the effort it took to turn the attack ineffective. This damage cannot reduce a target to 0 or less hit points.

evileeyore said:

First, let's keep this civil. This thread is about house ruling DoaM back into 5e in some fashion.

My personal preference is if we can hammer a few different possibilities, A Fighting Style (or two), as a Feat maybe, etc.


So I'll get this ball rolling...

Firstly GWF is pretty much out, sure you can just drop it from it's current set up and put the playtest GWF back in, but many like the new GWF. So I'm thinking we need a new style, something that represents the Fighter's shear martial skill allowing him to 'stay on target' regardless of combat circumstances (a miss in this case) and deliver at least some small amount of HP reduction (how ever you want it described).

While we don't yet have feats (thus I can only compare it the playtest), I think the following would work fine as a feat or a Fighting Style:

Unerring Strike
When you fail an attack roll with a weapon that you are wielding the target still takes damage, either from the weapon or from circumstances of combat. The damage equals your Strength (for melee attacks) or Dexterity (for ranged attacks) modifier.

Click to expand...

Feats are a prime way to put some form of DoaM back. But the way you wrote it rules out finesse fighters. Here's what I'd do:

Taxing Offense
You learn to make the most of your melee reach, keeping your enemies on their toes even when you fail to connect properly.
Whan you miss a creature with a melee weapon attack, the creature takes damage of the same type as the missed attack, equal to ability score modifier used for the attack. If this damage would reduce a creature to 0 hp, the creature takes no damage. The creature suffers no additional effects from the missed attack.

Klaus said:

Feats are a prime way to put some form of DoaM back. But the way you wrote it rules out finesse fighters. Here's what I'd do:

Taxing Offense
You learn to make the most of your melee reach, keeping your enemies on their toes even when you fail to connect properly.
Whan you miss a creature with a melee weapon attack, the creature takes damage of the same type as the missed attack, equal to ability score modifier used for the attack. If this damage would reduce a creature to 0 hp, the creature takes no damage. The creature suffers no additional effects from the missed attack.

Click to expand...

I like that write up. That's probably what I'll use.