Have you ever intentionally ignored a character aspect?

[Brotton Goodfellow]

I can't wrap my mind around how this is an issue. I get the idea of having too many abilities to keep track of becoming annoying, but not wanting ANY (especially as a fighter) is kinda crazy.

 

[Satyrn]

I can't wrap my mind around how this is an issue. I get the idea of having too many abilities to keep track of becoming annoying, but not wanting ANY (especially as a fighter) is kinda crazy.

I think both the battlemaster and eldritch knight have quite a few options for each round, and I'm guessing that either the OP didn't notice thd Champion is different; or that fellow at his table who's apt to tell him how to play his character has been pushing him towards the battlemaster.

 

[Ancalagon]

Another very straightforward alternative subclass is the brute: http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/unearthed-arcana/three-subclasses
It's the champion 2.0 and it's even simpler

 

[Ancalagon]

Oh and don't play a monk it's very fiddly

 

[Ilbranteloth]

I am playing 5e, a fighter, and I have just reached third level. At second level I got a second win and some sort of extra action power surge thing, now at third level I get to choose a martial archetype that gives me more extra actions and whatnot. The problem is I don't want the extra actions. I don't want to look at my sheet seeing what I can do, I'd rather just play my character even if he is not as powerful as the rules allow him to be. It's distracting to constantly have to check my sheet and see what I can do. I just want to be the guy.

Has anyone here ever abandoned a character power because it was intrusive and interfering with your game experience? My rules oriented friend I have a feeling won't let this sit for long, and start reminding me what I can do as an extra action every turn. I am the opposite of a min maxer I guess.

I have lots of players that do that. In particular I’ve seen a lot of rogues that don’t use Sneak Attack or Cunning Action.

We’ve tweaked the rules a lot impart to address this. First, as a DM I’m always happy to consider other abilities, skills, feats, or class abilities from another class if it makes sense for that character.

We aren’t concerned about our niche or role based on abilities or class, but in developing interesting characters. We also don’t have any min/maxers, and about half the players don’t even know the mechanical aspects of the abilities they have.

My approach as DM reduces focus on the mechanical aspects as well. I use passive skill checks extensively, which takes into account character skills, and apply modifiers (usually including advantage/disadvantage) based on the PC’s decisions and actions, along with the circumstances. Combined with degrees of success and failure, a +1 or +2 helps, but it’s not essential since your actions will usually have a greater impact.

We’ve gone much further by narrowing down our class design to a class defining ability at 1st level, and a subclass defining at 2nd level, and the rest are chosen from a single list of feats and abilities when you reach a certain level. Some abilities have a class or subclass as a prerequisite, but many of them are open for players to design the character they want.

It’s sort of what we would consider the difference between playing the character instead of playing the rules. Regardless of how far you and your group is willing to go, the general approach is to not let the rules make decisions for us. If a rule doesn’t make sense in a certain circumstance or for a certain character, then we fix the rule rather than force the character to fit the rule.

 

[Rya.Reisender]

The only time I'd do that is if I roleplay a certain character and the aspect doesn't fit to his personality. For example I might play a cleric that prefers to wear robes and daggers.

 

[Seramus]

It sounds like you ended up taking the Battlemaster? I would definitely recommend swapping to Champion. That subclass was intentionally designed for your play style.

 

[KenNYC]

What I am playing is a 5e version of 2e Al Qadim. In an effort to jury rig the Corsair, I took a regular fighter with the mariner fighting skill which I think was from UA sea advantures I found online (get 2 attacks per turn, must use a cutlass, cannot wear any armor heavier than leather, no shield). So thats pretty basic. Then came the extra attack action at 2nd lvl, but now at third I have to choose my martial archetype. They suggested I could re skin the Samurai archetype, but all of a sudden I have three more extra attacks per rest on top of the action surge which is on top of the mariner fighting style, and these are not the same attacks as the other attacks, or maybe I use different modifiers for those attacks...and as a 1e child I really am trying to avoid the 5e quagmire of playing Swords and Spreadsheets. I just want to be my Errol Flynn guy, role play charming and dashing, and dress like Prince Ali--fabulous he--while in town. It's proving a little difficult with the extra actions, special actions and extra special actions. I am trying to trim the statistical fat here, and roleplay my 17 charisma in peace. Anyway, to whoever asked, that's why I don't want the powers: they make me look at my sheet and do calculating and that's no fun.

 

[TwoSix]

What I am playing is a 5e version of 2e Al Qadim. In an effort to jury rig the Corsair, I took a regular fighter with the mariner fighting skill which I think was from UA sea advantures I found online (get 2 attacks per turn, must use a cutlass, cannot wear any armor heavier than leather, no shield). So thats pretty basic. Then came the extra attack action at 2nd lvl, but now at third I have to choose my martial archetype. They suggested I could re skin the Samurai archetype, but all of a sudden I have three more extra attacks per rest on top of the action surge which is on top of the mariner fighting style, and these are not the same attacks as the other attacks, or maybe I use different modifiers for those attacks...and as a 1e child I really am trying to avoid the 5e quagmire of playing Swords and Spreadsheets. I just want to be my Errol Flynn guy, role play charming and dashing, and dress like Prince Ali--fabulous he--while in town. It's proving a little difficult with the extra actions, special actions and extra special actions. I am trying to trim the statistical fat here, and roleplay my 17 charisma in peace. Anyway, to whoever asked, that's why I don't want the powers: they make me look at my sheet and do calculating and that's no fun.

It sounds like you're making this way harder for yourself than it actually is, because you're nervous that there MIGHT be some sort of extra math involved.

1) I don't know where you found your version of the mariner fighting style, but the UA version doesn't give 2 attacks. It gives you a climb speed, swim speed, and +1 AC as long as you don't use a shield and only wear leather armor. Absolutely nothing to track resource wise.

2) Are you dual-wielding? The fact that you feel like you're using different kinds of numbers and different kinds of attacks makes it feel like your party pushed you into dual-wielding, which is actually more complicated.

3) If you're in a situation where you're looking at your sheet and trying to recalculate numbers, you're doing something wrong. That hardly ever happens in 5e, at certainly not at low levels. As a 2nd level fighter, you should have one attack, period. It's probably at about a +5, for 1d6+3 or 1d8+3 (assuming you didn't dump Dexterity for some reason). The only thing that changes that is once per short rest, you can decide to have 2 attacks if you want. Those attacks are exactly the same. If you have 2 kinds of attacks that are different, it certainly sounds like your party pushed you to dual-wield and you don't understand how or why it's happening.

4) Please don't take Samurai, it will just make you sad. Take Champion. Now when roll a 19, that's a crit, just like a 20. That's easy to remember, fun, and doesn't require any sheet looking.

5) Maybe ask the DM to take pity on you and allow you to trade in Action Surge for a second passive fighting style. Take two weapon fighting style, and then boom, you get to make two attacks every round, both at +5, both do 1d6+3, and you never have to look at your sheet at all, other than to record your hit points.

 

[Rossbert]

I have lots of players that do that. In particular I’ve seen a lot of rogues that don’t use Sneak Attack or Cunning Action.

We’ve tweaked the rules a lot impart to address this. First, as a DM I’m always happy to consider other abilities, skills, feats, or class abilities from another class if it makes sense for that character.

We aren’t concerned about our niche or role based on abilities or class, but in developing interesting characters. We also don’t have any min/maxers, and about half the players don’t even know the mechanical aspects of the abilities they have.

My approach as DM reduces focus on the mechanical aspects as well. I use passive skill checks extensively, which takes into account character skills, and apply modifiers (usually including advantage/disadvantage) based on the PC’s decisions and actions, along with the circumstances. Combined with degrees of success and failure, a +1 or +2 helps, but it’s not essential since your actions will usually have a greater impact.

We’ve gone much further by narrowing down our class design to a class defining ability at 1st level, and a subclass defining at 2nd level, and the rest are chosen from a single list of feats and abilities when you reach a certain level. Some abilities have a class or subclass as a prerequisite, but many of them are open for players to design the character they want.

It’s sort of what we would consider the difference between playing the character instead of playing the rules. Regardless of how far you and your group is willing to go, the general approach is to not let the rules make decisions for us. If a rule doesn’t make sense in a certain circumstance or for a certain character, then we fix the rule rather than force the character to fit the rule.

That is very similar to the system Pugmire uses.

Your class and race each have their own feat list (some classes overlap) and you get a feat at each level. It lets you focus on a specific aspect of your class if you want or creat a more balanced character. All sneak attack and no evasion or skill bonuses for a ratter for example, and the spellcasters have the option of going wide with spells known or deep with just a few at each level.