My biggest issue with this and any embiggening effect is that the mechnics do not seem to match fiction. If you grow massively larger, why cannot you use larger weapons, and gain great deal more HP and strength like a real giant? I mean the answer is that it would be OP, but why include such fiction if you can't represent it properly?Rune knight proves you can have a PC option that is extremely engaging, has a lot potential meaningful choices, and isn't just pages of overwhelming choices that boil done to "pick these because they are better than the rest so the rest is dead space."
The fact that mechanically it clicks as well shows that they can infact create good content.
Not the biggest fan of slapping the Giant flavor sticker on it but that's a pretty minor quibble
Dragon, Elemental, Infernal, Demonic, and even Angelic are easy reskins. I suppose you could even go pretty far afield and do a Far Realms reskin with burning tentacles, spongey skin, mental trickery redirecting attacks, etc. Embiggening could be horrendous bloating, alien musculature, or just sprouting more tentacles.Not the biggest fan of slapping the Giant flavor sticker on it but that's a pretty minor quibble
DnD has never handled scale well so I guess that part is expected.Mu biggest issue with this and any embiggening effect is that the mechnics do not seem to match fiction. If you grow massively larger, why cannot you use larger weapons, and gain great deal more HP and strength like a real giant? I mean the answer is that it would be OP, but why include such fiction if you can't represent it properly?
Oh it's an easy reskin it's just irksome that they took the time to create such a squared away PC option and then fumble on the flavor.Dragon, Elemental, Infernal, Demonic, and even Angelic are easy reskins. I suppose you could even go pretty far afield and do a Far Realms reskin with burning tentacles, spongey skin, mental trickery redirecting attacks, etc. Embiggening could be horrendous bloating, alien musculature, or just sprouting more tentacles.
Also to consider, the bonus action traffic jam - i like how you put that - but it means bonus action attack feats are much less good.I think the "bonus action traffic jam" is what keeps them from being OP, personally. I do agree with you that most of the runes are quite good - only frost is clearly a "don't bother" with.
I also agree that cloud rune doesn't come up as often as I expected.
For -5/+10 folks, the key is landing blows and Battlemaster is the best.
Rune Knight is very cool.
Where it rocks is A) the out-of-combat abilities and B) Level 15. Where it sucks is that you have so much competing for your bonus action and frankly most fighters I've played have something useful to do with their bonus action already. I find them tricky to play in practice due to the bonus action pileup.
- Cloud Rune is more-or-less broken, though I will say I got to use it a lot less than I expected. I generally saved it for crits, but somehow in about 15 encounters there was never a crit that happened when an enemy other than the critting one was within 30 feet of the RK (high-level game, ability on a henchman). A lower-level game with a henchman that had it has seen more use, but still not a single crit has been redirected.
- Fire Rune is "eh" in a fight. But no action cost.
- Frost Rune is fairly weak.
- Stone rune is fine, especially as a reaction
- Hill rune is amazing, though I tend to find at that level a lot of attacks aren't weapon damage and that tends to increase as you get to higher level.
- Storm rune is amazing as long as you aren't using your reaction for something else much.