Custom Feat: Master Duelist

[Quartz]

I don't think it's that different from the Sentinel feat, which also gives you "infinite reaction attacks" tbh.

The Sentinel feat doesn't give you Advantage.
The Sentinel feat doesn't give you a stat bump.
The Sentinel feat doesn't increase your critical hit range.

 

[BacchusNL]

The Sentinel feat doesn't give you Advantage.
The Sentinel feat doesn't give you a stat bump.
The Sentinel feat doesn't increase your critical hit range.

True, the Sentinel feat gives other useful, unique and powerful abilities. Hamstring on AoO is no joke, and work super good with Polearm Master. But even that is besides the point because I only made the comparison too Sentinel too point out that getting an attack on reaction really isn't as unique as the person I replied to made it out to me. Heck, the afore-mentioned Polearm Master also gets it, and on a much easier trigger.

And ill mention it for the 3rd time. The stat bump shouldn't be there in my opinion either. It was a free addition from my DM's part (probably because he recently got Xanathar's, and almost all feats there have random +1's)

Here are 2 balanced feats:


Feat 1:


While wielding a finesse weapon in one hand and having a second hand free, your weapon attacks with that weapon score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.


Feat 2:


While wielding a finesse weapon, when a creature misses you with an attack you may use your reaction to make an attack with that weapon against that creature.


...


If you must add power you could do this:


While wielding a finesse weapon in one hand and having a second hand free, your weapon attacks with that weapon score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20. Also, if a creature misses you with a melee weapon attack, your next melee weapon attack against that creature has Advantage as long as you make the attack before the end of your next turn.

These are fair suggestions, and If they saw print I would be more then happy with them, but I would like to point out that this feat wasn't really made with "fair" in mind, but with Great Weaponmaster (+polearm master) and Sharpshooter (+crossbow expert) in mind I understand that they are not populair with some people, but they still exist and put a big disparity between 2-handed\ ranged martial classes and 1-handed classes\ build. One of the goals was to make a feat that atleast gives those classes a viable option if they want to feel like they are still putting out some competative numbers for a more combat-heavy campaign.

The way I see it the +crit range on the duelist feat competes with the reckless attack option from GWM\ SS, while the reaction-attack is quite comparable to GWM's bonus attack on crit\ kill. Ignoring cover for SS is harder to gauge, but I still would never want to be without it on an archer.

I can dig the finesse-classifications but I'm wondering why you feel dual-wielders should be excluded from this feat though, is it a thematic thing? Cuz Drizzt would take this feat. Is it a power level thing? Because if there are dual-wield builds that do anything close to ranged or 2-handers I'm all ears I would also really like this build to work for any build that wants to use Booming Blade, or similar effects\ spells, with focus in off-hand.

Wether sword + board characters should be able to use this is a fair discussion, but I'm leaning to yes. It would make for a very interesting feat option next to Shield Master, with the prone on bonus attack giving advantage which synergizes with the +crit range (and once you specialize with 2 feats I think it's super thematic that your shield bash-attack combo becomes more deadly).

I think if you change the language of the crit feature so that it stacks with Champion, it works fine without stepping on their toes. I'm 100% ok with feats giving things that you can also get by multiclassing, as long as they can also be used to beef up that thing for that class, like Martial Adapt and Magical Adept.


The Repost, I'd say 1/SR when an enemy misses works. It no more steals the BM's thunder than Shield Master does, but what I don't like is that it gets kinda weird when you make a BM with the feat. I don't have any better solution than yours, though.


Also, damn it is pretty much the same as the Sentinel feat attack.

Yeah, I agree, I'm not sure how the wording would be on that though, "Increases your critical hit range by 1 when using a one-handed melee weapon" sounds kinda clunky. I think the riposte could very well be without advantage, but my DM argued that it really fits the man-to-man aspect of the feat, where you can capitilize on a single slip-up, and that even with the advantage the raw damage output of the feat still doesn't come close to a build that can use GWM\ SS 3-5x in a round.

 

[Laurefindel]

I don't think it's that different from the Sentinel feat, which also gives you "infinite reaction attacks" tbh.

Sorry @BacchusNL, your feat might work well for your intended purpose in your own campaign, but it’s objectively and humongously unbalanced with other published feats. I don’t need to repeat all that was said, it you’ve got two abilities that steal from main archetype features plus a stat boost. Opportunity attacks are relatively uncommon. Sentinel makes them slightly more frequent and reliable, but being able to counter attack every round you’ve been attacked, regardless whether the attack hit or not, is pretty much automatic as soon as you get into melee (regardless whether you did so intentionaly or not).

“ MASTER DUELIST

- Your STR or DEX increase by 1.

- Whenever an attack roll made against you is failed, you can use your reaction to make an immediate attack roll using a finesse weapon against the attacker. You score a critical hit on a 19 or 20 with this attack. Once you use this ability, you must finish a long rest before you can use it again.”

it probably is still stronger than published feat, but it’s a bit more reasonable.

 

[Yunru]

The second feature steals the Champion fighter's key class feature so needs to be dropped.

With all respect the subclass deserves, fcuk the Champion.

 

[ad_hoc]

These are fair suggestions, and If they saw print I would be more then happy with them, but I would like to point out that this feat wasn't really made with "fair" in mind, but with Great Weaponmaster (+polearm master) and Sharpshooter (+crossbow expert) in mind

Instead of making a problematic feat to compensate for other feats you find to be problematic, you could just not use those feats.

All you're doing is messing up your game.

 

[Ristamar]

Seems interesting. I'll take a stab at it.

Master Duelist
Prerequisite: Dexterity 13 or higher

• Increase your Dexterity score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• If you take the Ready action to attack any creature that targets you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to make a melee attack with advantage against that creature after it resolves the attack. If your triggered attack is made with a finesse weapon, it scores a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.

 

[Yunru]

Seems interesting. I'll take a stab at it.

Master Duelist
Prerequisite: Dexterity 13 or higher

• Increase your Dexterity score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• If you take the Ready action to attack a creature that targets you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to make a melee attack with advantage against the creature after it resolves the attack. If your triggered attack is made with a finesse weapon, it scores a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.

A readied action uses your reaction, so that'd basically only give advantage and improved crit to the attack.

 

[Ristamar]

You're tripping over semantics. The attack is the reaction.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/compendium/rules/basic-rules/combat#Ready

Sometimes you want to get the jump on a foe or wait for a particular circumstance before you act. To do so, you can take the Ready action on your turn, which lets you act using your reaction before the start of your next turn.

First, you decide what perceivable circumstance will trigger your reaction. Then, you choose the action you will take in response to that trigger, or you choose to move up to your speed in response to it. Examples include "If the cultist steps on the trapdoor, I'll pull the lever that opens it," and "If the goblin steps next to me, I move away."

When the trigger occurs, you can either take your reaction right after the trigger finishes or ignore the trigger. Remember that you can take only one reaction per round.

 

[Yunru]

Yes, but the way it was written it sounded like you're supposed to get a second reaction attack.

 

[BacchusNL]

Instead of making a problematic feat to compensate for other feats you find to be problematic, you could just not use those feats.

All you're doing is messing up your game.

Not really the point of this thread. My GM and me are fine with those feats existing however not a fan of the fact there is no 1-handed equivelant, creating a disparity.
And we've been playing with the feat for a few months now, 0 Issues compared to if I was a sharpshooter rogue.