It allows you to cast a cantrip, so it does still provide some synergy with casters.
This is where the omission starts getting to feel like a spotlight. It could change later, but I don't know if any of the maneuvers affect spells & cantrips
Gambling general
Daring Commander: Pick one
- Daring assault: add +2d6 or eventually 3d6 damage in exchange for a -5 on the attack roll when you use commanding presence to give an ally an attack but not if you used it to give them a cantrip
- Daring Charge: Let an ally in your aura move up to twice their speed in a straight line & creatures they didn’t attack have advantage on attack rolls against them….
There are a lot of abilities across different classes that involve granting the ability to move in a straight line over large distances, I’m suspecting that this might be related to one or more additions to weapons or general combat mechanics themselves
Defensive Measures: Pick one
- You can get advantage on a saveat the cost of making attacks with disadvantage
- Frantic avoidance: Hope to scuttle outside the range of an aoe 1/long rest at half your speed. Rogue evasion artful dodger & uncanny dodge are unlimited use(same with paladin saves), is the 1/long rest really justified given the half move speed? AOEs tend to be on creatures like dragons/winterwolves/etc with a decent melee attack or various casters with a decent ray/bolt that wouldn’t be affected by this either. I’m not sure the limit is really justified speaking as a guy who is nearly always the gm till covid came.
Hold the line: Choose one
- Stand firm: Your aura means that save for half equals save for none, this is huge & going to be interesting.
- Stand Strong: You pretty much get to give your allies the reaction part of sentinel making it tough to decide which of the two is better, but again melee weapon only even if a caster is in melee for some reason
Risky Tactics: pick one
- Risky Gambit: I’m not sure how this is supposed to work since creature applies to both baddies & allies. Someone of your choice provokes an AoO & if they are hit then your ally (who is also a creature) gains an expertise die on melee weapon (but not ranged or cantrip) attacks & the creature gains advantage on attacks. I can see ways that it could be useful either way (mostly involving rogue) but kinda lost on who gets what. It might need an example with names or something if not reworked wording.
- Risky Forray: Give an ally in your aura an expertise die on melee weapon attack rolls (not ranged weapon or cantrip/spell ones). The exclusion of that cantrip dave2008 noted earlier s feeling really obvious by now.
Canny adversary: pick one
- Lay the trap: This seems like a more limited version of stand strong that grants advantage. With both being part of pick one abilities it’s reasonable
- Feinting Retreat: when you disengage & a creature ends their movement in your aura they provoke an AoO if you pick them & someone happens to be in position to take advantage of it. The conditions for this to trigger feel a bit contrived almost to the point of needing the gm to do it deliberately. The first time I read this I missed the need for a creature to end their movement in your aura thinking you could force it to provoke an AoO for existing & would be decently good sometimes… but that’s not the case.. Something is very off about this.
Peasant Lie…. Peasant Lt.
Make Haste: Pick one:
- Make Haste: allies in your aura get +5ft speed. Useful for everyone & as a vtt user it’s not such an extreme speed bump that it makes my life hard by inflating the map needs
- Fast retreat: your commanding presence can let someone disengage instead of attack for some neat survivability options
Skirmisher: +10ft move & AoOs against you are made at disadvantage. Depending on other combat changes this is interesting & useful or “hey you get +10ft move speed” it’s hard to judge
Nimble troops: add your charisma mod to allies acrobatics & athletics rolls if they are in your aura. I think this is hard to judge for now for the same reasons as skirmisher.
Glorious sacrifice: Pick one
- Take cover: Make a save at disadvantage & all your allies also making it get to save at advantage. This will feel really awesome at the table I bet.
- Take the Hit: Use your face to block a crit that would have hit an ally if they are in your aura. Maybe let ths do a misty step type position swap as it’s going to be really tough to narrate things like a hypothetical wolf biting you wen you are up to 30ft away at this point.
Portentous escape: pick one:
- Get them out: Similar to frantic avoidance but pick an ally. Certainly useful & the 1/long rest limit makes sense with the wider net
- Fortifying Encouragement: Make a save & give an ally 5+ your charisma mod, certainly going to be useful & probably moreso if you didn’t pick frantic escape.
Unbound Hoarde: pick one
- Among the Ranks: AoOs made against allies in your aira are made at disadvantage
- March together: This one is a bit odd because if you move “each creature” in your aura can use a reaction to move 10ft. It doesn’t mention if there are any limits on hostile/friendly creatures or even what order sooo….. the effect is seeing how long it takes to explode your gm’s brain as everyone decides to move or not one by one based on what everything else did one by one? It hurts my soul trying to imagine this play out at the table as written
Tactical Commander
Tactical Edge: This feels convoluted at first glance but starts to make sense as you read hrough the archetype & really clicks with the more tactical ability.
Student of war: Become proficient in culture history & nature plus get an expertise die in them… what is culture? Like any skill I guess it’s as useful as those skills are to your campaign & group so not much to say.
Operations leader: There was a great +2 per ally thing under team tactics, this one seems to just be help action spamming? Eek
More tactical: This reads like not using the tactics die means that you get a second one that upgrades with the first similar to getting an extra ship in
galaga
Tactical efficacy: Your tactics die starts at d6. Decisions decisions, these two will probably be a tough choice with a lot of subjectivity. I kinda like them.
Hidden resources: at level 18 these won’t really matter to nearly every game save some one shots or something but I think reach further is bugged as written. Reach further says you let an ally at hp spend a tactics die a a reaction to get that much temphp. I don’t think an downed(incapacitated?) player can take a reaction. Even if they can I don’t think temphp will do anything about bob being down & at level 18 even 1d12+your charisma mod isn’t going to do much to the auto crit with advantage
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