D&D 5E What is balance to you, and why do you care (or don't)?

[James Gasik]

Hm. Would bounded accuracy be destroyed if Fighters had slightly better attack bonuses? Given the responses to my Bless thread, I'm going to go with "no, not at all". Now maybe doubling would be a bit much, but really, so what if a high level Fighter always hits? I think that's a thing the class could use.

But even if that's frightening somehow, if the system can handle Archery Fighting Style, then it could handle the Fighter having a larger attack bonus. And yes, I know, Archery is probably intended to counter soft cover, but I know when I played an archer, I rarely had an issue with soft cover, so a good chunk of the time, it was just extra attack. The way I see it is, Fighting Styles are not unique to the Fighter, but the Fighter should be allowed to have better versions of them.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Well, they also, y'know...became landed nobility, something none of the other classes could do. That's pretty unique and also, y'know, really powerful. What with all the retainers and taxes and maybe even legislating.

I miss the Leadership feat.

It was so nice being able to just say 'you know what? I want to buy into the world and have my own organization'.

Of course, it was there in the worst possible set-up for it where the DM was expected to fully stat every pleb that works for you.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I miss the Leadership feat.

It was so nice being able to just say 'you know what? I want to buy into the world and have my own organization'.

Of course, it was there in the worst possible set-up for it where the DM was expected to fully stat every pleb that works for you.

yeah, I think 5e would need to improve the concept... but it was an okaish start

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

Bounded accuracy probably couldn’t handle it.

And I’m not a fan of how the fighting styles work, but those are thematically supposed to represent the fighter’s expertise with weapons. Granted, some other classes get those too and they probably shouldn’t. Also I’d prefer if fighters were just more competent with all weapons instead of being pigeonholed into one style from the get go.

Giving them a fighting style every odd level, and making advanced fighting styles for 5+, 9+, 13+ etc would help. Letting them swap fighting styles as a downtime activity would be great.

 

[Vaalingrade]

So I've been working on something of a revamped Leadership. The system is decidedly not 5e, but it's something for people to chew on:

Authority [Universal Bonus]

The mantle of responsibility falls upon your shoulders for a small but loyal group.

Prerequisite: Character level 3rd or higher

Benefit: You assume the leadership of a small organization such as the crew of a small ship, the personnel of a local business, or a minor gang. The organization does not aid you in combat, but can perform tasks such as keeping a ship or business running, fencing/auctioning items, doing mundane research, etc. Whenever the organization makes a roll, it does so with a bonus equal to your level + CHA or WIS modifier, whichever is higher.

You also gain a cohort, a second in command built as a character 2 levels lower than you with 500gp in gear and a Superiority item* at a bonus appropriate for their level. The cohort can accompany you on adventures or do other separate tasks as you require.

If you somehow lose control of your organization (or its members are killed) or your cohort is killed, you may either choose to retrain this feat immediately, or regain a new organization or cohort over the course of one week.

Note: Who controls your cohort depends on the game's needs. Speak with your group to decide if you, the DM or another player will play your cohort

*Superiority is akin to magic items, but not necessarily magic. They can be magic, mastercrafted, or scientific.

 

[James Gasik]

There was a lot of (possibly theoretical) abuse of Leadership reported in the 3.x era, so supposedly, many DM's banned it (it was often called out lists of house rules). It would probably work better in 5e with it's standardized stat blocks for NPC's.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

That is one interesting aspect that has been removed from later editions. I get that some people don’t want that and prefer their characters to remain freely-roaming vagabonds, but temporal authority would be a good alternative path to have for those who don’t want their high level martials to become mythic heroes with superhuman powers.

Particularly if you got retainers that could do some of the magic legwork on your behalf. Sure, you can't cast speak with dead, but your advisor can.

 

[James Gasik]

Right there, that's a good idea, Ehren37. Spellcasting sidekicks for martials. It solves a lot of problems for "all martial campaigns", and replaces the need for magic items to balance martials with a non-magical solution for people who don't want their games cluttered with powerful magic items.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

Hm. Would bounded accuracy be destroyed if Fighters had slightly better attack bonuses? Given the responses to my Bless thread, I'm going to go with "no, not at all". Now maybe doubling would be a bit much, but really, so what if a high level Fighter always hits? I think that's a thing the class could use.

But even if that's frightening somehow, if the system can handle Archery Fighting Style, then it could handle the Fighter having a larger attack bonus. And yes, I know, Archery is probably intended to counter soft cover, but I know when I played an archer, I rarely had an issue with soft cover, so a good chunk of the time, it was just extra attack. The way I see it is, Fighting Styles are not unique to the Fighter, but the Fighter should be allowed to have better versions of them.

Yeah, I really think they missed the boat in not giving various classes different proficiency modifers. Letting fighters, rogues, barbs and monks have 1.5 prof modifer wouldn't wreck things, amounting to an extra 1-2 at the level people play.

 

[James Gasik]

Yeah, if that could destroy bounded accuracy, then so would +2 and +3 magic weapons.