D&D (2024) New One D&D Weapons Table Shows 'Mastery' Traits

The weapons table from the upcoming Unearthed Arcana playtest for One D&D has made its way onto the internet via Indestructoboy on Twitter, and reveals some new mechanics. The mastery traits include Nick, Slow, Puncture, Flex, Cleave, Topple, Graze, and Push. These traits are accessible by the warrior classes.

 

[Minigiant]

I think ultimately the main issue is...

There should be more than one class or base subsystem for nonmagical weapons combat.

Basically players who want to create Gimli, Kenshin, Cervantes, Hawkeye, Deadstroke, Achilles, Obi Wan, John Wick, Cloud, all use the same class.

Similarly every unarmed martial artist in all media are boiled into the same class.

So a mild mastery system won't all players or DMs to display the attributes of the works they are based off.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

"You miss with this weapon, deal minimum damage."
vs
"You hit with this weapon, deal average damage."
vs
"You score a crit, deal super duper damage."

No matter what, the player knows that they are always going to be dealing damage...so why not let them skip the attack roll altogether and go right to the damage roll instead? Let the damage roll of 1 be the minimum "miss" result, and let the maximum be the "critical hit" that deals super duper damage. "I rolled a 12! I get to add more dice!" or whatever.

"But that's unsatisfying," some folks might say. "There's no risk, it would be dull, etc." And that's the point I'm trying to make.

Because the gameplay loop is roll a check or force a save to determine outcome. Are people's minds broken the same way with Acid Arrow, a spell attack that deals damage on a miss?

 

[CleverNickName]

Because the gameplay loop is roll a check or force a save to determine outcome.

What I'm saying is, if the outcome is already determined (damage will be dealt), that gameplay loop is already broken. If all that's left is to determine the amount of damage, why not just roll damage and move on to the next turn?

(I promise, I'm trying to leave this thread. I'll leave my keys at the door.)

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

What I'm saying is, if the outcome is already determined (damage will be dealt), that gameplay loop is already broken. If all that's left is to determine the amount of damage, why not just roll damage and move on to the next turn?

(I promise, I'm trying to leave this thread. I'll leave my keys at the door.)

Because it allows for levels of success, something most modern RPG's have that D&D fails at, though I guess this thread illustrates why.

You have marginal success, standard success, and critical success. If you don't see the difference between a miss with a +1 warhammer dealing 4 damage on a "miss", a hit dealing D8+5, and a crit dealing 2d8+5, then we may as well throw out all the dice. I'd personally allow for a critical miss by 10+ that simply fails to deal the graze damage, but I'd wager WOTC is convinced the playerbase is too math-phobic for such a high falutin concept.

No one is acting like the random dice rolled in a fireball negate the need for saves.

 

[Minigiant]

Everyone is talking about Graze, I'm over here looking at Flex and shocked that Jeremy Crawford was hyping up something as a big new thing and just giving the iconic longsword and battleaxe one die jump.

Not offering longsword a lunging piercing attack or spinning a flail for more damage or a grapple or spinning a quarterstaff for more defense. Cool stuff.

Just +1 damage and whatever sap is.

 

[Tutara]

I think Reach should be a mastery option for a few of these - spear and trident most obviously. In the hands of a grubby peasant, a spear is a useful standard. In the hands of a retiarius, it is a deadly agile deathmaker.

 

[CleverNickName]

Guess I'm here for a little while longer.

Because it allows for levels of success, something most modern RPG's have that D&D fails at, though I guess this thread illustrates why.
...
No one is acting like the random dice rolled in a fireball negate the need for saves.

If "missing" (not dealing any damage) isn't an option, you're just assigning different amounts of damage...and that's what the damage roll does. This seems pretty straightforward to me, but it's well-established that I'm a weirdo. I also don't know why fireball keeps coming up when I'm describing magic missile.

Not offering longsword a lunging piercing attack or spinning a flail for more damage or a grapple or spinning a quarterstaff for more defense. Cool stuff.

Just +1 damage and whatever sap is.

I would love to see a Lunge mastery, something that extends your reach with the weapon (especially the spear and quarterstaff). That would be amazing for skirmishers. We've tried to house-rule that in the past with the Bonus Action, but 5E's action economy makes it too expensive for monks and fighters.

I'd also like to see a Block or Deflect mastery for greataxes, using the broad blade of a greataxe as a rudimentary shield to boost your AC for a short time. Without seeing how Mastery is deployed in the game, though, this could cause problems.

"More damage" is probably the least creative way to improve weapons, IMO.

 

[Incenjucar]

Yeah, Flex is just kind of silly and negates what makes the weapon special in the first place - there is nothing flexible about having no reason to use a weapon two-handed.

 

[OB1]

Yeah, Flex is just kind of silly and negates what makes the weapon special in the first place - there is nothing flexible about having no reason to use a weapon two-handed.

You can only Flex if you have that weapon mastery, so most classes won't get this ability and have to choose between 1H and 2H.

 

[Vaalingrade]

What I'm saying is, if the outcome is already determined (damage will be dealt), that gameplay loop is already broken. If all that's left is to determine the amount of damage, why not just roll damage and move on to the next turn?

(I promise, I'm trying to leave this thread. I'll leave my keys at the door.)

Because there's more to the loop. Or at least should be. A hit carries more than just damage, or at least should.

Damage is the basic, most boring and point pointless thing you can do in combat. It's expected. And it's the way the fight actually ends if you're not a caster. So having ways to do chip damage is just one extra thing to do.

Damage on a miss isn't in and of itself, a righting of the sunken design ship, just part of it.