D&D 5E Additional character material for the 5e rules expansion book

[Cap'n Kobold]

I would love new fighting styles. I hate all of the existing styles other than Shield. I think the styles should offer bonus actions and reactions instead of just straight bonuses.

Have to be careful not to step on existing options however: fighting styles that use bonus actions will marginalise two-weapon fighting even further.

Stances would be cool too; they'd compare well against cantrips.

Basic attacks from martial characters are generally superior to cantrips. If a stance would take the same action as a cantrip or attacks it needs to be comparable with the attacks, not a cantrip, to be a good option.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I don't know if you'd count magical items as "player material"... but I would definitely like to see more magic items in the book.

I would, and I agree!

Also, more feats, Fighting Styles, Ki options for Monks, a revision of the ki cost of Elemental Disciplines if possible, one or two new pact boons for warlock...

New subclasses for most classes that aren't spellcasters, that gives options similar to the monk's ki abilities, of the battlemaster's superiority dice/maneuvers. So every class can have at least one subclass where the player gets to pick from a list of options at more levels, and has interesting distinct abilities available during play.

More variant race features.

More races.

Rules for Organizations, similar in purpose, and hopefully in general style, to Star Wars Saga Edtion's Organization rules.

Optional Skill Points rules. preferably not 3.x style, with the multiclassing weirdness.

A way to build a warlock style half caster. So I can cannibalize it to make my ranger cast spells warlock style.

IDK, whatever else is in popular demand.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I would love new fighting styles. I hate all of the existing styles other than Shield. I think the styles should offer bonus actions and reactions instead of just straight bonuses. Stances would be cool too; they'd compare well against cantrips.


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YEs! Stances!

I really wanted the non casters, and casters with no cantrips, to have Stances, and was bummed when they didn't.

 

[Dualazi]

I'll echo the call for stances, although I'd caution against their implementation willy-nilly. If they can always be toggled on and have no real downsides for doing so (or if the player doesn't mind consistently suffering the downsides that may be present) then they're really just a feat by another name. I'd want stances to be something you'd have to shift into and out of on the fly based on circumstance.

I'd like new feats, but I'm very cautious about this because their last UA offering of feats (the weapon focus ones) left an extremely bad taste in my mouth. I'd like feats to give changes more akin to making an eldritch knight have more casting options or rogues have more cunning action uses than rote increases in spell/attack effectiveness.

I'd like new combat options for all creatures, such as choking an enemy you have grappled, or a hobbling attack that reduces move speed for a certain duration.

More magic items would be nice, and I have a sneaking suspicion they'll be in it, since most of their books so far have tried to blend GM and player options, and the implementation of magic items is obviously DM territory.

 

[Jester David]

I think I missed all the hype. What expansion book?

In response to one of the surveys in the middle of last year, Mearls said:

"As we continue to work out what our first major rules expansion to fifth edition might look like, feedback like this is incredibly useful in helping us push those boundaries without breaking something that we already enjoy. Since filling gaps in the game is a focus for that project, we hope to pepper you with even more opportunities to provide feedback on our efforts in the very near future."​

​

http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/august-2016-dd-survey

Which people here have taken to mean there's a splatbook of some kind coming.

 

[Xeviat]

Have to be careful not to step on existing options however: fighting styles that use bonus actions will marginalise two-weapon fighting even further.

Yes. TWFing is terrible on everyone but the rogue and monk (baked in) past the early levels anyway, so a new TWFing system would be good anyway. Duelist and GWFer are good, but they're kind of boring (GWFing rerolling 1s is kinda fun). It would also step on the toes of feats and such, though, to have them all use bonus actions or reactions, which isn't good.

Basic attacks from martial characters are generally superior to cantrips. If a stance would take the same action as a cantrip or attacks it needs to be comparable with the attacks, not a cantrip, to be a good option.

I meant comparable to cantrips as in the wealth of options. Warriors only really have attack, grapple, trip, and push (and disarm and overrun if the DM uses them), as well as the ever problematic DM may I that is "improvise". Wizards get slow (ray of frost), no heal (chill touch), multiattack (acid splash, booming blade, green flame blade) no reaction (shocking grasp), ranged push (gust?), pull (lightning lure), and disadvantage to attack (frostbite), in addition to straightup damage (poison spray, fire bolt). I think warriors would be willing to give up, let's say, Str/Dex to damage to add little riders to their attacks.


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[seebs]

so i've not previously heard of such a book, and as such, i'm not sure how much hype there is. anyone got links to more info?

NEVERMIND, someone just answered that.

 

[Jester David]

I'm amused by the description of this book as "hyped" when really it's pure speculation. All we know is they were brainstorming and now concept testing classes. I expect when they finally announce the book a lot of people will be disappointed as a result, because what they'd been imagining for over a year was superior.
For all we know, they're planning for the 2018 book and the 2017 book will be Manual of the Planes.

I'd like the book to be focused. Not just "here's waves of assorted crunch". There shouldn't be subclasses and feats and spells and magic items and new races and equipment.
Volo already had new races. That's good. And magic items and spells are broad enough of topics to warrant their own books down the line. So just class based options is likely enough.

For the book, I'd just like 3-4 new subclasses for most of the classes. Double the number of options for most classes. Plus the couple new classes (artificer and mystic/psion). Then maybe a handful of new feats.
A good 100-125 pages of new crunchy goodness.

More class variants and rules options would be nice. But I'd rather the book have some flavor and other text in it. Something else in the book beyond new rules.

 

[Li Shenron]

I would love new fighting styles. I hate all of the existing styles other than Shield. I think the styles should offer bonus actions and reactions instead of just straight bonuses. Stances would be cool too; they'd compare well against cantrips.


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I think the PHB fighting styles are good but you are right that they are all low-complexity except the shield. In fact what I meant is that I'd like to see some new ones that are higher-complexity.

 

[Li Shenron]

Have to be careful not to step on existing options however: fighting styles that use bonus actions will marginalise two-weapon fighting even

Definitely.

Every character gets max 1 fighting style except Champions, so it's ok to have more than one fighting style for the same actual style (e.g. 2 styles corresponding to 2-handed weapons ) but anything (and not just fighting styles) that uses bonus actions or reactions should be carefully considered against what other class abilities already use those, since they won't be usable simultaneously.