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<blockquote data-quote="DaedalusX51" data-source="post: 7171484" data-attributes="member: 96233"><p>I really appreciate the input! I haven't gone through a serious balance pass on this, so there are definitely things that are placeholder or unbalanced. I'll go over your thoughts with any comments I might have.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I would say that every class, for the most part, has one. Barbarian Rage, Bard Bardic Inspiration, Cleric Channel Divinity/Domains, Druid Wildshape, Fighter Action Surge?, Monk Martial Arts/Ki, Paladin Divine Smite/Auras/Divine Sense, Ranger Hunter's Mark/Natural Explorer, Rogue Sneak Attack, Sorcerer Metamagic, Warlock Patrons/Boons/Invocations, Wizard Spellbook/Specializations.</p><p></p><p>These are the things that make them stand out from other classes with similar styles: Wizards vs Sorcerers, Clerics vs Druids vs Bards vs Warlocks, Fighters vs Barbarians vs Rangers vs Paladins, and Rogues vs Monks.</p><p></p><p>It doesn't have to be complex, but just something that makes them different that they can make use of fairly often. While Action Surge is probably the intended unique mechanic, I personally find the lower frequency of use to be the major drawback. Any suggestions with that in mind?</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yeah, I took Indomitable a little to far. Originally I changed it from a reroll to an auto success. I then wanted to condense it from three class features into one which is why I made it a short rest. I also originally had Combat Reflexes at 2nd level, but I swapped it with Indomitable since I thought that was a better alternative for multiclass balancing. However, it seems that Indomitable is a problem child in general and needs some extra design work. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>So for me personally, I find that Action Surge, Indomitable, and Second Wind make sense narratively. All three are about pushing yourself farther, faster, harder than before, but once you do it, you need to spend an hour before you do it again.</p><p></p><p>Superiority Dice kind of hit a nerve with me because you have 4-6 uses of maneuvers that recover on a short rest. Why can't I continue to trip people as part of an attack? Does it represent stamina? Does it represent the enemies catching on to your tactics? In addition, many of the maneuvers are able to be replicated with feats that do not have limited uses. (Polearm Master reaction attack, Defensive Duelist parry, Shield Master shove, etc.) Why is there no limit to the amount of times we can do these maneuvers? </p><p></p><p>At 17th level Unyielding is pretty much an epic level feature. I specifically designed it this way because a never ending well of stamina seems like an epic level ability. Something that The Most Epic Fighters Of All Time would be able to accomplish. At this point Wizards are now able to cast spells like Meteor Swarm, Time Stop, and Wish.</p><p></p><p>I understand that we all have different levels on where we can suspend our disbelief and I think this is key to having a good roleplaying game. I think the backlash from 4E wasn't just because it was different, but because the mechanical implementation didn't match the story in many cases. In fact a good section of the 4E player base believed that it was best to ignore a power's "fluff" and instead create your own. They started to reverse that trend in 4E with the Essentials line, but abandoned that as well to instead make a new edition. </p><p></p><p>It's easy when designing something to be caught up in the gameplay loop and create features that do not have good narrative explanations. I personally feel that this is a failing in game design, and it's best to go back to the drawing board to create a better feature. (It looks like I'm going to be doing that a lot here! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite6" alt=":cool:" title="Cool :cool:" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":cool:" />)</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Good point on these narrative issues. For both of these features I meant for them to happen for the same effect or social encounter. I will have to add more stipulations for it to make sense, but the general idea is leading by example. The ability to inspire the ally that you have bonded to.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Good point. I never considered the implications of that. If I nerf Indomitable back to a reroll and put a party size or distance cap on it, would that be better? (However I do like the idea of a dragon attacking an army led by a knight and them all defending against dragon fear or a breath weapon attack once in the encounter. Awesome, but probably OP.)</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yeah, I was actually going to rework Dior the Right Price, but I didn't cause it was late when I decided to post this.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>That was unintentional. I left the wording open ended, but the idea was to retaliate against the attacker.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>That is true. I imagined the Mercenary to be a STR/DEX Fighter. Initiating combat with a ranged weapon and only switching when engaged/disengaged.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I'm kind of sad that you didn't like this one. The Kensai used to get an escalating attack bonus to hit every few levels. I've reduced the bonus to a +1 (due to bounded accuracy) but gave additional chance to hit here. In addition, the advantage can be used on an Iaijutsu deflect since it is also a weapon attack.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Seems you missed a few abilities or something got messed up since this is the Mercenary capstone.</p><p>While you are correct that Indomitable could be used on this ability, I had assumed that players would do everything they can to not die before they would get to that point (ie using indomitable during that fight).</p><p></p><p>I should probably change it so that you do not regain consciousness for 1 hour.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yeah this one sucks. I had all of the mechanics done for this subclass except for this ability. I couldn't think of anything better at the time so I just threw it in here.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Thanks for all the input. I agree with most if not all of your comments.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DaedalusX51, post: 7171484, member: 96233"] I really appreciate the input! I haven't gone through a serious balance pass on this, so there are definitely things that are placeholder or unbalanced. I'll go over your thoughts with any comments I might have. I would say that every class, for the most part, has one. Barbarian Rage, Bard Bardic Inspiration, Cleric Channel Divinity/Domains, Druid Wildshape, Fighter Action Surge?, Monk Martial Arts/Ki, Paladin Divine Smite/Auras/Divine Sense, Ranger Hunter's Mark/Natural Explorer, Rogue Sneak Attack, Sorcerer Metamagic, Warlock Patrons/Boons/Invocations, Wizard Spellbook/Specializations. These are the things that make them stand out from other classes with similar styles: Wizards vs Sorcerers, Clerics vs Druids vs Bards vs Warlocks, Fighters vs Barbarians vs Rangers vs Paladins, and Rogues vs Monks. It doesn't have to be complex, but just something that makes them different that they can make use of fairly often. While Action Surge is probably the intended unique mechanic, I personally find the lower frequency of use to be the major drawback. Any suggestions with that in mind? Yeah, I took Indomitable a little to far. Originally I changed it from a reroll to an auto success. I then wanted to condense it from three class features into one which is why I made it a short rest. I also originally had Combat Reflexes at 2nd level, but I swapped it with Indomitable since I thought that was a better alternative for multiclass balancing. However, it seems that Indomitable is a problem child in general and needs some extra design work. So for me personally, I find that Action Surge, Indomitable, and Second Wind make sense narratively. All three are about pushing yourself farther, faster, harder than before, but once you do it, you need to spend an hour before you do it again. Superiority Dice kind of hit a nerve with me because you have 4-6 uses of maneuvers that recover on a short rest. Why can't I continue to trip people as part of an attack? Does it represent stamina? Does it represent the enemies catching on to your tactics? In addition, many of the maneuvers are able to be replicated with feats that do not have limited uses. (Polearm Master reaction attack, Defensive Duelist parry, Shield Master shove, etc.) Why is there no limit to the amount of times we can do these maneuvers? At 17th level Unyielding is pretty much an epic level feature. I specifically designed it this way because a never ending well of stamina seems like an epic level ability. Something that The Most Epic Fighters Of All Time would be able to accomplish. At this point Wizards are now able to cast spells like Meteor Swarm, Time Stop, and Wish. I understand that we all have different levels on where we can suspend our disbelief and I think this is key to having a good roleplaying game. I think the backlash from 4E wasn't just because it was different, but because the mechanical implementation didn't match the story in many cases. In fact a good section of the 4E player base believed that it was best to ignore a power's "fluff" and instead create your own. They started to reverse that trend in 4E with the Essentials line, but abandoned that as well to instead make a new edition. It's easy when designing something to be caught up in the gameplay loop and create features that do not have good narrative explanations. I personally feel that this is a failing in game design, and it's best to go back to the drawing board to create a better feature. (It looks like I'm going to be doing that a lot here! :cool:) Good point on these narrative issues. For both of these features I meant for them to happen for the same effect or social encounter. I will have to add more stipulations for it to make sense, but the general idea is leading by example. The ability to inspire the ally that you have bonded to. Good point. I never considered the implications of that. If I nerf Indomitable back to a reroll and put a party size or distance cap on it, would that be better? (However I do like the idea of a dragon attacking an army led by a knight and them all defending against dragon fear or a breath weapon attack once in the encounter. Awesome, but probably OP.) Yeah, I was actually going to rework Dior the Right Price, but I didn't cause it was late when I decided to post this. That was unintentional. I left the wording open ended, but the idea was to retaliate against the attacker. That is true. I imagined the Mercenary to be a STR/DEX Fighter. Initiating combat with a ranged weapon and only switching when engaged/disengaged. I'm kind of sad that you didn't like this one. The Kensai used to get an escalating attack bonus to hit every few levels. I've reduced the bonus to a +1 (due to bounded accuracy) but gave additional chance to hit here. In addition, the advantage can be used on an Iaijutsu deflect since it is also a weapon attack. Seems you missed a few abilities or something got messed up since this is the Mercenary capstone. While you are correct that Indomitable could be used on this ability, I had assumed that players would do everything they can to not die before they would get to that point (ie using indomitable during that fight). I should probably change it so that you do not regain consciousness for 1 hour. Yeah this one sucks. I had all of the mechanics done for this subclass except for this ability. I couldn't think of anything better at the time so I just threw it in here. Thanks for all the input. I agree with most if not all of your comments. [/QUOTE]
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