Daily Powers don't belong on the Fighter

[variant]

I was never a fan of the Barbarian's daily Rages in 3e as I am not a fan of Fighter's Surge now. It just doesn't belong. Why can he only do it twice per day? What exactly is stopping him from doing it over and over? Fighters, rogues, barbarians, etc. just shouldn't have daily powers. Want the fighter to get extra actions? Give him one on every critical hit, or maybe on an advantage, or just flat out give it to him. Don't just give him an arbitrary 2 extra actions every day.

 

[Minigiant]

I was never a fan of the Barbarian's daily Rages in 3e as I am not a fan of Fighter's Surge now. It just doesn't belong. Why can he only do it twice per day? What exactly is stopping him from doing it over and over? Fighters, rogues, barbarians, etc. just shouldn't have daily powers. Want the fighter to get extra actions? Give him one on every critical hit, or maybe on an advantage, or just flat out give it to him. Don't just give him an arbitrary 2 extra actions every day.

In another topic, I realized the fighter's surge is the same times per day as the fighter's Con mod. It might not be arbitrary.

 

[nnms]

I'd rather see it as a critical bonus for the fighter. Roll a 20? Well, you're in such a good position in the fight, there's a second opening for you.

 

[FireLance]

Rather than re-hash all the arguments, let's just say that I can get behind a proposal that there should always be an equivalent non-daily alternative for whatever daily abilities the fighter gets, so that players do not have to select daily abilities for their fighters if they don't want them.

 

[Doug McCrae]

Why can he only do it twice per day? What exactly is stopping him from doing it over and over?

Maybe it's an adrenaline rush. Presumably the adrenal gland only has a limited supply of adrenaline, which it recovers over time.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I am not a fan of x times per day martial abiities either.

 

[variant]

Maybe it's an adrenaline rush. Presumably the adrenal gland only has a limited supply of adrenaline, which it recovers over time.

Might be a decent explanation except that you can't actively use your adrenaline, it's a reaction. Plus, I get the feeling that these numbers would increase with level and then it would be much harder to explain. It would also be really hard to explain if they get other daily powers and you can use one daily power but not the other.

Now for adrenaline, they could get a bonus action if an opponent critical hits them.

 

[DEFCON 1]

The only reason I don't like tying additional actions to things like crits is because more often than not, those actions are not going to be used for just another random attack... but for doing something heroic/important when timing is critically necessary-- rescue a friend and help finish off a monster for example. And for that... I'd want the extra action available for when I need it most-- not just at random points throughout an encounter when I just happened to crit. If I crit and get a second action, but nothing is going on... that extra action is just used to take another swing I guess. Kind of anticlimactic if you ask me.

But let me take that extra action when I want to... and suddenly the tactics of a fight open up.

 

[Bedrockgames]

The only reason I don't like tying additional actions to things like crits is because more often than not, those actions are not going to be used for just another random attack... but for doing something heroic/important when timing is critically necessary-- rescue a friend and help finish off a monster for example. And for that... I'd want the extra action available for when I need it most-- not just at random points throughout an encounter when I just happened to crit. If I crit and get a second action, but nothing is going on... that extra action is just used to take another swing I guess. Kind of anticlimactic if you ask me.

But let me take that extra action when I want to... and suddenly the tactics of a fight open up.

I think this explains some of the divisions. Stuff like hero points, bennies, etc i am generally not a fan of. I am not looking for cinematic structure or similar elements in the game so I am fine with things happening without concern for how climactic or anti climactic they are (not that you shouldn't be into that, it just isn't what i am into). The more i see both sides of this debate, the more I think they need some cinematic options in the game for people who want that.

 

[Ahnehnois]

It's been hashed over elsewhere, but I am in total agreement. There are better ways of doing things than daily abilities, and there is absolutely no reason to use them except legacy, and fighters don't have much of a legacy of it.

Maybe it's an adrenaline rush. Presumably the adrenal gland only has a limited supply of adrenaline, which it recovers over time.

Adrenaline is great, is in time-limited supply, and has a variety of effects. However, adrenaline is also systemic, and affects everyone. It does not cause one effect at one time for one character and another effect at another time for that same character, so once you have multiple daily-limited abilities, this makes no sense. Adrenaline depletion also causes profound fatigue and lethargy, not merely the loss of one minor class ability. In short, science is not a good rationale for a class ability like this even on a very basic level.