D&D (2024) Do you actually like weapon masteries?

[Minigiant]

NO
Why?

if the goal is speed of combat and easy class this is a fail
if the goal is to give the fighter cool choices every round like a caster has this is a fail

Basically it tries to make warriors like 4e PCs but in a stupid way. And fails
In 4e, your PC had 2 at wills. You had encounter powers but they were basically buffed at wills.

1. The Archery 4e RangerFighter had
   1. Attack with More Accuracy and Less Damage
   2. Attack for More Damage
   3. Attack and Disengage
2. The Great Weapon 4e Fighter had
   1. Attack with More Accuracy and Less Damage
   2. Attack for More Damage
   3. Attack and Cleave nearby foe
3. The Sword and Shield 4e Fighter had
   1. Attack with More Accuracy and Less Damage
   2. Attack and Push
   3. Attack and Cleave nearby foe
4. The Two Weapon Ranger4e Fighter had
   1. Attack with More Accuracy and Less Damage
   2. Attack Twice
   3. Attack and Disengage

5e forces you to swap weapons midcombat mid-turn to have this feel.
And you can't do it without swapping until level 13.

 

[Horwath]

All martials should know a number of battlemasters maneuvers equal to prof bonus usable at-will but without using or adding superiority die to the result. This would make some of those unusable, but many would be great to know at-will:

Bait and switch,
Brace,
Commanders strike(uses only your bonus action and reaction of the target)
Disarming attack
Distracting strike,
Feinting attack,
Goading attack,
Grappling strike,
Lunging attack,
Maneuvering attack,
Menacing attack,
Pushing attack,
Riposte,
Sweeping attack,
Trip attack,


this all can work without adding a superiority die.

Battlemaster would learn extra maneuvers and would be able to add certain number of dice to them per short/long rest

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I vote to remove cantrips for casters (give them 1 more slot per level so they dont riot) and give the martials at-will maneuvers based on the various cantrips effects.

Caster = huge effects, limited
Martial = lesser effects, unlimited

 

[Shardstone]

I'm thoroughly perplexed by the weapon masteries thing. I don't feel like it adds anything of value to the game, other than slowing down combat. It feels like complexity for the sake making the game feel more complex...for the sake of complexity. Sure, it adds more decisions, but not interesting decisions.

And it's also just so arbitrary. Sure, giant hammers might be good for knocking people down, but in most cases the mechanic associated with a given weapon could just as easily apply to almost any other weapon. (And, in fact, they will, since Fighters can arbitrarily assign any mastery to any weapon.)

Do you like it? Why?

Yes, they bang.

 

[WanderingMystic]

I like most weapon masteries with a few exceptions.
1: please let my beloved sap work on other weapons, as written the 3 weapons that start with sap are the only weapons that can ever have sap.
2: remove flex, it is not just that it is boring but when combined with the dualist fighting style makes these weapons deal as much or more damage than two handed weapons. I understand that you loose the ability to graze or cleave but 1d10+2+str in addition 5o the +2 ac from ac shield is way to much damage and protection. I blame the dualist fighting style more than flex but flex just makes it more pronounced.
3: If they really want these to be a bonus for fighters then give them the ability to add a second one at level 5 or 6 when you get your second attack and then something more impressive after 11th when they get their third attack.

 

[Krachek]

With a good approach a Fighter or Barb will now take as much time as a caster to play his turn in a fight! Even if not as flashy as high level spells, mastery will require a continual management that will help to pretend play a more complex character.

mastery will also provide his burden of annoying trick, like finding a magic weapon that don’t fit your mastery choice, the players forget to play his mastery effect, monsters immune to push, prone, slow, effects, DM forget to apply Sap effect or monster simply die before applying it!

 

[OldSchoolGamerGirl]

I like most weapon masteries with a few exceptions.
1: please let my beloved sap work on other weapons, as written the 3 weapons that start with sap are the only weapons that can ever have sap.

what am I missing? Sap has no prerequ it can be put on any weapon.

3: If they really want these to be a bonus for fighters then give them the ability to add a second one at level 5 or 6 when you get your second attack and then something more impressive after 11th when they get their third attack.

yeah 7th level swap and somehwere in the teens have two is way too late for little boosts

 

[Valetudo]

I guess one complaint I've had about 5e is the boring weapon system. 1st-4th edition all had interesting weapon mechanics. This is at least something more. Enough for a new 100 dollar players handbook? I dont know about that.

 

[WanderingMystic]

what am I missing? Sap has no prerequ it can be put on any weapon.

yeah 7th level swap and somehwere in the teens have two is way too late for little boosts

Saps prerequisite is that the weapon can have no qualities. So no light, no finesses, no two handed, no versatile.

 

[Kobold Stew]

However, I think Cleave, Flex, Graze, Nick, Push, and Slow are all great. I like all of those, and I don't think they slow down combat much at all.

Agreed

Sap I like the effect of a lot, but I think it's mastery prerequisite of "no other abilities" is too strict. Simply put, weapons in that category really feel like natively bad choices, and Sap isn't enough to make up for it.

I've not played with it yet, but I thought sap was a great reason (finally) to play with mace or morningstar. These are weapons that have not seen used by anyone in 5e, that I recall. I think Sap would be really fun in 1-on-1 fights.

I'm moderately concerned about Vex. Advantage on every attack after the first against an enemy is really powerful. I am honestly surprised more people aren't similarly expressing concern about it, especially if Elven Accuracy remains an option. What especially bothers me is that it's effectively limited to Dex-based weapons. Dex doesn't need this kind of help. I think a better option would be that the creature can't take reactions until the end of your turn, or can't take opportunity attacks until the beginning of your next turn.

It's only advantage on your next attack (though, if it hits, the effect would continue). What I think helps is that it will really help rogues. Between Vex on the Shortbow and Shortsword, and Nick on the Dagger, there are good reasons for a Rogue to dip into a fighter or pick up the feat.

Topple seems like a ton of extra die rolling for those saves, and it feels like it'll be a little too obnoxious. It also doesn't care about the target's size or if it's flying. That's kinda weird, and probably is a problem.

Tridents finally get some love. I'm not going to complain. The idea of throwing your trident to bring dwn flying creatures is awesome, I think. I agree that it should only affect Large or smaller creatures.

I'm still not sure about the Fighter ability to choose different abilities. It feels extremely narrow for what it offers, but it's also flexibility that nobody else has.

I'm excited to try it.