D&D 5E (2024) Essential Fighter’s Handbook

[Morrus]

Essential Fighter’s Handbook (name TBD) is something we’re toying with. Its inspiration is the Complete class handbook series for 2E and Mongoose’s Quintessential class series.

• 120 pages, softcover.
• First in a series of handbooks, one for each class.
• 2024-focused.
• Everything a fighter player needs all in one book.
• The fighter class reprinted for convenience
• 50 new fighter archetypes
• New equipment, weapons, armor
• 20+ new feats
• Optional new rules
• Role playing advice, seeds, hooks, etc. to make your fighter your own.

Is this sort of thing something you would be interested in? If so, what would you like to see in it?

 

[Tigris]

The fighter is one of the simple classes in 5E. And 5E is made in a way that as a player you can start playing a fighter without reading anything, or just reading the short intro character rules.


Having 120 pages to read to play 1 (simple) class, just does not sound like a good idea for me:

• This is player focused content, but GMs normally buy most things.
• In order to buy this you already must kinda know that you want to play a fighter, so you need to have some material beforehand.
  • With normal player focused content you have at least several classes etc. and chances you find something you like is bigger.
• Even if you buy it as a player, you must have your GM allow it, and GMs are not really likely to buy/read 1 book per class of purely player options. So chances a GM does approve this is smaller than with the (relative rare) 5E official new player content.
  • So optional new rules makes even less sense in my oppinion, since thats normally in GM focused material.
  • I guess releasing on D&D Beyond can help slightly with this, but even there normally the GM has to buy the content since they host the campaign.
• As a player it is soo much easier to have content in a wiki page to look things up. (And to a second degree D&D beyond in the character sheat later, which I guess will be the case).
• 120 pages for a single class, when the base game has 13 classes, and most homebrew/unofficial content is new subclasses or new classes, just sounds like a lot in total. Such a book makes a lot more sense for some game which only has like 4 classes, (and not 100s of homebrew classes).
• Items feel even more "risky" or rather having a small chance of ever be used, because again GM needs to approve it, GM needs to not run a premade adventure (with loot), and GM must trust this source and feel its worth to even look at the items.

About your second question what would I want to have in the book?

• Mathematical analysis of the balance of the class features subclass etc.
  • Like if possible having someone with a Master or PHD in STEM as a prominent teammember.
  • And if possible official WotC approvement for the content
  • This way there is at least a chance a GM will allow it.
• No GM focused text I pay for as a player (so no big fluff, and worldbuilding and other things only GMs ever read like short stories and filler text).
  • This also means RP focused advice as well as "archetypes" need to be efficient and short with good layout, making it easy to find what one wants, and not just "normal text", so like "classes" in good formatted games like beacon: BEACON TTRPG by Pirate Gonzalez Games
• Content which is really well designed as a whole!
  • This means that there is no ambigious wording (again GM)
  • Content should feel good to use, so whenever there is a question of "can I use X with Y" the answer should be yes, else its frustrating.
  • Classes should similar feel "flowing" to play. Like take the rune knight as an example. I love the subclass, however, it does lack the "flow" feel, since too many things on the bonus actions and reaction.

 

[sevenbastard]

What i loved most about the 2e Complete Fighters Handbook was how it proposed a "All Fighters" campaign. That was so inspirational as a young kids and pushed me to a love of low magic gaming. Mechanical the kits in it were not overpowered it was about choosing a theme to distinguish your fighter.

Once the Complete Thief's handbook came out i used the heck out of those two books mixed together.

 

[bedir than]

Is this sort of thing something you would be interested in? If so, what would you like to see in it?

I love this idea - I'd buy Rogue even though I'm mostly a DM. I wish the Artificer was in the Commons. The Mechanist is, but it may be odd for y'all to pull from Black Flag only.

I think there's room for Backgrounds (of course I do) that add more story than "Guard" or "Soldier" similar to the Factiony things in the Realms' books.

A Fighter specific character sheet - tear out if possible.
Examples of how Fighters fit into certain genres (piracy, rebellions, sword&sorcery, political intrigue, dungeon crawling etc). This could be via sidebars on the archetypes or in a separate section.

Inclusion of other 5e CC systems for the archetypes (A5e, Black Flag). yes, this is a layout challenge.

 

[Morrus]

The fighter is one of the simple classes in 5E. And 5E is made in a way that as a player you can start playing a fighter without reading anything, or just reading the short intro character rules.

You still can.