D&D (2024) Fighter brainstorm

[Tales and Chronicles]

I would like to see a ranged grapple option to reflect pinning someone's clothes or hand to a wall etc.

Yeah, I hesitated about doing a Called Shot option, but I think a ranged attack Dirty Fighting choosing the Restrained option can simulate the good ol' ''pined to the wall'' trope.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Oh, and, while we are at it, make a Defensive attack option:

Defensive stance.
As part of your attack action, you can choose to focus on defense instead. Pick one of the following option instead of making an attack roll:

• Mark as per the DMG
• Clout: Halve forced movement and advantage on STR save.
• Pursuit: Choose an enemy. If it moves before the start of your next turn, you can move up to your speed as a reaction, but only if the move brings you closer to the target.

 

[CreamCloud0]

The issue that needs addressing is why the battlemaster misses the mark. Not enough moves? Not usable often enough?

Would d6 superiority dice as part of the core fighter be too complex/throw out damage potential too much?

Battlemaster players take ages to decide what move to use especially where they only care about the extra damage. Would more options just slow down one of the most streamlined and widely used classes?

i'd personally say it's because it's a subclass and tied to an expendable resource for something that should mostly be in the base abilities accesible to any character (or at the very least any fighter) but in which the fighter excells further in than other people, and that their ability to do so is in a way limited by the superiority dice.

There's one or two maneuvres on that list which i wouldn't allow or would remove the fact they take place in addition to an attack but most of them i feel should be viable as substituted for a single basic attack(for a fighter, other classes would need a whole action) without the superiority die bonus to hit/damage, the superiority die system would work great supporting and enhancing this actions system just not being the foundation and currency of it "man my trip actions keep falling just short of getting this one guy with really high DEX, i'll spend a superiority die to make sure this is the one to hit the mark" not "well i've tried to trip this guy four times guess i can't trip anyone else until i rest up"

edit: if i'm a fighter with four attacks and i want to use each of them to respectively stun my opponent with a headbutt, knock their weapon out their hand, trip them to the ground and then shove them 10ft away from me where they don't know which way is up anymore after the amount of conditions i just inflicted on them all in 6 seconds then i should be able to.

 

[Pauln6]

i'd personally say it's because it's a subclass and tied to an expendable resource for something that should mostly be in the base abilities accesible to any character (or at the very least any fighter) but in which the fighter excells further in than other people, and that their ability to do so is in a way limited by the superiority dice.

There's one or two maneuvres on that list which i wouldn't allow or would remove the fact they take place in addition to an attack but most of them i feel should be viable as substituted for a single basic attack(for a fighter, other classes would need a whole action) without the superiority die bonus to hit/damage, the superiority die system would work great supporting and enhancing this actions system just not being the foundation and currency of it "man my trip actions keep falling just short of getting this one guy with really high DEX, i'll spend a superiority die to make sure this is the one to hit the mark" not "well i've tried to trip this guy four times guess i can't trip anyone else until i rest up"

Yeah I toyed with the notion of converting most of them to bonus actions with no extra damage. Riposte I would probably not allow extra damage even with a superiority die. Treat it like an off-hand attack. Some that cost reactions or bonus actions already might be off the menu. The warlord ones can stay and should also be available to banerets with d6 dice imo.

 

[Vaalingrade]

The issue that needs addressing is why the battlemaster misses the mark. Not enough moves? Not usable often enough?

That's it's a subclass so no other fighters get the stuff they need at base.

Because the base fighter must suck so Champion can exist without anything interesting or useful in it..

 

[Gorck]

I'm also in favour of bringing back the morale score for monsters to function as a base target for Intimidate checks.

As a relatively inexperienced DM, the thought of having to track another mechanic for each enemy in a combat would make me want to quit DMing altogether.

i think what a big part of people are asking for with 'sand throwing' is just basic codified martial combat actions beyond 'hit it' and then for the fighter to have a better ability to use those actions because they're meant to be this 'skilled martial warrior' but they're a SkIlLeD mArTiAl WaRrIoR who can only really hit things with their fancy metal sticks, the ability to trip, blind, disarm, parry, shove, taunt, daze, distract, deafean, slow an enemy's movement, focus themselves, called shots to disable an arm, feint and more all those things would be great for any character to be able to perform with their action but the fighter, as a skilled warrior the fighter can sub in any one of those for one of their attacks without missing a beat, almost like rogue's cunning action but for martial fightery things instead.

and it's not about explicitly being able to 'throw sand' to blind someone, you could be attacking their eyes, reflecting light into them, pulling down their helmet or flipping their cloak over their head, any number of things but it's not something that has a codified method of attempting it in a fight and it should be, because near all those things i mentioned in the paragraph above even you or i could do to someone in a fight, and this is THE FIGHTER we're talking about.

As @mellored said on the last page, these all seem like less of a stereotypical Fighter move and more of a stereotypical Rogue move (especially a Swashbuckler Rogue). I can easily picture someone like Indiana Jones or Malcolm Reynolds pulling these stunts, and both of those two characters I would classify as "rogues."

 

[Pauln6]

That's it's a subclass so no other fighters get the stuff they need at base.

Because the base fighter must suck so Champion can exist without anything interesting or useful in it..

They could put alternate class features in the subclass I suppose but if the base combat prowess stuff is kept simple enough that champion players can ignore it, it should be fine.

 

[Pauln6]

As a relatively inexperienced DM, the thought of having to track another mechanic for each enemy in a combat would make me want to quit DMing altogether.

As @mellored said on the last page, these all seem like less of a stereotypical Fighter move and more of a stereotypical Rogue move (especially a Swashbuckler Rogue). I can easily picture someone like Indiana Jones or Malcolm Reynolds pulling these stunts, and both of those two characters I would classify as "rogues."

You don't necessarily need to track if you just use a score on the monster stat list. It's just an AC for intimidation checks.

The more sophisticated version from 1e would adjust up or down based on circumstances such as +2 if leader lives, -2 if on half hp, -2 if half allies are dead, -2 if faced by magic etc. But that could be optional.

 

[Vaalingrade]

They could put alternate class features in the subclass I suppose but if the base combat prowess stuff is kept simple enough that champion players can ignore it, it should be fine.

Or... dump the champion into its own thing so the rest of the game is relieved of its millstone?

 

[Clint_L]

Combat Tactics - on a successful hit your target's next attack or skill check has disadvantage (list sample cinematic style

We use a similar house rule in my home campaigns. It's open to any class - describe what you are trying to do, and then make a skill check. Can also go disastrously wrong on a natural 1, with typically entertaining results. I like the idea of a fighter/melee combatant-tailored version.