Xeviat
Dungeon Mistress, she/her
Savage Attacker was a bad feat in 2014 and it's a bad feat in 2024. So how do we fix it? I remembered today that Savage Attacker in Baldur's Gate 3 has you roll twice for weapon damage rolls, take the highest, and I'm curious to see what that looks like.
2024 Savage Attacker let's you reroll your weapon's damage dice once per round. We can test the reroll in several situations. I'll use Greatsword for the best case scenario for the feat.
2d6+3 with a 65% chance to hit is 6.85 dpr. 2d6 average is 7. 1d6 "with advantage" average is (6*(2/3))+0.5, or 4.5, and 2d6 would be 9.
So how much damage does an origin feat give? Tavern brawler changes unarmed from 1+Str to 1d4+Str, reroll 1s once, plus it kind of gives a weaker mastery. 1d4, reroll 1s is (2.5+2+3+4)/4 = 2.875, or a gain of +1.875, pretty close to 2; for a monk, it only boosts 1d6 from 3.5 to (3.5+2+3+4+5+6)/6 = 3.91, a boost of 0.41.
So +2 for Greatswords from Tavern Brawler is the base. At level 5 it will change, though, as when you decide to use it can change things.
If you always use it on your first hit, that's gonna be different from if you only use it on the first attack if it hits and is under half damage, or if it's a crit, then always use it on the second roll if it's a hit. I'll need to come back later to do that optimization.
Incidentally, "Reroll half or lower" would be =
1d4 = (2.5+2.5+3+4)/4 = 3 (+0.5)
1d6 = (3.5+3.5+3.5+4+5+6)/6 = 4.25 (+0.75)
1d8 = (4.5+4.5+4.5+4.5+5+6+7+8)/8 = 5.5 (+1)
1d10 = (5.5+5.5+5.5+5.5+5.5+6+7+8+9+10)/10 = 6.75 (+1.25)
1d12 = ((6.5*6)+7+8+9+10+11+12)/12 = 8 (+1.5)
2d6 = 8.5 (+1.5)
And boost below half to half (which is identical to the correct Great Weapon Fighting for 1d6) is =
1d4 = (2+2+3+4)/4 = 2.75 (+0.25)
1d6 = (3+3+3+4+5+6)/6 = 4 (+0.5)
1d8 = ((4*4)+5+6+7+8)/8 = 5.25 (+0.75)
1d10 = ((5*5)+6+7+8+9+10)/10 = 6.5 (+1)
1d12 = ((6*6)+7+8+9+10+11+12)/12 = 7.75 (+1.25)
2d6 = 8 (+1)
This would help bridge the gap between 1d12 and 2d6 weapons with the gwfing fighting style. The two would also interact, allowing the reroll and then boosting any low dice to mid.
2024 Savage Attacker let's you reroll your weapon's damage dice once per round. We can test the reroll in several situations. I'll use Greatsword for the best case scenario for the feat.
2d6+3 with a 65% chance to hit is 6.85 dpr. 2d6 average is 7. 1d6 "with advantage" average is (6*(2/3))+0.5, or 4.5, and 2d6 would be 9.
So how much damage does an origin feat give? Tavern brawler changes unarmed from 1+Str to 1d4+Str, reroll 1s once, plus it kind of gives a weaker mastery. 1d4, reroll 1s is (2.5+2+3+4)/4 = 2.875, or a gain of +1.875, pretty close to 2; for a monk, it only boosts 1d6 from 3.5 to (3.5+2+3+4+5+6)/6 = 3.91, a boost of 0.41.
So +2 for Greatswords from Tavern Brawler is the base. At level 5 it will change, though, as when you decide to use it can change things.
If you always use it on your first hit, that's gonna be different from if you only use it on the first attack if it hits and is under half damage, or if it's a crit, then always use it on the second roll if it's a hit. I'll need to come back later to do that optimization.
Incidentally, "Reroll half or lower" would be =
1d4 = (2.5+2.5+3+4)/4 = 3 (+0.5)
1d6 = (3.5+3.5+3.5+4+5+6)/6 = 4.25 (+0.75)
1d8 = (4.5+4.5+4.5+4.5+5+6+7+8)/8 = 5.5 (+1)
1d10 = (5.5+5.5+5.5+5.5+5.5+6+7+8+9+10)/10 = 6.75 (+1.25)
1d12 = ((6.5*6)+7+8+9+10+11+12)/12 = 8 (+1.5)
2d6 = 8.5 (+1.5)
And boost below half to half (which is identical to the correct Great Weapon Fighting for 1d6) is =
1d4 = (2+2+3+4)/4 = 2.75 (+0.25)
1d6 = (3+3+3+4+5+6)/6 = 4 (+0.5)
1d8 = ((4*4)+5+6+7+8)/8 = 5.25 (+0.75)
1d10 = ((5*5)+6+7+8+9+10)/10 = 6.5 (+1)
1d12 = ((6*6)+7+8+9+10+11+12)/12 = 7.75 (+1.25)
2d6 = 8 (+1)
This would help bridge the gap between 1d12 and 2d6 weapons with the gwfing fighting style. The two would also interact, allowing the reroll and then boosting any low dice to mid.
