D&D 5E Fixing the Fighter: The Zouave

[Garthanos]

Hmmm kind of looks like many of my martial practices might be appropo might reconsider and convert them to 5e.

The cool thing about martial practices you could just like rituals have quite a significant number of them and use them a lot without losing your other functionality.... hmmmm

 

[Undrave]

First level characters are competent heroes, but at the beginning of their hero game. Some may have experience in things directly relating to their class, such as a sage wizard or a soldier fighter, while others have experience elsewhere, such as the soldier wizard or sage fighter. Their backstory needs to make sense that they have the mechanical capabilities given by their class, be familiarity with armor, ability to cast spells, whatever, but there is no mechanical necessity that they can only pick backgrounds that directly lead into class. I can play the scrappy urchin fighter who learned to fight on the streets as easily as the noble fighter who learned fencing and intrigue at her mother's foot, as easily as the solider fighter, or any other combination that makes a cohesive character. Class descriptions are not prohibitive - they do not bar any ideas that aren't explicitly listed in them.

And I never said you can't be whatever background you want. But you don't just turn around and DECIDE to be a class on a whim (unless it's Warlock ). My point is the transition between 'Urchin' for exemple and 'Lv 1 Fighter' isn't a sudden one. You don't suddenly become a Fighter, it takes time and training. Your background is only a part of your life, it's why you don't level up as a Guild Artisan or whatever.

Becoming an adventurer isn't a sudden thing that happens over night is what I'm saying, even if your background is modest, even if your Fighter never went to Fighter School, they still went Fighter-ing for a while before getting to level 1.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Dude, I'm done.

Promises, promises.

 

[Garthanos]

Becoming an adventurer isn't a sudden thing that happens over night is what I'm saying, even if your background is modest, even if your Fighter never went to Fighter School, they still went Fighter-ing for a while before getting to level 1.

TBH in 5e doesnt feel massively like it when the least of adversaries is actually a challenge I mean ordinary folk must just be walking deadmen in this world

 

[Monayuris]

Based on the original post. Sounds like fighter class with Soldier background. Done.

History covers all the military training. Survival covers all the survival training. The fact that they have the Soldier background covers everything else.

5E is based on the old school style of play where a character's background and narrative means something and it is not necessary to apply a mechanical rule to every little aspect of a character.

The player and DM should reach an agreement that the Soldier background grants the level of competence it would logically expect. If you want to look to old school you need look no further than the Background.

Backgrounds in 5E are one of the most old school elements of the game. They, literally, let you make a character that has a scope beyond the pure mechanical. If you only look at Backgrounds only in terms of their mechanics (skill picks, etc) you are doing it wrong.

The character's background is a literal narrative background that provides all the elements that would imply.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

To me the only classes where it makes sense to be a peasant with no training would be sorcerer (innate ability) and possibly a warlock who just made a deal.

But a fighter? No. You don't learn how to use weapons overnight whatever montage you go through. That doesn't necessarily mean they were a soldier, there are any number of ways to get training. Perhaps they simply lived in a dangerous area and everybody was expected to be competent fighter and many able bodied adults have a level or two of fighter. Maybe one of their parents, older sibling or some extended family member took them under their wing and taught them what they needed to know.

How much it matters is personal preference, but someone who picks up a sword for the first time is likely to cut their own leg off the first time they get into a fight.

Then you are falling into a trap of assuming D&D attempts to simulate some kind of reality.

It doesn't.

It simulates a heroic narrative. And in a heroic narrative a farm boy can pick up a sword and discover he is awesome. Indeed, that is the default storyline.

 

[Garthanos]

Odd that every other class has out of combat support at first level.

WotC didn't eliminate out-of-combat spells because of backgrounds

Just imagine a fighter class that has reliable ability instead of being told to "roleplay" it using something vague like backgrounds

The cool thing about martial practices you could just like rituals have quite a significant number of them and use them a lot without losing your other functionality.... hmmmm

Nor losing the effect of background available to everyone.

 

[Garthanos]

5E is based on the old school style of play where a character's background and narrative means something and it is not necessary to apply a mechanical rule to every little aspect of a character.

Sounds like 4e backgrounds people complained like hell that backgrounds were where you could derive things like crafting too.

 

[Don Durito]

If the GM gives out lots of Advantage for Backgrounds then some of the shortfalls of the system can be mitigated. This would work better if players had more than one background, because trying to make up excuses for to why you should get Advantage for your soldier background would get old pretty fast. "When I was on campaign I was taken prisoner by the enemy and had to escape the enemy fortress by dressing as a washer woman - that's why the Soldier background applies to this disguise check."

Games that actually lean heavily on backgrounds such as Barbarians of Lemuria or 13th Age tend to make sure you're not stuck with just the one - I suspect precisely to make sure their use feels empowering and not desperate.

 

[Garthanos]

Sounds like 4e backgrounds people complained like hell that backgrounds were where you could derive things like crafting too.

Only there was also a potential to do some badassed adventure classed crafting using a skill challenge.