D&D 5E Halfling Fighter + Mobile Feat Combo

[james.paten]

Just to be clear, you can always move through allies spaces, you just can't stop there so Nimbleness doesn't apply. Also, the no-AoO feature of Mobility only applies after you make a melee attack, so you need to close and make a melee attack against all enemies that can hit you, in order to avoid AoO on the way back out. So maybe a bit complicated but certainly possible.

Why Dex though? Theres no part of this that requires dex.

The halfling Dex fighter (battlemaster) is all things set for my character already due to RP reasons - I'm playing the most non-stereotypical halfling ever. He doesn't joke, isn't perpetually happy and find the antics of his race humiliating (and he wants to establish a halfling military horde to carve out an empire with achievements to rival those of other races, but I'm realistic that's probably not going to happen in the campaign... but that doesn't mean it's not my character's ambition in life).

My halfling has a "short man's syndrome," where he constantly feels the need to prove his ability despite his small size, just to show that halflings aren't a joke. I didn't really feel like that was effective if he had a strength score higher than people twice his size, so he's going to be a Dex fighter who utilizes the battlefield and his knowledge of war to take down threats and prove he is the best. Besides, as a halfling, I can't use heavy weapons OR heavy armor, so it makes more sense in my mind to pursue Dex options than Str ones.

Again, I know it's sub-optimal, but that's my character story. So in the vein of him being a master of combat, I'm trying to think of clever ways to approach battle that are effective and outside the box.

 

[the Jester]

We are talking about a game where you are role playing heroes *doing their best* to live through 6-8 fights per day and save the world.

Well, that doesn't describe any of the games I run or play in. Perhaps you aren't representative of a universal truth, but rather of a single playstyle that doesn't actually dominate the 5e landscape?

 

[the Jester]

Because I can? I'm a halfling, so I can't use any heavy armor due to size.

What? What gives you this impression?

Either one of us has missed something major for most of the last year, or there's a house rule in your game that I didn't notice you mentioning.

 

[james.paten]

What? What gives you this impression?

Either one of us has missed something major for most of the last year, or there's a house rule in your game that I didn't notice you mentioning.

Ah, you are correct. Creatures of small size use Heavy Weapons at Disadvantage (PHB, pg. 147), but suffer no penalty for Heavy Armor, other than the standard no Dex AC bonus. That seems odd.

Still, like I said, being Dex just makes more sense for my character RP-wise. It seems silly that a Small halfling would be stronger than a barbarian Minotaur - my character's size plays a lot into their persona, so I don't want to trump that with uber-Str.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Ah, you are correct. Creatures of small size use Heavy Weapons at Disadvantage (PHB, pg. 147), but suffer no penalty for Heavy Armor, other than the standard no Dex AC bonus. That seems odd.
.

Odd that they can wear heavy armor but not a heavy weapon? Not really. A heavy weapon is the same size, shape, and weight no matter who wields it. Heavy armor is different by who wears it. I.e., plate mail for a halfling is going weigh much less than plate mail for a half orc. Armor scales, weapons don't.

 

[james.paten]

Odd that they can wear heavy armor but not a heavy weapon? Not really. A heavy weapon is the same size, shape, and weight no matter who wields it. Heavy armor is different by who wears it. I.e., plate mail for a halfling is going weigh much less than plate mail for a half orc. Armor scales, weapons don't.

Hmmmm. Very good point, I wasn't thinking of it in that manner. But back to the point at hand - I'm being a Dex halfling fighter.

 

[james.paten]

Just to be clear, you can always move through allies spaces, you just can't stop there so Nimbleness doesn't apply. Also, the no-AoO feature of Mobility only applies after you make a melee attack, so you need to close and make a melee attack against all enemies that can hit you, in order to avoid AoO on the way back out. So maybe a bit complicated but certainly possible.

Looking back at this, I hadn't taken into consideration that you could already move through allies squares. I guess the only thing Mobility adds is the ability to hit a target and not incur a AoO if I move away. That isn't really that great - I'd rather just get a +2 Dex instead of the feat and use a Superiority Dice to trip my enemy with a higher DC Save if I really need to run away.




Since this topic is essentially answered, can anyone think of any other handy tricks a halfling Dex fighter/battlemaster could pull in 5E combat?

 

[Sacrosanct]

Hmmmm. Very good point, I wasn't thinking of it in that manner. But back to the point at hand - I'm being a Dex halfling fighter.

Nothing wrong with that at all. One of my first non-playtest PCs was a halfling fighter with the criminal background, got the skulker feat at level 4, and I played him like an old school F/T without needing to actual multi-class at all. I had a lot of fun with that PC

 

[Sacrosanct]

Since this topic is essentially answered, can anyone think of any other handy tricks a halfling Dex fighter/battlemaster could pull in 5E combat?

In my personal experience, I found that my halfling BM fighter was excellent at making the opponent use up legendary resistance, allowing for the casters to fully unleash. We had fought a white dragon once, and on my attack I used all five of my superiority dice in the first round (action surged, dual weapon) to force a saving throw with each hit.