D&D 5E Hopes for the 5E Fighter

[Lhorgrim]

I just want to be able to play a sword and shield fighter without it being "sub-optimal".

I always felt the image of a sword and board fighter was iconic to the game, but 3.X seemed to make the two hander or two weapon style too good to pass up. I don't really have enough experience with 4E to know how the sword and shield fighter fares, but if the "next iteration" of D&D can make sword and board a viable choice then I'm all in.

 

[drothgery]

I just want to be able to play a sword and shield fighter without it being "sub-optimal".

I always felt the image of a sword and board fighter was iconic to the game, but 3.X seemed to make the two hander or two weapon style too good to pass up. I don't really have enough experience with 4E to know how the sword and shield fighter fares, but if the "next iteration" of D&D can make sword and board a viable choice then I'm all in.

I don't hang out on char-op boards, but in 4e sword and shield is pretty good (and usually the best option for both fighters and paladins). Though unless you're playing a slayer build, if you're a fighter, you're not the guy who's supposed to be dealing out tons of damage so both that the advantage of a two-handed weapon is more marginal and that it helps less for your job are working there.

 

[FireLance]

I strongly agree on interrupting spellcasters. That's the best solution for reining them in, I think.

A little off topic for a thread on 5E fighters, but here is one area where I think more options would be able to better serve the needs of more players than a single system.

On the one hand, you have gamers who want wizards to be more balanced with fighters: their spells can be used quite reliably, with fairly little risk, and deal about the same damage as a fighter's weapon attacks.

On the other hand, you also have gamers who want magic to be less reliable, more risky, but also more effective.

Why not leave the choice in the hands of the spellcaster? Give each spell a "short casting mode" which requires just one round and deals less damage, and a "long casting mode" which requires the spell to be cast over two or more rounds and becomes significantly effective if cast successfully, but the wizard runs the risk of losing the spell (or losing control of the spell) if he takes damage before the spell is completed.

The DM can customize this further for his own campaign if he has a marked preference for one mode over the other, by removing the option that he doesn't like.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

I hate to be the rat bastard 3.x/4e dead-ender on this, but allowing spellcasting to be interrupted easily makes playing a spellcaster really suck either results in people not playing spellcasters

Sure, because nobody EVER played one in AD&D.

 

[Greg K]

I also hope that 5E continues some of the good ideas from the Tome of Battle and 4E by letting such non-magical characters still perform impressive feats and use advanced combat techniques..

I to hope that 5e allows non-magical characters to perform impressive feats and use advanced combat techniques. However, I hope that, with both Mearls and Monte in charge of 5e, it means that we will not see 4e powers or Tome of Battle. I hope it means that we will see a maneuver system similar to the one Mearls created for the Book of Iron Might which was published by Monte's company, Malhavoc.

 

[TwinBahamut]

I to hope that 5e allows non-magical characters to perform impressive feats and use advanced combat techniques. However, I hope that, with both Mearls and Monte in charge of 5e, it means that we will not see 4e powers or Tome of Battle. I hope it means that we will see a maneuver system similar to the one Mearls created for the Book of Iron Might which was published by Monte's company, Malhavoc.

The Book of Iron Might certainly did a lot of things pretty well (personally, I'm a big fan of its feat system and lack of magic items), but a lot of its other mechanics were pretty flawed. The recurring "build up tokens that can be spent on special attacks" system had promise, but it ultimately meant that you needed painfully long fights to start using the fun abilities. It also overly relied on skill checks and charts, which I'm not a fan of. Tome of Battle Maneuvers were not perfect, but they let you do cool stuff much more reliably and with fewer unnecessary complication (though they still had a few of those).

 

[Wormwood]

I to hope that 5e allows non-magical characters to perform impressive feats and use advanced combat techniques. However, I hope that, with both Mearls and Monte in charge of 5e, it means that we will not see 4e powers or Tome of Battle. I hope it means that we will see a maneuver system similar to the one Mearls created for the Book of Iron Might which was published by Monte's company, Malhavoc.

Honestly, I'd prefer a set of martial powers (silly as they may be to some) to yet another fiddly subsystem.

But with Monte on board, I'm not keeping my hopes up.

 

[Greg K]

The Book of Iron Might certainly did a lot of things pretty well (personally, I'm a big fan of its feat system and lack of magic items), but a lot of its other mechanics were pretty flawed. The recurring "build up tokens that can be spent on special attacks" system had promise, but it ultimately meant that you needed painfully long fights to start using the fun abilities. It also overly relied on skill checks and charts, which I'm not a fan of. Tome of Battle Maneuvers were not perfect, but they let you do cool stuff much more reliably and with fewer unnecessary complication (though they still had a few of those).

Tokens? I think you are thinking of Iron Heroes.
I am talking about this:

"The Book of Iron Might contains a whole new way to look at combat, allowing you to create mechanics for called shots on the fly"

Gambling on Maneuvers designer comments with background behind it

Book of Iron Might Cheat Sheet (The Book of Iron Might Maneuver Cheat Sheets) A web enhancement that shows the component's for creating maneuvers. Nice and compact. Allows for judging on the fly. The caveat is that after modifiers, you cannot need a natural 20 to hit.

Preview: Sample Maneuvers) a bunch of sample maneuvers for Malhavoc's Book of Iron Might


Web Enhancement: More Book of Iron Might Sample Maneuvers (Bonus Maneuvers!) a web enhancment with more pre-built maneuvers for Malhavoc's Book of Iron Might

 

[Greg K]

Honestly, I'd prefer a set of martial powers (silly as they may be to some) to yet another fiddly subsystem.

But with Monte on board, I'm not keeping my hopes up.

To me, the BOIM system beats having to buy books of martial powers. Give me the tools, samples (and the Book of Iron Might and its web enhancement give a lot) and let me build my own or GM on the fly. And, for those, wanting pre-made maneuvers, they can still sell books with them. Better, they have given the mechanics for doing so. therefore, everyone knows how they went about it.

 

[drothgery]

Sure, because nobody EVER played one in AD&D.

I may be overgeneralizing from my experience playing 2e, but usually monsters charged at the fighters and thieves and clerics and ignored the wizard even though there was no good reason for them to do this (and as the guy playing the wizard, I was quite happy about this). So what you thought of as an important balancing mechanic was in my experience a complete non-factor.