Legendweaver
Explorer
I'm trying to go through the combat-oriented rules in detail, but for me the big Gordian knot left to untangle are Maneuvers. Can any of the devs speak to how Maneuvers were balanced or how we should try to evaluate their action economy?
So far, I've tried assuming a Maneuver is equal to a restricted version of a spell whose level is equal to the maneuver's degree, but this seems to break down at higher levels - for example:
concentration spell stance, one bonus action maneuver, one reaction maneuver, and either one action maneuver or all their attacks). This makes it complicated to evaluate compared to evaluating regular spell casting (where there's a hard limit of one non-cantrip spell per turn, one concentration spell, and only a meager handful of reaction spells). I tried to figure out a matrix of maneuver flexibility vs cost, but any sort of comprehensible formula eluded me.
Has anyone had better luck trying to get a handle on Maneuver balance?
So far, I've tried assuming a Maneuver is equal to a restricted version of a spell whose level is equal to the maneuver's degree, but this seems to break down at higher levels - for example:
- 1st level: Catch Your Breath is roughly analogous to Cure Wounds, Cleaving Swing deals extra damage equal to 1st level spell, and Lean Into It is comparable to Grease.
- 2nd level: Shrug it Off combines aspects of protection from poison + heroism. Battering strike is similar to the Disarm in 3rd party 5E sources.
- 3rd level: Crushing Blow can paralyze any type of creature (like a 5th level Hold Monster) but has a shorter duration.
- 4th level: Unstoppable can fix petrification (among other things), which otherwise requires a 5th level greater restoration, but is far less general
- 5th level: Unyielding reads like a 3rd level cure wounds, while World Shaking Strike seems like a weak Slow or weak Plant Growth spell.
Has anyone had better luck trying to get a handle on Maneuver balance?
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