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I was right about Shield Master
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<blockquote data-quote="GlassJaw" data-source="post: 7509822" data-attributes="member: 22103"><p>As a game designer and technical writer myself, timing is incredibly critical when writing rules. In general, 5E is really good at using fairly simple language while still communicating the rules clearly. 5E also has a tendency to imply or reinforce rules in other places instead of over-explaining a rule in one place.</p><p></p><p>That said, the Shield Master bonus action timing is a case where I believe they were too loose. I interpreted the only timing requirement of the Shield Master bonus action as the declaration of the Attack action. The only word that details timing in the feat description is "If". That means that as long as you take the Attack <em>action</em>, you can use the bonus action to shove.</p><p></p><p>Now this is different than wording such as "When you make an attack roll against a creature" or "when you hit a creature with a weapon attack", both of which are used fairly frequently throughout the book. Because of this, it implies that the designers intended for the timing to be different because of the "If you take the Attack action" phrase. They could have easily made the wording the same or something like "After you make an attack roll against a creature..."</p><p></p><p>It's also interesting because even the Battlemaster Commander's Strike ability uses slightly different language: "<em>When </em>you take the Attack action..." (as opposed to "If").</p><p></p><p>You can also use Two-Weapon Fighting to reinforce this interpretation of Shield Master. TWF says "When you take the Attack action...you can use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you're holding in the other hand."</p><p></p><p>If the bonus action to use Shield Master has to come after the entire Attack action is completed, then it also has to for TWF, meaning you couldn't attack with your off-hand weapon first.</p><p></p><p>Finally, given that 5E lets you break up your actions in general (split up move, split up multiple attacks, use bonus actions whenever, etc.), the reader begins to understand this as a core tenet of the rules. So if a timing exception like this is going to be introduced, it is going to be jarring.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="GlassJaw, post: 7509822, member: 22103"] As a game designer and technical writer myself, timing is incredibly critical when writing rules. In general, 5E is really good at using fairly simple language while still communicating the rules clearly. 5E also has a tendency to imply or reinforce rules in other places instead of over-explaining a rule in one place. That said, the Shield Master bonus action timing is a case where I believe they were too loose. I interpreted the only timing requirement of the Shield Master bonus action as the declaration of the Attack action. The only word that details timing in the feat description is "If". That means that as long as you take the Attack [I]action[/I], you can use the bonus action to shove. Now this is different than wording such as "When you make an attack roll against a creature" or "when you hit a creature with a weapon attack", both of which are used fairly frequently throughout the book. Because of this, it implies that the designers intended for the timing to be different because of the "If you take the Attack action" phrase. They could have easily made the wording the same or something like "After you make an attack roll against a creature..." It's also interesting because even the Battlemaster Commander's Strike ability uses slightly different language: "[I]When [/I]you take the Attack action..." (as opposed to "If"). You can also use Two-Weapon Fighting to reinforce this interpretation of Shield Master. TWF says "When you take the Attack action...you can use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you're holding in the other hand." If the bonus action to use Shield Master has to come after the entire Attack action is completed, then it also has to for TWF, meaning you couldn't attack with your off-hand weapon first. Finally, given that 5E lets you break up your actions in general (split up move, split up multiple attacks, use bonus actions whenever, etc.), the reader begins to understand this as a core tenet of the rules. So if a timing exception like this is going to be introduced, it is going to be jarring. [/QUOTE]
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