D&D 5E If "Extra Attack" Was A Feat, What Would Its Prerequisites Be?

[Shardstone]

I mean, if I wanted to retool extra attack, I'd start a bit lower.

Barbarians get Power Blow. They deal +[W] damage with their weapon, and can make an unarmed or improvised weapon attack as well. (damage increases by another +[W] at 9, 13 and 17).

Paladins get Holy Sword. Their weapon deals +2d8 radiant damage and they cannot be disarmed, and they have advantage on targets that have harmed one of their allies.

Fighters get Combat Dominance. They have melee advantage on targets who haven't attacked them (or made them make a save) since end of their last turn, and make 2 attacks instead of 1.

Rangers get Endless Hunt. Hunter's Mark no longer requires concentration or a spell slot. They can cast True Strike as a bonus action. When they cast a Ranger spell as an action or a bonus action, they can also make a 1 handed melee, thrown or ranged weapon attack on a creature. Each time the Ranger hits a creature under Hunter's Mark, the bonus damage on that target increases by 1d6.

Monks get an extra Bonus Action at level 5.

Rogues replace Uncanny Dodge with Disruptive Strike; as a reaction to an attack hitting, make an attack on the attacker. If your reaction attack hits, the triggering attack must be repeated with disadvantage, and damage it deals is halved if it still hits.

...

Once that kind of reworking is done, 'extra attack' for a feat is no longer in play. Instead, feats that work with the class might exist.

Like, ones that boost the Cleric's +1d8 damage once/turn.

Every class having its own attack paradigm is my dream,

 

[Shardstone]

That's certainly a bit better, but it's still something you can't just throw in casually because there are spells that are balanced around the caster not having Extra Attack. At least, not cheaply and passively. Spirit Shroud* from Tasha's Cauldron, or Conjure Minor Elementals from UA8, add a lot of extra damage dice to every attack. If you want to give casters Extra Attack, you have to rebalance every one of these spells at the same time.

*(Yes, I know Blade Pact Warlocks can use this. It's a balance nightmare, and that's with them capped at a 5th level upcast.)

I dont think those spells are balanced around not having extra attack.

 

[mellored]

That's certainly a bit better, but it's still something you can't just throw in casually because there are spells that are balanced around the caster not having Extra Attack. At least, not cheaply and passively. Spirit Shroud*

They are balanced around extra attack

Sword Bard, Bladesinger, Hexblade, etc... all uses those spells with 2 attacks.

from Tasha's Cauldron, or Conjure Minor Elementals from UA8,

That one is overtuned.

So is the playtest Hexblade with 3 attack

 

[Brotton Goodfellow]

Suppose you were going to make the Extra Attack class feature also available as a feat. You have your reasons: maybe you love clerics but hate multiclassing, maybe you want to play some kind of weird "half-martial" character, maybe you just like hitting things with a hammer, whatever. You've already figured out the "Why" for your table, and now you're working on the "How." How would you balance it? How would you fill in the orange text?

Extra Attack
Prerequisites: <Your Text Here>
You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the attack action on your turn.
The number of attacks increases to three when you reach 11th level, and to four when you reach 20th level.

I'm leaning toward "5th level, proficiency with a martial weapon" but I'm curious what others might think.

EDIT: Based on everyone's feedback so far, here's my latest version.

Extra Attack​

Prerequisites: 5th level, proficiency with one martial weapon​

When you use the Attack action on your turn, you attack twice instead of once.​

What changed?

• Removed the scaling with level
• Only triggers "when you use the Attack action." Can't be used with spellcasting, can't be used as part of a Reaction or Bonus action.

And some clarification:

• "you attack twice instead of once." Thus, if you are already making two or more attacks, this feat does not confer any benefit.
• this does not remove the Extra Attack features of other classes.

Curious as to why you think it should be a feat. Off the top of my head, all the classes that normally get it at 5th level, will already have the prerequisites. Is it so wizards and rogues can be beefed up?

 

[CleverNickName]

Curious as to why you think it should be a feat. Off the top of my head, all the classes that normally get it at 5th level, will already have the prerequisites. Is it so wizards and rogues can be beefed up?

Close. It's so that if a player wants his wizard or rogue character to have the Extra Attack feature, he has another option instead of "dip five levels of paladin or whatever." Currently the only way for certain characters to get the Extra Attack feature is through five levels of multiclassing, and that comes with a ton of other stuff the player might not be interested in.

 

[Quartz]

Bonus actions and attack actions must both be taken in his turn.

Unless someone gives you a Bonus Action in which case you act on their turn. My PHB has disintegrated but isn't there a Battlemaster manoeuvre that does this? And a spell or two?

 

[Fanaelialae]

Unless someone gives you a Bonus Action in which case you act on their turn. My PHB has disintegrated but isn't there a Battlemaster manoeuvre that does this? And a spell or two?

No, pretty sure BA can only be used on your turn. If it's not on your turn, it's always a reaction IIRC.

 

[FrogReaver]

Unless someone gives you a Bonus Action in which case you act on their turn. My PHB has disintegrated but isn't there a Battlemaster manoeuvre that does this? And a spell or two?

Battle Master is typically used with rogue for reaction attacks.

There are no bonus actions on other people’s turns. Those are all reactions.

 

[mellored]

Changed my mind a bit. I think this would be a bit too good for the rouge.

Martial Dilettante.
Prerequisite: the ability to cast 4th level spells
*gain proficiency in martial weapons.
*extra attack (does not stack with other extra attacks)

Still available at level 8 for wizards.

 

[NotAYakk]

Every class having its own attack paradigm is my dream,

Ya, I'm thinking of how I can make the basic game loop for each class diverge a bit more than in 5e. While still feeling like 5e.

Leave fighters with extra attack, maybe with a bit extra spice.

Rogue with sneak attack is already distinct; just want to avoid other classes stepping on them.

Barbarian getting extra [W] dice instead of extra attack, and an improvised/unarmed attack, should give them a distinct feel.

Rangers are tricky. HM really stacks well with more taps, but that is supposedly the Fighter thing. I'm actually thinking about dropping the +stat and giving Rangers more taps than fighters? It stacks great with HM. Position Fighters to be between Rangers and Barbarians.

Paladin Holy Sword is an obvious route. Lean in on auto-smites! By making it damage that doesn't care about [W] but is bound to a specific weapon, it makes the exact weapon stats less important (unlike barb/fighter), and doesn't encourage dual wielding (without punishing it).