Level Up (A5E) Improved Maneuver Degrees without New Maneuvers Question

[xiphumor]

There are some levels where classes gain a higher maneuver degree but don’t learn any new maneuvers. Unlike known spells, the language for combat maneuvers doesn’t say you can replace one at every level, but only when you learn a new maneuver.

Does this increase actually change anything? Is there any benefit actually accrued at such levels?

(The Marshal is the class I’ve been mostly looking at for this, which encounters this issue every time its maneuver degree increases.)

 

[W'rkncacnter]

iirc the logic is you can pick up martial scholar when that happens, except a. you can only pick that up once, so i guess the marshal can take a 12 step program off a 10 step pier, b. that's paying a feat tax to make use of a class feature, which sucks, and c. there are classes that have levels where your highest maneuver degree increases but you don't get a feat, so it doesn't even work all the time (checked again - i remember that being the case, but it was not).

personally when i run a5e i just plan to change maneuvers so you can swap one out when you level up for one of any degree you can learn from because, frankly, this is dumb.

 

[xiphumor]

At the very least, it seems like a major oversight

 

[xiphumor]

Now, the good news is that if you compare it against the ranger, which has the most similar progression, it looks like the marshal is getting higher level maneuvers a level early, so they aren’t exactly losing out.

 

[W'rkncacnter]

At the very least, it seems like a major oversight

oh, it's not. it's really not. this has been discussed several times and the designers have made it clear that it's very intentional. why did they do it? i have literally no idea, i haven't seen them give an actual reason. but they did, and they meant to.

 

[xiphumor]

oh, it's not. it's really not. this has been discussed several times and the designers have made it clear that it's very intentional. why did they do it? i have literally no idea, i haven't seen them give an actual reason. but they did, and they meant to.

Oh, I know the maneuver degree discrepancies between classes is intentional, and I know they haven’t given a reason (which irritates me as well) but this particular mismatch seems like it shouldn’t have happened.

 

[Tessarael]

One other possible way to handle it is that a maneuver could be swapped during downtime with relearning, per page 432 of the Adventurer's Guide.

 

[xiphumor]

One other possible way to handle it is that a maneuver could be swapped during downtime with relearning, per page 432 of the Adventurer's Guide.

Maneuvers have to be swapped with ones of equal or lower level.

 

[MegaloRob]

I just set maneuvers to be like prepared spells... What things are you practicing.

 

[W'rkncacnter]

I just set maneuvers to be like prepared spells... What things are you practicing.

honestly, that's...not the worst idea for fighters. i might think about making maneuver specialization work like that.