D&D (2024) New One D&D Weapons Table Shows 'Mastery' Traits

The weapons table from the upcoming Unearthed Arcana playtest for One D&D has made its way onto the internet via Indestructoboy on Twitter, and reveals some new mechanics. The mastery traits include Nick, Slow, Puncture, Flex, Cleave, Topple, Graze, and Push. These traits are accessible by the warrior classes.

 

[Vaalingrade]

It's not a miss. You can't miss with a graze weapon. If you roll badly, you do a small amount of damage.

I mean, you can, but at the same time, the design of the weapon still manages to put your opponent on the backfoot, another step toward defeat. It might even force a misstep that results in them tripping or running into a nearby obstacle, maybe even being the last straw that breaks their morale, taking them to effectively 0HP and defeated.

We need to start looking at HP, attacks, and the abstraction of combat in a more holistic way that represents the story of the fight rather than the physical blow by blow.

 

[W'rkncacnter]

I didn’t play 4e so I don’t know what that edition used for its DoaM effect.

it varied from effect to effect. sometimes it was just half damage, sometimes it meant the power wasn't consumed, sometimes it was just a partial version of the hit rider, sometimes it was half-or-full ability modifier - it depended on if the power was at will and what it did. generally though if it was an encounter or daily and the miss rider only involved damage it'd be half damage.

 

[Zaukrie]

Am i correct in that there are only 2 on the list that have the graze effect? Crossbow and greatsword? All I’m looking at is the 2 shared tweets of weapon lists so I haven’t looked online for any additional info that might explain things.

I’m still more on the idea like Clevernickname, I wouldn’t want to have fighter A roll an 18 and and hit then roll a crap 1 on the damage dice and do 3 damage, then fighter b rolls 15 and miss and do as much damage as the “hit” roll, even if the graze is a flat 1 or 2 damage. I didn’t play 4e so I don’t know what that edition used for its DoaM effect.

I'm not sure why that would bother you. Bad luck happens. These weapons reduce the effect of that.

Also, at mid to high levels, no one will want graze. It's not nearly as valuable or encounter changing at the conditions other weapons impose.

 

[tetrasodium]

=

DR is not relevant to this.

If a target has 12 hit points this round and you deal 11 hit points it is still alive and remains a potential threat requiring additional resources to finish off.

A creature with 1hp is as able to act as one with 100hp. It is a decidedly narrow case, but it comes up now and again.

So what if it has exactly 12+str+mods? That's not rhetorical, it's a serious question you are avoiding. Flat DR matters because it at least could create a scenario where itmatters if you don't hit the minimum of 12+str+mods. Kill it next round if one of your allies doesn't kill it on their turn first. Your scenario is not even guaranteed, just slightly higher but equal odds of rolling any possible value between one and twelve vrs great odds of rolling well.

Without DR your scenario needs at least one more "and if" not being provided beyond "the monster has exactly 12+str+mods HP" that makes it matter. Players don't know how many HP monsters have & damage is cumulative meaning that what you are pushing as 1d12's strength over 2d6 has equal odds of being a weakness on this hypothetical round

 

[Charlaquin]

I mean, the Champion is unambiguously the equal or superior to any other Fighter Subclass in mathematical output: indeed, it's the touchstone for the math on all additional Fighters (the WotC team uses one Subclass from each Class to use as a mathematical reference point when designing a new Subclass, and for Fighter that is Champion).

Champion is significantly weaker than pretty much any other fighter subclass in terms of damage output, even assuming 8 encounters per adventuring day.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I'm sorry, what does this have to do with what ruin said...?

Nothing at all.
Because I don't know what they said.

I answered other persons. So that might be a bit confusing to you.

 

[Charlaquin]

But this is what rolling a 1 on your damage roll is supposed to emulate, right? The damage roll determines the amount of damage.

So, you can think of the Graze mastery as giving all attacks with the weapon a 1 damage minimum (or whatever amount of damage the property ends up dealing).

 

[FitzTheRuke]

If you're doing damage then it's not a miss, pure and simple; it's a hit.

I mean, sure, but I respectfully think that you're getting a little too hung up on what words the game calls things. I mean, much of the time a hit is a hit and a miss is a miss, but not always. Just like a round occurs both simultaneously and consecutively. Not everything lines up as perfectly as we'd like it.

There are many examples of aspects of the game that use a best-fit name that isn't 100% accurate in every instance. In those instances, I find it best to just not be so inflexible that I can't roll with the mechanics.

Equally, there are many parts of the games that use two different mechanics that can describe the same event in the fiction. Or conversely, the same mechanic that can imply two (or more) different fictions.

I might have missed it if someone else said but damage on a miss feels like a participation ribbon or trophy in kids rec leagues. For me, if it makes it into the future revision, it’s something we probably won’t use, like the short rest mechanics that we tweaked.

Would it help if you considered that "specific beats general" when it comes to the rules, and abilities that grant damage on a miss are ALSO allowing for the failed roll to become a (minor) success? I mean, a second d20 from an ability that grants advantage, or 1d4 from something like bless can turn your failure into success. These abilities might not affect your d20 roll, but they clearly turn your miss into a minor hit. That's all they do.

 

[Charlaquin]

I didn’t play 4e so I don’t know what that edition used for its DoaM effect.

There were a small number of powers that did damage on a miss; usually either half damage in the case of spells or [ability modifier] damage in the case of weapon attacks. It’s worth noting that in 4e, there were no “save or [consequence]” effects; the attacker always rolled against a defense score, either AC, reflex defense, fortitude defense, or will defense. So, damage on a miss was literally a replacement for half damage on a failed save.

 

[Charlaquin]

I mean, sure, but I respectfully think that you're getting a little too hung up on what words the game calls things. I mean, much of the time a hit is a hit and a miss is a miss, but not always. Just like a round occurs both simultaneously and consecutively. Not everything lines up as perfectly as we'd like it.

There are many examples of aspects of the game that use a best-fit name that isn't 100% accurate in every instance. In those instances, I find it best to just not be so inflexible that I can't roll with the mechanics.

Wait, are you telling me a “poisonous snake” can deal poison damage to you without you having to eat it??