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.

 

[Eubani]

I love how some people are so lacking in imagination that they can't accept how DoaM would be a weapon thing yet can hypocritically pretend that taking 20 odd arrow "hits" to kill someone is somehow acceptable. What some people are willing to accept makes many of their arguments worthless.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I love how some people are so lacking in imagination that they can't accept how DoaM would be a weapon thing yet can hypocritically pretend that taking 20 odd arrow "hits" to kill someone is somehow acceptable. What some people are willing to accept makes many of their arguments worthless.

A lot of this is that D&D weirdness that makes little sense but has been in the game forever get accepted because to not accept it stops you from playing D&D. New weirdness get pushback because it make not sense and it is new.

 

[Kalmi]

I do approve of the idea to try and make sure every weapon has some kind of value or unique virtue, so it will be interesting to see how it works. I've been working on my own game and came up to the same problem, so I also added a number of weapon maneuvers. I did add a DoaM maneuver, but I've tried to make it an interesting choice in a number of ways:

• It's not technically an attack, but a save-against power, so you don't get to add any riders that need an attack (so no Sneak Attack, even on a "hit," if you use this power. This is also means no critical hits.
• It also only deals straight weapon die damage on a "hit," so overall you'll be doing less damage than with a basic attack.
• However, it targets Reflex instead of AC, so it could still be a smart choice vs. certain enemies.

Think Oberyn vs. The Mountain, where he uses lots of quick cuts that singly, would not kill, but cumulatively deplete his HP by attrition... a shame he failed his Perception check at the end!

 

[Minigiant]

Let's take this even further!

Weapons	Mastery	Grandmastery	Greatgrandmastery
Battleaxe	Flex	High Crit	Artistic Blood Fountain
Flail	Sap	Sweep	Arm Socket Insurance
Longsword	Flex	Keen	Twerk
Scimitar	Nick	Dance	Dodge Gunshot
Warpick	Sap	High Crit	"Pick" Pun Booklet
Warhammer	Flail	Rhythm	40K Lawsuits

Although funny there is some true in it, there needs to be more levels of mastery.

2 masteries feels too weak past level 10. The martial side of 5e and now 5.5e seems too tame and tailored to people who don't 5e.

 

[tetrasodium]

Although funny there is some true in it, there needs to be more levels of mastery.

2 masteries feels too weak past level 10. The martial side of 5e and now 5.5e seems too tame and tailored to people who don't 5e.

"people who don't 5e?" what do you mean?

 

[Minigiant]

"people who don't 5e?" what do you mean?

People who prefer older editions who don't intend to switch..These masteries don't match the level of heroics you see at 5e tables or in 5e fan media.

 

[tetrasodium]

People who prefer older editions who don't intend to switch..These masteries don't match the level of heroics you see at 5e tables or in 5e fan media.

If we count one session of 4e I've played every edition of d&d back to 2e & run all of them for years except 4e. With 5e I've been running it for years & finally reached my breaking point of no longer caring for reasons described succinctly

Spoiler: here

One of the things that comes with the experience of extensively running various editions is the ability to see strengths of edition A over edition B & how the weaknesses can often be mitigated by better making use of strengths from other editions.

 

[Minigiant]

If we count one session of 4e I've played every edition of d&d back to 2e & run all of them for years except 4e. With 5e I've been running it for years & finally reached my breaking point of no longer caring for reasons described succinctly

Spoiler: here

One of the things that comes with the experience of extensively running various editions is the ability to see strengths of edition A over edition B & how the weaknesses can often be mitigated by better making use of strengths from other editions.

My points is that OneDnD seems slow to give the playerbase and DMbase what they want because the designers don't play like the majority of 5e groups. Especially in the weapons combat side.

 

[Parmandur]

My points is that OneDnD seems slow to give the playerbase and DMbase what they want because the designers don't play like the majority of 5e groups. Especially in the weapons combat side.

Do they not...?

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Well yeah but I think he already had the class feature and it sure sounds like he got +2 damage against his wife. I rest my case.

Oh and he savagely killed Iphithus after Eurythius declined to give him his daughter Iole in marriage. I reckon enough levels in barbarian to get the advantage on strength and then a boon to increase his strength and treat him as large for the purposes of pushing, pulling, and carrying.

I do think that fighters should be given more interesting choices (they can provide basic hit harder builds for those that want simple fighters) but I think trying to scale them up to compare directly to wizards is folly unless magic is taken into account.

Spoiler: Dumb tangent about Hercules not being a barbarian

Hercules' strength was a product of his divine birth, not rage. And the fact that he killed one guy because he was angry once doesn't make him a barbarian. And if "killing someone while angry once or twice" is the requirement for being a barbarian, almost all of the Greek Gods (and a whole lot of heroes) would be Barbarians. Hercules didn't fuel his fighting style with anger most of the time. Normally he was pretty smart and tactical, quite often solving his problems with his charisma or wit instead of brute force (figuring out how to kill/beat the hydra, tricking Atlas to retrieve the Apples of the Hesperides for him, convincing Hades to let him take his dog on a walk to his cousin's house, etc).

So, Hercules' strength and fighting capabilities didn't come from anger, his one case of "going mad" and killing his family was godly-induced, and he often used his intelligence and charisma to solve his problems, even when it could have been solved with brute strength. If anything, Hercules was a Fighter, not a Barbarian. Battlemaster, probably. Or maybe a Paladin, given his divine connection.