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.

 

[Gradine]

Maybe I should start there? If I could understand the problem they are trying to solve by adding this mechanic, I might at least be able to see the Gamist point of view (since the Simulationist side is having none of it.) Why do we need so badly for hammers to deal damage when they miss?

By the logic of D&D, heavy armor makes you harder to hit. The Simulationist has long left the building by this point.

To represent a "miss": It's a glancing blow by a sword or axe that bounces right off the armor of a foe, dealing no damage.
To represent a "miss" with a hammer: It's a glancing blow, but unlike the weapons above, it's still gonna hurt at least a little.


e: don't mind me, just rapidly scrolling through the intervening pages looking for red text to make sure the topic of conversation wasn't made verboten

 

[JohnSnow]

In your experience, how does armor work versus such a weapon, compared to something smaller and thinner?

That's an interesting question. I don't have a ton of experience fighting in heavy armor, but I've fought against people wearing it.

Armor actually does a pretty good job of warding off most injuries, so D&D's better armor means a hit is pretty close to a miss is actually surprisingly "realistic," if not always easy to narrate. I find this is one of the things I learned doing historical combat that made me actually appreciate D&D combat's "fuzzy logic."

Heavy plate armor really is a lot like being a tank - very little is going through it on a single shot, so your best bet at damaging someone wearing it is to aim for the gaps. Which means that with that big spadone, you're taking big swings with it until you can knock your opponent down or catch a joint - usually with a thrust. Mail's not as sturdy, but still holds up pretty well to cuts, as long as you're wearing any kind of padding underneath. Most damage would end up being, again, slipping through gaps in the armor, rather than cutting through or puncturing the armor itself, although the latter is much more doable than the former.

But the heavier armor you wear, the faster your stamina dwindles in combat. This is true regardless of "stats" - it's just a matter of degree. A heavily armored combatant tends not to dodge as much (as there's honestly no need), but combat slowly tires them out anyway.

As far as "smaller & thinner," one of the deadliest weapons against a suit of armor is a small sturdy dagger, like a rondel - but only once you get in close. In open combat, plate armor means finding yourself a poleaxe or something similar....or getting very creative with a sword.

 

[Incenjucar]

That's an interesting question. I don't have a ton of experience fighting in heavy armor, but I've fought against people wearing it.

Armor actually does a pretty good job of warding off most injuries, so D&D's better armor means a hit is pretty close to a miss is actually surprisingly "realistic," if not always easy to narrate. Heavy plate armor really is a lot like being a tank - very little is going through it on a single shot, so your best bet at damaging someone wearing it is to aim for the gaps. Which means that with that big spadone, you're taking big swings with it until you can knock your opponent down or catch a joint - usually with a thrust. Mail's not as sturdy, but still holds up pretty well to cuts, as long as you're wearing any kind of padding underneath. Most damage would end up being, again, slipping through gaps in the armor, rather than cutting through or puncturing the armor itself, although the latter is much more doable than the former.

But the heavier armor you wear, the faster your stamina dwindles in combat. This is true regardless of "stats" - it's just a matter of degree. A heavily armored combatant tends not to dodge as much (as there's honestly no need), but combat slowly tires them out anyway.

As far as "smaller & thinner," one of the deadliest weapons against a suit of armor is a small sturdy dagger, like a rondel - but only once you get in close. In open combat, plate armor means finding yourself a poleaxe or something similar....or getting very creative with a sword.

Given that you're probably not actually chopping folks up, have you ever hit someone in armor in a manner that hurt them, but didn't slip through a gap?

 

[Remathilis]

Sure. Let's say hammer does d8 damage. If I hit and roll '8' on the die, I did full damage. If I hit and roll less then '8' I did partial damage (grazed). If I miss I did no damage and the target is unharmed by that blow.

By that logic, every saving throw should be full or no damage, and the roll on the 8d6 determining how burned you got.

 

[Minigiant]

I would feel better with damage on a miss as stamina loss if: 1) they had a system that prevented only "misses" from dropping a character to dying (unlikely as that is, I've seen 1% scenarios at my table enough to want to have a pre-planned answer) and, 2) hit point loss and recovery was treated more like it were mostly stamina and luck rather than bodily injury by the game's magical healing system.

That's crux of the issue aint it?

If HP are an abstraction of health, stamina, and luck, then HP gain and HP loss is also an abstraction of loss and gain of health, stamina, and luck. Ultimately hit and miss are shorthand for a degrees of success or failure.

I mean,I've been in fights and done martial arts. How are only certain attacks causing slow but losing 90% of your HP doesn't?

And that's why I describe healing spells and potion like magic nonadditant stimulants and pain relief drugs. Cocaine and Tylenol.

How I miss Bloodied.

 

[Incenjucar]

Honestly the whole "save for half" mechanic is weird and should be "save to move out of that space".

 

[Remathilis]

Honestly the whole "save for half" mechanic is weird and should be "save to move out of that space".

Of course, casting fireball into a 30 by 30 room is a deathtrap since there is no space that isn't engulfed by fire in that room.

But I think it speaks to the audience here that people are far more willing to sacrifice half damage for fireball and dragons breath rather than give martials DOAM.

 

[JohnSnow]

Given that you're probably not actually chopping folks up, have you ever hit someone in armor in a manner that hurt them, but didn't slip through a gap?

Certainly. And that's one of the ways I think of hit point loss. It's a bruise, an ankle twist, or whatever.
I already narrate hit point loss by higher-level characters as them getting nicks, scratches, bruises and glancing blows, rather than straight misses, because otherwise things like poisoned blades, stings or bites don't really track right. Since I'm already narrating hits as glancing blows, turning misses into glancing hits just muddies the waters further. Which is why I'm leery of it. D&D characters get "hit" way too often as it is.

But the more I think about it, the more I suppose "Damage on a miss" tracks if you abstract it out enough. It's just messy to narrate (i.e. DM). But then I get into "why does it work that way for this weapon and not that weapon?"

And I'd definitely want to see a few subsystems included to make it "sensible," like a rule that required the blow that drops someone to 0 to be an actual hit (for example), or a more concrete explanation of how magical healing works, what's happening during a short rest (why any number of hit die per short rest, but only so many in a day?), and why, if you've been pushing yourself to the edge and near death 5 times, as long as you survive, you can fully recover without needing anything more than a night's sleep.

I (mostly) like the abstraction, but it's the little details that bother me.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

you roll a nine sided die like any other die, pick it up & toss it

You know, I sell dice. While I've had some funny-sided dice in stock as often as possible, those things are sadly difficult to source. Haven't had any in years. I mean, I guess I could buy them from your link, but then I'd have to charge like $4-$5 per die to make reasonable money, which seems like a rip-off to me. Distributors in my area never have any at wholesale.

 

[Eubani]

Certainly. And that's one of the ways I think of hit point loss. It's a bruise, an ankle twist, or whatever.
I already narrate hit point loss by higher-level characters as them getting nicks, scratches, bruises and glancing blows, rather than straight misses, because otherwise things like poisoned blades, stings or bites don't really track right. Since I'm already narrating hits as glancing blows, turning misses into glancing hits just muddies the waters further. Which is why I'm leery of it. D&D characters get "hit" way too often as it is.

But the more I think about it, the more I suppose "Damage on a miss" tracks if you abstract it out enough. It's just messy to narrate (i.e. DM). But then I get into "why does it work that way for this weapon and not that weapon?"

And I'd definitely want to see a few subsystems included to make it "sensible," like a rule that required the blow that drops someone to 0 to be an actual hit (for example), or a more concrete explanation of how magical healing works, what's happening during a short rest (why any number of hit die per short rest, but only so many in a day?), and why, if you've been pushing yourself to the edge and near death 5 times, as long as you survive, you can fully recover without needing anything more than a night's sleep.

I (mostly) like the abstraction, but it's the little details that bother me.

I believe higher the level the further away from normal and sensible you can go with a martial class. Almost like over time reality puts less and less effort into containing you.