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.

 

[Incenjucar]

Part of the point of having a track is that it's generally easier for high-level warriors to get in multiple weapon attacks than other classes. It also makes it less possible to spam the strongest effect if you need to get in multiple hits in a row to land it.

 

[OB1]

Just once, I'd like to see a fun adventure that didn't have any fighting at all.

Check out Wild Beyond the Witchlight! It's a full campaign that can be completed without causing a single point of damage and a complete blast!

 

[Chaosmancer]

I'll stop ya right there: that is not my point at all.

My point is that they need to improve multiclassing. I'm sorry if that wasn't clear; I'm posting from my phone at the moment and brevity sometimes gets the best of me.

Ah, sure. Frankly, I don't multiclass because I don't like it. But that feels pretty far removed from the discussion to me. You can fix the warriors and balance the classes THEN worry about fixing multi-classing to work better.

 

[Chaosmancer]

Two words: power creep.

Two words: Already Happened.

Power Creep from 2nd edition to now has already taken every Expert Class, every Priest Class, and every Mage class far and above where they were. At this point, preventing warriors from getting a buff isn't preventing power creep, it is preventing game balance because everything else has already crept up.

OK, fair enough: just have the martial "slowing" ability be able to stack, and only with itself. So, if you want to slow someone twice you have to hit them twice, even if the target has already been slowed by something else. Anything else can only slow them once, no matter what.

Might work... unless they find a way to do it at range. Like with the Longbow that has the slow ability currently listed. Then you have just created a lesser version of the same problem, unless it is Battlemasters, then it is just the exact same problem.

Or you incentivize multi-classing to get two levels of rogue, for bonus action disengage, then you can do it in melee as well. Or get the mobile feat.

So... the martial slowing ability stacking would actually just create the exact same problem, just with a little more work having to be put into utilizing it.

Tracking things like that isn't nearly as hard as some make it out to be; and for those as use 'em, in a VTT it's utterly trivial.

I should probably note here, as others have brought it up in other posts, that I really hope that a) these mastery abilities are mostly instead of damage rather than in addition to it and then b) you have to declare your intent (e.g. "I'm attacking to trip") before rolling to hit. Otherwise yes, I can see the "spiked chain" problem returning in a hurry.

Declaring it before is rather pointless, if it is at-will like it should be. Because at that point you just declare it for every single attack. And no, they should not be instead of damage. That would be a terrible design, as discussed previously. Pushing an enemy 10 ft instead of trying to end the fight is a horrible use of your attack.

And tracking multiple, stacking states would be a nightmare. It isn't so bad if it is one person, against one target, but if you have a full martial party who end up stacking four or five different effects on four to six different enemies? No thank you, that is a recipe for disaster.

 

[Pauln6]

Two words: Already Happened.

Power Creep from 2nd edition to now has already taken every Expert Class, every Priest Class, and every Mage class far and above where they were. At this point, preventing warriors from getting a buff isn't preventing power creep, it is preventing game balance because everything else has already crept up.



Might work... unless they find a way to do it at range. Like with the Longbow that has the slow ability currently listed. Then you have just created a lesser version of the same problem, unless it is Battlemasters, then it is just the exact same problem.

Or you incentivize multi-classing to get two levels of rogue, for bonus action disengage, then you can do it in melee as well. Or get the mobile feat.

So... the martial slowing ability stacking would actually just create the exact same problem, just with a little more work having to be put into utilizing it.



Declaring it before is rather pointless, if it is at-will like it should be. Because at that point you just declare it for every single attack. And no, they should not be instead of damage. That would be a terrible design, as discussed previously. Pushing an enemy 10 ft instead of trying to end the fight is a horrible use of your attack.

And tracking multiple, stacking states would be a nightmare. It isn't so bad if it is one person, against one target, but if you have a full martial party who end up stacking four or five different effects on four to six different enemies? No thank you, that is a recipe for disaster.

I can see why they have floated declaration for paladins as it is limited to once per round. To maximise fighter benefits, limitation such as that would be less of a problem for other classes than the fighter.

 

[Lanefan]

Two words: Already Happened.

Power Creep from 2nd edition to now has already taken every Expert Class, every Priest Class, and every Mage class far and above where they were. At this point, preventing warriors from getting a buff isn't preventing power creep, it is preventing game balance because everything else has already crept up.

More that the restrictions and drawbacks have been removed from other (mostly caster) classes. Put them back, says I.

Might work... unless they find a way to do it at range. Like with the Longbow that has the slow ability currently listed. Then you have just created a lesser version of the same problem, unless it is Battlemasters, then it is just the exact same problem.

Yeah, giving something like that to any ranged weapon is asking for headaches.

Or you incentivize multi-classing to get two levels of rogue, for bonus action disengage, then you can do it in melee as well. Or get the mobile feat.

So... the martial slowing ability stacking would actually just create the exact same problem, just with a little more work having to be put into utilizing it.

Unless - and this is a key point for many of these abilities - they are made available to pure single-class Fighters* only. The moment you multiclass it's whoop there go those abilities, never to be seen again. Gamist as hell, I admit, but having certain things (for all classes) be available only to single-class characters really serves to chop down on multi-classing shenanigans.

* - and some Fighter-adjacents, as long as the character only has one class.

Declaring it before is rather pointless, if it is at-will like it should be. Because at that point you just declare it for every single attack. And no, they should not be instead of damage. That would be a terrible design, as discussed previously. Pushing an enemy 10 ft instead of trying to end the fight is a horrible use of your attack.

Knocking an enemy prone instead of doing damage can be huge. It pretty much has to spend the next round getting up (if it can), meanwhile you can either keep it prone or whale on it.

If these work as ability-plus-damage then those upthread concerned about the return of spiked-chain foolishness have a valid point.

And tracking multiple, stacking states would be a nightmare. It isn't so bad if it is one person, against one target, but if you have a full martial party who end up stacking four or five different effects on four to six different enemies? No thank you, that is a recipe for disaster.

A full-martial party would, I think, be a rather uncommon sight. And, not many of these abilities would stack; slowing being the most obvious one, and if there's a weakening (that is to say, temporary Strength-reducing) ability that would be another.

 

[Pauln6]

More that the restrictions and drawbacks have been removed from other (mostly caster) classes. Put them back, says I.

Yeah, giving something like that to any ranged weapon is asking for headaches.

Unless - and this is a key point for many of these abilities - they are made available to pure single-class Fighters* only. The moment you multiclass it's whoop there go those abilities, never to be seen again. Gamist as hell, I admit, but having certain things (for all classes) be available only to single-class characters really serves to chop down on multi-classing shenanigans.

* - and some Fighter-adjacents, as long as the character only has one class.

Knocking an enemy prone instead of doing damage can be huge. It pretty much has to spend the next round getting up (if it can), meanwhile you can either keep it prone or whale on it.

If these work as ability-plus-damage then those upthread concerned about the return of spiked-chain foolishness have a valid point.

A full-martial party would, I think, be a rather uncommon sight. And, not many of these abilities would stack; slowing being the most obvious one, and if there's a weakening (that is to say, temporary Strength-reducing) ability that would be another.

I have decided to playtest the level up combat manoeuvres with a martial only group, just to see how different it makes them.

 

[Minigiant]

Two words: Already Happened.

Power Creep from 2nd edition to now has already taken every Expert Class, every Priest Class, and every Mage class far and above where they were. At this point, preventing warriors from getting a buff isn't preventing power creep, it is preventing game balance because everything else has already crept up

More limitation removal.

The fighter was defined by having no limitations. The other classes got limitations.

The rules changes and additions of subclasses, feats, and actual racial traits meant other classes loss limitations.

 

[Remathilis]

When you were here before
Couldn't look you in the eye
My fighter was pathetic
The lack of skills made me cry
Your wizard could cast spells
I saw the fireballs hurled

Wish my PC was special
A fighter so effin' special

So I'll power creep
I'll be the hero
Make all those monsters disappear
Old martials don't belong here

I don't care if the game is worse
I wanna have control
I want the best attack
I want to have the best rolls
I want you to notice
When my fighter's not around

Wish my PC was special
A fighter so effin' special

So I'll power creep
I'll be the hero
Make all those monsters disappear
Old martials don't belong here .....

And he still denies he's a bard.

 

[Bluenose]

Start the buffs around level 5. At level 5, it doesn't matter about multiclassing, because to get the Fighter's "power" they would then need to give up 9th or 8th level spells. Even pushing it to level 3, multi-classing becomes a major investment by that point.

And besides, turn about is fair play, mage power can go and be taken by warriors who multi-class to mages

Is that good for the Fighter? Abilities that seem appropriate for 1st/2nd level are held back to 4th because otherwise someone might take a dip to grab them? You get no significant abilities till 5th level because another class might find them useful? Doesn't seem like it makes the Fighter a more attractive option.