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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Texicles" data-source="post: 5934430" data-attributes="member: 6694608">I voted balanced/believable, and I touched on this in another thread, but this seems like the place for it, so here goes.First, when I say that the skill is balanced, I mean that it has the capacity for balance in the retail game. I don't look for precise numerical balance in a playtest, especially not this early on. At this stage, the "balance" I'm looking for is, does class X feel reasonably competitive in terms of their combat role, and do they feel reasonably diversified in their flavor. The emphasis there denotes what is absolutely more important to the devs right now than anything else: how the game feels.There's plenty of time to haggle over specifics later, but for now, it feels "balanced" (in an early stage playtest way) to me.Second, there's the believability aspect. If you are dogmatic in your belief that failing to achieve a sufficient number (through roll+mod) to hit AC means you miss, unfailingly and unequivocally, then stop reading because no one in the community will change your mind. And that's ok. However, if you're on the fence, or are open to varying interpretations of what is or is not in this roleplaying game, read on!First, remember that, in theory, we're discussing the abilities of a capable, professional fighter. Whether he got his skills through military service, a career as a street brawler, a prestigious academy or is just a drunken loudmouth that had to learn to defend himself through many a bar fight, is irrelevant. However you want to flavor it, the fighter class knows how to fight.Believability can then, in my opinion, be explained, regardless of the "school of hit point philosophy" you're in. If you believe HP represents a nebulous amalgam of health, morale, etc., then hit-on-miss can be justified as the feat suggests. Near misses (apt to come from the attacks of the aforementioned skilled fighter) giving the fighter's opponent the "willies," shaking his courage and will to fight. If this "near miss" is how you interpret it, then in the event that a "killing blow" from this "near miss" could mean that the foe knows he's bested and crumbles to the ground, not dead, but dying from all the other wounds he's sustained and too disheartened to fight on. Such an event actually lends itself to some nice opportunities for interaction if the DM/group want it.If you're in the other camp, and feel that HP should be purely a quantity of physical harm one can sustain before shuffling off this mortal coil, then ignore the "near miss" wording and consider again the skilled fighter described above. When you watch a skilled fighter fight (be it modern combatives, asian martial arts, or historically accurate medieval swordsmanship), you don't see a lot of misses, some but not many. You see lots of blocks and glancing blows though. Think of the fighter's "miss" as more of the latter. Eventually, the "boo-boos" from all of the blocked and glancing attacks add up. Sure, an attack may not have found its way through armor to deliver a truly punishing blow, but if you've ever been hit with a sturdy object while wearing armor or padding, you know that it's not like you don't feel it. Obviously this justification also extends to the above interpretation of HP as well.TL;DR  If you're looking for a reason not to like 5e, Reaper is as good as any I suppose. If you're looking for balance, don't look too hard yet. If you're looking for believable, consider the skilled fighter.</blockquote>

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