D&D 5E Sage Advice September 2016

[Leatherhead]

All nice, except charger feat rulling. That is some puzzling stuff. It would be like a default thing to do with a mount.

The Charger Feat is only good if you are below level 5. You trade your main action for the ability to run fast and make a bonus action attack with a smidgen of extra damage. The problem with that, is anyone who is really into that kind of play-style will eventually get a bonus action dash via some other feature, and way-way better uses of their action economy.

Even Rogues, who only get one attack per round would be better off setting up advantage with their Bonus Action, or if they have Haste, setting up a Reaction Attack with their main Action instead of using Charger.

It's really something of an oddity in Feat design, where most feats are designed to be at least partially useful even if you can't use them to their full extent, Charger is only useful for niche scenarios and actively goes out of it's way to be useless in every other situation. If it was reworked so that you had to move 10+' to get the damage bonus on any Attack, and then granted you a bonus action Dash instead of an attack, then it would be ok.

 

[Valetudo]

The Charger Feat is only good if you are below level 5. You trade your main action for the ability to run fast and make a bonus action attack with a smidgen of extra damage. The problem with that, is anyone who is really into that kind of play-style will eventually get a bonus action dash via some other feature, and way-way better uses of their action economy.

Even Rogues, who only get one attack per round would be better off setting up advantage with their Bonus Action, or if they have Haste, setting up a Reaction Attack with their main Action instead of using Charger.

It's really something of an oddity in Feat design, where most feats are designed to be at least partially useful even if you can't use them to their full extent, Charger is only useful for niche scenarios and actively goes out of it's way to be useless in every other situation. If it was reworked so that you had to move 10+' to get the damage bonus on any Attack, and then granted you a bonus action Dash instead of an attack, then it would be ok.

Charger never should have been a feat in the first place. Thats the problem, it should be a risk/reward move that anyone should be able to use.

 

[mellored]

My charge feat houserule: bonus damage is 2x your proficiency (4-12). 12 being the same amount a greatsword+5 str would do with a second attack.

 

[CapnZapp]

Charger never should have been a feat in the first place. Thats the problem, it should be a risk/reward move that anyone should be able to use.

The 3rd edition charge was rather complicated. I fully understand they didn't want something like that in the basic rules.

In fact, I can see why they didn't want more options to regular combat at all. Reserving charges for feats (or class options) keeps the basic plethora of combat options small and simple.

None of this excuses the current crappy implementation of the Charger feat, of course. I'm just no so sure its so obvious as "Charger never should have been a feat" makes it sound like.

The problem is, if charging lets you gain more ground in general, why doesn't everybody do it?

I can totally see why you'd want to reserve that behavior for mounted troops, certain monsters and certain characters (i.e. those that get a specific charge, or pounce etc, ability)

None of this excuses the way Sage Advice doesn't allow mounted troops to, you know, charge with their mounts

Moreover, you can't grant just a single attack, or you reintroduce the "i go you go" syndrome where you WANT people to charge you (at high level).

So in the end, feel free to add, as a houserule, that "if you move in a straight line, you may move double your speed, gaining advantage on your very first attack (only one attack), and then granting advantage to everybody that attacks you until your next turn".

But I'm not all that convinced this should have been in the base rules, available to everybody and their mothers.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

The Charger Feat is only good if you are below level 5. You trade your main action for the ability to run fast and make a bonus action attack with a smidgen of extra damage. The problem with that, is anyone who is really into that kind of play-style will eventually get a bonus action dash via some other feature, and way-way better uses of their action economy.

It's not terrible for Moon Druids either. If you're a Giant Constrictor Snake who only gets one attack per action anyway, the ability to Dash as well can add some mobility. Also, you can Dash after your action (because unlike e.g. Martial Arts the Charger feat does not specify that you get your bonus attack "after" you take your action, only "when"), so consider this combo:

Round 1: cast Spike Growth (action), wildshape into Giant Constrictor form (bonus action).
Enemy approaches and starts beating on your wildshaped body. (I'll assume that concentration holds.)
Round 2: use Charger to make a weapon attack (bonus action; Constrict: grapples and restrains target) and then Dash (action) 60' while dragging the enemy behind you.
Result: on round two, the enemy takes your basic Constriction damage and then 24d4 damage (60) on top of that.
Downside: only works if you can reliably make your Concentration checks without losing Spike Growth (Resilient (Con)?), or if someone else casts the Spike Growth. Also, damages you as well as the enemy.

Overall it's not great, but still, Mobile + Charger does lead to a very mobile Moon Druid. You could be a Mobile Charger Rhino who charges around goring everybody for 28 damage per hit at a speed of 80'+ per round. Move 50' towards target, bonus action attack (Charger), Dash 50' away, no opportunity attack (Mobile).

 

[abirdcall]

You forgot one big one: Familiars CAN use the Help action to grant advantage on an attack.

Which is the way I'd wager most have played it all along, but it's nice to see some official confirmation.

It doesn't actually come out and say that they can. This is the actual answer. Which translates as 'sure, but the DM might rule otherwise.'

"As the text of the Help action indicates (PH, 192), the action doesn’t require you to be able to attack; you simply need to be able to provide some sort of distraction."

 

[l0lzero]

I think the wording of Charger implies you dash first, and then make the bonus action; "When you use your action to Dash, you can use a bonus action..." To me that reads "If you Dash, Then you Bonus Attack" as opposed to making a bonus action attack and then taking the dash action. The trigger for having the bonus action attack option is that you have used the dash action, at least by my reading, so the scenario you listed above where you make the attack, and then dash + move 60' through the spike growth I don't think works because the way it reads to me, you have to dash first, and then attack. I mean, my reading also implies that you could take the dash action, move 5 feet with it, make the bonus action attack, then finish you dash and then use your actual movement, but I could easily see a DM saying no to it.

I think the clear intended use of the Charger feat is to let slower characters, or characters who are far away, move into melee combat and still get a hit off. I can see this feat being useful right around level 6 for a fighter when they get their 2nd ASI, with their first one going to Great Weapon Master, or 8 when they've picked up polearm master as well, since the bonus action attack from polearm master requires the use of the attack action to activate it. With charger and great weapon master, you could move your move, action to dash, close to melee, ensure you've moved 10' in a straight line, and then GWM power attack to get +15 to damage, making up for the loss of the extra attack feature through sheer bonus damage on the single bonus action attack you get to make. If you could find a way to reliably get advantage on the attack, say with a barbarian's reckless attack (human variant barb at 4 could get it with GWM at 1), that's a pretty healthy chunk of extra damage to tack on, especially when raging.

But, it kind of requires that you have anything else you can do with your move action, or for enemies to be farther away. Or for your DM to not care that you're dashing with your action, rather than moving...

 

[l0lzero]

Also, added thought - You could charge while still in melee actually; it doesn't say you have to move to the nearest square or anything like that, so you could charge within someone's reach so long as you only had one enemy. Kind of appropriate on a huge creature like a dragon or purple worm, charging along it's sides... But that you can do it to a goblin seems a bit OP actually thanks to "if you move 10 feet in a straight line" wording, as opposed to "in a straight line towards your target" or some more clear wording. RAI no, RAW yes.

 

[Yunru]

All of these are sensible interpretations, imo.

Except the verbal components, which is just clearly wrong.

 

[Xeviat]

I think charger is terrible. A "dash as a bonus action" feat would have been better for "charger", maybe letting you give up extra attacks to gain bonus damage on the one attack so it's a charge and a single attack. I too believe that "charge" should be a basic option. More on that later!