Unearthed Arcana WOTC still can't get the backgrounds right in the new FR book.

[W'rkncacnter]

okay final result is, over the course of 184 combat encounters of presumably 3 rounds each from levels 1 to 20, that a regular martial hits 51 more times and a fighter hits 65 more times, assuming that all buffs, debuffs, class features, encounter designs, etc. essentially wash out.

this was awful. why did i do this.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

okay final result is, over the course of 184 combat encounters of presumably 3 rounds each from levels 1 to 20, that a regular martial hits 51 more times and a fighter hits 65 more times, assuming that all buffs, debuffs, class features, encounter designs, etc. essentially wash out.

this was awful. why did i do this.

To frame it a bit more. Those translate to around 2 to 3 extra hits per level.
Since you attack more often at higher levels, chances are that someone starting with 1 point less strength will close the gap at some point.

 

[Older Beholder]

Out of interest, I looked up what makes 'sailor' the best background for a Monk.
Getting a re-roll on 1's for unarmed strike damage is pretty cool.

I think this will be the basis for my character, the next chance I get to play.
I really dig the idea of a monk that can hit harder than the other monks at the monastery because he learnt to fight growing up on a ship, getting into bar-room brawls at every port, while they were busy with books and scrolls.

 

[Horwath]

Did I mention that I really dislike masteries? And what the hell? Longswords give you sap? When you sap someone, it's with a blunt instrument, not a sharp one.

masteries were a great idea that was executed really bad.

As for longsword and sap, yeah, sap is poor wording choice, but it represents defensive quality of a longsword with the crossguard and hand guards, maybe.
and maybe that should have been on reach weapons as they give even more defensive value.

but in the end ALL masteries should have been weapon agnostic(or most of them) and be used as at-will BM "maneuvers light".

you hit with the weapon, you pick one mastery that you know to apply to attack. or graze if you miss(maybe limit graze to heavy weapons only).

 

[WanderingMystic]

masteries were a great idea that was executed really bad.

As for longsword and sap, yeah, sap is poor wording choice, but it represents defensive quality of a longsword with the crossguard and hand guards, maybe.
and maybe that should have been on reach weapons as they give even more defensive value.

but in the end ALL masteries should have been weapon agnostic(or most of them) and be used as at-will BM "maneuvers light".

you hit with the weapon, you pick one mastery that you know to apply to attack. or graze if you miss(maybe limit graze to heavy weapons only).

I could have lived with weapons getting their own assigned weapon masteries, but I think that taking the versatile one that most people hated and then just giving them all sap was a poor decision. I do think that it should have been you learn how to use a specific weapon mastery and could use it with any of the appropriate weapons instead of learning specific weapons. So you could learn how to topple with any of the weapons that had access to the topple mastery and not just have the quarterstaff mastery.

 

[Horwath]

I could have lived with weapons getting their own assigned weapon masteries, but I think that taking the versatile one that most people hated and then just giving them all sap was a poor decision. I do think that it should have been you learn how to use a specific weapon mastery and could use it with any of the appropriate weapons instead of learning specific weapons. So you could learn how to topple with any of the weapons that had access to the topple mastery and not just have the quarterstaff mastery.

it could be open or it could be per weapon.

I.E:
If I want only to use shortswords for 2WF and I have 2 mastery slots(as rogue)

I could learn, Vex(shortsword) and Nick(Shortsword).

then I can use Vex on my main hand attack and Nick on off hand attack, or if there is a round where my Bonus action is free I can take offhand attack as Bonus action and use Vex on both attacks to keep the advantage train going.

or if it's open completely, I would know Vex and Nick and use it on any weapon that applies.
Vex on every Ranged, Finesse or Light weapon
Nick on every Light weapon.


Off topic, STR based weapons need their damage bumped up a die category.

Rapier and Longsword cannot have same damage die.
Rapier uses two possible abilities and Dex can be used for ranged weapons.
therefore, Rapier d8 should be equal to Longsword d10 as Longsword has less utility.

and if Longsword gets d10(Versatile d12), maybe the UA hated Flex mastery would not be that bad as it would be d12 no brainer 1Handed attack based on STR vs d8 with Vex attack based on DEX.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

it could be open or it could be per weapon.

I.E:
If I want only to use shortswords for 2WF and I have 2 mastery slots(as rogue)

I could learn, Vex(shortsword) and Nick(Shortsword).

then I can use Vex on my main hand attack and Nick on off hand attack, or if there is a round where my Bonus action is free I can take offhand attack as Bonus action and use Vex on both attacks to keep the advantage train going.

or if it's open completely, I would know Vex and Nick and use it on any weapon that applies.
Vex on every Ranged, Finesse or Light weapon
Nick on every Light weapon.

Didn't it start like this in the playtest?

Off topic, STR based weapons need their damage bumped up a die category.

Not really.

Rapier and Longsword cannot have same damage die.

They could. If versatile was more supported by the rules.
But 1d10 in one hand, and a different benefit when used in two hands would have been nice.

Rapier uses two possible abilities and Dex can be used for ranged weapons.
therefore, Rapier d8 should be equal to Longsword d10 as Longsword has less utility.

It had't if versatile would be useful quality.

and if Longsword gets d10(Versatile d12), maybe the UA hated Flex mastery would not be that bad as it would be d12 no brainer 1Handed attack based on STR vs d8 with Vex attack based on DEX.

Flex was terrible. Because it devalued the versatile property even more. Sadly the designers never knew what to do with it, as there is no great fighting style for versatile weapons too.