A slightly reworked and embiggened fighter (and justification)
Credit where credit is due, these are the ideas of u/LapBandit being posted with permission after discussion:
I have often sat and pondered why the fighter whose purpose is in its very name, gets it Extra Attack feature at the same level as two half-casters (ranger and paladin). I have also often wondered why some of their class abilities come so late compared to similar abilities of other classes. I then considered, what if the fighting man, who does not dedicate the time and effort to worshiping a god, walking in nature, or learning any or little magic, was patently better at fighting by a large margin than those that do. How would I model that? After thought and discussion, I was left with the following changes, which are currently being play-tested in a Lost Mine of Phandelver campaign on Roll20:
Extra Attack: Changed from 5th to 4th.
Indomitable: One extra use granted at 5th.
Still I felt something else was missing, something integral. I wanted the fighter to fight in styles those who had not married study of martial prowess with the blood, sweat, and tears of endless training could emulate. The mechanic I came up with is Stances detailed below.
Stances: Starting at 5th level, the Fighter learns to move and strike in ways that provide them an additional edge in combat called a stance. More stances are gained at at 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th, and 20th. Adopting this stance uses a Bonus Action and requires Concentration. This can be done before combat is joined but is obvious to those who can see the fighter. Choose from the below stances:
| Stance | Description |
|---|---|
| Thousand Cuts | "You never fully swing your weapon, instead choosing to make lightning fast strikes without power (no GWM) behind them. You can make an additional attack when you take the Attack action, your attacks deal 1 + stat mod damage. The extra attack can be your mainhand or offhand weapon." |
| Titan Hammer | "When you hit with an attack, you can choose to force your target to move 5ft into an unoccupied space if they are one size category larger than you or smaller." |
| Patient Arms | "You can use your Action and/or Bonus Action as a Reaction if you did not expend them on your turn. You lose these Reactions when your next turn comes." |
| Impregnable Fortress | "When you are hit by a melee weapon attack that is not a crit, you can use your Reaction to attempt to parry the blow. Roll an attack with the weapon you are holding, if the attack total is higher than the attack that hit you, you avoid all damage. If your roll is within 5 of the roll, you take 1/2. You cannot make Attacks of Opportunity in this stance." |
| Blind Eye | "When you target a creature that last attacked someone other than you, you have advantage on your next attack against it." |
| Grasping Claw | "When you get to make an Attack of Opportunity you can choose to grapple a target within your reach instead of making a weapon attack. If you do not have a hand free, you can grapple with your weapon however you cannot make an attack with this weapon until your are no longer grappling." |
Thoughts?
Posted Jun 16, 2017, 7:47 PM UTC