Playing As A Martial Class

[JNAProductions]

Let me be very clear: This is not a theorycrafting thread. This is not about optimization. This is 100% entirely about actual experience. Now then:

What's it like to play as a Fighter, Rogue, or other purely martial class? Is it enjoyable, or not?

[aceynn88]

It really comes down to having choices.

A caster has different ways to fight. They can nuke, they can control. A caster is always looking at a fight from the stand point of getting the most bang for their spell slots, as they are limited.

A martial does not. They focus more on tactics and locking down a high priority target and smacking away at them. There is less choice, but its a bit more forgiving as a missed attack isn't as noticed as a missed or saved spell.

Personally, nothing gets me more excited then getting in a monsters face and handing them their own ass on a silver platter. Every character I played in this edition so far has been melee oriented. I don't hate spell casting, but there is something very satisfying about having a really good damage round, or stunning, knowing somethng prone as a monk.

[Finieous]

Yes, it's fun. It starts at about 120% the enjoyment of playing a caster and declines by about 5% per level through level 9. Then it declines about 10% per level. :smallbiggrin:

Okay, I haven't actually played a martial at high level, but from a strictly gamey perspective, it's hard for them to stay as fresh as casters who are getting brand new spells every couple levels.

[JNAProductions]

Bad Finieous! *Sprays with bottle of water*

Jokes aside, I am well aware of the theory behind martial classes getting boring. I am asking, however, for actual experience. So unless you've played high level martials, don't talk about them in this thread.

My own experience (on a PBP HotDQ) as a Fighter has so far been pretty good. I've actually been more innovative and useful than the casters, just by using my skills. No complaints yet.

[Ralanr]

I have a blast playing martial, keeps me on my toes for how to deal with situations. While martials are considered more limited than castors, all it makes me do is focus on the options that are available to me. ALL THE OPTIONS...even the bad/unlikely to work ones. Puts my mind into overdrive and I find myself loving it.

Nothing more satisfying than beating a more powerful opponent with your wits and brawn together.

[Myzz]

I was kinda having fun with My Assassin/Wizard (only 1 level of wiz, but was about to remedy that prior to TPK in HoTDQ).

The Kinda comes because after the first day as Assassin, I never got to assassinate anyone ever again... The more I played as an assassin that couldnt assassinate anyone, the less fun the whole thing became. I still wonder if I should have just gone Arcane Trickster anyways, like I was originally intending...

Currently contemplating playing either:
A.) Homebrew Celestial Warlock (that I was given link to off these threads)
B.) Trickster Cleric / Warlock of Leprechaun Deity
C.) Beast Master Ranger / Bard

I normally play rogues or casters (but I like the beast master concepts).


My issue as a rogue came up primarily due to disagreements with DM on party stealth and acquiring surprise rounds (IF we hadn't been TPK'd I was about to become quite the Murder-Hobo, since I had already been dropped twice for trying to be the good guy)

[JFahy]

The fighter in my current group narrates what he's doing in combat, and looks for ways
to use skills and swashbuckly maneuvering - which I'm fairly permissive about.
I've played fighter and paladin up to around 10 myself, and in the campaign before
this I DMed for a fighter who got to 16.

In all those cases, the experience was far, far away from the "I swing again" that
the internet is so profoundly sold on. If the player and DM have some improvisational
skill and creative spark, there's no reason you can't have a great time as a 'martial'.
If the DM is inflexible and thinks RAW is paramount, of course you will have a great
variety of problems.

(...and I don't think it's true that if you're having fun as a fighter, you still lose the game
because you could be having so much more fun with more options. It takes a
certain number of options to make a person happy, and piling on more after that just gets
you into diminishing returns.)

Clarification: Only the current group is in D&D5, where we're up to level 7; the others
are in Pathfinder and D&D versions 1 and 2. However, I suspect they're all of interest
to you because in all cases they're "predominantly melee fighters with relatively few
magical/supernatural abilities in a game with Dungeons and Dragons DNA"...?

[Mellack]

I played a champion for levels 1-4 and had to switch. I thought there were too few options leaving me feeling bored. Switched to a paladin and liked it much better.

[Person_Man]

Yes it can be enjoyable.

Your turn in combat is usually very straightforward, in that you have a limited number of actions/tactics that you use repeatedly.

It gets boring if you're not a creative player, and/or if your party spends most of the actual game time in combat (as opposed to roleplaying, exploring, drinking, etc).

[AvatarVecna]

I've had a blast playing a Wood Elf Ranger (Hunter) in organized play. They focused on ranged combat and stealth/scouting. I've played it up to about 10th level or so, and my least favorite time to play it was 1st level when he couldn't really do anything.

I've played a monk with my regular group, and a combination of awesome stats and good party synergy has resulted in that being a blast as well. I chose the alternate sailor background and the Way of Shadow (because I wanted to be a kung fu ninja/pirate, dangit), and I've had a lot of fun messing around with ki point abuse. I've only gotten to level 7 with that one, though.

I played a Rogue/Ranger/Fighter in a one-shot (ultimate bow-based assassin, essentially), and that started at level 8, and it was pretty fun...at least, when I was allowed to use my character's abilities. Still, it was an awesome build, and it was fun when I got to play it to it's full potential.It was the DM's first time running a game EVER, and he had a pretty interesting story. My problem with it was that he ended up railroading pretty hard; I don't mind purchasing a ticket as long as the train's going somewhere interesting and awesome, but being shoved headfirst into a car already stuffed full of people that's going to destinations unknown isn't exactly a fun experience: we had an enemy that was well below our party CR, but by DM fiat, it could only be defeated if we beat it at a drinking contest. And believe me I tried: a 20+ attack total with a magic weapon should've hit it, and the auto-crit with about 10 dice of damage should've killed it. Incidentally, here's another sign of the DM's inexperience: we each got to have a single magic weapon roughly on par with what we should have at that level. He said it was okay if I got the Oathbow, and I spelled out every single thing it did, just in case he'd missed anything.

I don't blame the DM, it was his first time, but the experience wasn't very good. Still, there were the building blocks of a good session there, which can be built up with experience...hopefully.

I haven't gotten to play this character yet, but I rolled up a Dwarf Barbarian who can speak 3 languages and play the bagpipes despite having Int 6 (he was raised by bears). His name is Grug, and he is mighty.:smallbiggrin:

[JFahy]

I haven't gotten to play this character yet, but I rolled up a Dwarf Barbarian who can speak 4 languages and play the bagpipes despite having Int 6 (he was raised by bears).

Alright, I have to ask what the languages are. :smallamused:

[Submortimer]

I was kinda having fun with My Assassin/Wizard (only 1 level of wiz, but was about to remedy that prior to TPK in HoTDQ).

The Kinda comes because after the first day as Assassin, I never got to assassinate anyone ever again... The more I played as an assassin that couldnt assassinate anyone, the less fun the whole thing became. I still wonder if I should have just gone Arcane Trickster anyways, like I was originally intending...

Currently contemplating playing either:
A.) Homebrew Celestial Warlock (that I was given link to off these threads)
B.) Trickster Cleric / Warlock of Leprechaun Deity
C.) Beast Master Ranger / Bard


Play the celestial warlock, you know you want to :smallsmile:
I'm playtesting it as an aasimar right now. Me and the Paladin/Cleric of Bahamut get along VERY well. Spirit Guardians replaced Hex as my go-to concentration spell.

To answer your question, Martial Classes can be really fun. My Battlemaster polearm fighter was a beast in combat, and had several good options (even if the jerkface enemies always passed their saves to not fall prone on my trip attempts); The rogues that I've seen at the table have generally been ranged (Twin hand crossbows), but love getting to throw piles of d6's around; and the barbarians are always scary as hell with a (seemingly) KFC Family Sized Bucket of HP to throw at fights.

All that being said, I've only seen the game at low levels(my current one is the first real 5e game I've played that's gotten to 7), so my anecdotal evidence may break down once you start getting up there.

[AvatarVecna]

Alright, I have to ask what the languages are. :smallamused:

Common, Dwarven, and Draconic. And no, I don't know yet where he learned any of them.

[BRC]

My only 5e Experience has been as a Battlemaster Fighter, and it's been pretty fun.

You don't get the overwhelming sense of power or utility that can come from playing a Caster, the whole "I can wipe eight enemies off the map with a single spell" thing, and sometimes you can get the feeling that you're powerless to do anything more than chip away at the enemy's HP, while the casters can change the fight with a single well-placed Fog Cloud.

That said, I was a dex fighter (Rapier and hand-crossbow, with Crossbow Expert), which meant I didn't hit nearly as hard as I could have, but gave me plenty of utility with dex skills. Were I a great weapon fighter, swinging for 2d6+4 with each attack before Superiority Dice, I might have felt differently.


That said, I don't regret playing a Martial class at all. What you get from being a fifth edition fighter is durability, not just in the sense that you have a lot of hit points and a high armor class, but in the sense that you're rarely in a situation where you cannot be useful. You don't fear running out of spells, or getting backed into a corner, or ending up in melee with some heavy hitters.

That said, you kind of have to make your own fun as a fighter. If you're idea of fun is knowing that you just singlehandedly changed the outcome of the battle, you're not going to get that very often as a Fighter. You're going to be the guy who chipped down the Boss's HP, or who tanked a few hits from the troll, or who dropped a couple minions that escaped the Caster's AoE.

But, you can craft some great stories.
A Strength-based Martial character can be the unstoppable juggernaut of the battlefield, shrugging off blows and smashing into the enemy with their weapons.

A Dex-Based Martial character sacrifices a few points of raw damage for more utility. You're the swashbuckler, dancing between your foes, sneaking through the castle grounds, and tumbling away.


Also, as a Battlemaster, I did get to influence fights. Menacing Strike could basically shut down an attacker who failed their save (Disadvantage on attack rolls while they see me is nasty), Tripping Strike is great if you have another melee character to support, or just want to set up more attacks for yourself, and Riposte is just glorious.

[JNAProductions]

Common (1), Dwarven (2), Draconic (3), and...

Avatar, you may have mathed up.

[AvatarVecna]

Common (1), Dwarven (2), Draconic (3), and...

Avatar, you may have mathed up.

--Checks--

Yep, I did. Only 3 languages. Going back to fix it...

[Finieous]

"Common, Dwarven, Draconic and...I forgot the other one. Oops."

[AvatarVecna]

"Common, Dwarven, Draconic and...I forgot the other one. Oops."

More of "I meant to type 3 originally, and instead typed 4 because I wasn't paying attention". I've got the character sheet in front of me: Common and Dwarven from being a Dwarf, Draconic from background.

[JFahy]

I was sure you were gonna have Bear, Badger, and Tarzan-level Common
or something like that.

[AvatarVecna]

I was sure you were gonna have Bear, Badger, and Tarzan-level Common
or something like that.

The Ursine language has two kinds of letters: roaring, and physical attacks; it also requires no puny mortal "proficiency" to know it, but most people never bother learning. Every time he engages in combat, he's having a lengthly debate with an opponent that is, in his eyes, speaking nonsense. Thus, he wins the debate by pounding their skull in with his own skull. Such is the way of the ursine.

[JFahy]

The Ursine language has two kinds of letters: roaring, and physical attacks; it also requires no puny mortal "proficiency" to know it, but most people never bother learning. Every time he engages in combat, he's having a lengthly debate with an opponent that is, in his eyes, speaking nonsense. Thus, he wins the debate by pounding their skull in with his own skull. Such is the way of the ursine.

I know this forum doesn't have a like/upvote button, but I actually checked again after this to make sure.

[Finieous]

More of "I meant to type 3 originally, and instead typed 4 because I wasn't paying attention". I've got the character sheet in front of me: Common and Dwarven from being a Dwarf, Draconic from background.

In case it was too obscure, I was just taking a shot at Texas governor Rick Perry. :smallbiggrin:

[AvatarVecna]

In case it was too obscure, I was just taking a shot at Texas governor Rick Perry. :smallbiggrin:

Don't follow politics much.

[Person_Man]

I haven't gotten to play this character yet, but I rolled up a Dwarf Barbarian who can speak 3 languages and play the bagpipes despite having Int 6 (he was raised by bears).

Language acquisition and intelligence are only correlated later in life, when you'd need to pursue a formal education. If you grow up in a diverse community where many languages are spoke and/or an immigrant and/or just spend a lot of time traveling to foreign places, you'll probably pick up two or more languages just to survive.

And now I must find a catgirl to murder.

[Sindeloke]

I've not actually played 5e yet but I've DMed three different groups.

The first was the first night of HotDQ at my LCS; there was a fighter, a cleric, a sorc, a bard, and another sorc. It seemed pretty telling, because that fight to protect the city is basically a long grueling endurance match, which should have meant the martial would excell and everyone else would get worn out... but in fact the fighter spent most of the game running towards distant opponents and taking the dodge action or dealing one sad 1d8+str of damage per round to one foe if he actually iht (in an adventure that's entirely composed of mobs of enemies) because that was all he could do, while everybody else dealt potently reliable cantrip damage at range that easily met the fighter's average as soon as they saw the bad guys, and the one or two spells per encounter that they spent between them were easily 75-90% of any given encounter's work. The fighter wasn't even needed for "tankiness" because the cleric had a sheild and heavy armor.

The second was a one-off holiday thing also at my LCS, which started at level 3. We had an assassin, a battlemaster, a champion, a moon druid and a dragon sorc. This one was completely different; the assassin dealt absolutely ridiculous damage and was a really important scout, the battlemaster did pretty sexy damage as well and used pushing attack to great tactical effect, the druid spent most of his time on healing and wild shape scouting and managed to be a strong contributor without overshining anyone, and the sorc was reliable but not unusually impressive AoE damage. It felt really balanced and equal. That said, the champion was still essentially a non-entity; she did 2d6+str damage once per round to one adjacent enemy and that was the full extent of her contribution to the entire scenario. She could have not been playing and we wouldn't have noticed.

The third one is my own campaign with a bunch of houserules and homebrew, so I don't think it counts.

[Submortimer]

Something I learned just this last game: If you're martial, and you don't have a horse, you're doing it wrong.

Seriously, the increased movement speed just CANNOT be overlooked. 120 ft. speed means getting into that fight and staying there, then making people that try to leave immediately regret that decision.

[Safety Sword]

I've not actually played 5e yet but I've DMed three different groups.

The first was the first night of HotDQ at my LCS; there was a fighter, a cleric, a sorc, a bard, and another sorc. It seemed pretty telling, because that fight to protect the city is basically a long grueling endurance match, which should have meant the martial would excell and everyone else would get worn out... but in fact the fighter spent most of the game running towards distant opponents and taking the dodge action or dealing one sad 1d8+str of damage per round to one foe if he actually iht (in an adventure that's entirely composed of mobs of enemies) because that was all he could do, while everybody else dealt potently reliable cantrip damage at range that easily met the fighter's average as soon as they saw the bad guys, and the one or two spells per encounter that they spent between them were easily 75-90% of any given encounter's work. The fighter wasn't even needed for "tankiness" because the cleric had a sheild and heavy armor.

Are all martial characters so dumb that they never carry a ranged weapon?

Clearly firing a bow is never thought of.

[Ralanr]

Are all martial characters so dumb that they never carry a ranged weapon?

Clearly firing a bow is never thought of.

Forgetfulness is not strictly a martial trait. My wizard friend forgets half most of his spells and abilities.

[Kane0]

I've played an eldritch knight to 6, taking only utility spells like floating disk (except for shield and prot from good/evil). He was very enjoyable both in and out of combat mostly because of how i refused to sit back and purposely made sure my character was interesting for me to play'. I enjoyed beating in the faces of ghosts with my nonmagic hammer, and i enjoyed being the party craftsman and the second biggest personality in play.

I'm now dming, and i can see the players enjoying their nonmagic pcs. The sorcerer switched to a paladin and took only smite spells, using his mount to wade in and deal ridiculous damage. The barbarian loves getting tactical (within the confines of rage) and i have an assassin and an arcane trickster that both love dancing around and finding new ways to roll a boatload of d6s. The only caster is the warlock, and he's the blasty type. The groups is very big on da,age dealing amd they all have a blast brute forcing their way through as much as they can.

Because characters are a combination of things its fine if you dont have a particular ability, like spellcasting. It means you play up the omes you do have more, and that works at any level. Backgrounds and character personalities work better than class features for this.

[Sindeloke]

Are all martial characters so dumb that they never carry a ranged weapon?

Clearly firing a bow is never thought of.

Well, the character was a premade so it wasn't really his choice to not have a bow, but basically any fighter or paladin who goes Strength is going to be useless at range. None of their class features or feats will apply, and they have to choose between crappy to-hit and damage with a crossbow or bow and "range" that they could just run in a round with a javelin. Range cantrips are substantially better; they use the right attribute (and frequently target poor saves), do more base damage than any ranged weapon other than a crossbow, benefit from class features and scale substantially better than a weapon with no class features applied to it.

[Mandragola]

I'm playing a paladin and a sorceror at the moment, in different campaigns. Right now the paladin is level 3 and the sorceror level 6. Neither is especially high level but the sorceror is starting to pick up some powerful spells. The paladin is a variant human with great weapon master and a maul, built mainly as a damage-dealer.

I'm not sure if the paladin counts as a martial by everyone's definition. He does get spells and lay on hands of course. But that's the example I have, so if you don't like it, skip this post!

So the paladin does more damage - or at least he does more now than the sorceror did at level 3. He does more damage across the course of a day and he has higher nova damage. He often gets bonus action attacks from GWM and he sometimes gets attacks of opportunity. He always feels like he's contributing, by bashing things to do damage and also by his presence on the board (we play with a grid). He's a major obstacle for the bad guys to have to worry about and he functions as a controller just by existing.

The sorceror feels very different to play, and a bit like I'm playing a different game. I spent quite a lot of my time doing not very much really. I can do twin-spelled haste for example, but then I kind of need to hide so I don't lose concentration and cause two front-rankers to lose their turns. I've got a bunch of spells like hold person and fear, which I tend to hold onto for when they're really needed. That tends to mean I function in a kind of binary way - doing very little a lot of the time (either because I'm saving spells, out of spells, or try to cast spells but the baddies save) but sometimes having a huge impact. A single cast of fear, against enemies with nowhere to run to, turned a fight against 6 monsters into a fight against two monsters followed by some free hitting. So you do get the feeling that a single cast of a spell can turn an encounter on its head, which doesn't happen so much with the paladin. Also, I counterspelled my first incoming fireball last night, which felt like a good moment!

Both characters are good for taking enemies out of fights. The paladin kills them and the sorceror controls them. But really I think there's a bit of a fallacy about the idea of martials or casters being "better". You need both in dnd. Casters really are very soft and they really can't do everything, so you need other skills from the rest of the group. So last night my sorceror, along with a fairly badass dwarf valour bard and blade warlock ran into a couple of green slaadi. There was really not a whole lot I could do to these directly. They saved against fear when I tried that, but I did manage to stop one of their fireballs. Then I hasted the bard and myself (couldn't reach the warlock) and we had to grind them down with eldritch blasts, the bard's longsword and my rays of frost and crossbow.

The previous week my paladin and a different bard took down a wyrmling red dragon, through a combination of me whacking it with my maul and him casting dissonant whispers - resulting in opportunity attacks for me. The thing actually went down before the two clerics could catch up with us (not helped by dissonant whispers pushing it away from them), though I nearly dropped as well and had 1hp left after getting breathed on and bitten a couple of times. The clerics were a bit cross with us for killing it so fast!

Then this week the paladin and his friends rocked up in a miserable village. He intimidated a bar full of commoners to prevent them from trying to rob us all (which wouldn't have gone well for them, and yes he's an oath of vengeance paladin :smallamused:) and then he brutalised a couple of ogres - not least by chucking a javelin of lightning that he got from last week's dragon at them. We had a wizard with us this week and he really increased the damage our melee characters could do by putting grease everywhere, so monsters kept falling prone. GWM plus smite on a prone ogre results in one less ogre, and a bonus attack with which to smite the second ogre.

All of those are examples of casters and martials working together to create a force that adds up to more than the sum of its parts. Dnd is a team game. The important thing is to have a powerful party, not individual powerful characters. The sorceror can't beat the slaadi without somebody to chop them up and the paladin can't beat the ogres without the wizard knocking them over.

[Icewraith]

Well, the character was a premade so it wasn't really his choice to not have a bow, but basically any fighter or paladin who goes Strength is going to be useless at range. None of their class features or feats will apply, and they have to choose between crappy to-hit and damage with a crossbow or bow and "range" that they could just run in a round with a javelin. Range cantrips are substantially better; they use the right attribute (and frequently target poor saves), do more base damage than any ranged weapon other than a crossbow, benefit from class features and scale substantially better than a weapon with no class features applied to it.

I briefly played a Champion fighter and was impressed at the solid, reliable damage. I did get a bit bored of "I attack again", but we've got guys playing monks and rogues that seem to be having a grand time. More recently, we had an extended series of intense combats, separated by short rests, and my Wizard was running on fumes by the end while the monk, rogue, and champion archer were still chugging along. Granted, my control spells and AOE are probably why we even made it to the third combat, but still. We won that one because the multiple attacks, mobility, and stunning from the Monk resulted in opposing spellcasters eventually blowing their con saves and losing their concentration spells.

[Sullivan]

I Dm mostly and it does seem like there are people who like martial classes and excel at using them. The people who are creative and use the archetypes of the martial class in combat seem to be the people that approach combat as a form of RP, I really like this, while people that seem to be stuck in RAW seem to prefer casters. I could spit and whistle about why I think this is, but it really boils down to whether or not the person has fun playing within the rule or has fun finding the line.

It should be pointed out that I try to use skills in combat as much as possible, which tips its hand towards athletics and acrobatics being stronger to skills like religion or history; It's just easier to use the former during encounters. I always enjoy when a normal combat round turns into this string of story telling and Skill checks so that the rouge can gain a sneak attack or surprise.

So for the OP. In my campaigns I generally let creativity transcend rules which, at least with my gaming group, has historically been capitalized on by the martial classes.

[TrexPushups]

Windows, cliffs and the shove and grapple rules combined with multiple attacks in a round.

That can help keep things fresh Vs human sized and smaller things with decent hp.

[Giant2005]

To date I have played 4 casters and 4 martials.
None have really got that high - leveling seems to slow down to a crawl once you get to level 6 but I have preferred the martial option in each and every case.
People complain about the lack of options for martials and I have the same complaint, only it is directed at the casters. My martial characters are able to do more, with more reliability than my casters ever could. The casters basically stand back spamming Cantrip after Cantrip and it is pretty dull. the extremely limited spell slots mean force me into saving my big guns for the next big fish or for a potential utilitarian purpose.
The martials however can go crazy, never having to worry about conservation at all.

[JFahy]

Windows, cliffs and the shove and grapple rules combined with multiple attacks in a round.

That can help keep things fresh Vs human sized and smaller things with decent hp.

Good fights are more likely to happen when there are things to climb on, fall off of, light on fire, knock over or swing from.
Bonus points if things are collapsing or the area is filling up with flame, water, lava or mechanically-driven spikes. :smallsmile:

[Ralanr]

Good fights are more likely to happen when there are things to climb on, fall off of, light on fire, knock over or swing from.
Bonus points if things are collapsing or the area is filling up with flame, water, lava or mechanically-driven spikes. :smallsmile:

Even a regular wall can become your enemies best friend. And who are you to not let them have some face time with each other? :smallbiggrin:

[TrollCapAmerica]

Lets not kid ourselves here the guy that can fly polymorph create Simulacrums Teleport summon Pixie hordes divine the future etc is going to have more utility

Im playing an Archer Battlemaster right now and its one of the most interesting entertaining and flavorful characters ive played.I also know that my options will be pretty limited later on especially if I face an enemy thats above Large size and has a good Will save that eliminates damn near every BM maneuver.The only major use I would be getting from my Superiority dice will be turning my occasional misses with -5/+10 Sharpshooter into hits with Precise attack. Sure I still have Rally and Commanders strike for the party Rogue but thats going to be the extent of my combat options an uncomfortable amount of times

Im still gonna have fun im still gonna RP the character better than everyone else at the dang table but im well aware of my limitations.I do solid sustained damage with situation support abilities and debuffs.I know this as well as I would know how to not get killed as a Wizard and not waste spells casting crap like rain of daggers

[cobaltstarfire]

I've enjoyed my fighter. (well she's a Fighter/Cleric, but I've only recently started making good use of the cleric side of things)

Sure all she mostly does is SMASH things super smashy dead with her warhammer, but it's really satisfying. Some of the first things we fought were dire stirges, and I really had fun describing how I was smooshing them dead. You know how some people really like to step on dry leaves in the autumn? She's about the same only with anything that has the potential to crunch. (except for giant wasps...she just shoots those, darn creepy things...)

I also get to grab monsters and yank them down off of ceilings/walls, or try to grab and throw things and such.

Maybe part of it is that I've only really played casters in the past, so there may be novelty to it, but I don't think it'll ever wear off, as long as the monsters don't get too big for my character to be able to manhandle anyway.

[broodax]

I am having a great time playing my Rogue; I've gone from level 1 to 3 so far. Rogue is really great in that you do have options. I can bonus action move, hide, or attack with a hand crossbow. I can go into melee or stay at range, I can run away fast and chase fast, I can order my friends around to get them to give me sneak attack. It's not just "I attack" every round, even at low levels.

And then of course hiding and searching and other skills out of combat help (though I am disappointed in bounded-accuracy skills).

[MrStabby]

Martials are great fun as a theme but I find it useful to multi-class them to add flavour. That couple of levels of Rogue giving you cunning action is what sets you apart from the next fighter (whose couple of levels of Barbarian set him apart form the next one).

I think that it is about the range of productive options and meaningful choice though and I think it is something that could be worked on. I think things like versatile weapons are great - choosing to use 2 handed for melee damage or to free up a hand for a somatic component of a spell for example.

I like the fighting styles but I would have preferred it if they were abilities that gave you meaningful alternatives (like shifitng to a duelling style mid combat by using your bastard sword one handed and away from two handed style). Unfortunately the rules don't quite support this as a productive thing to do.

The grapple rules are fun and can be quite effective - using skills in combat is always nice. Getting better rules for stunning, blinding, poisoning people in combat would potentially open up even more options.

I also think martial fun is strongly influenced by weather you use TotM or a board type set up. TotM (in my experience) is more fluid and positioning is not remembered. Given that as a martial who you stand next to and who you stand between is an important part of your decisions in combat making this less important is potentially simplifying your role considerably.

Yes casters can get silly at high levels and they probably are more fun at level 16+ but for me that is as much about roleplaying. An arcane sanctum with wards and magical traps is probably more fun to think about as your home than a castle and so on...

On average across multiple games I would reckon that a martial is more fun, but if you regularly get to high levels maybe not.

[Talakeal]

I haven't played much 5e, but I can share some insight into other games:

I normally prefer martial characters and find them fun, although in most editions of D&D it is frustrating because they are bad at skills and saving throws which leaves them sort of useless outside of situations where they can get up there and fight. Also, I tend to get a lot of flack for being a "power gamer" because I play a martial character, which requires a lot of tactical and strategic precision that sets a lot of DM's off.

At high level 3.X the game breaks down entirely because of a few broken spells. This theoretically makes martials worthless, but then again the whole game is so weird it is hard to notice.

In 2E I find that martials are routinely the strongest members of the party.

In other games I play more often than D&D such as Mage or Heart of Darkness there are magic users that can perform feats that are stronger than anything in D&D short of Pun-Pun but are still fundamentally human and I have no problems mixing martials and magic users in the same party at all levels without anyone feeling overshadowed or useless or not having fun.

Mostly though, it comes down to play preference. I personally don't like magic because it feels like cheating and makes my character less real and relatable. Other people like weirdness and power and don't want to be "just some guy" and prefer flashy super powers and impossibilities.

[BoutsofInsanity]

My God has no one played a Barbarian yet?

I DM a group and we have a Barbarian in the party. Talk about the best class by far. We have in the group a Warlock, Barbarian and Fighter. By far the Barbarian wrecks face in every encounter. Let me explain.

D12 hit die and takes half damage from all physical attack during rage. Can charge in on the first attack and have advantage with an extra fifteen damage before str and rolling. Takes multiple attacks and has advantage on all dex saves that she can see coming.

She doesn't end encounters, but in terms of consistency, roleplaying an 18 year old female barbarian who wields her grandfather's axe to end face is awesome.

The Barbarian so far has been my favorite class to watch being played. It has the opportunity to make bold plays and have them pay off.

[Ralanr]

My God has no one played a Barbarian yet?

I DM a group and we have a Barbarian in the party. Talk about the best class by far. We have in the group a Warlock, Barbarian and Fighter. By far the Barbarian wrecks face in every encounter. Let me explain.

D12 hit die and takes half damage from all physical attack during rage. Can charge in on the first attack and have advantage with an extra fifteen damage before str and rolling. Takes multiple attacks and has advantage on all dex saves that she can see coming.

She doesn't end encounters, but in terms of consistency, roleplaying an 18 year old female barbarian who wields her grandfather's axe to end face is awesome.

The Barbarian so far has been my favorite class to watch being played. It has the opportunity to make bold plays and have them pay off.

PREACH IT BROTHER!

Barbarians have been designed as risk vs reward focused class and I freaking love it. I feel ashamed to admit that I had forgotten to say my barbarian class in my first post of this thread.

Barbarians are fun. Advantage with athletics is so useful in combat, helps my opponents get intimate with the ground faster :smallbiggrin:

Strangely a lot of them seem to kiss it on their first date.

[Vogonjeltz]

Playing a Battlemaster fighter. I tend to approach each combat as a puzzle to be solved, using a combination of weapon choice and tactical approach.

Often it's just looking around the fighting area and looking for a creative way of offing the enemy. In that vein I've found that the improvised action or contest is the martials best friend.

[Raimun]

I'm usually invincible (high AC) but I don't do much damage. I still have a few spells. I guess you should still invest to offense, even if shield's +2 to AC is better than ever.

[ChubbyRain]

Let me be very clear: This is not a theorycrafting thread. This is not about optimization. This is 100% entirely about actual experience. Now then:

What's it like to play as a Fighter, Rogue, or other purely martial class? Is it enjoyable, or not?

At low levels it really is fine, you don't hold your party back and you have options similar to others. However once you get to levels 8+ as a martial character you really start to see others gain more and more abilities while you do the same thing that you did the first 8 levels.

The rogue is slightly better, they have some great low class skills. The fighter however, even with BM or EK, doesn't really get new options or the options they get are so rare or ineffective it really isn't worth it.

We had people who have never played a TTRPG in their life and people who have played for years give the same question.

Why does the fighter (or rogue) go past level 10.

Seriously, new players have asked me that, new players with a few hours of game time. The only answer I had was that everyone else gets too so they let the fighter (or rogue) go past level 10 also.

[Psikerlord]

I played a halforc sword & board battlemaster fighter to 6 and found it excellent fun. I do think narrating combat is half the fun when playing a fighter though, so I describe his hits/misses almost all the time. The extra d8 on crits was always fun, as well as shield master knock downs/pushes.

If combat is reduced to hit 10 damage, miss, hit 12 damage, miss .... it gets very boring very fast.

[Mrmox42]

One of my players (I am the DM) played a Fighter Champion all the way up to level 18. He was having a blast. He was the centre of the party's tactics, getting the attention of the enemy and dealing out murderous amounts of damage with his Greatsword.
He enjoyed being VERY vivid in his descriptions of his manouvers and his disembovelling technigues, and he enjoyed being the first one into combat.
He became a noble Knight of the Realm, ended up being the owner of a castle and great estates, and had the honour of leading the King's armys right flank in major battles.
He loved every bit of it.

[pwykersotz]

Yes, non-casters are fun. Out of the non-casters I particularly like Rogue, Monk, and Barbarian, and am fairly uninterested in Champion Fighter. Battlemaster Fighter is middle of the road for me. If Paladin counts, that gets top marks, and I haven't tried Ranger yet.

[Mara]

Very few classes in this game are completely spell-less
One primal path barbarian, 2 Fighter Martial Archetypes, No monks, and 2 rogue archetypes

So 5 out of 40 options (42 including death domain and Oathbreaker) avoid spells completely.

[JNAProductions]

I'd consider every Barbian fully martial. They might have a few spell abilities, but in combat (and, by and large, out of combat) they play as warriors, not mages.

[Mara]

I'd consider every Barbian fully martial. They might have a few spell abilities, but in combat (and, by and large, out of combat) they play as warriors, not mages.
The same could be said of certain moon druids.

[Giant2005]

I'd consider every Barbian fully martial. They might have a few spell abilities, but in combat (and, by and large, out of combat) they play as warriors, not mages.

I'd consider the same of every class that doesn't have Spell Slots.

[Gwendol]

I'm playing a ranger (hunter), which is mostly martial. Archery is plenty fun in this edition. Hopefully I'll be able to relate higher level play experience eventually.

[silveralen]

I've played two

1. A rogue (assassin I think)+battle master multiclass. Campaign ended at lvl 16 with me as a fighter 12/rogue 4. I started as fighter, dipped rogue one level, then went straight fighter until I hit level 12 (13 technically) and took the rest rogue.

Overall a lot of fun, I never felt weak. It was a sword and board character who fault with a rapier and buckler. Orginally started as strength based for trip/shove, but changed things to be dex based (a bit more fitting for the concept) when my DM allowed me to use acrobatics in place of Athletics.

2. Champion fighter 8 barbarian 2 half orc. Ongoing campaign. Started at level five with all fighter, got one more to go to 7, then dipped two barbarian. Not sure if I'll take barbarian to 4 or fighter to 11 first. If the latter, I'll probably go all the way to 12.

Also fun, the DM rules champion's athletic prowess adds to skills you are already prof in, so that plus rage makes me good at basic manuevers. I've yet to get bored. It only works because my current DM encourages roleplay combat quite a bit.