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Amnoriath
2015-05-15, 10:16 AM
It is easy to destroy but harder to protect. An Armiger seeks to protect their allies and hinder their opponents while singling them out one by one.

Armiger
"Embrace the tide comrades it is only going to get better."
http://digital-art-gallery.com/oid/106/640x640_18380_LON_Protection_of_Mithaniel_2d_fanta sy_knight_armor_girl_sword_chrome_female_transpare nt_shield_picture_image_dig.jpg

Vanguard: At level 3 you gain a pool of temporary hit points equal to 3 times your Fighter level. At the beginning of your each of your turns as a partial action you can bring out an amount equal to your proficiency bonus+constitution modifier(minimum 1) as long as you aren't incapacitated. This pool refreshes after a short or long rest. Additionally as long as you haven't taken the Dash or Hide action creatures struck by your melee attacks treat the area with in 10 feet of you as difficult terrain. This increases to 20 feet at level 15.

Armiger's Ward: At level 7 your AC increases by 1. Additionally any save you or an ally with in 10 feet of you makes adds your Wisdom modifier to the roll. This doesn't stack with an Aura of Protection. These can't be maintained if you are incapacitated.

Iron Guard's Glare: At level 10 as a bonus action after you have rolled initiative you can select one opponent within 30 feet of yourself and is fully aware of you. That opponent now has disadvantage on attack rolls against any other target but yourself and it can't take the Disengage or Hide actions. This lasts until the beginning of your next turn. If the target is immune to being Frightened they are immune to this effect.

Safeguard: At level 10 as reaction to an ally in your reach is about to be hit by an attack you can switch spaces taking the hit automatically. You must complete a short or long rest to use this again. You gain one more use at level 18.

Bulwark of Opportunity: At level 15 your AC increases by 1 and any save you successfully make that would normally have a partial effect now has no effect on you. Additionally you may choose to forego an attack in your Attack action to give yourself an opportunity attack while also giving advantage to that attack.

A Mighty Fortress: At level 18 you have resistance to non magical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. Additionally your allies are treated as having cover one step higher if you are within 10 feet of them or you are in an enemy's line of sight to them. You may also choose to give your temporary hit points to allies who benefit from your Armiger's Ward.

Leuku
2015-05-15, 07:42 PM
Vanguard: At level 3 you gain a pool of temporary hit points equal to 3 times your Fighter level. At the beginning of your each of your turns as a partial action you can bring out an amount equal to your proficiency bonus+constitution modifier as long as you aren't incapacitated. This pool refreshes after a short or long rest. Additionally as long as you haven't taken the Dash or Hide action creatures struck by your melee attacks treat the area with in 10 feet of you as difficult terrain. This increases to 20 feet at level 15.

What is a partial action?

Also, I don't think this subclass needs the difficult terrain thing. The on-demand temporary hitpoints is already awesome. The pool you have is going to end up going crazy high, 60 at 20th level. The fact that you're limited by proficiency bonus + con mod is brilliant. I'd add that the con mod should be a minimum 1, so that fighters with 11s or less in Con get at least 3 THP (as rare as such a fighter may be). Add some wording that states that temporary hitpoints gained in this way do not stack with temporary hitpoints you currently have.


Armiger's Ward: At level 7 your AC increases by 1. Additionally any save you or an ally with in 10 feet of you makes adds your Wisdom modifier to the roll. This increases to 30 feet at level 18.

Problem with this is that it stacks with the Paladin's Protection Aura. Except now that I think about it, do multiple Protection Auras stack? If you have two paladins adjacent to each other, will they each confer their benefit on to the other? I don't think it should, but there's no explicit text that says otherwise. Hmm...

Anyways, Armiger's Ward is a more powerful version of the Paladin's Protection Aura, due to the bonus AC, and as such is too strong. +1 AC is already an entire fighting style and its dependent on the user wearing armor. I recommend getting rid of a +1 AC.


Iron Guard's Glare: At level 10 as a bonus action you can select one opponent within 30 feet of yourself. That opponent now has disadvantage on attack rolls against any other target but yourself and it can't take the Disengage or Hide actions. If they don't attack you on their next turn they provoke an opportunity attack. This lasts until the beginning of your next turn. If the target is immune to being Frightened they are immune to this effect.

This is too unfair for the opponent. They don't get to try and save against it? The Swashbuckler Rogue's 9th level Panache requires a contested ability check.

I'll reproduce the text of it here for you:

Panache: At 9th level, your charm becomes as sharp and dangerous as your blade. As an action, you can make a Charisma (Persuasion) check contested by a creature’s Wisdom (Insight) check. The creature must be able to hear you, and the two of you must share a language. If you succeed on the check and the creature is hostile, it must target you with any attacks it takes and cannot willingly move farther away from you. This effect lasts for 1 minute or until you move more than 60 feet away from the target. If you succeed on the check and the creature is not hostile, it is charmed by you for 1 minute. While charmed, it regards you as a friendly acquaintance.

Panache does a fraction of what Iron Guard's Glare does and yet is already considered extremely strong by most people on /r/Dndnext and similar subreddits.

I recommend making it a contested check or allowing the target to make a saving throw. Keep the disadvantage part and disengage/hide parts, but get rid of the provoking opportunity attacks part.

The fact that it's a bonus action but only lasts until the start of your next turn should maybe balance out with Panache's minute long duration and required action.


Bulwark of Opportunity: At level 15 your AC increases by 1 and any save you successfully make that would normally have a partial effect now has no effect on you. Additionally you may choose to forego an attack in your Attack action to give yourself an opportunity attack while also giving advantage to that attack.

Personally this has too much synergy with the 7th level Armiger's Ward. Armiger's Ward already builds this fighter as likely to save against ill effect. Bulwark of Opportunity now nearly guarantees that nothing will happen to a fighter whenever he ever has to make a saving throw. And let's not forget you're also throwing in a free +1 to AC. A +1 to AC is already strong for anybody at any level. I recommend getting rid of the AC bonus and choosing a number of saves that this fighter can mitigate damage from, like how the Monk's 7th level Evasion only works on Dex saves.

How about Bulwark of Opportunity only works on Wis saves?

The closest a Paladin has to this is the Oath of Ancient's 7th level Aura of Warding which grants resistance to spell damage.

Lastly, I have no idea how the opportunity attack thing works.

Amnoriath
2015-05-15, 09:44 PM
What is a partial action?

Also, I don't think this subclass needs the difficult terrain thing. The on-demand temporary hitpoints is already awesome. The pool you have is going to end up going crazy high, 60 at 20th level. The fact that you're limited by proficiency bonus + con mod is brilliant. I'd add that the con mod should be a minimum 1, so that fighters with 11s or less in Con get at least 3 THP (as rare as such a fighter may be). Add some wording that states that temporary hitpoints gained in this way do not stack with temporary hitpoints you currently have.



Problem with this is that it stacks with the Paladin's Protection Aura. Except now that I think about it, do multiple Protection Auras stack? If you have two paladins adjacent to each other, will they each confer their benefit on to the other? I don't think it should, but there's no explicit text that says otherwise. Hmm...

Anyways, Armiger's Ward is a more powerful version of the Paladin's Protection Aura, due to the bonus AC, and as such is too strong. +1 AC is already an entire fighting style and its dependent on the user wearing armor. I recommend getting rid of a +1 AC.



This is too unfair for the opponent. They don't get to try and save against it? The Swashbuckler Rogue's 9th level Panache requires a contested ability check.

I'll reproduce the text of it here for you:

Panache: At 9th level, your charm becomes as sharp and dangerous as your blade. As an action, you can make a Charisma (Persuasion) check contested by a creature’s Wisdom (Insight) check. The creature must be able to hear you, and the two of you must share a language. If you succeed on the check and the creature is hostile, it must target you with any attacks it takes and cannot willingly move farther away from you. This effect lasts for 1 minute or until you move more than 60 feet away from the target. If you succeed on the check and the creature is not hostile, it is charmed by you for 1 minute. While charmed, it regards you as a friendly acquaintance.

Panache does a fraction of what Iron Guard's Glare does and yet is already considered extremely strong by most people on /r/Dndnext and similar subreddits.

I recommend making it a contested check or allowing the target to make a saving throw. Keep the disadvantage part and disengage/hide parts, but get rid of the provoking opportunity attacks part.

The fact that it's a bonus action but only lasts until the start of your next turn should maybe balance out with Panache's minute long duration and required action.



Personally this has too much synergy with the 7th level Armiger's Ward. Armiger's Ward already builds this fighter as likely to save against ill effect. Bulwark of Opportunity now nearly guarantees that nothing will happen to a fighter whenever he ever has to make a saving throw. And let's not forget you're also throwing in a free +1 to AC. A +1 to AC is already strong for anybody at any level. I recommend getting rid of the AC bonus and choosing a number of saves that this fighter can mitigate damage from, like how the Monk's 7th level Evasion only works on Dex saves.

How about Bulwark of Opportunity only works on Wis saves?

The closest a Paladin has to this is the Oath of Ancient's 7th level Aura of Warding which grants resistance to spell damage.

Lastly, I have no idea how the opportunity attack thing works.

1. Partial action is short hand for part of another action like unsheathing a weapon..etc. Temporary hit points unless stated otherwise according to the PHB don't stack. Thanks for the commendation and I will edit that. Secondly there has to be a reason for this to be a threat or defensive otherwise it is a statue until 10. The way I figure it is that a Barbarian's rage at that point is ablating more damage and being much beneficial with numbers so giving them a contingent slowing effects makes them a nuissance to deal with but nothing that takes them out.
2. Well yeah I think Paladin's auras do stack unless there is some other by law in the general rules. Maybe specify that it doesn't stack with Paladin's Aura?
3. It is rare but it isn't particularly awesome as the larger reason why Defense is one of the better ones is not because of numbers but it is among the few that stack while being passive. Having them basically amounts to a shield by the numbers at most with a magic armor and shield as well as Defense style is 25 which yes is about impossible for level 1 warriors but at most will just slow down an army of them but it is still very doable for CR's half your level. In a way removing that would be an insult to the concept of defender subclass.
4. I am not familiar with that subclass at all but what from I am able to see and know about the rogue is that he will be quite successful in using it. Remember they have Expertise and it would be foolish not to have one of them as Persuasion if this is what you are taking. As such it is generally better since it dictates actions and has great utility. Mine always taxes the bonus action and therefore can only target one at a time. Though I will remove the OA and specify in combat only as well as must be able to see you.
5. You can't compare a level 7 with a level 15 ability. Yes the Hunter has it as a choice there but it really has only one significant trick and an array of minor tricks that are very late in comparison as well as don't scale. Additionally Evasion guarantees a 50% off the top not including resistance.
6. The way it works is when you would make an Attack action which would be 3 then. You can choose not to initiate one to give yourself another opportunity attack with advantage. As such it frees up your reaction by paying with a guaranteed attack.
7. What about A Mighty Fortress?

Leuku
2015-05-16, 12:56 AM
1. Partial action is short hand for part of another action like unsheathing a weapon..etc. Temporary hit points unless stated otherwise according to the PHB don't stack. Thanks for the commendation and I will edit that. Secondly there has to be a reason for this to be a threat or defensive otherwise it is a statue until 10. The way I figure it is that a Barbarian's rage at that point is ablating more damage and being much beneficial with numbers so giving them a contingent slowing effects makes them a nuissance to deal with but nothing that takes them out.

If that's what a partial action is, then it's essentially free, which considering how amazing it is to generate THP on demand every short rest, it is too potent. I recommend making it a bonus action to dole out THP.


2. Well yeah I think Paladin's auras do stack unless there is some other by law in the general rules. Maybe specify that it doesn't stack with Paladin's Aura?

I have yet to find any text that specifies it doesn't stack. But as a DM I would personally rule that they don't stack. Otherwise you could get 2 or 3 Paladin PCs with +3 Cha mod stand next to each other and basically declare that they'll virtually never be fail any saving throw ever again. And considering they're Paladins with access to Protection Fighting Style, they'd be very hard if not nearly impossible to hit, too.


3. It is rare but it isn't particularly awesome as the larger reason why Defense is one of the better ones is not because of numbers but it is among the few that stack while being passive. Having them basically amounts to a shield by the numbers at most with a magic armor and shield as well as Defense style is 25 which yes is about impossible for level 1 warriors but at most will just slow down an army of them but it is still very doable for CR's half your level. In a way removing that would be an insult to the concept of defender subclass.

Slow down an army of them? Doable for CR's half your level? I don't quite understand what you're saying here.


4. I am not familiar with that subclass at all but what from I am able to see and know about the rogue is that he will be quite successful in using it. Remember they have Expertise and it would be foolish not to have one of them as Persuasion if this is what you are taking. As such it is generally better since it dictates actions and has great utility. Mine always taxes the bonus action and therefore can only target one at a time. Though I will remove the OA and specify in combat only as well as must be able to see you.

The Swashbuckler Rogue was released in WOTC's most recent Unearthed Arcana in the Waterborne pdf.

Both Panache and Ironguard's Glare dictate actions, except the Rogue's requires a check and an Action, whereas Ironguard's Glare never misses and requires a bonus action.

I see now that you've changed it to only occurring after you've rolled initiative, meaning it's once per fight. I recommend disconnecting it from initiative and allowing the target to make a contested check or saving throw.


5. You can't compare a level 7 with a level 15 ability. Yes the Hunter has it as a choice there but it really has only one significant trick and an array of minor tricks that are very late in comparison as well as don't scale. Additionally Evasion guarantees a 50% off the top not including resistance.

I only compared it to the monk's 7th level Evasion because Bulwark of Opportunity contains more than the Evasion-like ability. It also has a +1 AC and that opportunity attack thing. If Bulwark only had the Evasion-like ability, I'd say it was a bit on a weak side because of 7th level features like Evasion. Then again, getting Evasion on all six saving throws doesn't sound so bad, actually. That's 6 times as strong as the Monk's evasion. So if you were to reduce the 15th ability to gaining Evasion on all six saving throws, then that would be strong enough, even without the +1 AC and the opportunity attack thing.

Why did you mention the Hunter? I did not mention the hunter.

Lastly, let's not forget you're improving the 3rd level class feature that creates difficult terrain here at 15th. That has to factor in on how strong you can make 15th level. Consider the Battlemaster Fighter who doesn't get anything unique at 18th level, because the battlemaster's maneuver die improves to 1d12 at 18th level.

You also improve Armiger's Ward and Safeguard at 18th level, but have not factored them in to your 18th level features. Notice how the Paladin doesn't get anything but ward improvements at 18th level.


6. The way it works is when you would make an Attack action which would be 3 then. You can choose not to initiate one to give yourself another opportunity attack with advantage. As such it frees up your reaction by paying with a guaranteed attack.

So on your turn you can choose to give up one of the attacks you have in your Attack action to allow you the opportunity to make an additional opportunity attack with advantage sometime before the start of your next turn? That's... interesting. It's rather difficult to judge. Don't have any point of comparison. I would need to see this playtested, as there isn't anything official that I can compare it to.


7. What about A Mighty Fortress?

Normally if I don't say anything about a feature, I don't have any problem with it/think it's alright/great.

But I do have a general comment: class features in 5e tend to give one thing on any given level, sometimes 2.

What I see ramping up throughout this subclass is the tendency to give out 2 to 4 features within a given level.

3rd level has 2 in Vanguard

7th level has 2 in Armiger's Ward

10th level has 2 in IGG and Safeguard

15th level has 4 in Bulwark and Improved Vanguard

18th level has 5 in Mighty Fortress, Improved Armiger's Ward and Improved Safeguard

That is definitely feature glut. I'd recommend finding a way to pare it down so that the most any given level has is 3 and the most common number of features at any given level is 1.

For reference, most Paladins has 3 features at 18th level, i.e. their aura improvements, except for the Vengeance Paladin who only has 2 at 18th level. The Vengeance Paladin doesn't have an aura at 7th level.

Amnoriath
2015-05-16, 07:16 AM
If that's what a partial action is, then it's essentially free, which considering how amazing it is to generate THP on demand every short rest, it is too potent. I recommend making it a bonus action to dole out THP.



I have yet to find any text that specifies it doesn't stack. But as a DM I would personally rule that they don't stack. Otherwise you could get 2 or 3 Paladin PCs with +3 Cha mod stand next to each other and basically declare that they'll virtually never be fail any saving throw ever again. And considering they're Paladins with access to Protection Fighting Style, they'd be very hard if not nearly impossible to hit, too.



Slow down an army of them? Doable for CR's half your level? I don't quite understand what you're saying here.



The Swashbuckler Rogue was released in WOTC's most recent Unearthed Arcana in the Waterborne pdf.

Both Panache and Ironguard's Glare dictate actions, except the Rogue's requires a check and an Action, whereas Ironguard's Glare never misses and requires a bonus action.

I see now that you've changed it to only occurring after you've rolled initiative, meaning it's once per fight. I recommend disconnecting it from initiative and allowing the target to make a contested check or saving throw.



I only compared it to the monk's 7th level Evasion because Bulwark of Opportunity contains more than the Evasion-like ability. It also has a +1 AC and that opportunity attack thing. If Bulwark only had the Evasion-like ability, I'd say it was a bit on a weak side because of 7th level features like Evasion. Then again, getting Evasion on all six saving throws doesn't sound so bad, actually. That's 6 times as strong as the Monk's evasion. So if you were to reduce the 15th ability to gaining Evasion on all six saving throws, then that would be strong enough, even without the +1 AC and the opportunity attack thing.

Why did you mention the Hunter? I did not mention the hunter.

Lastly, let's not forget you're improving the 3rd level class feature that creates difficult terrain here at 15th. That has to factor in on how strong you can make 15th level. Consider the Battlemaster Fighter who doesn't get anything unique at 18th level, because the battlemaster's maneuver die improves to 1d12 at 18th level.

You also improve Armiger's Ward and Safeguard at 18th level, but have not factored them in to your 18th level features. Notice how the Paladin doesn't get anything but ward improvements at 18th level.




What I see ramping up throughout this subclass is the tendency to give out 2 to 4 features within a given level.

3rd level has 2 in Vanguard

7th level has 2 in Armiger's Ward

10th level has 2 in IGG and Safeguard

15th level has 4 in Bulwark and Improved Vanguard

18th level has 5 in Mighty Fortress, Improved Armiger's Ward and Improved Safeguard

That is definitely feature glut. I'd recommend finding a way to pare it down so that the most any given level has is 3 and the most common number of features at any given level is 1.

For reference, most Paladins has 3 features at 18th level, i.e. their aura improvements, except for the Vengeance Paladin who only has 2 at 18th level. The Vengeance Paladin doesn't have an aura at 7th level.

1. No, as it is at most with it ablating 11 damage an attack would be better in the numbers of a fight. It also means it is in exclusion to Iron Guard's Glare.
2. Protection Style doesn't protect you. It protects adjacent allies with a reaction. The point is while it will survive a hoard of mooks it can't really win as an objective in the logical time without others, especially those with offensive damage or better ways to break the lines.
3. Except Dexterity throws are by far the most prevalent case. The only others that seem to allow them are a couple Strength and Constitution ones while the mentally based ones almost never allow a partial effect.
4. No Iron Guard's Glare isn't dictating their actions. It bans a couple and coerces one type of roll. All enemies can still choose to run away and/or make ability checks. Additionally situations could mean depending on allies' conditions and contingent abilities of their own they could easily have advantage against them canceling the disadvantage of the effect. Then you could include all the kinds of enemies and items that could be out there that this wouldn't affect at all. Panache though does dictate them and is just 1 action per enemy.
4. Except you need to pay attention more to subclasses. The Battlemaster gains 2 more maneuvers known at each level on top of the others as well as additional die and it still doesn't scale all that well. The Eldrtich Knight gets spells and cantrips on the side of it benefits in which it gets a few at 3rd despite again its bad scaling. Totem Warriors at level 3 get 2 rituals and a rage ability then they often get 2 at level 6. The Thief and Arcane Trickster often get more than 1 aside from spells. That Swashbuckler gets 2 real good abilities at level 3 and that very versatile as well as effective Panache at 9. Dragon Sorcerer gets 3 benefits at level 1 and 2 at level 6....etc. Ultimately it is about when things come in and can it do things that are reasonable as well as simple without stepping on others too much.

Leuku
2015-05-17, 08:42 AM
1. No, as it is at most with it ablating 11 damage an attack would be better in the numbers of a fight. It also means it is in exclusion to Iron Guard's Glare.

Ablating up to 11 damage is great damage reduction. Being able to on-demand generate THP is going to save your ass when other PCs would have long fallen. People can go down to 0 really fast in this edition. And it makes sense it would be to the exclusion to Iron Guard's Glare. You either protect yourself with THP or you "Taunt". It'd be too easy if you could do both on the same turn.


2. Protection Style doesn't protect you. It protects adjacent allies with a reaction. The point is while it will survive a hoard of mooks it can't really win as an objective in the logical time without others, especially those with offensive damage or better ways to break the lines.

Yes, of course Protection Style functions only with adjacent party members. That is part of why I specifically mentioned 2 to 3 Paladins standing next to each other. That's how they use Protection Style. And that's how they would stack auras.


3. Except Dexterity throws are by far the most prevalent case. The only others that seem to allow them are a couple Strength and Constitution ones while the mentally based ones almost never allow a partial effect.

Dexterity is the most common saving throw, followed by Wisdom, followed by Constitution. Wisdom, a mental stat, would be the 2nd most common saving throw. Anyways, I don't understand why your bring this up.

I'm going to bring up an earlier point: Armiger's Ward with +1 AC is better than the Paladin's Protection Style. Why does your Fighter deserve a better version of an official class feature near the same level?


4. No Iron Guard's Glare isn't dictating their actions. It bans a couple and coerces one type of roll. All enemies can still choose to run away and/or make ability checks. Additionally situations could mean depending on allies' conditions and contingent abilities of their own they could easily have advantage against them canceling the disadvantage of the effect. Then you could include all the kinds of enemies and items that could be out there that this wouldn't affect at all. Panache though does dictate them and is just 1 action per enemy.

Panache doesn't prevent enemies from making Ability Checks. It just says that any attacks it makes must be against you. It doesn't have to make attacks.

Anyways, bear in mind that the Unearthed Arcana data is not fully playtested material. They're works in progress and are released for the general public to get a more active gauge on their strengths and weaknesses, like a crowd-initiated playtest. Panache is already considered really strong for the general public and too strong for some folks.

Iron Guard's Glade is a more balanced version of Panache in my view, except for the fact that it lacks a contested check/saving throw. In this edition, almost every effect has a chance to fail. The only things I can immediately think of that are automatic are the conditional stuff, like the Assassin Rogue's auto crit on surprise rounds, and niche stuff, like Magic Missile.

1 Action per enemy is a really big deal, especially for Rogues. Their 1 action is their primary means of launching sneak attack, the thing Rogues are trying to do every single round of combat. Sacrificing that is really significant, especially considering that Panache also cuts them off from two-weapon fighting. So it's not just 1 action. 1 action is so important.

Make it contestable or saveable. There is no real reason why you shouldn't be able to contest or resist the glare.


4. Except you need to pay attention more to subclasses. The Battlemaster gains 2 more maneuvers known at each level on top of the others as well as additional die and it still doesn't scale all that well. The Eldrtich Knight gets spells and cantrips on the side of it benefits in which it gets a few at 3rd despite again its bad scaling. Totem Warriors at level 3 get 2 rituals and a rage ability then they often get 2 at level 6. The Thief and Arcane Trickster often get more than 1 aside from spells. That Swashbuckler gets 2 real good abilities at level 3 and that very versatile as well as effective Panache at 9. Dragon Sorcerer gets 3 benefits at level 1 and 2 at level 6....etc. Ultimately it is about when things come in and can it do things that are reasonable as well as simple without stepping on others too much.

Good point about Battlemasters. Also a good point that despite gaining 2 maneuvers alongside a better superiority die, it still doesn't scale that well, meaning there is a weakness in the Battlemaster receiving... "3" things at a level. Although I wouldn't really consider it 3 total things, because two of the things depend on the limited resources of the 1. Like a wizard adding 2 spells to their spellbook every wizard level; that isn't the wizard gaining 2 features. That's the wizard getting 1 feature.

The Eldritch Knight gets 2 features at 3rd level. Spellcasting is 1 feature. Not 2, 3, or 4. Just 1. The second feature is Weapon Bond, a pure utility feature.

Totem barbarian has 2 features. Spirit Seeker, which grants a very limited, purely utility based pair of spells only as rituals, and Totem Spirit. So again, there are only 2 features.

Thief gains 2 total features at 3rd level, and they're primarily utility based ones. And then 1 feature at 9th, 1 feature at 13th, and 1 feature at 17th.

Arcane Trickster gets 1 feature at 3rd level aside from the Spellcasting feature, and that's Mage Hand Legerdemain, a Purely Utility Based feature. So again, 2 total features at 3rd level. 1 total feature at 9th; the AT doesn't even get to learn any new spells at 9th. At 13th, it learns 1 new spell and gains 3rd level spell slots alongside its Versatile Trickster Ability. That's 2 total features for 13th, as spellcasting progression is all just 1 feature, and Versatile Trickster competes directly with the Rogue's extremely competitive bonus actions. (unlike your current Vanguard and Ironguard's glare, which don't yet compete at all). At 17th, 1 total feature.

Sorcerers are... interesting, as they are really front-loaded. It helps that the cha bonus to interacting with dragons is really niche and circumstantial. In terms of frequency of use, the Dragon sorcerer has more like 2.5 features at 3rd level. Or even 2.1 features. And yes, dragon sorcerers get 2 features at 6th level, although the temporary resistance is very circumstantial. It helps that the mod damage boost is really significant.

So it looks like to me that at most classes and subclasses at most get 2, maaaybe 2.5-3, features in 1 level, and most of the time gets 1 or 2. Improvements to previous features are counted as features for the level it is improved, like the Battlemaster's case.

So I argue that your Fighter Archetype gaining 4 features at 15th level and 5 features at 18th is unprecedented and unjustifiable. Consider that the Fighter at 17th level only gets improvements of 2 features, Action Surge and Indomitable. No additional, new features. Just 2 improvements.

Amnoriath
2015-05-17, 10:06 AM
Ablating up to 11 damage is great damage reduction. Being able to on-demand generate THP is going to save your ass when other PCs would have long fallen. People can go down to 0 really fast in this edition. And it makes sense it would be to the exclusion to Iron Guard's Glare. You either protect yourself with THP or you "Taunt". It'd be too easy if you could do both on the same turn.



Yes, of course Protection Style functions only with adjacent party members. That is part of why I specifically mentioned 2 to 3 Paladins standing next to each other. That's how they use Protection Style. And that's how they would stack auras.



Dexterity is the most common saving throw, followed by Wisdom, followed by Constitution. Wisdom, a mental stat, would be the 2nd most common saving throw. Anyways, I don't understand why your bring this up.

I'm going to bring up an earlier point: Armiger's Ward with +1 AC is better than the Paladin's Protection Style. Why does your Fighter deserve a better version of an official class feature near the same level?



Panache doesn't prevent enemies from making Ability Checks. It just says that any attacks it makes must be against you. It doesn't have to make attacks.

Anyways, bear in mind that the Unearthed Arcana data is not fully playtested material. They're works in progress and are released for the general public to get a more active gauge on their strengths and weaknesses, like a crowd-initiated playtest. Panache is already considered really strong for the general public and too strong for some folks.

Iron Guard's Glade is a more balanced version of Panache in my view, except for the fact that it lacks a contested check/saving throw. In this edition, almost every effect has a chance to fail. The only things I can immediately think of that are automatic are the conditional stuff, like the Assassin Rogue's auto crit on surprise rounds, and niche stuff, like Magic Missile.

1 Action per enemy is a really big deal, especially for Rogues. Their 1 action is their primary means of launching sneak attack, the thing Rogues are trying to do every single round of combat. Sacrificing that is really significant, especially considering that Panache also cuts them off from two-weapon fighting. So it's not just 1 action. 1 action is so important.

Make it contestable or saveable. There is no real reason why you shouldn't be able to contest or resist the glare.



Good point about Battlemasters. Also a good point that despite gaining 2 maneuvers alongside a better superiority die, it still doesn't scale that well, meaning there is a weakness in the Battlemaster receiving... "3" things at a level. Although I wouldn't really consider it 3 total things, because two of the things depend on the limited resources of the 1. Like a wizard adding 2 spells to their spellbook every wizard level; that isn't the wizard gaining 2 features. That's the wizard getting 1 feature.

The Eldritch Knight gets 2 features at 3rd level. Spellcasting is 1 feature. Not 2, 3, or 4. Just 1. The second feature is Weapon Bond, a pure utility feature.

Totem barbarian has 2 features. Spirit Seeker, which grants a very limited, purely utility based pair of spells only as rituals, and Totem Spirit. So again, there are only 2 features.

Thief gains 2 total features at 3rd level, and they're primarily utility based ones. And then 1 feature at 9th, 1 feature at 13th, and 1 feature at 17th.

Arcane Trickster gets 1 feature at 3rd level aside from the Spellcasting feature, and that's Mage Hand Legerdemain, a Purely Utility Based feature. So again, 2 total features at 3rd level. 1 total feature at 9th; the AT doesn't even get to learn any new spells at 9th. At 13th, it learns 1 new spell and gains 3rd level spell slots alongside its Versatile Trickster Ability. That's 2 total features for 13th, as spellcasting progression is all just 1 feature, and Versatile Trickster competes directly with the Rogue's extremely competitive bonus actions. (unlike your current Vanguard and Ironguard's glare, which don't yet compete at all). At 17th, 1 total feature.

Sorcerers are... interesting, as they are really front-loaded. It helps that the cha bonus to interacting with dragons is really niche and circumstantial. In terms of frequency of use, the Dragon sorcerer has more like 2.5 features at 3rd level. Or even 2.1 features. And yes, dragon sorcerers get 2 features at 6th level, although the temporary resistance is very circumstantial. It helps that the mod damage boost is really significant.

So it looks like to me that at most classes and subclasses at most get 2, maaaybe 2.5-3, features in 1 level, and most of the time gets 1 or 2. Improvements to previous features are counted as features for the level it is improved, like the Battlemaster's case.

So I argue that your Fighter Archetype gaining 4 features at 15th level and 5 features at 18th is unprecedented and unjustifiable. Consider that the Fighter at 17th level only gets improvements of 2 features, Action Surge and Indomitable. No additional, new features. Just 2 improvements.

1. Which is at what level? It is at level 17. It the beginning it is going to be 4 or 5. Realistically this is 3 up to 6 rounds of combat per short rest in the end which is less than any Rage. Bonus action attacks will be doing more damage than it can ablate and therefore by the numbers it would be better to go with the attack. By the way Rogues take what would normally be actions into bonus actions so that is a matter of action economy.
2. Why are you bringing up Protection style? That is a Fighting style which is one of the choices at level 2 in which the Fighter gets earlier any way. He can choose it just like any one else. Also Paladins can choose Defense as well.
3. Because you brought it up by inferring it as 6 times better than Evasion even though you failed to bring up the other half of Evasion. If you look at the specifics of those abilities you realize that abilities that allow Dexterity saves have a huge monopoly in partial effects. So it isn't nearly six times better.
4. You want to know why I didn't make a contested check? It is because there is no way I can make a Fighter that will succeed at it as much as a Rogue will without taking out half of my abilities and going outside the concept of the Armiger. Let me say this again it taxes your bonus action to which the enemy could be immune to it or situations could arise in which they aren't fully aware of you on top of what I mentioned before.
5. Rogues can also still get opportunity attacks.
6. Except now you are counting 1 feature as one title. Some of those titles have multiple abilities in them or are versatile options in and of themselves. You were not counting mine in such a manner. You also counted the additional use of Safeguard as another one when you now just said it shouldn't for the other. I also axed the aura improvement before you commented back. My point is value is sometimes more important to consider.

Leuku
2015-05-17, 10:55 AM
1. Which is at what level? It is at level 17. It the beginning it is going to be 4 or 5. Realistically this is 3 up to 6 rounds of combat per short rest in the end which is less than any Rage. Bonus action attacks will be doing more damage than it can ablate and therefore by the numbers it would be better to go with the attack. By the way Rogues take what would normally be actions into bonus actions so that is a matter of action economy.

At early levels, 4 or 5 damage makes the difference between fighting and dying. You should know how swingy early game is. And it's not just 4-5 THP once. It's 4-5 THP again and again and again, until you consume your pool which scales magnificently.

There are not 3 to 6 rounds of combat per short rest. There are on average 2 to 3 encounters per short rest, and each encounter lasts on average 3 to 6 rounds. That's 9 to 18 rounds of combat per short rest. And let's not forget that there are sources of damage outside of encounters, such as traps, falling buildings, doing something stupid, and accidents.

Rages are per long rest, extreme limited use until 20th level.

Vanguard is free THP regenerated every short rest.

Regarding Rogues: What Rogue's reduce in action economy you give away for free. Rogues still require action economy expenditure for Cunning Action. Vanguard as yet does not.

Lastly, bonus action attacks will not necessarily be doing more damage than the THP ablates. Unless you take the two weapon fighting style, bonus action attacks will only be dealing up to 1d6 damage. With a feat, 1d8. That is not necessarily any greater than the THP you get at 3rd level.

If you want the amount of THP you can draw out to scale better, then I suggest making it equal to your Fighter level. At 3rd level, you can as a bonus action give yourself 3 THP. At 10th level, 10 HP. At 20th, 20 hp. This way it makes this subclass a little less MAD regarding Con dependency.


2. Why are you bringing up Protection style? That is a Fighting style which is one of the choices at level 2 in which the Fighter gets earlier any way. He can choose it just like any one else. Also Paladins can choose Defense as well.

I was making general comments about multiple Paladin auras stacking, and how there isn't any specific text outlawing aura stacking but that I would personally rule that multiple paladin auras don't stack at my table. It was just a point of discussion that was tangentially related to your Fighter's Armiger's Ward.

My concern regarding multiple aura stacking was that several Paladins could stand next to each other, each giving +Cha to their saving throws. We could end up with +6 to +12 bonuses to saving throws with 2 to 3 Paladins, which would make it almost impossible for any of them to fail a saving throw.

Then we couple that with Protection fighting style, which has been confirmed that if you stick two players with that style next to each other and put them in a tight corridor, it's almost impossible to take them down. There's nothing wrong with that; it's a legitimate strategy.

But imagine 2 to 3 Paladins with Aura stacking and Protection fighting style.


3. Because you brought it up by inferring it as 6 times better than Evasion even though you failed to bring up the other half of Evasion. If you look at the specifics of those abilities you realize that abilities that allow Dexterity saves have a huge monopoly in partial effects. So it isn't nearly six times better.

Ah, now I understand. Then I suppose it's 3.3 times better, not 6, because it gives you 3 of the most common saves alongside the 3 least common. And you more than make up for the lack of the other half of Evasion through the opportunity attack thing.


4. You want to know why I didn't make a contested check? It is because there is no way I can make a Fighter that will succeed at it as much as a Rogue will without taking out half of my abilities and going outside the concept of the Armiger. Let me say this again it taxes your bonus action to which the enemy could be immune to it or situations could arise in which they aren't fully aware of you on top of what I mentioned before.

Than make it a saving throw. 8 + prof + Str or Dex. Just like Battlemaster. Done. Good to go.


5. Rogues can also still get opportunity attacks.

But that's outside the Rogue's ability to control. That is dependent on what the DM does, not what the Rogue does. A DM could trigger opportunity attacks all the time, or never, depending on the DM's style.


6. Except now you are counting 1 feature as one title. Some of those titles have multiple abilities in them or are versatile options in and of themselves. You were not counting mine in such a manner. You also counted the additional use of Safeguard as another one when you now just said it shouldn't for the other. I also axed the aura improvement before you commented back. My point is value is sometimes more important to consider.

I counted Spellcasting as 1 title, because all of the spellcasting features are interrelated with one another, e.g. cantrips, slots, spells known. The exception being you can have spells known and slots but no cantrips, i.e. Halfcasters.

But your 1 title features have features that are separate from one another. They are independent of one another. So they aren't actually 1 feature; they're several.

I do not recall when I said improved Safeguard shouldn't be included as a feature.

Lastly, regarding Value: my most recent comment prior to this one had a lot to say about Value. Namely, I explained that the classes that receive 2 features in a given level tend to be utility features, i.e. their primary value is outside of combat.

All of your features find their primary value within combat. Combat-focused features are more valuable than Utility-focused features.

If you want multiple features at a given level, gear them more towards utility.

Now that the aura improvement is gone, these are my final recommendations:

Remove the Opportunity Attack part of Bulwark of Opportunity. Giving yourself an additional +1 stackable AC and getting to ignore successful save effects is already potent enough.

Remove one feature from A Mighty Fortress, doesn't matter which one. This will bring your 17th level in line as a level with 3 total features. Rare, but not unheard of.

Amnoriath
2015-05-17, 11:51 AM
At early levels, 4 or 5 damage makes the difference between fighting and dying. You should know how swingy early game is. And it's not just 4-5 THP once. It's 4-5 THP again and again and again, until you consume your pool which scales magnificently.

There are not 3 to 6 rounds of combat per short rest. There are on average 2 to 3 encounters per short rest, and each encounter lasts on average 3 to 6 rounds. That's 9 to 18 rounds of combat per short rest. And let's not forget that there are sources of damage outside of encounters, such as traps, falling buildings, doing something stupid, and accidents.

Rages are per long rest, extreme limited use until 20th level.

Vanguard is free THP regenerated every short rest.

Regarding Rogues: What Rogue's reduce in action economy you give away for free. Rogues still require action economy expenditure for Cunning Action. Vanguard as yet does not.

Lastly, bonus action attacks will not necessarily be doing more damage than the THP ablates. Unless you take the two weapon fighting style, bonus action attacks will only be dealing up to 1d6 damage. With a feat, 1d8. That is not necessarily any greater than the THP you get at 3rd level.

If you want the amount of THP you can draw out to scale better, then I suggest making it equal to your Fighter level. At 3rd level, you can as a bonus action give yourself 3 THP. At 10th level, 10 HP. At 20th, 20 hp. This way it makes this subclass a little less MAD regarding Con dependency.



I was making general comments about multiple Paladin auras stacking, and how there isn't any specific text outlawing aura stacking but that I would personally rule that multiple paladin auras don't stack at my table. It was just a point of discussion that was tangentially related to your Fighter's Armiger's Ward.

My concern regarding multiple aura stacking was that several Paladins could stand next to each other, each giving +Cha to their saving throws. We could end up with +6 to +12 bonuses to saving throws with 2 to 3 Paladins, which would make it almost impossible for any of them to fail a saving throw.

Then we couple that with Protection fighting style, which has been confirmed that if you stick two players with that style next to each other and put them in a tight corridor, it's almost impossible to take them down. There's nothing wrong with that; it's a legitimate strategy.

But imagine 2 to 3 Paladins with Aura stacking and Protection fighting style.



Ah, now I understand. Then I suppose it's 3.3 times better, not 6, because it gives you 3 of the most common saves alongside the 3 least common. And you more than make up for the lack of the other half of Evasion through the opportunity attack thing.



Than make it a saving throw. 8 + prof + Str or Dex. Just like Battlemaster. Done. Good to go.



But that's outside the Rogue's ability to control. That is dependent on what the DM does, not what the Rogue does. A DM could trigger opportunity attacks all the time, or never, depending on the DM's style.



I counted Spellcasting as 1 title, because all of the spellcasting features are interrelated with one another, e.g. cantrips, slots, spells known. The exception being you can have spells known and slots but no cantrips, i.e. Halfcasters.

But your 1 title features have features that are separate from one another. They are independent of one another. So they aren't actually 1 feature; they're several.

I do not recall when I said improved Safeguard shouldn't be included as a feature.

Lastly, regarding Value: my most recent comment prior to this one had a lot to say about Value. Namely, I explained that the classes that receive 2 features in a given level tend to be utility features, i.e. their primary value is outside of combat.

All of your features find their primary value within combat. Combat-focused features are more valuable than Utility-focused features.

If you want multiple features at a given level, gear them more towards utility.

Now that the aura improvement is gone, these are my final recommendations:

Remove the Opportunity Attack part of Bulwark of Opportunity. Giving yourself an additional +1 stackable AC and getting to ignore successful save effects is already potent enough.

Remove one feature from A Mighty Fortress, doesn't matter which one. This will bring your 17th level in line as a level with 3 total features. Rare, but not unheard of.

1. You have just made my point. You have just demonstrated that Vanguard can barely last an encounter much less additional ones per short rest. Rage though can ablate more damage because it both lasts longer and applies to any damage resistance applies which only increases with Bear Totem spirit.
2. Ability scores max at 20, and the aura of protection is not relevant to the +2 AC increase.
3. No it is even less because mentally based ones don't have partial effects period while the Strength and Constitution ones that do are rare by comparison to the Dexterity based ones that allow a partial save.
4. No, saving throws have a 65% chance of success on those who are proficient of an equivalent level and relevant attribute scores. When looking at enemies of relevant CR it only increases. The Rogue though has a base 30% advantage over other non-skill monkey's on top of a guaranteed roll of 10. Trading an extra attack or other additional action each time is a very reasonable cost as it is.
5. If the Rogue has advantage to begin with by definition it will be harder to make or rationalize the choice not to provoke.
6. It does, it just doesn't use something as precious as a bonus action. Items could be brought out, picked up. Honestly how could you compare the kind of extra actions a Rogue can take with a few points of THP? I said this before an attack will be better. Remember there is still Polearm Master and the weapon would be magical/special at that point by any reasonable rationale.
7. Versatility and Utility aren't the same thing always. Versatility means it can do various things which definitely could apply in combat to affect the surroundings or most certainly the objective.
8. You treated superiority die or other increases as a bit of a non feature to not include in numbers of others yet you treated my Safeguard as that.
9. No, you need to prove it to be unbalanced in comparison to other classes that do well before I consider doing so.

Leuku
2015-05-17, 02:03 PM
1. You have just made my point. You have just demonstrated that Vanguard can barely last an encounter much less additional ones per short rest. Rage though can ablate more damage because it both lasts longer and applies to any damage resistance applies which only increases with Bear Totem spirit.

Rage is a Class feature, not a Subclass feature. Bear Totem is a subclass feature that specifically enhances its class feature.

Vanguard is a Stand-alone feature - it does not interact with any pre-existing fighter feature.

Rage has many limitations and constricted resources. Vanguard has little limitation and wider resources.

Rage requires a bonus action to enter. Vanguard is free.

My argument: Vanguard should require a bonus action, and it should have a better scaling cap as I previously recommend.

And let's not forget that Vanguard isn't only THP. It's got a difficult terrain thing going.


2. Ability scores max at 20, and the aura of protection is not relevant to the +2 AC increase.

I do not understand why you are mentioning the ability score max nor the +2 AC increase. My comments regarding Aura Stacking were comments about the Paladin in general, not condemnation nor criticism of this fighter subclass. Is it the case that you construe everything I say as an attack against your subclass's balance?


3. No it is even less because mentally based ones don't have partial effects period while the Strength and Constitution ones that do are rare by comparison to the Dexterity based ones that allow a partial save.

Looking through my PHB, that does appear to be true regarding Wisdom. Alright, it's good to go. I still recommend getting rid of the opportunity attack thing.


4. No, saving throws have a 65% chance of success on those who are proficient of an equivalent level and relevant attribute scores. When looking at enemies of relevant CR it only increases. The Rogue though has a base 30% advantage over other non-skill monkey's on top of a guaranteed roll of 10. Trading an extra attack or other additional action each time is a very reasonable cost as it is.

Why does the Swashbuckler get to use a contested check, something it is good at, rather than a saving throw? Because Panache requires an entire Action. The Rogue is trading ALL of its attack for its turn to use Panache. The Rogue becomes locked out of using its primary feature, Sneak Attack, on its turn to get to use the powerful Panache. It's like if the Barbarian had a feature that locked it out of using Rage.

But what is the Fighter locked out of? A chance to use Second Wind? A weapon attack if they happen to be two weapon fighting? That's about it. Nothing significant. There's no guarantee that this fighter will be two-weapon fighting; it's not really built around two-weapon fighting anyways. It's pretty straightforwardly built as a Sword and Board, although a great weapon fighter would get good mileage out of this subclass as well.

You said earlier that unlike Panache, Iron Guard's Glare allows the creature to run away. But as this Fighter Subtype you would want the creature to run away. Either it's 1 less creature to deal with in the encounter for a round, or it triggers opportunity attacks, because you made it unable to disengage. The creature being able to run away is a good thing with how Iron Guard's Glare is set up.

And lastly, Auto-hit features in 5e are very rare. The only one I'm currently aware of is Magic Missile.


5. If the Rogue has advantage to begin with by definition it will be harder to make or rationalize the choice not to provoke.

? The rogue has advantage by definition on... what? You mean if the Rogue had advantage on an opportunity attack in a situation where it was the enemy's turn? The most common thing for DMs, especially inexperienced DMs, to do is for the monster to just simply not move anywhere at all and attack the rogue. Slightly more experienced DM's would have it disengage. Experienced DMs would judge the situation based on context, story, and monster psychology - "How would the enemy be feeling? Scared? Angry? Determined? What would they do based on what they know and feel in this situation?" If the Swashbuckler has Panache active on the creature, the creature couldn't trigger opportunity attacks anyways, because the creature can't willfully move farther from the Swashbuckler.


6. It does, it just doesn't use something as precious as a bonus action. Items could be brought out, picked up. Honestly how could you compare the kind of extra actions a Rogue can take with a few points of THP? I said this before an attack will be better. Remember there is still Polearm Master and the weapon would be magical/special at that point by any reasonable rationale.

And I argued that an attack would not necessarily be better, especially if you aren't a two-weapon fighting fighter to begin with.

"Items could be brought out, picked up..." Are you referring to Mage Hand Legerdemain? It's hard to follow what you are saying sometimes because you don't really provide context to what you're saying.

Anyways, Mage Hand Legerdemain is Primarily a Utility feature. Vanguard is Not. Vanguard is entirely a Combat feature. Combat features have more straightforward value than Utility features.

Rogues fiddling with extra equipment will not necessarily save the Rogue from dropping to 0. THP will save anybody from dropping to 0. There is more value in being able to stay alive than there is in being able to more easily pickpocket a person. Sometimes the two will intersect, but not necessarily. THP has more straightforward Combat value than the Rogue's Utility features.

What about Polearm Master? How does Polearm Master factor in to the balance of this fighter subclass? How does any feat factor in to the balance of this fighter subclass?

There is no reasonable rational that states that any weapon will necessarily be magical or special at any point in time. 5th Edition assumes that magic items will be employed with certain rarities at certain levels, but it does not assume that any of these items need to give any kind of numerical bonus to combat. Magical item bonuses are not a necessary part of the combat math progression as it was in 4e. You could have an entire 20 level campaign that had swords spitting fire and shields raising islands and not have any of these items give a bonus to attack or damage or AC, and the players wouldn't miss a thing. You could have an entire campaign not have any magic equipment at all and the players wouldn't necessarily miss a thing. Except a bit of fun.


7. Versatility and Utility aren't the same thing always. Versatility means it can do various things which definitely could apply in combat to affect the surroundings or most certainly the objective.

The weakness of Versatility/Utility is that it never necessarily factors in to combat. It can, but does not necessarily. Look at the Champion's 7th level Utility feature Remarkable Athlete. Will being able to add half your proficiency to Str, Dex, and Con ability checks and jump farther than normal factor in to any given combat? Maaaaybe. But not necessarily.

Will THP factor in to virtually every single combat ever? Yes.


8. You treated superiority die or other increases as a bit of a non feature to not include in numbers of others yet you treated my Safeguard as that.

I have not treated superiority die increases as non features. I have treated them as full features. Allow me to quote myself:


Consider the Battlemaster Fighter who doesn't get anything unique at 18th level, because the battlemaster's maneuver die improves to 1d12 at 18th level. - Leuku

Here, I said that the maneuver die improvement is not unique. That doesn't make it a non-feature. That makes it an uninteresting feature.

The Battlemaster has 2 things that happens at 15th level: Gains maneuvers and improves superiority die.

That's it.


Good point about Battlemasters. Also a good point that despite gaining 2 maneuvers alongside a better superiority die, it still doesn't scale that well, meaning there is a weakness in the Battlemaster receiving... "3" things at a level. Although I wouldn't really consider it 3 total things, because two of the things depend on the limited resources of the 1. Like a wizard adding 2 spells to their spellbook every wizard level; that isn't the wizard gaining 2 features. That's the wizard getting 1 feature. - Leuku

Here I said that the Battlemaster learning 2 maneuvers is not two things happening. Rather, it's 1 thing happening. Gaining 2 maneuvers, like learning 2 new spells every wizard level, is One feature.

Your fighter's 15th level has 4 things that happen. Improved difficult terrain range, +1 AC, save effect mitigation, and opportunity attack thing.

At 18th level, 4 things happen. Improved Safeguard, Resistance, Enhanced Cover, and Improved Vanguard.


9. No, you need to prove it to be unbalanced in comparison to other classes that do well before I consider doing so.

I've been giving examples and comparisons to other classes this entire time. I've explained feature distribution and value of combat vs. utility.

Here's me comparing your subclass' number of features to the number of features present in other classes:


The Eldritch Knight gets 2 features at 3rd level. Spellcasting is 1 feature. Not 2, 3, or 4. Just 1. The second feature is Weapon Bond, a pure utility feature.

Totem barbarian has 2 features. Spirit Seeker, which grants a very limited, purely utility based pair of spells only as rituals, and Totem Spirit. So again, there are only 2 features.

Thief gains 2 total features at 3rd level, and they're primarily utility based ones. And then 1 feature at 9th, 1 feature at 13th, and 1 feature at 17th.

Arcane Trickster gets 1 feature at 3rd level aside from the Spellcasting feature, and that's Mage Hand Legerdemain, a Purely Utility Based feature. So again, 2 total features at 3rd level. 1 total feature at 9th; the AT doesn't even get to learn any new spells at 9th. At 13th, it learns 1 new spell and gains 3rd level spell slots alongside its Versatile Trickster Ability. That's 2 total features for 13th, as spellcasting progression is all just 1 feature, and Versatile Trickster competes directly with the Rogue's extremely competitive bonus actions. (unlike your current Vanguard and Ironguard's glare, which don't yet compete at all). At 17th, 1 total feature.

Sorcerers are... interesting, as they are really front-loaded. It helps that the cha bonus to interacting with dragons is really niche and circumstantial. In terms of frequency of use, the Dragon sorcerer has more like 2.5 features at 3rd level. Or even 2.1 features. And yes, dragon sorcerers get 2 features at 6th level, although the temporary resistance is very circumstantial. It helps that the mod damage boost is really significant.

So it looks like to me that at most classes and subclasses at most get 2, maaaybe 2.5-3, features in 1 level, and most of the time gets 1 or 2. Improvements to previous features are counted as features for the level it is improved, like the Battlemaster's case.

So I argue that your Fighter Archetype gaining 4 features at 15th level and 5 features at 18th is unprecedented and unjustifiable. Consider that the Fighter at 17th level only gets improvements of 2 features, Action Surge and Indomitable. No additional, new features. Just 2 improvements.

It is absolutely the case that Number of Features in a Given Level factors greatly in to the balance of a class. To give 2 features in one level to a class, often it becomes almost necessarily true that one of those two features is Utility, and often both of them are Utility.

Not a single one of your features is utility. They're all Combat oriented.

At least Panache charms non-hostiles, so even it has a utility feature.