Fighter-what next?

[skribbels]

This is my first character I've ever made and I'm starting to realize he won't scale well. So as he stands now he's a lvl 6 Dragonborn champion fighter specializing in two weapon fighting. I took the dual wielding feat. My stats are:
Strength-20
Dex-12
Con-20
Int-12
Wis-14
Charisma-13

I'd love to be able to have a bit more versatility than just straight hitting something 3 times each round (it's getting a bit boring). I'm the tank of the group right now and the only real melee guy. What good trajectories can I go on to add options but also maintain the reckless/in the middle of the action fighting that I've been doing?

(Other party members are a death cleric, rogue3/ranger3, dex fighter, and a wizard so they stay back as much as possible).

[R.Shackleford]

This is my first character I've ever made and I'm starting to realize he won't scale well. So as he stands now he's a lvl 6 Dragonborn champion fighter specializing in two weapon fighting. I took the dual wielding feat. My stats are:
Strength-20
Dex-12
Con-20
Int-12
Wis-14
Charisma-13

I'd love to be able to have a bit more versatility than just straight hitting something 3 times each round (it's getting a bit boring). I'm the tank of the group right now and the only real melee guy. What good trajectories can I go on to add options but also maintain the reckless/in the middle of the action fighting that I've been doing?

(Other party members are a death cleric, rogue3/ranger3, dex fighter, and a wizard so they stay back as much as possible).

I feel your pain and I'm sorry you had to go through this :(. I hope you aren't in Adventure League...

Can you retrain your ability scores? Drop a +2 from con and put it over in Wisdom.

How long will the game last? What's the expected end level?

Even if you can't I'm going to say to go Light Cleric. You will get some blasty spells in addition to some buff and utility spells.

With a low Wis blasty spells aren't so bad as you will always do something with your spell. You really don't need an 18 spellcasting mod until around level 10 as creatures saves are... on the low side.

Use Command, Burning Hands, Healing Word, and whatever else.

You can fluff this as Bahamut liked you so much you are now a cleric, you don't really get a choice :P. Your blasty spells are just improved breath weapons.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Three levels of (Lore) Bard might be the strongest increase utility-wise-- you get four new skills, two with Expertise and half Proficiency to everything else; two cantrips and a handful of spells from the Bard's utility-heavy list; and... well, Bardic Inspiration isn't great with a 13 Ca, but you're still pretty close to the beginning of your career! At Bard 4 get another cantrip and Actor, to bring your Cha up to a +2 modifier and get those utility gems. Bard 5 will upgrade Inspiration to being short-rest based so you can actually start using them like a mini-Battle Master, Bard 6 gets Magical Secrets, and, well... yeah, Bard. Just avoid anything with a save and you'll be fine.

Knowledge Cleric is another good utility booster-- two proficiencies with Expertise for one level, and the ability to pick up exactly the skill or tool you need 1/short rest for two levels.

Two or three levels of Moon Druid would get you a handful of spells and two Wild Shapes per short rest, which is a phenomenal fun. Your fighter combat skills and multiattack would continue to work in animal form too, if you so desired. I mean, I wouldn't, because your hit points will be way behind, but it's an option-- and so, so many ways being an animal can help you out in noncombat situations. And hey, it's an easy 70-some temporary hit points if you use both in a fight.

[MaxWilson]

This is my first character I've ever made and I'm starting to realize he won't scale well. So as he stands now he's a lvl 6 Dragonborn champion fighter specializing in two weapon fighting. I took the dual wielding feat. My stats are:
Strength-20
Dex-12
Con-20
Int-12
Wis-14
Charisma-13

I'd love to be able to have a bit more versatility than just straight hitting something 3 times each round (it's getting a bit boring). I'm the tank of the group right now and the only real melee guy. What good trajectories can I go on to add options but also maintain the reckless/in the middle of the action fighting that I've been doing?

(Other party members are a death cleric, rogue3/ranger3, dex fighter, and a wizard so they stay back as much as possible).

Hmmm. The most interesting possibility I can think of is to be a great big Dragonborn Champion Fighter who is also sometimes a Rhinoceros or Giant Constrictor Snake (Moon Druid 6) making two attacks per round (because Extra Attack works in Wildshape) and/or summoning wolf packs (Conjure Animals) or throwing down crowd control spells (Spike Growth). You're still in the thick of the fighting that way. If you wanted to you also have the stats to multiclass to Sorcerer 3 for Quicken Spell so that you can run up to an enemy, hit him with your main weapon, and then Quicken Spike Growth around you to prevent anyone else from interfering with your duel. For your other metamagic I'd recommend Careful so you can Careful Web to create PC-friendly terrain--your spell DC won't be terrific due to not pumping Charisma, but you'll still have DC 13-15 due to proficiency bonus, and most monsters don't have high Dexterity so will often fail the Web saving throw. PCs of course will never fail the saving throw because it's Careful.

When you feel particularly like being reckless/in the thick of it, you can use your Str 20 and high Athletics (you are trained in Athletics, right?) to grapple an enemy with one of your Extra Attacks, then use your bonus action to shapeshift into a Giant Eagle (80' flight, halved for grappling a Medium/Large creature) and then drag your enemy 40' over your own Spike Growth from the previous round for a cool 16d4 (40) of extra damage. Possibly Action Surge Dash for another 16d4 (40) on top of that. Giant Eagles are only AC 13/26 HP so your enemy will probably knock you back into fighter shape next turn, but eh, who cares? You're still a fighter in plate armor, and you just did a ton of damage to him last turn.

Other druid spells like Pass Without Trace and Enhance Ability will also help you out of combat, and Goodberry is nice both for healing and for keeping the party alive (with Create Water) in the wilderness/Underdark. Longstrider is neat, and also incidentally increases your Spike Growth/drag damage by another 2d4 (4d4 counting Action Surge) because your Eagle move goes up to 90'.

Sorcerer spells like Blur and Invisibility will increase your fightery tankiness/sneakiness by quite a bit.

So, given your stats and your desire to branch out, I'd recommend that you try to wind up eventually as a Champion 11/Moon Druid 6/Sorcerer 3, and front-load the Moon Druid levels. Aim for Champion 6/Moon Druid 6 by level 12. Use those druid levels to be even more reckless/fightery/in-the-thick-of-it than you were before.

Edit: another option would be to skip Sorcerer and aim for Champion 12/Moon Druid 6/Barbarian 2, for Reckless Attack/Rage. Gets even better if you take GWM somewhere along the way. A Champion that crits on 19, 20 with advantage from Reckless Attacking and three attacks will be triggering that bonus action attack from crits just about every other round even not counting that it also triggers on a kill. Plus, now you can be a Raging Rhinoceros. Go down this road if it sounds like more fun to you than the defensive Sorcerer route--but remember that Rage and spell concentration are mutually exclusive. The downside to the Barbarian route is that it doesn't do much with your current dual-weapon fighting specialization, but oh well, you can be a switch hitter.

Edit2: oops, I forgot that Giant Eagles aren't accessible until 8th level as Moon Druid because of their flight speed. You can do a Giant Constrictor Snake instead. With Longstrider, you still get 40' move and 16d4 damage. The downside is that because you aren't flying, you (as the snake) also take that damage at the same time as the guy you're dragging. But they're not real HP anyway--gotta spend 'em somehow!

[jas61292]

Well, fortunately for you, you have 13+ in both Wis and Cha, giving you plenty of options for multiclassing. Others have mentioned some ideas that can expand your options, but if you want more options without sacrificing your primary role as a melee combatant, an option I might suggest would be taking some Paladin levels. A single level is not going to expand your options as much as Cleric or Bard would, but after a few levels, you can have significantly more versatility, both in and out of combat, while actually gaining strength in the things you already do, by picking up a second fighitng style (probably defense) and being able to augment your offense with smites. And while Charisma is super nice for a Paladin, if you are happy with it being just a secondary part of your character, and not their defining aspect, you really don't need it.

That said, in 5e, its hard to screw up a build to the point that it is actually bad. You have all the core features of a fighter already so if you are interested in multiclassing,you can take at least a little bit of just about anything you can qualify for (anything but Monk, Rogue, Ranger and Wizard) to expand your options without really hurting yourself.

[Specter]

Well' Barbarian is the natural smash option, but doesn't add much other than growling and foaming.

The most "natural" paths that you can follow with your stats would be either Paladin or War Cleric. Both are good, but that first Paladin level is probably the worst of all classes, so I'd go War Cleric. Take no-save, no attack spells, of course.

And there's also the option of no multiclassing at all, and taking a feat like Magic Initiate/Ritual Caster/Skilled, that gives you more stuff to do in and out of combat.

[R.Shackleford]

Well' Barbarian is the natural smash option, but doesn't add much other than growling and foaming.

The most "natural" paths that you can follow with your stats would be either Paladin or War Cleric. Both are good, but that first Paladin level is probably the worst of all classes, so I'd go War Cleric. Take no-save, no attack spells, of course.

And there's also the option of no multiclassing at all, and taking a feat like Magic Initiate/Ritual Caster/Skilled, that gives you more stuff to do in and out of combat.

Why would OP want to go war cleric or paladin? Their main thing is to get into melee, the OP already is a melee champion.

OP should focus on spells that don't offer saves OR spells that offer lesser effects if the target does save. Add some spice to the glorious dragon of war.

(also in my head I feel like this should be read in Frank's voice from China IL)

[RickAllison]

I really wish OP's character had one higher Int, the UA Artificer would be great to get more utility and non-spellcasting stat abilities. 1d4 hours of Enlarge is great for someone whose thing is hitting often rather than hard. Alas...

[R.Shackleford]

I really wish OP's character had one higher Int, the UA Artificer would be great to get more utility and non-spellcasting stat abilities. 1d4 hours of Enlarge is great for someone whose thing is hitting often rather than hard. Alas...

Enlarge just leads right back to the issue OP is having. The OP has already said that the *I move and hit* ideology of the fighter is boring them.

There are other things the UA artificer could help with but that spell isn't going to help.

[Specter]

Why would OP want to go war cleric or paladin? Their main thing is to get into melee, the OP already is a melee champion.

OP should focus on spells that don't offer saves OR spells that offer lesser effects if the target does save. Add some spice to the glorious dragon of war.

(also in my head I feel like this should be read in Frank's voice from China IL)

Except you get Turn Undead, cantrips and tons of spells. What you do with that is up to you. Of course you get another domain, but War is a logic roleplaying path for a Champion. As a DM I'd find a fighter who just gets knowledgeable or trickstery out of the blue to be very lame.

[RickAllison]

Enlarge just leads right back to the issue OP is having. The OP has already said that the *I move and hit* ideology of the fighter is boring them.

There are other things the UA artificer could help with but that spell isn't going to help.

Oh I figured that wouldn't help with that, but it is a nice bonus that it helps with his combat style as well! Other things it helps with would be control (Athletics proficiency?) and protection (larger wall between the enemies and the squishies). The other potions are also great for supporting individual allies while keeping larger buffs in play for everyone.

[R.Shackleford]

Except you get Turn Undead, cantrips and tons of spells. What you do with that is up to you. Of course you get another domain, but War is a logic roleplaying path for a Champion. As a DM I'd find a fighter who just gets knowledgeable or trickstery out of the blue to be very lame.

Logic has nonolace when it comes to roleolaying. I've played a Knowledge Cleric with 8 Int due to being the "chosen one" even if my character hated studying.

The OP wants to branch out, war/Paladin keeps the OP right where the OP is at.

Knowledge, Arcane, Tempest, or Light would be the better domains. You can fluff anything to fit if you try.

Tempest Domain? Bahamut is pleased with you and gives you new breath weapon features (divine domain spells).

Fog cloud Breath is one of my favorites.

[MaxWilson]

Enlarge just leads right back to the issue OP is having. The OP has already said that the *I move and hit* ideology of the fighter is boring them.

There are other things the UA artificer could help with but that spell isn't going to help.

The ideology of the fighter is a little bit more complex than that: "I move and hit and grab people by the chin and throw them prone and beat them while they're down and throw people off cliffs and Disarm them and kick their weapons out of reach and grab their weapons out of their hands and beat wolves to death with the bodies of other wolves and then lead my men in a victory dance on their graves."

N.b. RE: "my men", this particular Champion has a high enough Charisma (Cha 13) to qualify for the Inspiring Leader feat, which goes really well with a squad of hirelings, both in the tactical sense and in the sense that a track record of not losing many men really will increase morale and loyalty over time. +7 HP per short rest isn't that much for a PC, but for a 10 HP Guard it's huge.

[djreynolds]

This is my first character I've ever made and I'm starting to realize he won't scale well. So as he stands now he's a lvl 6 Dragonborn champion fighter specializing in two weapon fighting. I took the dual wielding feat. My stats are:
Strength-20
Dex-12
Con-20
Int-12
Wis-14
Charisma-13

I'd love to be able to have a bit more versatility than just straight hitting something 3 times each round (it's getting a bit boring). I'm the tank of the group right now and the only real melee guy. What good trajectories can I go on to add options but also maintain the reckless/in the middle of the action fighting that I've been doing?

(Other party members are a death cleric, rogue3/ranger3, dex fighter, and a wizard so they stay back as much as possible).

What Mr Shackleford is saying, I think, is you already have 2 attacks. You have con save proficiency and plate armor. So there is no point is grabbing more warrior classes. Grab something game changing. You are a dragonborn, well grab some draconic sorcerer

Now grab sorcerer, why not draconic, who cares you'll be wearing plate anyhow, and you must grab the war caster feat. Now grab some utility spells that can be twinned for you and that nasty rogue, or go ahead and haste that nasty rogue and the dex fighter. You also get the shield spell and firebolt for ranged attacks, and shocking grasp is awesome. Why? crack somebody with this spell they lose their reaction and the rogue doesn't have to waste his cunning action on disengage.

2 levels of paladin will get you some smites, some healing spells, the defensive style also for +1 AC, I assume you took the two-weapon fighting style. This little dip can wait, but will add some pop you want. And you only need 2 levels, for a 3rd grab devotion as sacred weapon is not concentration and hunter's mark will eat up concentration for haste and stuff.

[Sir cryosin]

Take 3 or more lvs in warlock at 3rd lv pick pact of tome to get cantrips and switch one invocation for the book of Shadows for ritual spells.

[SigmaOne]

If it's a home game, have you considered approaching your DM and asking to retcon/switch to battle master? It's barely a retcon, since there is little that would have to change about your character, except dropping swapping out one feature for another. The battle master gives you a variety of additional options in battle (note: some of those things, like trip and disarm, along with grapple, you can be trying anyway, as a champion; don't let the listed features of your class limit the kinds of actions your character tries to take! You just don't get the superiority die.) You could swap out one of your two feats for martial adept to give you another superiority die and two more martial options.

This way you don't lose the heavy melee that you love and don't have to "jump ship" into another class... multiclassing because there's something you *want* or because it makes sense in character is fun; multiclassing because you don't like what you've got is not so fun.

[R.Shackleford]

If it's a home game, have you considered approaching your DM and asking to retcon/switch to battle master? It's barely a retcon, since there is little that would have to change about your character, except dropping swapping out one feature for another. The battle master gives you a variety of additional options in battle (note: some of those things, like trip and disarm, along with grapple, you can be trying anyway, as a champion; don't let the listed features of your class limit the kinds of actions your character tries to take! You just don't get the superiority die.) You could swap out one of your two feats for martial adept to give you another superiority die and two more martial options.

This way you don't lose the heavy melee that you love and don't have to "jump ship" into another class... multiclassing because there's something you *want* or because it makes sense in character is fun; multiclassing because you don't like what you've got is not so fun.

This doesn't really change the character.

The combat system is still *I move and hit* and with BM it is *I move and hit a little harder and with non-scaling bare bones abilities*. Plus the BM has this winky "well I forgot how to do this" mechanic where they can damage + Trip but run out of "maneuver dice" but still be able to use features like indomitable, action surge, and extra attack... Like those don't take extra ebmnergy or something. The BM isn't designed very well at all.

The BM fighter maneuvers aren't even worth first level spells. And you keep these maneuvers your entire career! Well, maybe menacing attack and trip but trip is something you can already do (Attack Action: Attack + Trip + TWF Bonus Action Attack).

You aren't really changing the character. You are still that warrior who plays like a warrior.

If the combat system was more in-depth and dynamic y'all might have a point but the combat system in D&D is very bare bones. Reducing an attack down to "I move and hit" is really sad (this is something D&D, and even 4e, has done).

They went overly simplistic with this back in the day and it hasn't been allowed to evolve with the times unlike magic.

If the options for the attack actions were extended on the base level... Jab, Haymaker, Hook, Uppercut, Foot Stomp, Roundhouse, Spartan Chest Kick, Neck Chop... You could see an interesting combo system put in where base combat has options (each having a specific effect on a target).

But then again the players, especially martials, are being told to hurry the hell up when playing this game. (i wanna make a Senic joke)

In a game that glorifies damage and sets up rocket tag ... A lot of ideologies get shifted.

I'm actually experimenting (i do this a lot :) yay groups) on giving monsters a seperate pool of health. Having maneuvers land on them depletes this pool of health.

Much like if I throw someone to the ground three or four times they are going to feel it. First time may be easy to shrug off but after that it starts to hurt. Same thing with pushing and grappling (this can represent choke holds and other holds).

The point is that the answer to *I'm bored with martial options* isn't MOAR MARTIAL OPTIONS.

That's like saying I don't like bannanas so the answer is obviously MOAR BANANNAS.

[skribbels]

Hmmm. The most interesting possibility I can think of is to be a great big Dragonborn Champion Fighter who is also sometimes a Rhinoceros or Giant Constrictor Snake (Moon Druid 6) making two attacks per round (because Extra Attack works in Wildshape) and/or summoning wolf packs (Conjure Animals) or throwing down crowd control spells (Spike Growth). You're still in the thick of the fighting that way. If you wanted to you also have the stats to multiclass to Sorcerer 3 for Quicken Spell so that you can run up to an enemy, hit him with your main weapon, and then Quicken Spike Growth around you to prevent anyone else from interfering with your duel. For your other metamagic I'd recommend Careful so you can Careful Web to create PC-friendly terrain--your spell DC won't be terrific due to not pumping Charisma, but you'll still have DC 13-15 due to proficiency bonus, and most monsters don't have high Dexterity so will often fail the Web saving throw. PCs of course will never fail the saving throw because it's Careful.

When you feel particularly like being reckless/in the thick of it, you can use your Str 20 and high Athletics (you are trained in Athletics, right?) to grapple an enemy with one of your Extra Attacks, then use your bonus action to shapeshift into a Giant Eagle (80' flight, halved for grappling a Medium/Large creature) and then drag your enemy 40' over your own Spike Growth from the previous round for a cool 16d4 (40) of extra damage. Possibly Action Surge Dash for another 16d4 (40) on top of that. Giant Eagles are only AC 13/26 HP so your enemy will probably knock you back into fighter shape next turn, but eh, who cares? You're still a fighter in plate armor, and you just did a ton of damage to him last turn.

Other druid spells like Pass Without Trace and Enhance Ability will also help you out of combat, and Goodberry is nice both for healing and for keeping the party alive (with Create Water) in the wilderness/Underdark. Longstrider is neat, and also incidentally increases your Spike Growth/drag damage by another 2d4 (4d4 counting Action Surge) because your Eagle move goes up to 90'.

Sorcerer spells like Blur and Invisibility will increase your fightery tankiness/sneakiness by quite a bit.

So, given your stats and your desire to branch out, I'd recommend that you try to wind up eventually as a Champion 11/Moon Druid 6/Sorcerer 3, and front-load the Moon Druid levels. Aim for Champion 6/Moon Druid 6 by level 12. Use those druid levels to be even more reckless/fightery/in-the-thick-of-it than you were before.

Edit: another option would be to skip Sorcerer and aim for Champion 12/Moon Druid 6/Barbarian 2, for Reckless Attack/Rage. Gets even better if you take GWM somewhere along the way. A Champion that crits on 19, 20 with advantage from Reckless Attacking and three attacks will be triggering that bonus action attack from crits just about every other round even not counting that it also triggers on a kill. Plus, now you can be a Raging Rhinoceros. Go down this road if it sounds like more fun to you than the defensive Sorcerer route--but remember that Rage and spell concentration are mutually exclusive. The downside to the Barbarian route is that it doesn't do much with your current dual-weapon fighting specialization, but oh well, you can be a switch hitter.

Edit2: oops, I forgot that Giant Eagles aren't accessible until 8th level as Moon Druid because of their flight speed. You can do a Giant Constrictor Snake instead. With Longstrider, you still get 40' move and 16d4 damage. The downside is that because you aren't flying, you (as the snake) also take that damage at the same time as the guy you're dragging. But they're not real HP anyway--gotta spend 'em somehow!

Ok I'm loving the wild shape possibilities. But from what I can tell there's no loop hole to getting around the metal armor which means my AC will drop by 5. I might be able to make it a wash with the extra HP from the animals. How does extra attack work on creatures that already have multi attack (thinking about the bear's bite/claw combo)?

[RickAllison]

Ok I'm loving the wild shape possibilities. But from what I can tell there's no loop hole to getting around the metal armor which means my AC will drop by 5. I might be able to make it a wash with the extra HP from the animals. How does extra attack work on creatures that already have multi attack (thinking about the bear's bite/claw combo)?

Extra Attack does not interact with Multiattack in any way. Any moon Druid 9 can get three attacks with the Giant Scorpion (and maybe other forms?) but a Fighter 11/Druid X gets that many in any form with all options. The Scorpion in his hands could also just strike three times with his stinger. If a friend can knock a creature prone beforehand, a Giant Elk with extra attack gets to make all of them with the hooves (hello, 4d8 damage dice).

[Grod_The_Giant]

Ok I'm loving the wild shape possibilities. But from what I can tell there's no loop hole to getting around the metal armor which means my AC will drop by 5. I might be able to make it a wash with the extra HP from the animals. How does extra attack work on creatures that already have multi attack (thinking about the bear's bite/claw combo)?
You could presumably have someone put barding on you

[MaxWilson]

Ok I'm loving the wild shape possibilities. But from what I can tell there's no loop hole to getting around the metal armor which means my AC will drop by 5. I might be able to make it a wash with the extra HP from the animals. How does extra attack work on creatures that already have multi attack (thinking about the bear's bite/claw combo)?

Ouch, I had forgotten about the armor thing. I see two possibilities: seek out non-metal armor (2nd edition had dragon-skin armor which was way better than plate armor anyway; also you could make armor from bulette hide and such) and wear that, or (ick) ask your DM for an exemption on the metal armor thing based on the strength of this ruling (http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/rules-answers-march-2016):


What happens if a druid wears metal armor? The druid explodes.

Well, not actually. Druids have a taboo against wearing metal armor and wielding a metal shield. The taboo has been part of the class’s story since the class first appeared in Eldritch Wizardry (1976) and the original Player’s Handbook (1978). The idea is that druids prefer to be protected by animal skins, wood, and other natural materials that aren’t the worked metal that is associated with civilization. Druids don’t lack the ability to wear metal armor. They choose not to wear it. This choice is part of their identity as a mystical order. Think of it in these terms: a vegetarian can eat meat, but the vegetarian chooses not to.

A druid typically wears leather, studded leather, or hide armor, and if a druid comes across scale mail made of a material other than metal, the druid might wear it. If you feel strongly about your druid breaking the taboo and donning metal, talk to your DM. Each class has story elements mixed with its game features; the two types of design go hand-in-hand in D&D, and the story parts are stronger in some classes than in others. Druids and paladins have an especially strong dose of story in their design. If you want to depart from your class’s story, your DM has the final say on how far you can go and still be considered a member of the class. As long as you abide by your character’s proficiencies, you’re not going to break anything in the game system, but you might undermine the story and the world being created in your campaign.

If neither of those two options would work out at your table, I'd reluctantly have to advise you to give up on the druid idea and pick something else. Losing abilities via multiclassing is no fun in the 5E ruleset.

As far as Extra Attack goes--as others have said, it doesn't interact with Multiattack, because Extra Attack works only with the Attack action, not Multiattack. You can Attack and get Extra Attacks with one of your attacks, which is great if you've got one big attack like a Rhino or a Giant Constrictor Snake (http://www.5esrd.com/gamemastering/monsters-foes/monsters-alphabetical/monsters-a/animals/animal-snake-giant-constrictor) (and then you'd possibly get a third attack via opportunity attack, especially if you have Sentinel). But a Brown Bear is out of luck, relatively speaking.

[Slipperychicken]

This is my first character I've ever made and I'm starting to realize he won't scale well. So as he stands now he's a lvl 6 Dragonborn champion fighter specializing in two weapon fighting. I took the dual wielding feat. My stats are:
Strength-20
Dex-12
Con-20
Int-12
Wis-14
Charisma-13

I'd love to be able to have a bit more versatility than just straight hitting something 3 times each round (it's getting a bit boring). I'm the tank of the group right now and the only real melee guy. What good trajectories can I go on to add options but also maintain the reckless/in the middle of the action fighting that I've been doing?

You ever try grappling enemies and shoving them prone? Use the climb atop option for big enemies? Disarming enemies?

You have the strength to do a lot of combat maneuvers. Melee can have variety if you want it.

[SigmaOne]

This doesn't really change the character.

The point is that the answer to *I'm bored with martial options* isn't MOAR MARTIAL OPTIONS.



I was responding to OP; OP never said "I'm bored with martial options", so I don't really know where your response is coming from. OP said they were playing a champion, and the only complaints they made were "just hitting something is getting boring", they'd like "a little more versatility", and the champion "won't scale well". Nothing in the post indicated boredom with martial options in general. Maybe they'd like their attack to frighten their enemies, or trip their enemy and give advantage to their friends, or heal their friends up to 5 times per short rest, etc, etc.. If OP doesn't like my idea, they can ignore it. I don't really care about *your* opinion on this, and I didn't ask for it. I certainly didn't come here to get into an argument about the values of the various fighter subclass mechanics. If you can't keep your rants to yourself at least try to do so without insulting the person you're responding to.