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Artagon
2016-09-30, 06:21 PM
Hi guys, here's my first attempt at a slight change to the Fighter to make the sub-classes seem more universally interesting. Champion always felt like the boring version of Fighter, one which I'd never play because they have nothing thematic or interesting to truly set them apart. Sure, they were balanced, but ugh. Champion retains the fighter extra attacks at 11th and 20th to make them the master of lightning attacks and deadly efficiency, whereas Battle Master and Eldritch Knight do not get the 3rd and 4th attacks, instead getting additional abilities and slightly reworked abilities. Eldritch Knight always bothered me in that using War Magic was wonky when you had the option for 4 attacks. Battle Master is frustrating because you just don't get enough uses of the tactics to make you feel like a master of technique. Here is what I did, let me know if they seem balanced.


Variant Fighter

The base class stays the same, except the extra attacks at 11th and 20th level are removed in favor of additional sub-class bonuses.
C h a m p i o n

Im p r o v e d C r i t i c a l
Beginning when you choose this archetype at 3rd level, your weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.

R e m a r k a b l e A t h l e t e
Starting at 7th level, you can add half your proficiency bonus (round up) to any Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution check you make that doesn’t already use your proficiency bonus. In addition, when you make a running long jump, the distance you can cover increases by a number of feet equal to your Strength modifier.

A d d i t io n a l F ig h t in g St y l e
At 10th level, you can choose a second option from the Fighting Style class feature.

E x t r a A t t a c k
Beginning at 11th level, the number of attacks increases to three and at 20th level the number of attacks increases to four.

Su p e r io r C r i t ic a l
Starting at 15th level, your weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 18-20.

Su r v iv o r
At 18th level, you attain the pinnacle of resilience in battle. At the start of each of your turns, you regain hit points equal to 5 + your Constitution modifier if you have no more than half of your hit points left. You don’t gain this benefit if you have 0 hit points.

Artagon
2016-09-30, 06:22 PM
This incarnation of Battle Master no longer has the 4th and 5th attacks. Instead they start with 7 superiority dice and gain an additional die at 11th in addition to the standard additional dice at 7th level and 15th level. They start out at d4 and scale upward from there. The average superiority damage at 3rd level is .5 lower than the standard 4 d8 superiority dice per rest, but you gain a great deal of utility. By 18th level you end up doing an average of 6 dmg more in superiority dice over the vanilla battle master per short rest. Clearly this isn't enough to make up for 2 attacks. As such, at 11th level you gain a damage boost whenever you have advantage on an attack. I finished it out by giving them the ability to deal damage even when they miss due to disadvantage and by giving them ways to recover additional superiority dice to keep the pressure going.

B a t t l e M a s t e r

C o m b a t Su p e r io r i t y
When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you learn maneuvers that are fueled by special dice called superiority dice.
Maneuvers.
You learn three maneuvers of your choice, which are detailed under “Maneuvers” below. Many maneuvers enhance an attack in some way. You can use only one maneuver per attack. You learn two additional maneuvers of your choice at 7th, 10th, and 15th level. Each time you learn new maneuvers, you can also replace one maneuver you know with a different one.
Superiority Dice. You have seven superiority dice, which are d4s. A superiority die is expended when you use it. You regain all of your expended superiority dice when you finish a short or long rest. You gain another superiority die at 7th level, 11th level and one more at 15th level.
Saving Throws
Some of your maneuvers require your target to make a saving throw to resist the maneuver’s effects. The saving throw DC is calculated as follows:
Maneuver save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength or Dexterity modifier (your choice)

St u d e n t of W a r
At 3rd level, you gain proficiency with one type of artisan’s tools of your choice.

K n o w Y o u r E n e m y
Starting at 7th level, if you spend at least 1 minute observing or interacting with another creature outside combat, you can learn certain information about its capabilities compared to your own. The DM tells you if the creature is your equal, superior, or inferior in regard to two of the following characteristics of your choice:
• Strength score
• Dexterity score
• Constitution score
• Armor Class
• Current hit points
• Total class levels (if any)
• Fighter class levels (if any)

Im p r o v e d C o m b a t Su p e r io r i t y
At 10th level, your superiority dice turn into d6s. At 18th level, they turn into d8s .

T a ct i c al Ad v a n t a ge
Beginning at 11th level, you may add your proficiency bonus to damage when you have advantage on the attack.

R e l e n t l e s s
Starting at 15th level, when you roll initiative and have no superiority dice remaining, you regain 2 superiority die. Additionally, if you would miss due to disadvantage you still deal damage equal to your proficiency bonus.

O p p o r t u n i s t ic
Beginning at 20th level, you may recover a Superiority Die whenever you get a critical hit.

Artagon
2016-09-30, 06:23 PM
As a substitute to having additional attacks, this eldritch knight gains the ability at 11th to cast a cantrip as a bonus attack if (s)he uses their action to attack, by this method they can attack twice AND cast a cantrip. They lose the ability to cast a standard spell and make an attack as a bonus action (let's be real here, who casts a fireball and then swings a weapon?), but at 15th level I gave them a way to recover spell slots and pushed arcane charge back to 18th. Finally, as a capstone at 20 they now have the ability to concentrate on two spells, because they are the masters of mixed combat magic.

E l d r i t c h K n i g h t

W e a p o n B o n d
At 3rd level, you learn a ritual that creates a magical bond between yourself and one weapon. You perform the ritual over the course of 1 hour, which can be done during a short rest. The weapon must be within your reach throughout the ritual, at the conclusion of which you touch the weapon and forge the bond. Once you have bonded a weapon to yourself, you can’t be disarmed of that weapon unless you are incapacitated. If it is on the same plane of existence, you can summon that weapon as a bonus action on your turn, causing it to teleport instantly to your hand. You can have up to two bonded weapons, but can summon only one at a time with your bonus action. If you attempt to bond with a third weapon, you must break the bond with one of the other two.

W a r M a g ic
Beginning at 6th level, when you use your action to cast a cantrip, you can make one weapon attack as a bonus action.

E l d r i t c h St r ik e
At 10th level, you learn how to make your weapon strikes undercut a creature’s resistance to your spells. When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, that creature has disadvantage on the next saving throw it makes against a spell you cast before the end of your next turn.

Im p r o v e d Wa r M a g ic
Starting at 11th level, when you use your action to attack, you can cast a cantrip as a bonus action.

A r c a ne Re c o v e ry
Starting at 15th level, when you use your second wind you can choose expended spell slots to recover. The spell slots can have a combined level that is equal to or less than one fourth of your fighter level (rounded up), and none of the slots can be 3rd level or higher.

A r c a n e C h a r g e
At 18th level, you gain the ability to teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see when you use your Action Surge. You can teleport before or after the additional action.

W ar M a g e
Starting at 20th level, you may concentrate on up to two spells which target self-only.

Rerem115
2016-09-30, 06:27 PM
The changes seem fine, but why didn't you just list the changes in one post? you only changed the 11 and 20 of each subclass. This formatting hurts to read.

Artagon
2016-09-30, 06:35 PM
The changes seem fine, but why didn't you just list the changes in one post? you only changed the 11 and 20 of each subclass. This formatting hurts to read.

I actually changed more than that in the non-champion sub-classes, I'll fiddle with the formatting to make it less painful.