bronzemountain
2017-07-27, 12:26 AM
Two weapon fighting seems to be one of the great disappointments of 5E, at least based on forum threads. And the more I think about it, the more I believe this is because TWF has been imagined incorrectly. Generic encounters are essentially a race between the party and enemies to see which side crosses the 0hp line first. Better encounters, of course, have more interesting objectives. But let's focus on this set, for now.
Fighting styles are built to help in that race in some combination of three ways:
Do more damage
Take less damage
Prepare to do one of the previous two
GWF does more damage, Defense takes less damage, Duelist does a combo of the two (if you use a shield), Mariner sets you up, Tunnel Fighter sets you up, etc. Because TWF is in the 'do more damage' set, we are forced to compare it to other equivalent styles and it loses out.
But wielding two weapons should be all about flexibility and preparing. You don't wield two weapons to hit HARDER than the guy with the greataxe. You do it so that you have a broader set of options with which to react to the fight.
With that in mind, here's my proposed solution (which I'm likely to use in my campaign):
First, get rid of the Dual Wield feat entirely. Base dual wielding rules still apply - if you're wielding two weapons, you can always use a bonus action to attack with the off hand (without stat based damage bonus). That remains the default, worst way to use your off hand.
FIGHTING STYLE: Two-Weapon Fighting
Core benefits:
You add your stat bonus to off-hand attacks. You can draw two weapons with a single object interaction.
Additionally, you can use a bonus action to choose one of the following stances. You can maintain a stance for 1 minute. A stance ends if you are restrained.
Opportunistic: You gain +1 attack with melee weapons. You can use your reaction to attack an enemy that takes the move action while within your reach.
Wary: You gain +1 AC. When an enemy misses you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to move up to your speed. This movement does not draw opportunity attacks.
So, TWF stylists can still do bonus action damage, but they now have greater flexibility to increase accuracy or defense, and use their reactions in interesting ways. This feels inherently more authentic to two-weapon fighting, at least to me.
Replacing 'Dual Wield' is the Skirmisher feat.
FEAT: Skirmisher
You no longer suffer disadvantage from long range for ranged attacks with thrown weapons.
When you reduce an enemy to 0hp, you can immediately make a single ranged weapon attack with a thrown weapon as a free action.
You no longer suffer disadvantage for making a ranged attack in melee range with a thrown weapon.
Whenever you make a ranged weapon attack using a thrown weapon, you can immediately draw another weapon as a free action.
I have not, notably, made any allowances for wielding two non-light weapons. But, especially with Skirmisher, there's more incentive to go rapier/dagger or battleaxe/handaxe or whatnot, keeping that flexibility going.
Thanks for making it to the end of this super long post! Do let me know what you think.
Cheers!
Fighting styles are built to help in that race in some combination of three ways:
Do more damage
Take less damage
Prepare to do one of the previous two
GWF does more damage, Defense takes less damage, Duelist does a combo of the two (if you use a shield), Mariner sets you up, Tunnel Fighter sets you up, etc. Because TWF is in the 'do more damage' set, we are forced to compare it to other equivalent styles and it loses out.
But wielding two weapons should be all about flexibility and preparing. You don't wield two weapons to hit HARDER than the guy with the greataxe. You do it so that you have a broader set of options with which to react to the fight.
With that in mind, here's my proposed solution (which I'm likely to use in my campaign):
First, get rid of the Dual Wield feat entirely. Base dual wielding rules still apply - if you're wielding two weapons, you can always use a bonus action to attack with the off hand (without stat based damage bonus). That remains the default, worst way to use your off hand.
FIGHTING STYLE: Two-Weapon Fighting
Core benefits:
You add your stat bonus to off-hand attacks. You can draw two weapons with a single object interaction.
Additionally, you can use a bonus action to choose one of the following stances. You can maintain a stance for 1 minute. A stance ends if you are restrained.
Opportunistic: You gain +1 attack with melee weapons. You can use your reaction to attack an enemy that takes the move action while within your reach.
Wary: You gain +1 AC. When an enemy misses you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to move up to your speed. This movement does not draw opportunity attacks.
So, TWF stylists can still do bonus action damage, but they now have greater flexibility to increase accuracy or defense, and use their reactions in interesting ways. This feels inherently more authentic to two-weapon fighting, at least to me.
Replacing 'Dual Wield' is the Skirmisher feat.
FEAT: Skirmisher
You no longer suffer disadvantage from long range for ranged attacks with thrown weapons.
When you reduce an enemy to 0hp, you can immediately make a single ranged weapon attack with a thrown weapon as a free action.
You no longer suffer disadvantage for making a ranged attack in melee range with a thrown weapon.
Whenever you make a ranged weapon attack using a thrown weapon, you can immediately draw another weapon as a free action.
I have not, notably, made any allowances for wielding two non-light weapons. But, especially with Skirmisher, there's more incentive to go rapier/dagger or battleaxe/handaxe or whatnot, keeping that flexibility going.
Thanks for making it to the end of this super long post! Do let me know what you think.
Cheers!