Man_Over_Game
2020-03-13, 11:52 AM
I feel like the Samurai and the Champion both fit the exact same niches:
Equally effective at range and melee.
Priority on dealing high damage.
Priority on receiving additional punishment, especially when low on HP.
Offers slight additional support on skills.
Synergizes well with feats.
Very low difficulty ceiling.
With the only major differences being that the Champion has passive abilities while the Samurai uses resources, which really only means:
Samurai is slightly more complex than the Champion.
Samurai is better with fewer combat rounds per day, while Champion is better with more.
What do you think should have happened to the Samurai and Champion subclasses to give them more identity?
Champion:
Starting at level 3, your Strength Bonus now includes half of your normal Dexterity Bonus (rounded up). The same is true of your Dexterity Bonus now including half of your normal Strength Bonus.
This maintains the simplicity of the Champion, while giving them the unique niche of a "hybrid" martial.
Samurai:
Fighting Spirit no longer grants Advantage on their attacks but still grants the Temporary Hitpoints. Attacking with the Attack Action gives a bonus to your hit and damage equal to the THP granted, but hitting a creature with this bonus causes you to lose the THP. If a creature attacks you while you have these THP, you may make a weapon attack against that creature after their attack without spending your Reaction.
Fighting Spirit uses are reduced to 2, but changed to a Short Rest feature.
This turns Fighting Spirit into both a defensive or an offensive feature, depending on what you think you may need. Currently, FS is always both and requires no decision process (which is exactly what you don't want out of a limited resource with no competition). This gives you a number of strategies to play with, since you can take the Dodge action on one turn to maintain your THP for as long as possible, land a bunch of extra attacks, and then use the leftover THP on the next turn on a big attack before using FS again.
Really, I just feel the Champion should always be "A consistent brute that revels in its simplicity", while Samurai is "Talent mixed with experience. He's faster, more lethal, or more intelligent, and he only needs one of those to kill you". As-is, most the Champion's benefits are underpowered, and the Samurai mostly just ends up being a Barbarian in plate (which is kind of the exact opposite of what you'd want out of a Wise Samurai).
Equally effective at range and melee.
Priority on dealing high damage.
Priority on receiving additional punishment, especially when low on HP.
Offers slight additional support on skills.
Synergizes well with feats.
Very low difficulty ceiling.
With the only major differences being that the Champion has passive abilities while the Samurai uses resources, which really only means:
Samurai is slightly more complex than the Champion.
Samurai is better with fewer combat rounds per day, while Champion is better with more.
What do you think should have happened to the Samurai and Champion subclasses to give them more identity?
Champion:
Starting at level 3, your Strength Bonus now includes half of your normal Dexterity Bonus (rounded up). The same is true of your Dexterity Bonus now including half of your normal Strength Bonus.
This maintains the simplicity of the Champion, while giving them the unique niche of a "hybrid" martial.
Samurai:
Fighting Spirit no longer grants Advantage on their attacks but still grants the Temporary Hitpoints. Attacking with the Attack Action gives a bonus to your hit and damage equal to the THP granted, but hitting a creature with this bonus causes you to lose the THP. If a creature attacks you while you have these THP, you may make a weapon attack against that creature after their attack without spending your Reaction.
Fighting Spirit uses are reduced to 2, but changed to a Short Rest feature.
This turns Fighting Spirit into both a defensive or an offensive feature, depending on what you think you may need. Currently, FS is always both and requires no decision process (which is exactly what you don't want out of a limited resource with no competition). This gives you a number of strategies to play with, since you can take the Dodge action on one turn to maintain your THP for as long as possible, land a bunch of extra attacks, and then use the leftover THP on the next turn on a big attack before using FS again.
Really, I just feel the Champion should always be "A consistent brute that revels in its simplicity", while Samurai is "Talent mixed with experience. He's faster, more lethal, or more intelligent, and he only needs one of those to kill you". As-is, most the Champion's benefits are underpowered, and the Samurai mostly just ends up being a Barbarian in plate (which is kind of the exact opposite of what you'd want out of a Wise Samurai).