Elastoid
2020-12-30, 11:34 PM
So I've seen like four different iterations of the Dart-based Fighter in various places -- Thrown Weapon Style + Sharpshooter + Archery + Darts = +12 damage per dart. It's interesting and all, I just don't like it because it seems like just a worse crossbow expert. I was looking for a fun, new way to play a Fighter. I created more of an Omni-thrower, whom I named (aptly) Chuck.
Chuck is an 8th-level strength-based Battle Master and he can do some interesting things. He's Custom Lineage (Strength, Darkvision) and took the Crusher feat (STR+1) and Dueling fighting style at level 1. At level 3, he took Pushing Attack, Trip Attack and Quick Toss. At level 4, he took Fighting Initiate (Thrown Weapon Style). At level 6, he took Slasher (STR+1). At level 7, he added Menacing Attack and Brace to his repertoire. Finally, at level 8 he took the Piercer feat (STR+1).
It's fortunate Chuck is so strong, because he carries light hammers, javelins, spears and handaxes galore. He's a walking arsenal. His goal is to force everything around him to bend to his will by throwing things at it. Crusher lets him move anything Large or smaller 5 feet whenever he throws a light hammer at it. He can even move you towards him by 5 feet, which I picture as hitting them in the knee and staggering them forward. Slasher lets him throw a hand axe at you and reduce your speed by 10ft till his next turn. These two abilities are his bread and butter, each being available once per turn, and each requiring no saving throw -- they just happen.
These synergize really well with the other control-y effects Battle Master offers like Pushing Attack, Trip Attack and Menacing Attack. Chuck can throw a handaxe that pushes you back 15 feet and reduces your speed by 10. He can push you back 5 feet with a Menacing Attack that leaves you too frightened to move back up. He can trip you from afar and then close the distance to wail on you in melee. And because the Crusher and Slasher effects are once per turn, Chuck can use one with Brace, making it a "mini-Sentinel" with Slasher reducing your speed by 10 feet or allowing him to slam them 5 feet in a direction with Crusher.
Chuck likes that Quick Toss gives him a free attack with his bonus action, but he doesn't like that it requires a Superiority Die that could otherwise be used for a maneuver, and that the Quick Toss attack can't be paired with another maneuver. Often, instead, he uses two-weapon fighting. Here is how he does this: he begins the round with a weapon in his main hand, such as a spear. He throws that spear, so his hands are now empty. He uses his interaction to draw a weapon in his off-hand (likely a hand axe or a light hammer). He then makes another main-hand attack (Thrown Weapon Fighting allows him to draw a weapon in his main hand as part of the attack). The main-hand attack is made with a weapon in the off-hand, so it does not benefit from the Dueling fighting style, but it allows him to use a bonus action to throw his off-hand weapon (which would gain the benefit of the Dueling fighting style). In doing this, he sacrifices some damage (off-hand doesn't get strength modifier, main hand doesn't get Dueling) but preserves a superiority die and allows himself to use a maneuver on his off-hand attack if he wishes. Doing this does leave him without a weapon in hand until his next turn, however -- he would be unable to use Brace (Brace requires that they enter the range of a melee weapon "you're wielding." You could, however, make an opportunity attack if they leave your range, drawing the weapon as part of the attack -- so long as the weapon has the thrown property.).
Chuck excels at fighting on complex or interesting battlefields, like a narrow bridge, a mountainous ledge, or an area with a lot of cover or difficult terrain. He uses light hammers and hand axes to control the battlefield, and uses javelins for that extra range and more reliable damage (from Piercer). He doesn't shy away from melee combat, though -- especially if he trips an enemy, in which case he'll gladly rush forward and use action surge to get his advantaged attacks off, as any critical hit will produce an additional effect (from Slasher, Crusher or Piercer). As far as pure damage goes, Chuck is quite limited in comparison to a Sharpshooter or Great Weapon Expert. The combined +4 damage per attack from the Thrown Weapon Fighting and Dueling fighting styles is nothing to sneeze at, but it's paltry compared to the +10 that can be achieved by other attacks. Chuck doesn't mind, though. What's great about him is the number of interesting and meaningful choices he has in combat. Chuck can combine different weapon effects with different maneuvers in myriad permutations, allowing him to react to different situations and developments in interesting ways.
Chuck's could have done some things differently. He could have taken Two-Weapon Fighting instead of Dueling and ignored Quick Toss for another maneuver. There are a lot of Battle Master maneuvers that would be interesting to him -- most notably, he didn't take Precision Attack, which would have been quite useful, and Maneuvering Attack would give him even more options to control the battlefield. He also could have taken the Superior Technique Fighting Style instead of Dueling, sacrificing two damage for an additional Superiority Die and one additional maneuver. Later, as he gained more Battle Master options naturally, he could have used Martial Versatility to swap the style out for Dueling (or Two-Weapon Fighting). He also could have taken Polearm Master instead of Piercer -- this would necessitate grabbing the +1 strength elsewhere, but would grant him more versatility when stepping into melee (it would allow him to forego Brace for Riposte, as well). The bonus attack with the butt of the spear does bludgeoning damage, meaning it would trigger Crusher.
Chuck's got a bright future, too. Most of the options in the previous paragraph could be taken in his future. As his number of attacks increases to three at level 11, he'll probably worry less about that off-hand attack with two-weapon fighting and might start wielding a shield, at which point Shield Master might be an interesting option (although that can spread Chuck's bonus action pretty thin). Martial Adept is an obvious feat option for him. He can even consider Tavern Brawler, in case he wants to add his proficiency bonus when he scoops up his halfling buddy and two-hand tosses him at the enemy as an improvised weapon.
Finally, it's obvious that Chuck's varied options every round make him a poor choice for any newer player, or anyone known to suffer from analysis paralysis when there are too many decisions. However, Chuck's younger brother is a Champion who also throws things and takes the Slasher, Piercer and Crusher feats. Being a Champion means he naturally has access to two fighting styles and could reasonably take three. His larger critical range will mean getting to use the feats' crit-triggered abilities more often. This approach makes the normally-too-bland Champion archetype into one that can be interesting to play, as you still get to carry a large repertoire of thrown weapons and decide which one to use. The gradual way in which you'd earn these feats makes Chuck's younger brother into a solid option for newer players.
Although be warned if you go with Chuck's younger brother. Chuck says he's a bit of a tosser.
Chuck is an 8th-level strength-based Battle Master and he can do some interesting things. He's Custom Lineage (Strength, Darkvision) and took the Crusher feat (STR+1) and Dueling fighting style at level 1. At level 3, he took Pushing Attack, Trip Attack and Quick Toss. At level 4, he took Fighting Initiate (Thrown Weapon Style). At level 6, he took Slasher (STR+1). At level 7, he added Menacing Attack and Brace to his repertoire. Finally, at level 8 he took the Piercer feat (STR+1).
It's fortunate Chuck is so strong, because he carries light hammers, javelins, spears and handaxes galore. He's a walking arsenal. His goal is to force everything around him to bend to his will by throwing things at it. Crusher lets him move anything Large or smaller 5 feet whenever he throws a light hammer at it. He can even move you towards him by 5 feet, which I picture as hitting them in the knee and staggering them forward. Slasher lets him throw a hand axe at you and reduce your speed by 10ft till his next turn. These two abilities are his bread and butter, each being available once per turn, and each requiring no saving throw -- they just happen.
These synergize really well with the other control-y effects Battle Master offers like Pushing Attack, Trip Attack and Menacing Attack. Chuck can throw a handaxe that pushes you back 15 feet and reduces your speed by 10. He can push you back 5 feet with a Menacing Attack that leaves you too frightened to move back up. He can trip you from afar and then close the distance to wail on you in melee. And because the Crusher and Slasher effects are once per turn, Chuck can use one with Brace, making it a "mini-Sentinel" with Slasher reducing your speed by 10 feet or allowing him to slam them 5 feet in a direction with Crusher.
Chuck likes that Quick Toss gives him a free attack with his bonus action, but he doesn't like that it requires a Superiority Die that could otherwise be used for a maneuver, and that the Quick Toss attack can't be paired with another maneuver. Often, instead, he uses two-weapon fighting. Here is how he does this: he begins the round with a weapon in his main hand, such as a spear. He throws that spear, so his hands are now empty. He uses his interaction to draw a weapon in his off-hand (likely a hand axe or a light hammer). He then makes another main-hand attack (Thrown Weapon Fighting allows him to draw a weapon in his main hand as part of the attack). The main-hand attack is made with a weapon in the off-hand, so it does not benefit from the Dueling fighting style, but it allows him to use a bonus action to throw his off-hand weapon (which would gain the benefit of the Dueling fighting style). In doing this, he sacrifices some damage (off-hand doesn't get strength modifier, main hand doesn't get Dueling) but preserves a superiority die and allows himself to use a maneuver on his off-hand attack if he wishes. Doing this does leave him without a weapon in hand until his next turn, however -- he would be unable to use Brace (Brace requires that they enter the range of a melee weapon "you're wielding." You could, however, make an opportunity attack if they leave your range, drawing the weapon as part of the attack -- so long as the weapon has the thrown property.).
Chuck excels at fighting on complex or interesting battlefields, like a narrow bridge, a mountainous ledge, or an area with a lot of cover or difficult terrain. He uses light hammers and hand axes to control the battlefield, and uses javelins for that extra range and more reliable damage (from Piercer). He doesn't shy away from melee combat, though -- especially if he trips an enemy, in which case he'll gladly rush forward and use action surge to get his advantaged attacks off, as any critical hit will produce an additional effect (from Slasher, Crusher or Piercer). As far as pure damage goes, Chuck is quite limited in comparison to a Sharpshooter or Great Weapon Expert. The combined +4 damage per attack from the Thrown Weapon Fighting and Dueling fighting styles is nothing to sneeze at, but it's paltry compared to the +10 that can be achieved by other attacks. Chuck doesn't mind, though. What's great about him is the number of interesting and meaningful choices he has in combat. Chuck can combine different weapon effects with different maneuvers in myriad permutations, allowing him to react to different situations and developments in interesting ways.
Chuck's could have done some things differently. He could have taken Two-Weapon Fighting instead of Dueling and ignored Quick Toss for another maneuver. There are a lot of Battle Master maneuvers that would be interesting to him -- most notably, he didn't take Precision Attack, which would have been quite useful, and Maneuvering Attack would give him even more options to control the battlefield. He also could have taken the Superior Technique Fighting Style instead of Dueling, sacrificing two damage for an additional Superiority Die and one additional maneuver. Later, as he gained more Battle Master options naturally, he could have used Martial Versatility to swap the style out for Dueling (or Two-Weapon Fighting). He also could have taken Polearm Master instead of Piercer -- this would necessitate grabbing the +1 strength elsewhere, but would grant him more versatility when stepping into melee (it would allow him to forego Brace for Riposte, as well). The bonus attack with the butt of the spear does bludgeoning damage, meaning it would trigger Crusher.
Chuck's got a bright future, too. Most of the options in the previous paragraph could be taken in his future. As his number of attacks increases to three at level 11, he'll probably worry less about that off-hand attack with two-weapon fighting and might start wielding a shield, at which point Shield Master might be an interesting option (although that can spread Chuck's bonus action pretty thin). Martial Adept is an obvious feat option for him. He can even consider Tavern Brawler, in case he wants to add his proficiency bonus when he scoops up his halfling buddy and two-hand tosses him at the enemy as an improvised weapon.
Finally, it's obvious that Chuck's varied options every round make him a poor choice for any newer player, or anyone known to suffer from analysis paralysis when there are too many decisions. However, Chuck's younger brother is a Champion who also throws things and takes the Slasher, Piercer and Crusher feats. Being a Champion means he naturally has access to two fighting styles and could reasonably take three. His larger critical range will mean getting to use the feats' crit-triggered abilities more often. This approach makes the normally-too-bland Champion archetype into one that can be interesting to play, as you still get to carry a large repertoire of thrown weapons and decide which one to use. The gradual way in which you'd earn these feats makes Chuck's younger brother into a solid option for newer players.
Although be warned if you go with Chuck's younger brother. Chuck says he's a bit of a tosser.