Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Xeviat-DM Jul 29, 2014 23:13:03	Hello everyone, one of our resident 4E fans here. I'm going to come right out and say that I am liking what I see in 5E, aside from the abismally low HP (that's easily fixed, and I very much expect an "official" HP alternative to be in the DMG).   I want everyone to be able to do cool things in combat. I know the Battlemaster is coming and will feature a fighter who can do different things. Apparently there are feats that will expand things too. But I think there is another way to tackle things.   The Champion fighter gets by with an improved critical hit range. This gives them some random ability to gain damage spikes. Similarly, there are two standard maneuvers to let you do other things with your attacks: grappling and shoving. What if there were more? What if they were merged?   My suggestion is two fold. First, lets work together on an expanded list of maneuvers gained by giving up attacks. Second, I suggest a rule that allows you to trade the bonus damage from a critical hit for a maneuver.   Nice and simple.   What maneuvers would I suggest? Here's my suggestion for disarm.   Disarm: Make a melee attack. If you hit, instead of dealing damage, make a Strength or Dexterity check, determined by whih you used for the attack roll, with proficiency if proficient with yoru weapon, contested by the target's Strength (weapon proficiency) check. If you win, the target's weapon lands at their feet.
#2 lawrencehoy Jul 29, 2014 23:54:13	Xeviat-DM wrote:
#3 pauln6 Jul 30, 2014 0:06:35	I think trading bonus damage for something off a list of tricks is a cool idea (and I like the old crit tables too so trading damage for a crit wound could also be cool) but not sure how that would affect a fighter with an expanded crit rage?  Would they end up with more manoeuvres per day than a battlemaster?
#4 Xeviat-DM Jul 30, 2014 0:08:47	Battlemaster maneuvers are apparently all (almost all) effect + bonus damage (damage rolled off of expertise die). So they'd have an edge on maneuver effects.
#5 Daganev Jul 30, 2014 1:30:48	Technically, what you are doing is sort of RAW.  You should be able to improvise any contest which naturally results in a condition or change on the battle field using Shove and Grapple as examples.
#6 Xeviat-DM Jul 30, 2014 1:39:13	That's fine. By rule 0, anything is raw. I like to have things a little more codified so I don't feel like I'm playing favorites when I DM. Plus, I've noticed that my players are more open to improvising when they know what they can get out of it (they loved Book of Iron Might from Malavok press back in 3E).
#7 Daganev Jul 30, 2014 2:03:02	It's not rule 0, it's in the rules as part of the Shove and Grappling section of combat actions.  If there is something in the environment to have a contest over, or if there is something you want to force someone to do, you use a contest ability check to attempt to impose that result.
#8 Lawolf Jul 30, 2014 8:04:31	Because the only maneuvers you can perform by trading an attack are grapple and shove, other maneuvers gained by trading an attack should only be as powerful as those abilities. Anything more would be unbalanced. Also, most improvised action require your entre action, not just a single attack.    With that said, I like the idea in general. But what maneuvers would be available? There isn't a whole lot of variety in martial maneuvers (sadly).   Maybe these work: Distract (Deception vs Perception), on a success the target has disadvantage on their next attack. Daze (DC 15 Con save), target cannot take reactions.    Disarming is probably too potent at the cost of only a single attack.
#9 sleypy Jul 30, 2014 8:50:49	I would like to see movement maneuvers using something like and bardic knowledge. It be nice to be able to take ten on checks athletic or acrobatic checks. It would go well with the features fighter get for jumping and lifting.