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Switch to Forum Live View A suggestion to make Weapon choice matter more.
5 months ago  ::  Dec 27, 2012 - 11:21AM #1
ZaranBlack
Date Joined: Jul 12, 2007
Posts: 201
I've looked at the weapon list and frankly I think it's terrible.  A katana weighs 3 lbs but requires two hands.  A bastard sword weighs 10 lbs but I can wield it in one hand.    To me the only difference between these two swords is the location where they are made.   A few of these weapons have head scratching costs and stats that I think are arbitrary just to make them different from each other.  For instance, there is no damage difference between a Flail and a Warhammer  but they have differing weights and costs.    One would think that a Flail would be able to avoid Shields easier or be able to disarm a foe better than a Warhammer.   One would think that a warhammer knock someone prone with a skill blow.  


So what I propose is to have Maneuvers made that are specific to a certain weapon.   You don't need to learn anything new.  Just be proficient with the weapon and have the Combat Expertise dice to use the maneuvers.  Maneuvers can be such like Disarm for Whips or Flails, Parry for Main-Gauches or Sai's, Block for Quarterstaves, Etc.  


This way someone who likes using a specific weapon gets more out of it and the weapon matters more throughout the character's life.
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5 months ago  ::  Dec 27, 2012 - 12:04PM #2
Staccat0
Date Joined: Jun 15, 2012
Posts: 334

Dec 27, 2012 -- 11:21AM, ZaranBlack wrote:

I've looked at the weapon list and frankly I think it's terrible.  A katana weighs 3 lbs but requires two hands.  A bastard sword weighs 10 lbs but I can wield it in one hand.    To me the only difference between these two swords is the location where they are made.   A few of these weapons have head scratching costs and stats that I think are arbitrary just to make them different from each other.  For instance, there is no damage difference between a Flail and a Warhammer  but they have differing weights and costs.    One would think that a Flail would be able to avoid Shields easier or be able to disarm a foe better than a Warhammer.   One would think that a warhammer knock someone prone with a skill blow.  


So what I propose is to have Maneuvers made that are specific to a certain weapon.   You don't need to learn anything new.  Just be proficient with the weapon and have the Combat Expertise dice to use the maneuvers.  Maneuvers can be such like Disarm for Whips or Flails, Parry for Main-Gauches or Sai's, Block for Quarterstaves, Etc.  


This way someone who likes using a specific weapon gets more out of it and the weapon matters more throughout the character's life.



I love this if it's fighter specific.
More maneuvers for fighters. A tangible advantage they have with weapons, without getting mixed up in bonus bloat or trap feats. Weapons feel different, but mostly in the hands of a truly masterful warrior.
It doesn't make the whole game more complicated, it just gives one small ability to one class that is weapon dependent.
Obviously, these could carry through to being enemy abilities too. It also works cleanly with multi-classing.

Of course, then, people would get mad if the weapons weren't balanced... we'd have these fights about, "Why would I use X when it's the same weight, cost and whatever but with a worse maneuver" of course... those people would have never been happy anyway.

On the other hand, maybe you could make it a thing where every few levels the fighter can CHOOSE a SINGLE weapon catagory to gain this feat in and by level 20 it's nearly all of them or something. That might be smoother and less overwhelming. Like, starting at level 2 or 3 you gain a Weapon Focus maneuver in addition to your normal ones. 

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5 months ago  ::  Dec 27, 2012 - 12:08PM #3
arderkrag
Date Joined: Jul 18, 2007
Posts: 3,875

Dec 27, 2012 -- 12:04PM, Staccat0 wrote:


I love this if it's fighter specific.
More maneuvers for fighters. A tangible advantage they have with weapons, without getting mixed up in bonus bloat or trap feats. Weapons feel different, but mostly in the hands of a truly masterful warrior.
It doesn't make the whole game more complicated, it just gives one small ability to one class that is weapon dependent.
Obviously, these could carry through to being enemy abilities too. It also works cleanly with mauli-classing.



I agree. One thing that I actually like from 4th was the tendency to give fighters stances that simply augmented their attacks with certain weapons or in certain circumstances. I had a couple of fighters that would go into stance and then at-will for the rest of combat. Perhaps the maneuvers could be tied to stances based on wepon classes.

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5 months ago  ::  Dec 27, 2012 - 12:45PM #4
ZaranBlack
Date Joined: Jul 12, 2007
Posts: 201
I see no reason for it needing to be fighter only.  If they have access to combat expertise dice they should be proficient with any weapon specific maneuvers.
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5 months ago  ::  Dec 27, 2012 - 12:49PM #5
Mand12
Date Joined: Jun 17, 2010
Posts: 17,060

Dec 27, 2012 -- 12:45PM, ZaranBlack wrote:

I see no reason for it needing to be fighter only.



This gets said about anything that is proposed to give to fighters.  Eventually you just have to accept it.  Why?

Because fighters.

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5 months ago  ::  Dec 27, 2012 - 12:54PM #6
Trance-Zg
Date Joined: May 24, 2012
Posts: 451

Dec 27, 2012 -- 11:21AM, ZaranBlack wrote:

I've looked at the weapon list and frankly I think it's terrible.  A katana weighs 3 lbs but requires two hands.  A bastard sword weighs 10 lbs but I can wield it in one hand.    To me the only difference between these two swords is the location where they are made.   A few of these weapons have head scratching costs and stats that I think are arbitrary just to make them different from each other.  For instance, there is no damage difference between a Flail and a Warhammer  but they have differing weights and costs.    One would think that a Flail would be able to avoid Shields easier or be able to disarm a foe better than a Warhammer.   One would think that a warhammer knock someone prone with a skill blow.  


So what I propose is to have Maneuvers made that are specific to a certain weapon.   You don't need to learn anything new.  Just be proficient with the weapon and have the Combat Expertise dice to use the maneuvers.  Maneuvers can be such like Disarm for Whips or Flails, Parry for Main-Gauches or Sai's, Block for Quarterstaves, Etc.  


This way someone who likes using a specific weapon gets more out of it and the weapon matters more throughout the character's life.




/agree with suggestion.

one handed weapon 10lbs???

haha

a twohanded is useless with that weight...



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5 months ago  ::  Dec 27, 2012 - 12:57PM #7
Electricbee
Date Joined: Sep 10, 2005
Posts: 1,180

I see some promise here.  I like the idea of making it fighter exclusive or more readily available to fighters.  Set a spear vs charge and the D6 bonus dice becomd D8.  A sword might allow any excess parry to carryover to the target as damage.  This could be built around key words and quailities for weapons.

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5 months ago  ::  Dec 27, 2012 - 1:09PM #8
bluespruce786
Date Joined: Oct 21, 2012
Posts: 722

Its funny you mention this, A few weeks ago I put a sticky note over the weapons description.


Off hand (-4 to hit) or thrown melee: 1d4  Range: 2”,4”,6”


One handed weapon: 1d6 inside, 1d8 outside


2 handed w/ reach: 1d6


2handed: 1d8 inside, 1d10 outside


I get nothing from bent and broken attempts to give each weapon “character” and “individual mechanical feel”. Having streamlined the weapons table to this extent it would be nice to have something to differentiate the different methods of stab, crush, and break.


I was thinking like exploding dice for certain weapons, or a stun effect, or multiple target attack. What are some of your ideas for these feats?

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5 months ago  ::  Dec 27, 2012 - 1:42PM #9
Saelorn
Date Joined: May 27, 2012
Posts: 2,956

Dec 27, 2012 -- 12:45PM, ZaranBlack wrote:

I see no reason for it needing to be fighter only. If they have access to combat expertise dice they should be proficient with any weapon specific maneuvers.


I see no reason to tie it to expertise dice.  If they have proficiency with the weapon, then they should also be proficient with weapon specific maneuvers.

The metagame is not the game.
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5 months ago  ::  Dec 27, 2012 - 7:48PM #10
MechaPilot
Date Joined: Oct 5, 2007
Posts: 9,372

Dec 27, 2012 -- 12:49PM, Mand12 wrote:

Dec 27, 2012 -- 12:45PM, ZaranBlack wrote:

I see no reason for it needing to be fighter only.



This gets said about anything that is proposed to give to fighters.  Eventually you just have to accept it.  Why?

Because fighters.



Well now, I generally defend the fighter's right to have nice things, but I have to agree that this shouldn't be a fighter thing.  The OP's suggestion makes weapon choice more interesting without changing the effectiveness of each weapon as a weapon (which is determined solely by damage).  I also don't think it should be tied to expertise dice.  However, I am in favor of the maneuvers being more effective if you spend expertise dice on them (kind of like the riders from 4e).

Why Mechanics-Alignment Integration is Bad Show

Mar 4, 2012 -- 5:04PM, MechaPilot wrote:

Mar 4, 2012 -- 3:46PM, Warrant wrote:

so why even play a fighter if you can play the paladin the exact same way behaviorally and get added power to boot. "Paladin" is about accepting better game-enhancing mechanics at the price of more rigid in game behavior.


Really?  So it goes something like this?

Fighter: "I want to be a paladin."
NPC: "Really?"
Fighter: "Yes."
NPC: "Very well."  Starts reading from a holy book while still in-character "Do you accept having to choose and stick to the lawful good alignment, eventhough neither of us actually knows that it exists or what it is?"
Fighter: "I do."
NPC: "Do you reject good game balance because you accidentally rolled a high Charisma?"
Fighter: "What?"
NPC: "I don't know what it means either."
Fighter: "Oh.  Umm, ok I do."
NPC: "In the name of all that is metagamey and broken, accept these better game enhancing mechanics."
Fighter: "These what?"
NPC: "Just get out there and try to fulfill a million different people's notion of good while not violating and part of any of them."


taking an argument too far Show

Apr 16, 2012 -- 9:27PM, Frostball wrote:

So the system is designed such that every single hit needs to be described to avoid confusion?  Here's a scenario.  The players are nudists, everybody in the world are nudists, it's not weird, it's totally normal in this land.  They are naked and they fight drakes taking damage throughout, but healing up with surges.  Later they meet the guy who raised the drakes.

Part 1:  I didn't describe any of the hits.  What does he see?

Part 2:  Lets say I described the drakes as biting the players, yet they healed up.  What does he see?



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