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3 months ago ::
Feb 18, 2013 - 1:50PM
#1
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Date Joined:
May 26, 2010
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One of my favorite ways to play a fighter is the brawler. That is one character who wields a weapon and has a hand free to grab enemies and throw them around. I wanted to be able to play that in D&D Next and I think it is reasonably possible, but I feel it needs a little help. I was thinking a feat would cover one weakness of loadout.
Brawler: While you are wielding a light weapon with which you have proficiency in one hand and no weapon in the other, or you are wielding no weapons, you gain +1 bonus to AC.
This is basically Two-Weapon Defense but with different requirements. I also think limiting it to light weapons makes sense, it seems hard to grab someone and beat them with a warhammer or longsword, you would need a bit more room to move the weapon around. These are my thoughts and I feel this may even be worse than most standard loadouts, but I love the versitility of having one's hand free.
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3 months ago ::
Feb 18, 2013 - 5:03PM
#2
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Date Joined:
Apr 21, 2007
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It may be too powerful to combine into this feat, but it would be cool to give "proficiency with improvised weapons that do bludgeoning damage" or something like that so you could use a torch, a bottle of wine, or even a bar stool. Right now there is very little reason to use improvised weapons or even things like holy water / flasks of oil.
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3 months ago ::
Feb 18, 2013 - 5:17PM
#3
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Date Joined:
May 12, 2009
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It may be too powerful to combine into this feat, but it would be cool to give "proficiency with improvised weapons that do bludgeoning damage" or something like that so you could use a torch, a bottle of wine, or even a bar stool. Right now there is very little reason to use improvised weapons or even things like holy water / flasks of oil.
I like Nicol's idea better
You are considered proficient when using Improvised Weapons and the damage dice is increased to d6, or d8 if used with 2 hands
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3 months ago ::
Feb 18, 2013 - 6:46PM
#4
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Date Joined:
Jan 29, 2013
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Considering an unarmed strike is essentially a light offhand weapon, it'd stand to reason that this feat is completely redundant with Two-Weapon Defense.
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3 months ago ::
Feb 18, 2013 - 7:16PM
#5
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Date Joined:
Nov 21, 2012
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Considering an unarmed strike is essentially a light offhand weapon, it'd stand to reason that this feat is completely redundant with Two-Weapon Defense.
Except that in the rules an unarmed strike isn't technically considered a light weapon yet, and it's ambiguous whether two-weapon defense works for it.
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3 months ago ::
Feb 18, 2013 - 11:51PM
#6
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Date Joined:
May 26, 2010
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This discussion makes me wonder about the nature of hands and unarmed strike. I understand that unarmed strike is pretty much a light weapon and I could even understand PC's are proficient with them. I mean, if you don't know how your own hands work, how can you wield anything with them? If this is the case, then Two-Weapon Defense is a superior feat than the one I proposed, because it has less stringent stipulation. If that is the case, I enjoy NicolBolas' idea as well.
Brawler: You are considered proficient with Improvised Weapons. Improvised Weapons damage can range from 1d4 to 1d8 and damage type are all based on the nature of the item. (e.g. a broken bottle can slash for 1d4, whereas a table leg can bludgeon for 1d6, etc.) Damage and type are subject to DM discretion.
This sounds interesting, if a little wordy, but I can't think of a more efficient way to get the point across. So grabbing that bar stool and swinging it around can deal 1d8 bludgeon, or a fence post with nails in the end would be 1d6 piercing. Looks like the perfect character to start a bar fight. Break a bottle over someone's head for 1d4 bludgeon and then fling the broken bottle at the guy charging you for slashing damage.
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3 months ago ::
Feb 19, 2013 - 12:39AM
#7
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Date Joined:
May 12, 2009
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This discussion makes me wonder about the nature of hands and unarmed strike. I understand that unarmed strike is pretty much a light weapon and I could even understand PC's are proficient with them. I mean, if you don't know how your own hands work, how can you wield anything with them? If this is the case, then Two-Weapon Defense is a superior feat than the one I proposed, because it has less stringent stipulation. If that is the case, I enjoy NicolBolas' idea as well.
I think there is a pretty massive difference between being proficient at unarmed combat and knowing how to open and close your hand...
The monk is proficient in unarmed combat because of decades of martial arts training
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3 months ago ::
Feb 19, 2013 - 1:04AM
#8
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Date Joined:
Jun 17, 2011
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I also like the idea of improvised weapons, but as a player it's never a feat I would willingly take without some other benefit. Why not, let me take a swing at it:
Brawler: Your unarmed strike deals 1d6 bludgeoning damage, and you are considered proficient with improvised weapons. When you attack with an improvised weapon [see page X], your damage die for that weapon increases by two steps: from d4 to d8, and d6 to d10.
If you have proficiency with shields, you gain +1 AC when using an improvised object as a shield.
Okay, so that brings improvised weapons up to the bare minimum of being equivalent to regular attacks. One-handed weapons typically deal 1d8, and two-handers 1d10. One-handed weapon users are supported by shields. However, if improvised weapons are your style, some other benefits--maybe a whole feat tree--should be available.
I thought about letting a player use reactions to willingly break their improvised object in return for something: damage mitigation, free crit, free ranged throw attack, whatever. But there's no drawback to that, because acquiring another improvised object takes no effort.
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