I'm playing a smol fighter in an upcoming game and pretty eager for it. Making a DEX-based goblin fighter was a fun concept, but now I'm sort of torn between whether to roll him as a battle master or as a rune knight. I hadn't heard of rune knight builds prior to making this guy so that's what draws me to that subclass. Battle master is, on the other hand, pretty dope and can break the monotony that being a fighter risks becoming. I've decided against the other classes so it's really between these two.
Any hottakes or thoughts from people's experiences? Thematically to the DM's campaign either could work, really; easy to make a background where my goblin had some kind of exposure to Giant runes or the like, and even easier was martially trained and so became an expert in maneuvers over years.
Battlemasters get lots of options in combat, and that's always cool.
Rune Knight, depending on the runes you choose, can give you some nice out of combat skill boosts, plus a language and tool proficiency -- of course the value of those is going to be table dependent. You'll also get a few choices in combat, but not near as many as a battlemaster. And being able to go from small to large a couple times a day is just a fun idea.
You could always go rune knight, and take the martial adept feat, giving you a couple battlemaster choices.
If you're starting at level 1, you could always put off your decision. See how the party evolves and which might be more useful or more fun.
I play a Goliath Ranger/Gloom Stalker, FighterRune Knight and love the combo. Rune gives me 120 foot darkvision, while Gloom stalker makes me basically invisable to dark vision.Thematically Runes go well with Goliaths and their giant ancestory.
It depends on how long your campaign will go, they might be on a par at low levels, but after level 5 I'd go in to bat for the Rune Knight (or multiclass out of BM). The GK has so much more good options as you progress in level, unlike the BM. Except more maneuvers and higher dice, there is nothing good ahead of level 3 for the BM. The GK gets more and way better runes, Runic Shield is great, and eventually you can become a HUGE Goblin! Even before that, growing from small to large is hilarious for roleplaying. Even for a dex-based character, you could mitigate that lack of strength with Giants Might and the Frost rune. Have fun!
I'm playing a smol fighter in an upcoming game and pretty eager for it. Making a DEX-based goblin fighter was a fun concept, but now I'm sort of torn between whether to roll him as a battle master or as a rune knight. I hadn't heard of rune knight builds prior to making this guy so that's what draws me to that subclass. Battle master is, on the other hand, pretty dope and can break the monotony that being a fighter risks becoming. I've decided against the other classes so it's really between these two.
Any hottakes or thoughts from people's experiences? Thematically to the DM's campaign either could work, really; easy to make a background where my goblin had some kind of exposure to Giant runes or the like, and even easier was martially trained and so became an expert in maneuvers over years.
Coming from a player whose done both builds I can tell you that they are **Very** fun to play due to the fact that your a gobo going full ham on enemies.
Dex-based Battle master was a blur with duel wielding short swords as I tripped enemies prone to give them a barrage of Adv. attacks. Out of combat took the intimating tactic so he could be imposing and useful. To avoid conflict with nimble escape I suggest getting mobile feat early; +10 movement comes in handy for darting in and out of combat while freeing up your bonus action to either do an off hand attack or hide when necessary.
Rune knight I enlarged myself often so that I could cleave apart enemies and occasionally pick one up so I could toss them like a real giant would. Stay with either a rapier or Long sword since you won't be able to use a great weapon most of the time. Keep in mind that once you Enlarge, your fury of the small feat can no longer work on Medium to Large creatures. But still works on Huge to Gargantuan.
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I'm playing a smol fighter in an upcoming game and pretty eager for it. Making a DEX-based goblin fighter was a fun concept, but now I'm sort of torn between whether to roll him as a battle master or as a rune knight. I hadn't heard of rune knight builds prior to making this guy so that's what draws me to that subclass. Battle master is, on the other hand, pretty dope and can break the monotony that being a fighter risks becoming. I've decided against the other classes so it's really between these two.
Any hottakes or thoughts from people's experiences? Thematically to the DM's campaign either could work, really; easy to make a background where my goblin had some kind of exposure to Giant runes or the like, and even easier was martially trained and so became an expert in maneuvers over years.
Battlemasters get lots of options in combat, and that's always cool.
Rune Knight, depending on the runes you choose, can give you some nice out of combat skill boosts, plus a language and tool proficiency -- of course the value of those is going to be table dependent. You'll also get a few choices in combat, but not near as many as a battlemaster. And being able to go from small to large a couple times a day is just a fun idea.
You could always go rune knight, and take the martial adept feat, giving you a couple battlemaster choices.
If you're starting at level 1, you could always put off your decision. See how the party evolves and which might be more useful or more fun.
I play a Goliath Ranger/Gloom Stalker, FighterRune Knight and love the combo. Rune gives me 120 foot darkvision, while Gloom stalker makes me basically invisable to dark vision.Thematically Runes go well with Goliaths and their giant ancestory.
It depends on how long your campaign will go, they might be on a par at low levels, but after level 5 I'd go in to bat for the Rune Knight (or multiclass out of BM). The GK has so much more good options as you progress in level, unlike the BM. Except more maneuvers and higher dice, there is nothing good ahead of level 3 for the BM. The GK gets more and way better runes, Runic Shield is great, and eventually you can become a HUGE Goblin! Even before that, growing from small to large is hilarious for roleplaying. Even for a dex-based character, you could mitigate that lack of strength with Giants Might and the Frost rune. Have fun!
Rune Knight is very powerful, but doesn't have as many resources as the battle master.
My opinion is Rune Knight. Yet from experience is Battle Master is both good and powerful.
"Anyone can smith at the cosmic anvil, yet only I can forge a weapon as good as thee."
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Rune Knight could have some conflict with your bonus action for Nimble Escape. Battlemaster is quite good and doesn’t have bonus action conflict.
Coming from a player whose done both builds I can tell you that they are **Very** fun to play due to the fact that your a gobo going full ham on enemies.
Dex-based Battle master was a blur with duel wielding short swords as I tripped enemies prone to give them a barrage of Adv. attacks. Out of combat took the intimating tactic so he could be imposing and useful. To avoid conflict with nimble escape I suggest getting mobile feat early; +10 movement comes in handy for darting in and out of combat while freeing up your bonus action to either do an off hand attack or hide when necessary.
Rune knight I enlarged myself often so that I could cleave apart enemies and occasionally pick one up so I could toss them like a real giant would. Stay with either a rapier or Long sword since you won't be able to use a great weapon most of the time. Keep in mind that once you Enlarge, your fury of the small feat can no longer work on Medium to Large creatures. But still works on Huge to Gargantuan.