So as a DM I've been reading "Tasha's Cauldron of Everything" (great source material for both DM's and players: Highly recommend) and I started think about this new design philosophy WoTC seems to have for subclasses, this g abilities to a characters Proficiency Bonus (PB), more specifically, the Psi Warrior.
The Psi Warrior has a number of psionic die "equal to twice your PB". I'm considering revising the Battle Master using a similar model and this is what I've come up with so far:
Superiority Dice: You gain a number of superiority die equal to twice you PB
Maneuvers: You start off knowing 3 maneuvers, and learn another at 7th, 10th, 15th and 18th
This revision would obviously give the Battle Master more maneuvers and superiority die by the end of their career but but I'm curious if anyone thinks this is "broken" or not.
For context lets look at the original Battle Master. By the end of their career they would have 6 Superiority Die and 6 Maneuvers. If you add in the Martial Adept Feat that changes to 7 and 8. If you then include the optional fighting style from TCoE "Superior Technique" and it changes again to 8 and 9
With my changes the base BM would have 12 SD and 7 Maneuvers. Superior Technique would make it 13 and 8, and Martial Adept makes it 14 and 10.
I have considered how these changes might affect my table, as I tend to run higher level campaigns (lowest starting point being level 5). My reason for these changes comes with the new maneuvers introduced in TCoE that provide social and exploration utility to the subclass and thus more chances to burn resources outside of combat.
So, fellow DM's, tell what you think of these potential changes and what alternatives are there?
Keep in mind, the Psionic Energy Dice pool recharges on a Long Rest, while the Superiority Dice pool recharges on a Short Rest. They currently learn 3 maneuvers at 3rd level, two more at each of 7th, 10th and 15th. So if you figure an average of two Short Rests per adventuring day, the regular Battlemaster would end up with effectively 18 Superiority Dice and 9 Maneuvers. Your version would give them 12 Dice and 7 Maneuvers.
I tend to run my table in a way that forces players to use more resources than they are use too if they aren't clever. I'm no meat grinder DM but Short rests are not assured and even when they do take them, consequences can arise from doing so. In my experience players treat Short Rests almost like a pause menu in a video game and as such develop a level of risk aversion that has them *****foot around encounters.
I also don't play into the whole "party role" mentality where one PC does this specific thing in this specific pillar of play. I try to find ways to engage my players in each pillar, and with the Battle Master's new maneuvers that being aimed towards those non-combat facets, I feel fairly confident that the increased number of uses and maneuvers will be out of control.
I agree with you about short rests. Whenever I run a Campaign, I rarely allow my players to take more than 1 and at max 2 short rests. Of course if they attempt to take one in a location where it is not safe, they will suffer the consequences for the Choice. So I can see how having a Battle Master's increased SP to last till a long rest would be beneficial in campaigns where Short rests are rare or come with a penalty.
Outside of that though, I do believe that the Battle Master does have a decent resource pool as is with them regaining all their SP on shorts rests along with the Fighting Style and Feat to increase the amount of SP and Maneuvers they can have.
So this comes down to the play style of the party the BM is in and the style of the DM that is hosting the game.
I think Superiority Dies are fine as it is, mainly because they are recharged with a short-rest. Once you maxed your main attack ability and got your main feats, you’ll probably have some space for Martial Adept and/or Fighting Initiate to increase even more your SD & maneuvers pool.
You also have to look at Psi Warrior. It's basically a reskinned battlemaster with fewer maneuvers. Just change the flavor on it and you've got the mechanics already built in.
Protective Field = Parry (damage avoidance based on dex instead of int)
Telekinetic Movement = Maneuvering attack (your action instead of targets reaction)
Psionic Strike = Extra damage (most of the rest of the BM maneuvers but limited to within 30 feet so doesn't benefit an archer )
At 7th you pick up
Telekinetic Thrust = Trip attack
Psi-Powered Leap - finally one that isn't a duplicate maneuver
The 15th and 18th level abilities are actually cool. But how often do campaigns actually go that high?
So as a DM I've been reading "Tasha's Cauldron of Everything" (great source material for both DM's and players: Highly recommend) and I started think about this new design philosophy WoTC seems to have for subclasses, this g abilities to a characters Proficiency Bonus (PB), more specifically, the Psi Warrior.
The Psi Warrior has a number of psionic die "equal to twice your PB". I'm considering revising the Battle Master using a similar model and this is what I've come up with so far:
Superiority Dice: You gain a number of superiority die equal to twice you PB
Maneuvers: You start off knowing 3 maneuvers, and learn another at 7th, 10th, 15th and 18th
This revision would obviously give the Battle Master more maneuvers and superiority die by the end of their career but but I'm curious if anyone thinks this is "broken" or not.
For context lets look at the original Battle Master. By the end of their career they would have 6 Superiority Die and 6 Maneuvers. If you add in the Martial Adept Feat that changes to 7 and 8. If you then include the optional fighting style from TCoE "Superior Technique" and it changes again to 8 and 9
With my changes the base BM would have 12 SD and 7 Maneuvers. Superior Technique would make it 13 and 8, and Martial Adept makes it 14 and 10.
I have considered how these changes might affect my table, as I tend to run higher level campaigns (lowest starting point being level 5). My reason for these changes comes with the new maneuvers introduced in TCoE that provide social and exploration utility to the subclass and thus more chances to burn resources outside of combat.
So, fellow DM's, tell what you think of these potential changes and what alternatives are there?
Keep in mind, the Psionic Energy Dice pool recharges on a Long Rest, while the Superiority Dice pool recharges on a Short Rest. They currently learn 3 maneuvers at 3rd level, two more at each of 7th, 10th and 15th. So if you figure an average of two Short Rests per adventuring day, the regular Battlemaster would end up with effectively 18 Superiority Dice and 9 Maneuvers. Your version would give them 12 Dice and 7 Maneuvers.
I tend to run my table in a way that forces players to use more resources than they are use too if they aren't clever. I'm no meat grinder DM but Short rests are not assured and even when they do take them, consequences can arise from doing so. In my experience players treat Short Rests almost like a pause menu in a video game and as such develop a level of risk aversion that has them *****foot around encounters.
I also don't play into the whole "party role" mentality where one PC does this specific thing in this specific pillar of play. I try to find ways to engage my players in each pillar, and with the Battle Master's new maneuvers that being aimed towards those non-combat facets, I feel fairly confident that the increased number of uses and maneuvers will be out of control.
I agree with you about short rests. Whenever I run a Campaign, I rarely allow my players to take more than 1 and at max 2 short rests. Of course if they attempt to take one in a location where it is not safe, they will suffer the consequences for the Choice. So I can see how having a Battle Master's increased SP to last till a long rest would be beneficial in campaigns where Short rests are rare or come with a penalty.
Outside of that though, I do believe that the Battle Master does have a decent resource pool as is with them regaining all their SP on shorts rests along with the Fighting Style and Feat to increase the amount of SP and Maneuvers they can have.
So this comes down to the play style of the party the BM is in and the style of the DM that is hosting the game.
I think Superiority Dies are fine as it is, mainly because they are recharged with a short-rest. Once you maxed your main attack ability and got your main feats, you’ll probably have some space for Martial Adept and/or Fighting Initiate to increase even more your SD & maneuvers pool.
You also have to look at Psi Warrior. It's basically a reskinned battlemaster with fewer maneuvers. Just change the flavor on it and you've got the mechanics already built in.
At 7th you pick up
The 15th and 18th level abilities are actually cool. But how often do campaigns actually go that high?