Please provide some interpretation. I have a Player who thinks that his Barbarian at Level 1 can have 2 weapon Masterys' a Great Axe and a Battleaxe, but after sleeping a night (Long Rest) he can swap out the Great Axe for say a Sword, or he can after another long rest swap the battleaxe for a dagger, so in effect he gets every weapon mastery there is after a nights' rest.
I interpret it as he gets 2 Masteries and can swap between the two after a nights Long Rest. So one day he can use Great Axe and the next day he can use Battle Axr.
Who is correct here? If his version is correct according to the new rules, then Barbarians are the most skilled fighters in the game! NOT REALISTIC even in a fantasy game!!
RAW it's that they can use either of the two at any time, swapping between them during a fight to take best advantage of a situation, and then after a long rest swap out one for a different weapon mastery. Not sure how you figure that makes them the most skilled fighter in the game, they still only have two masteries at a time and the swapping system works the same for any class that has masteries and Fighters get more masteries then any other class
Who is correct here? If his version is correct according to the new rules, then Barbarians are the most skilled fighters in the game! NOT REALISTIC even in a fantasy game!!
Fighters can do the same thing with THREE WEAPONS, not only that, at level 9, Fighters can switch the Mastery Property on a weapon they have mastery with to Push, Sap or Slow, on a per attack basis. So a level 11 fighter can pick up a Halberd, perform a cleave on the first attack, use Sap on the second attack and then slow on the 3rd attack. Additionally since they cleaved, on the cleave attack, they can also Push, Sap or Slow on that attack and finally as a bonus action attack (pole strike), they can push. Or they could just cleave on the first attack, and push on the following 4 attacks! allowing them to zone out an area more effectively.
Barbarian has nothing on a Fighter when it comes to weapon masteries.
But to answer the question, your player is correct here, during a long rest, they can change one of their weapon masteries to a completely different weapon type, this applies too ALL classes with Weapon mastery (Barbarian, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger & Rogue) and so Barbarian is no better than any other. Only Fighter has a better version of weapon mastery compared to the other classes.
ThisWeapon Mastery feature use two melee weapons of your choice, which you can change one of those weapon choices after a Long Rest.
There's 28 melee weapons. You start with two of them and every night you can change one for any of the other 26.
Level 1: Weapon Mastery
Your training with weapons allows you to use the mastery properties of two kinds of Simple or Martial Melee weapons of your choice, such as Greataxes and Handaxes. Whenever you finish a Long Rest, you can practice weapon drills and change one of those weapon choices.
When you reach certain Barbarian levels, you gain the ability to use the mastery properties of more kinds of weapons, as shown in the Weapon Mastery column of the Barbarian Features table.
ThisWeapon Mastery feature use two melee weapons of your choice
A Barbarian will likely be choosing two melee weapons, but I don't think anything limits it to melee weapons.
The Barbarian does mention two kinds of Simple or Martial Melee weapons of your choice so it can't be Ranged weapons.
Another reason that the Barbarian isn't "the most skilled fighter in the game" right there when the Fighter, Ranger and even the Rogue have no such restrictions
ThisWeapon Mastery feature use two melee weapons of your choice
A Barbarian will likely be choosing two melee weapons, but I don't think anything limits it to melee weapons.
The Barbarian does mention two kinds of Simple or Martial Melee weapons of your choice so it can't be Ranged weapons.
Must have missed it when I checked, it does indeed say melee weapons, so Barbarian has a limitation that none of the other classes do, not even Paladin, on top of all of this. Not sure why Barbarian needs such a limitation but oh well.
Ironically, Barbarian's version also doesn't require any proficiency requirements either tho I can't think of many weapons that a Barbarian wouldn't be proficient in, but same goes for Fighter, Paladin and Ranger.
I want to say every martial class aside from Monk gets proficiency with every PHB weapon in 5e.
Add Rogue, they have Weapon Proficiencies with Simple weapons and Martial weapons that have the Finesse or Light property, meaning they don't have to to every weapons.
I want to say every martial class aside from Monk gets proficiency with every PHB weapon in 5e.
Add Rogue, they have Weapon Proficiencies with Simple weapons and Martial weapons that have the Finesse or Light property, meaning they don't have to to every weapons.
Who is correct here? If his version is correct according to the new rules, then Barbarians are the most skilled fighters in the game! NOT REALISTIC even in a fantasy game!!
I don't think the intent is to have barbarians lug around a bag of weapons and switch every day. The intent is that if they picked Batteaxe and Greataxe and then the party found a cool Greatsword in a dungeon, the Barbarian would have an opportunity to use that weapon effectively.
When I encounter stuff like this that doesn't feel logical, I try to think of a way it could be explained. Barbarians don't necessarily get their skill from training or study but rather through instinct, emotion, and perhaps some kind of spiritual-based aspect of nature. Perhaps the skills conveyed with weapon mastery are imparted through dreams, or a sweat lodge session, or literal possession by spirits. D&D is a lot more fun if you stop saying, "that's not realistic!" and start saying "how do I fit this mechanic into the way my campaign world works?"
Who is correct here? If his version is correct according to the new rules, then Barbarians are the most skilled fighters in the game! NOT REALISTIC even in a fantasy game!!
I don't think the intent is to have barbarians lug around a bag of weapons and switch every day. The intent is that if they picked Batteaxe and Greataxe and then the party found a cool Greatsword in a dungeon, the Barbarian would have an opportunity to use that weapon effectively.
When I encounter stuff like this that doesn't feel logical, I try to think of a way it could be explained. Barbarians don't necessarily get their skill from training or study but rather through instinct, emotion, and perhaps some kind of spiritual-based aspect of nature. Perhaps the skills conveyed with weapon mastery are imparted through dreams, or a sweat lodge session, or literal possession by spirits. D&D is a lot more fun if you stop saying, "that's not realistic!" and start saying "how do I fit this mechanic into the way my campaign world works?"
Just chiming in to say I love this perspective and I'd love to see more of it from people, especially as they talk to newer players about those mechanics.
Just to be clear on the OP’s question, when they swap, they lose the mastery on the old weapon. They can potentially master any weapon, but can only have 2 active on a given day. This holds for everyone who has them.
I just want to make sure the player isn’t trying to accrue all the weapons at once.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Please provide some interpretation. I have a Player who thinks that his Barbarian at Level 1 can have 2 weapon Masterys' a Great Axe and a Battleaxe, but after sleeping a night (Long Rest) he can swap out the Great Axe for say a Sword, or he can after another long rest swap the battleaxe for a dagger, so in effect he gets every weapon mastery there is after a nights' rest.
I interpret it as he gets 2 Masteries and can swap between the two after a nights Long Rest. So one day he can use Great Axe and the next day he can use Battle Axr.
Who is correct here? If his version is correct according to the new rules, then Barbarians are the most skilled fighters in the game! NOT REALISTIC even in a fantasy game!!
RAW it's that they can use either of the two at any time, swapping between them during a fight to take best advantage of a situation, and then after a long rest swap out one for a different weapon mastery. Not sure how you figure that makes them the most skilled fighter in the game, they still only have two masteries at a time and the swapping system works the same for any class that has masteries and Fighters get more masteries then any other class
Fighters can do the same thing with THREE WEAPONS, not only that, at level 9, Fighters can switch the Mastery Property on a weapon they have mastery with to Push, Sap or Slow, on a per attack basis. So a level 11 fighter can pick up a Halberd, perform a cleave on the first attack, use Sap on the second attack and then slow on the 3rd attack. Additionally since they cleaved, on the cleave attack, they can also Push, Sap or Slow on that attack and finally as a bonus action attack (pole strike), they can push. Or they could just cleave on the first attack, and push on the following 4 attacks! allowing them to zone out an area more effectively.
Barbarian has nothing on a Fighter when it comes to weapon masteries.
But to answer the question, your player is correct here, during a long rest, they can change one of their weapon masteries to a completely different weapon type, this applies too ALL classes with Weapon mastery (Barbarian, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger & Rogue) and so Barbarian is no better than any other. Only Fighter has a better version of weapon mastery compared to the other classes.
ThisWeapon Mastery feature use two melee weapons of your choice, which you can change one of those weapon choices after a Long Rest.
There's 28 melee weapons. You start with two of them and every night you can change one for any of the other 26.
A Barbarian will likely be choosing two melee weapons, but I don't think anything limits it to melee weapons.
The Barbarian does mention two kinds of Simple or Martial Melee weapons of your choice so it can't be Ranged weapons.
Another reason that the Barbarian isn't "the most skilled fighter in the game" right there when the Fighter, Ranger and even the Rogue have no such restrictions
Must have missed it when I checked, it does indeed say melee weapons, so Barbarian has a limitation that none of the other classes do, not even Paladin, on top of all of this. Not sure why Barbarian needs such a limitation but oh well.
Ironically, Barbarian's version also doesn't require any proficiency requirements either tho I can't think of many weapons that a Barbarian wouldn't be proficient in, but same goes for Fighter, Paladin and Ranger.
I want to say every martial class aside from Monk gets proficiency with every PHB weapon in 5e.
Add Rogue, they have Weapon Proficiencies with Simple weapons and Martial weapons that have the Finesse or Light property, meaning they don't have to to every weapons.
Wasn’t counting them in “martials” to begin with.
Fair enought.
I don't think the intent is to have barbarians lug around a bag of weapons and switch every day. The intent is that if they picked Batteaxe and Greataxe and then the party found a cool Greatsword in a dungeon, the Barbarian would have an opportunity to use that weapon effectively.
When I encounter stuff like this that doesn't feel logical, I try to think of a way it could be explained. Barbarians don't necessarily get their skill from training or study but rather through instinct, emotion, and perhaps some kind of spiritual-based aspect of nature. Perhaps the skills conveyed with weapon mastery are imparted through dreams, or a sweat lodge session, or literal possession by spirits. D&D is a lot more fun if you stop saying, "that's not realistic!" and start saying "how do I fit this mechanic into the way my campaign world works?"
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
Just chiming in to say I love this perspective and I'd love to see more of it from people, especially as they talk to newer players about those mechanics.
Just to be clear on the OP’s question, when they swap, they lose the mastery on the old weapon. They can potentially master any weapon, but can only have 2 active on a given day. This holds for everyone who has them.
I just want to make sure the player isn’t trying to accrue all the weapons at once.