'History' and literature - especially the fantasy genre - is full of stories detailing a single fighter holding a choke-point against overwhelming odds. They are almost as full of stories of the enemy sneaking around the back of said warrior. The tunnel fighter/polearm master is eventually going to die holding the breach - it is inevitable. That he is going to save the day and take a mighty toll of his foe should also go without saying. The combo may be broken and/or overpowered but it certainly shouldn't break any half decent campaign. So he can kill 6 goblins in 1 round? So could a well placed burning hands spell. Two levels later, the mage will be throwing lightning bolts down that tunnel...Or the enemy mage might be sending those amps the opposite way...
D&D is predominantly about heroes and heroic deeds - if you neuter the fighters because of just one situation, it's going to be a sadder place for the ordinary folks looking to get saved.
Goblin and kobold lives are cheap - and they are the currency us DMs use to trick the players into enjoying themselves.
The issue for the poster isn't that this character can kill 6 things in a turn, it's that it can kill 6 things every turn, any turn, at exactly zero cost. That is far beyond what any burning hands can do. We aren't "neutering fighters" here. Fighters are great - even the Tunnel Fighter heroically holding the line is great. But, if the DM is discovering that some random combo of non-standard rules is making it impossible to tailor any combats to match both the normal characters and the unexpectedly overpowered character - then the DM can adjust that power level. That is a valid decision. Weak creatures are indeed fun for the party to kill, but not if one player wipes all of them out single-handedly every time.
Depends on your campaign and what you're throwing but the combo here is one that you should sometimes let be powerful and sometimes circumvent by not putting the enemies in range.
If you're having the party run into consistent enemies (like those controlled by some sort of villain/boss/BBEG), then those enemies should be able to adapt to the PCs and use different tactics knowing this character is a fierce fighter under certain circumstances. As an example: If a den of kobolds is consistently fighting the PC as the PCs explore their lair, let those kobolds set traps to entice this character into position and attack with means other than direct melee combat.
Use ranged combat, use low-level spellcasters with specific cantrips that target saves instead of attacks if the AC is too high. Stuff like that. Tailor the challenges to let the character shine sometimes and poke a hole in the limitations of this combo other times - just aim for making it fun and challenging, not as a punishment for choosing this. There should be some ways to build those challenges without breaking story immersion. Good luck!
Post Edit: And don't forget that some enemies can have special features and abilities where they don't provoke attacks of opportunity at all. If there's a feat for it in the PHB or a similar feature in the MM then there's no reason a slightly tailored/customized enemy couldn't have that ability.
As always with Unearthed Arcana material, please be aware that it is play test material and, as with this fighting style, was deemed unsuitable for inclusion in published books.
Out of curiosity, is there somewhere we can see what play test material is still under consideration and what was rejected? Is there a way to get updates to play testing suggestions? When a player requests a play-test race/class/style, I think I would rather be able to turn it down outright if it has been evaluated and rejected by more knowledgeable minds than mine.
As always with Unearthed Arcana material, please be aware that it is play test material and, as with this fighting style, was deemed unsuitable for inclusion in published books.
Out of curiosity, is there somewhere we can see what play test material is still under consideration and what was rejected? Is there a way to get updates to play testing suggestions? When a player requests a play-test race/class/style, I think I would rather be able to turn it down outright if it has been evaluated and rejected by more knowledgeable minds than mine.
General rule of thumb if it came out before Xanathar's, and was not in Xanathar's, it was not good enough and either re-entered the design phase, or was trashed entirely. Obviously stuff that came out the same month, or really close to Xanathar's official release wouldn't be included in this. I'm not sure if there's anything more specifically helpful for you, but that should be of some help. You could also figure out what the latest UA material that made it into Xanathar's was, and assume everything before that not in Xanathar's was canned.
As far as I know the only old UA subclasses that the developers said had enough satisfaction rating to get published were the sorcerous origins, especially stone sorcery. There just wasn't enough time to develop all of them in time to include them in Xanathar's. They could still turn up in a future book.
Pretty safe to assume anything else, if it resurfaces at all, will be very different from its previous incarnations. A good example of that is the wizard School of Invention, which was another attempt at the mechanics behind the Lore Wizard.
It is not, in fact, a racial feat. Available to anyone.
Also, ranged weapons and spells won't trigger any of that goodness... Also, seeing as how you have a home brewed fighting style, you might go to your player and just be honest. "Hey, look, when I allowed this I hadn't thought through all the consequences. It was a brilliant pick (see, buttering up is good) but I'm gonna ask you to change it out for something else so the game is exciting for everyone and doesn't make me pull my hair out."
If he still seems upset, offer to offset it with a wondrous item or something that he could pick up in the campaign early... like a bag of holding or something that doesn't break the game and yet is cool to have. If he's still too whiny tell him to grow up. :P
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It is not, in fact, a racial feat. Available to anyone.
I think that bit was to explain that the character got this feat via the Variant Human race option, to explain how the 3rd level fighter had such a thing at such an early level, resulting in the outrageous power levels so early. This whole post is the exact reason I don't allow variant humans in my games - if people want to start the game with a feat then we can all start at level 4.
you are allowed to play toward the PC weaknesses. if the enemy horde sees their mates die when going into melee, they'd likely switch to their ranged option.
baddies can have aoe and aura effects too. but if you really want the players to exercise caution, put some creatures in front of them with really scary abilities, like banshees, or intellect devourers that have devastating effects for failed saves.
It is not, in fact, a racial feat. Available to anyone.
I think that bit was to explain that the character got this feat via the Variant Human race option, to explain how the 3rd level fighter had such a thing at such an early level, resulting in the outrageous power levels so early. This whole post is the exact reason I don't allow variant humans in my games - if people want to start the game with a feat then we can all start at level 4.
I, on the other hand, have decided that at my table, in the current game we are not allowing the OPTIONAL rules called feats. I find that nicely short circuits such situations.
I, on the other hand, have decided that at my table, in the current game we are not allowing the OPTIONAL rules called feats. I find that nicely short circuits such situations.
Most feats barely make up for the loss of ability scores. They're not a balance problem.
Variant Human is different because the player doesn't have to give up an ASI. On the other hand they're giving up a ton of racial traits and potential racial feats just to start with a feat. It's not like a level 1 character couldn't put out similar numbers to Polearm Master with TWF.
I, on the other hand, have decided that at my table, in the current game we are not allowing the OPTIONAL rules called feats. I find that nicely short circuits such situations.
Perfectly valid choice in my opinion. I outlaw multiclassing except under very controlled circumstances. If you include every single optional rule plus allow UA content then it is an open invitation to MinMax to your hearts content. Totally fine for people who enjoy that going on. I'm not that people. I also require my players to agree that commonly argued exploits from the internet are out; Yesterday's Goodberries, Life Cleric Goodberries, Summon Pixies Mass Polymorph, Healing Spirit outside combat, Polearm Master Shield Quarterstaff, etc. I allow and encourage imaginative use of spells and abilities as a Macguyver-style one off (shoot a fireball at the cliff to start an avalanche! Action Surge to rescue the drowning puppy! Harness Ki in social situations, etc.) But if a player thinks they can get a permanent imbalance over the other players by exploiting some rare combo of rule mechanics then they've got another thing coming. I've got a particularly nasty experience waiting for the first person to try to Wish for another Simulacrum...
I'd like to add a note I haven't seen here in regards to Opportunity Attacks. According to the PHB you only get to make an opportunity attack when an enemy leaves your reach. They can move around within your reach freely. With that in mind your player would only get to make all his free attacks when people run away from him. If you really want to get someone past him, just have them take the disengage action (or bonus action if they're a more roguish type)
This combined with the earlier mentioned clarification that he only gets one actual attack on each of those targets should bring him back in line as far as combat strength. Flavor wise you can start just funneling enemies towards him. Which in theory is also the idea for the tunnel fighter.
All of this however may interfere with his interpretation of the rules, especially if he made the character with the purpose of cheesing through fights as he has been.
I'd like to add a note I haven't seen here in regards to Opportunity Attacks. According to the PHB you only get to make an opportunity attack when an enemy leaves your reach. They can move around within your reach freely. With that in mind your player would only get to make all his free attacks when people run away from him. If you really want to get someone past him, just have them take the disengage action (or bonus action if they're a more roguish type)
Normally, yes. Tunnel Fighter as described also grants one reaction attack for moving within reach. But the player also has Polearm Master, the second feature of which is:
"While you are wielding a glaive, halberd, pike, or quarterstaff, other creatures provoke an opportunity attack from you when they *enter* your reach"
Anything entering or leaving the zone provokes a *free* attack. Plus the actual reaction. Plus normal action attack on their own turn. It's unprecedented. And sure, there are ranged attackers, and disengagers, and casters, and terrifying abominations that exist, but we are talking about a party of otherwise normal level 3 characters here. Those other players risk getting torn apart by the creatures that need to be brought in to face the glaive whirlwind, and that is just not fair for anyone.
And sure, there are ranged attackers, and disengagers, and casters, and terrifying abominations that exist, but we are talking about a party of otherwise normal level 3 characters here. Those other players risk getting torn apart by the creatures that need to be brought in to face the glaive whirlwind, and that is just not fair for anyone.
Hordes of goblins can disengage as a bonus action. A single goblin is CR 1/4, designed to go toe to toe with a single level 1 character. Don't be afraid to throw three or more at this one character. If he's built to grind for XP, make him earn it.
Also, monsters are scary, and looking from their perspective, they are fighting for their lives and livelihood. The world is a dangerous place, and survival is not guaranteed.
I allow and encourage imaginative use of spells and abilities as a Macguyver-style one off (shoot a fireball at the cliff to start an avalanche! Action Surge to rescue the drowning puppy! Harness Ki in social situations, etc.) But if a player thinks they can get a permanent imbalance over the other players by exploiting some rare combo of rule mechanics then they've got another thing coming. I've got a particularly nasty experience waiting for the first person to try to Wish for another Simulacrum...
Don't you think it's a little disingenuous to say "I encourage players to break the rules whenever I think the outcome would be cool, but they better not get too clever playing within the rules"? The only thing you mentioned that comes close to being a problem is Healing Spirit, and that's not a rules exploit; the spell itself is broken as published. The rest are either non-issues, working exactly as intended, or have significant drawbacks. The Conjure Woodland Creatures Pixie trick or Sorcerer/Warlock spell slot trick don't even work.
The players that like combos like Polearm Master with a quarterstaff and shield aren't trying to be malicious, being effective in combat or finding rule interactions like that is just fun for them.
Normally, yes. Tunnel Fighter as described also grants one reaction attack for moving within reach. But the player also has Polearm Master, the second feature of which is:
"While you are wielding a glaive, halberd, pike, or quarterstaff, other creatures provoke an opportunity attack from you when they *enter* your reach"
Anything entering or leaving the zone provokes a *free* attack. Plus the actual reaction. Plus normal action attack on their own turn. It's unprecedented. And sure, there are ranged attackers, and disengagers, and casters, and terrifying abominations that exist, but we are talking about a party of otherwise normal level 3 characters here. Those other players risk getting torn apart by the creatures that need to be brought in to face the glaive whirlwind, and that is just not fair for anyone.
That does certainly complicate things. As a single character that is rather powerful, especially at 3rd level. But in that case, adjusting combat is easy enough. Honestly just give the enemies more HP. If the issue is them taking too much damage before they get to the rest of the party let them withstand more damage. If the DM is trying to add tension to the combat it's up to him to make the foes more challenging. The risk something stronger creates is what adds the tension to the situation. Sure stronger monsters might tear apart the rest of the party but the point of the stronger monsters is to deal with the glaive whirlwind. If the party isn't using the glaive whirlwind in their overall strategy then there's no need to rebalance combat to accommodate.
Also, "ranged attackers" isn't like some super strong strategy that drastically alters combat. It's a pretty simple solution.
If I were going to run combat against this glaive-ness, and assuming the party is using him as a meat shield. I would bring along at least one or two high AC mobs, either in heavy armor or naturally durable or whatever, get them stuck in with the fighter. These guys will at best be taking one hit from him when he takes the Attack action. He doesn't get his bonus attack cause presumably he's using the bonus for the stance. If they don't leave his side they don't provoke those attacks. If he tries to move they get AOO themselves. He has ten foot range, great, unless he's fighting in a tight space (which is the intention of the fighting style) it's not that hard to move around him. Enemies usually are smart enough to know that if they see a guy with a big halberd, avoid his reach with it. If he decides to move to intercept, he gets attacked by the big guys in his face. Add in ranged enemies to attack the party behind him, smaller melee guys can pincer around him to get to the party. If enemies absolutely have to run straight through his threatened zone have them disengage, or just take the 1-3 hits. After all that is part of his character fantasy.
To point out as well... Tunnel Fighter isn't official. Not even under optional rules. Clearly you're able to use whatever you want. But the fact is, that ability is rather OP by itself, even without the pole arm.
With just pole arm you get to hit A SINGLE target due to using your reaction. Still very valuable, but not unreasonable.
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One more point. Many creatures have both ranged and melee weapons. I had a mage who was moving forward to see what else was in the room. The orcs hiding in the darkness couldn't close the full distance to melee, so they chucked their spears/javelins at him. He went down and hopefully he won't try to go first into a big dark scary room again. :)
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'History' and literature - especially the fantasy genre - is full of stories detailing a single fighter holding a choke-point against overwhelming odds. They are almost as full of stories of the enemy sneaking around the back of said warrior. The tunnel fighter/polearm master is eventually going to die holding the breach - it is inevitable. That he is going to save the day and take a mighty toll of his foe should also go without saying.
The combo may be broken and/or overpowered but it certainly shouldn't break any half decent campaign. So he can kill 6 goblins in 1 round? So could a well placed burning hands spell. Two levels later, the mage will be throwing lightning bolts down that tunnel...Or the enemy mage might be sending those amps the opposite way...
D&D is predominantly about heroes and heroic deeds - if you neuter the fighters because of just one situation, it's going to be a sadder place for the ordinary folks looking to get saved.
Goblin and kobold lives are cheap - and they are the currency us DMs use to trick the players into enjoying themselves.
Roleplaying since Runequest.
The issue for the poster isn't that this character can kill 6 things in a turn, it's that it can kill 6 things every turn, any turn, at exactly zero cost. That is far beyond what any burning hands can do. We aren't "neutering fighters" here. Fighters are great - even the Tunnel Fighter heroically holding the line is great. But, if the DM is discovering that some random combo of non-standard rules is making it impossible to tailor any combats to match both the normal characters and the unexpectedly overpowered character - then the DM can adjust that power level. That is a valid decision. Weak creatures are indeed fun for the party to kill, but not if one player wipes all of them out single-handedly every time.
Depends on your campaign and what you're throwing but the combo here is one that you should sometimes let be powerful and sometimes circumvent by not putting the enemies in range.
If you're having the party run into consistent enemies (like those controlled by some sort of villain/boss/BBEG), then those enemies should be able to adapt to the PCs and use different tactics knowing this character is a fierce fighter under certain circumstances. As an example: If a den of kobolds is consistently fighting the PC as the PCs explore their lair, let those kobolds set traps to entice this character into position and attack with means other than direct melee combat.
Use ranged combat, use low-level spellcasters with specific cantrips that target saves instead of attacks if the AC is too high. Stuff like that. Tailor the challenges to let the character shine sometimes and poke a hole in the limitations of this combo other times - just aim for making it fun and challenging, not as a punishment for choosing this. There should be some ways to build those challenges without breaking story immersion. Good luck!
Post Edit: And don't forget that some enemies can have special features and abilities where they don't provoke attacks of opportunity at all. If there's a feat for it in the PHB or a similar feature in the MM then there's no reason a slightly tailored/customized enemy couldn't have that ability.
Out of curiosity, is there somewhere we can see what play test material is still under consideration and what was rejected? Is there a way to get updates to play testing suggestions? When a player requests a play-test race/class/style, I think I would rather be able to turn it down outright if it has been evaluated and rejected by more knowledgeable minds than mine.
As far as I know the only old UA subclasses that the developers said had enough satisfaction rating to get published were the sorcerous origins, especially stone sorcery. There just wasn't enough time to develop all of them in time to include them in Xanathar's. They could still turn up in a future book.
Pretty safe to assume anything else, if it resurfaces at all, will be very different from its previous incarnations. A good example of that is the wizard School of Invention, which was another attempt at the mechanics behind the Lore Wizard.
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Playtesting Fugare Draconis, an epic tale of adventure, loss, and redemption
you are allowed to play toward the PC weaknesses. if the enemy horde sees their mates die when going into melee, they'd likely switch to their ranged option.
baddies can have aoe and aura effects too. but if you really want the players to exercise caution, put some creatures in front of them with really scary abilities, like banshees, or intellect devourers that have devastating effects for failed saves.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
I'd like to add a note I haven't seen here in regards to Opportunity Attacks. According to the PHB you only get to make an opportunity attack when an enemy leaves your reach. They can move around within your reach freely. With that in mind your player would only get to make all his free attacks when people run away from him. If you really want to get someone past him, just have them take the disengage action (or bonus action if they're a more roguish type)
This combined with the earlier mentioned clarification that he only gets one actual attack on each of those targets should bring him back in line as far as combat strength. Flavor wise you can start just funneling enemies towards him. Which in theory is also the idea for the tunnel fighter.
All of this however may interfere with his interpretation of the rules, especially if he made the character with the purpose of cheesing through fights as he has been.
Don't you think it's a little disingenuous to say "I encourage players to break the rules whenever I think the outcome would be cool, but they better not get too clever playing within the rules"? The only thing you mentioned that comes close to being a problem is Healing Spirit, and that's not a rules exploit; the spell itself is broken as published. The rest are either non-issues, working exactly as intended, or have significant drawbacks. The Conjure Woodland Creatures Pixie trick or Sorcerer/Warlock spell slot trick don't even work.
The players that like combos like Polearm Master with a quarterstaff and shield aren't trying to be malicious, being effective in combat or finding rule interactions like that is just fun for them.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
To point out as well... Tunnel Fighter isn't official. Not even under optional rules. Clearly you're able to use whatever you want. But the fact is, that ability is rather OP by itself, even without the pole arm.
With just pole arm you get to hit A SINGLE target due to using your reaction. Still very valuable, but not unreasonable.
Playtesting Fugare Draconis, an epic tale of adventure, loss, and redemption
One more point. Many creatures have both ranged and melee weapons. I had a mage who was moving forward to see what else was in the room. The orcs hiding in the darkness couldn't close the full distance to melee, so they chucked their spears/javelins at him. He went down and hopefully he won't try to go first into a big dark scary room again. :)
Playtesting Fugare Draconis, an epic tale of adventure, loss, and redemption