So, it's no secret that martial classes are much much weaker than spellcasting classes, especially in later levels. A martial at lvl 5 can spend their whole action attacking one creature to deal about the same damage as a fireball, but a wizard can blow up four guys with that one fireball, dealing four times the damage. And, when they're out of combat, martials don't really get unique or useful things to solve non-fighting based problems, unless they have a particular subclass. So, what do?
Well first of all, I think one thing that martial classes should explore is weapons. Weapons are something martials get that spellcasters don’t, so what kind of weapon a martial is using should be interesting. The Weapon Mastery properties goes in the right direction, but I think they don’t add quite enough versatility; weapons still feel quite alike, and the effects they can cause aren’t so amazing. So, cutting to the chase, I’d absolutely use You Might Be a DnD's homebrewed weapon system. No point making my own homebrew system when this one does the treat!!
I would make one change to this system, however; if you hit a creature with a weapon you have mastery over, you deal bonus damage. This amount could scale as a character levels up their Martial Level (aka all their levels in martial classes added together); it could start at 1d8, and then get another d8 every 4 levels or so.
But improving the weapons can only take us so far. If we make using weapons the only thing making martials strong and versatile, then unarmed fighting builds will suffer. So, we’ve gotta build in some special martial abilities right into the classes themselves!!
Introducing: Martial Talents.
Starting at 2nd level, martial classes (barbarian, fighter, rogue, and maybe monk) will have the option of choosing between a list of ‘martial talents’. Martial classes are classes for those whose physical abilities transcend that of the average man, able to take down supremely powerful beings with nothing but their athletic prowess. You can basically imagine a Martial Talent as a specific kind of supreme physical feat that they are capable of performing.
At 2nd level, martial classes get to choose one Martial Talent. As they level up, they’ll get to choose more and potentially replace one with another; they’ll get a 2nd at 6th level, a 3rd at 10th level, a 4th at 14th level, and a 5th at 18th level. I also imagine that some subclasses, like Berserker Barbarian or Champion Fighter, would get to choose additional Martial Talents. Each Martial Talent would have a prerequisite; something like 15+ Strength or having a different Martial Talent.
As for what Martial Talents do, I’m pulling straight from comics and anime for this one. Think of any character with super-strength, super-speed, or some incredible mastery of a kind of weapon; these characters have definitely pulled off some totally ridiculously creative feats of superhuman ability, and these Martial Talents would capture those fantasies. Each Martial Talent would have two parts: a Talent Attack and a Passive Talent.
Talent Attacks are super-powerful abilities that a martial class can replace one attack from their Attack action with. They can only use one Talent Attack per turn, and due to their nature, they can’t take any action other than the Attack action if they use a Talent Attack. Examples of this could be; a dashing slash, flying slash, stomping the ground to make an earthquake, throwing a massive boulder, doing a thunderclap, punching something so hard it makes an explosion, etc. etc. These are all your anime super-moves, and them combined with the homebrewed weapon improvements give a Martial character the opportunity to do tons of cool stuff with the Attack action, instead of just deal damage. Something to note is that Martial Classes would be able to use any of their Talent Attacks a number of times per Long Rest equal to 1 + their STR or DEX (whichever is higher) + their PB. That gives them a decent number of usages for all of these abilities, allowing them to keep up power-wise with spellcasters and all of their spell slots.
Passive Talentsare abilities that are focused around utility, both inside of combat and, more importantly, outside of combat. This gives martial classes a way to contribute to the party without just beating stuff up. They are usually thematically linked to their corresponding Talent Attack, and will often benefit each-other. Examples include; getting a burrow speed, increasing how much you can lift, drag, or push, getting super-hearing, being able to track down enemies like a predatory animal, being able to add your Intelligence modifier to all your ability checks, etc. Each Passive Talent will have its own number of usages tied with it, and many of them can be used without any cost.
Now, this system is still a work-in-progres. The main things that I want to achieve are:
letting people pick between all sorts of power fantasies involving having superhuman physical abilities
Making the Passive Talents useful enough that it’ll feel like martials always have something valuable to contribute to the team
I’ve got a list of Martial Talents that I’m currently building out, as shown below. If you have any ideas for stuff you’d like to see as Martial Talents, please let me know!!
Martial Talent List:
Ranged - Flurry of Projectiles. Prerequisite: 13+ Dexterity. Throw or fire an amount of ammunition, tiny objects, or weapons with the ‘thrown’ property up to your Proficiency Bonus. A number of creatures equal to the spent projectiles within a 90 feet cone must make a Dex save or take Piercing or Bludgeoning damage (choose between your weapon’s damage types) equal to 1d10 + your Dexterity modifier.
Also, you can focus your senses to give yourself enhanced precision. When you make a Wisdom check or ranged attack roll, you can spend 10 feet of movement to give yourself a +5 modifier to the roll and remove any disadvantage; you can do this twice, and you refresh these usages when you take a Short or Long Rest.
Melee - Tremor. Prerequisite: 13+ Strength.Strike a surface and create a tremor with a radius of your choice, up to a maximum of 10 times your Proficiency Bonus; each creature other than you within range must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 1d8 Thunder damage and is knocked Prone.
Also, you are able to break through walls and tear up earth. You gain a burrow speed equal to 5 times your Proficiency Bonus. When you reach a Martial Level of 10, you may attempt to dig through solid rock; to do so you must succeed a DC 15 Athletics check. When burrowing, you may choose to leave behind a tunnel your size; this tunnel is unstable, and will collapse after 1d6 hours, filling itself in without disturbing the surrounding earth.
Melee - Dash Strike. Prerequisite: 13+ Strength or Dexterity.If you are not Grappled or Restrained, you may perform a Dash Strike. You can spend 10 feet of movement to dash in a straight line with a length of up to 5 times your Strength or Dexterity modifier (whichever is greater) and a width equal to your reach; this movement does not provoke opportunity attacks. Make a melee weapon attack roll for the weapon you are currently holding; all creatures of your choice in the line with an AC equal to or lower than the roll are dealt the weapon’s normal damage, but suffer no other effects.
Also, you are able to dash through the air using your immense speed and strength. As a bonus action, you may expend 10 feet of movement to dash a distance equal to 10 times your PB in any direction - you may do this even if you do not have a solid surface to leap off of, such as while mid-air or while submerged. When you perform this dash, any fall damage you take is reduced by a number of feet equal to the distance dashed. You can perform this dash two times, and you refresh these usages when you take a Short or Long Rest.
Ranged - Chuck. Prerequisite: 13+ Strength.You can toss an object, willing creature, or creature that you are grappling, within your reach and equal to your size or smaller, a number of feet equal to 5 times your Martial Level. You may attempt to throw the creature forcefully or gently; if thrown gently, the object or creature takes no damage. If thrown forcefully, the thrown target and anything it strikes must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, both targets take 2d6 force damage and are knocked prone; on a successful save, they take only half damage. At 10th level you can throw creatures and objects one size larger than you. At level 15 you can throw creatures and objects 2 sizes larger than you, but only half of your throwing distance.
Also, at level 5, you double the amount of weight you can push, drag, or lift. At 10th level you triple the amount, quadruple at level 15, and quintuple at level 20.
Melee - Living Wall. Prerequisite: 15+ Constitution. You can force an enemy to direct their attention to you in combat, blocking their attacks with your body. All creatures of your choice within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw or take 1d8 psychic damage and be Blocked until the start of your next turn. If a Blocked creature targets you or an allied creature within 5 feet of you with an attack roll or forces them to make a saving throw, you may take a reaction to enter into a body-blocking state. Until the start of your next turn, you gain a number of Temporary Hit Points equal to twice your Martial Level, you have resistance to all damage, and any attacks or effects from Blocked creatures that would target allied creatures within 5 feet of you instead target you. AOE effects can still target protected creatures.
When an effect pushes you, pulls you, or forces you prone against your will and you are on the ground, you may choose to use a reaction to become immovable. Make a DC 12 Strength saving throw. On a success, you gain an amount of Temporary Hit Points equal to your Martial Level, and you cannot be moved or made prone against your will until the end of your next turn. You can become immovable a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus, and you refresh these usages on a Long Rest; if you fail this saving throw, it does not count as spending a usage of this ability.
Melee - After Images. Prerequisite: 15+ Dexterity. You can deceive would-be attackers with after-images caused by your quick movements, opening enemies up to counter-attacks. All creatures of your choice within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw or take 1d8 psychic damage and be Deceived until the start of your next turn. If a Deceived creature targets you with an attack roll or forces you to make a saving throw, you may take a reaction to enter into a dodging state, leaving behind after-images which confuse your attacker. Until the start of your next turn, all attacks from Deceived enemies have disadvantage against you, and you have advantage on saving throws Deceived enemies force you to make. While in this state, if a Deceived creature within your reach misses you with an attack roll, or if you succeed in a saving throw against an effect they cause, you may make a special Opportunity Attack against that creature that does not spend a reaction. You may make this special Opportunity Attack only once per turn. This Opportunity Attack does 1d8 damage of your weapon’s type, does not have modifiers added, and causes no additional effects.
Also, you are a master of stealth and deception, able to hide your intentions and actions with ease. You can move your full speed while in stealth, you can attempt to hide even when you are only obscured by a creature that is at least one size larger than you, and your footsteps are completely silent. Additionally, as an action, you can give one tiny object the ‘Concealed’ weapon property, as you hide it somewhere in your clothing. Only one item can have this property at a time, and it cannot be concealed if you are not wearing clothes. It loses this property if you remove it from its concealed position.
Melee - Spell Breaker. Prerequisite: 15+ Strength. The raw, primal power you wield as a martial fighter can break through even the flowing threads of the Weave. You can strike at a creature’s magical essence, rather than their physical form. Make an attack roll against a creature or object currently utilizing a magical effect. If the attack roll is equal to or higher than the DC of the spell, curse, or the creature or object causing the magical effect, then the target takes 1d8 + STR mod force damage and is dispelled of any magical effects they are concentrating on or being affected by. Cursed items are not dispelled of their curse, but any attunement a creature has with it is broken.
When a creature attempts to cast a spell which affects you, another creature, or an area within 5 feet of you, you may use a reaction to attempt to break the magical flow of the spell before it takes effect. The creature casting the spell must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the spell dissipates with no effect, and the Action, Bonus Action, or Reaction used to cast it is wasted. You can use this ability a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus, and you regain all usages of this ability on a Short or Long Rest.
Ranged - Ricochet. Prerequisite: 13+ Intelligence. When you hit or miss a ranged weapon attack, you may attempt to ricochet the launched projectile from one target to another. As a part of the original attack, make a second attack roll to a new target within 20 feet of the original target; if the attack missed, you may target the original target for this attack. On a hit, this attack does the weapon’s normal damage. On a hit or a miss, a weapon with the thrown property is recalled back to your hand; if you do not have a hand open to catch it, it lands harmlessly in a space within 5 feet of you.
Also, you are able to plan out the trajectory of your actions, calculating the many variables of your current circumstances at super-speeds to achieve the best results when performing a skill check. You may add a bonus to all your skill checks equal to your Intelligence modifier.
Ranged - Flying Strike. Prerequisite: 13+ Strength or Dexterity. You can strike the air with your weapon to create a shockwave, carrying the force of your strike through open space. While holding a melee weapon or while unarmed, you may make a ranged weapon attack to a creature within a number of feet equal to 20 times your Proficiency Bonus. On a hit, the target creature is dealt damage equal to your melee weapon or unarmed strike’s normal weapon damage of the same damage type as that weapon or unarmed strike. Additionally, you are able to make this attack with the same weapon again this turn as a Bonus Action.
Also, your proficiency with shockwaves has granted you carefully attuned senses, enhancing your hearing to supernatural levels. As a bonus action, you can close your eyes, forgoing your vision to attune your hearing. For 10 minutes, as long as you are not Deafened, you have advantage on Perception, Investigation, and Insight checks, as well as Initiative rolls, and you gain Blindsight out to a range equal to 20 times your Proficiency Bonus. For this duration, or until you open your eyes and end this effect (no action required), you are blind outside of the radius of your Blindsight. You can attune your senses in this way twice, and you can regain all usages of this ability on a Short or Long Rest.
Melee - Primal Attack. Prerequisite: 15+ Strength. You can pool all of your energy into one overwhelmingly powerful attack against an enemy, pushing your body to its utmost limit to tap into its inner primal power. Make a melee weapon attack roll against a creature in reach. This attack roll has a +10 bonus applied to it, and if it hits, it is automatically counted as a critical hit, and the struck creature gains vulnerability to the damage of the next attack that hits it. If this attack hits, however, you must spend an amount of your Hit Dice equal to half your Proficiency Bonus and roll them. You take an amount of Force damage equal to the roll, as the force of your attack becomes too much for even your body to withstand.
Also, you are able to tap into the more primal aspects of yourself. You have a climb speed equal to your speed, and advantage on Animal Handling checks. Additionally, you are able to effectively track creatures, like an animal hunting its prey. As a Bonus Action, you can focus on and mark a creature you can see within 60 feet of you as your quarry. Alternatively, you can mark a creature by spending 1 minute studying its tracks. While a creature is marked, you have advantage on Perception and Survival checks to find the target, your first attack each turn has advantage on the creature, and the creature cannot have Advantage on attack rolls, checks, or saving throws made against you. The target is marked as long as it's on the same Plane of Existence as you, and vanishes early if you complete a Long Rest, become Incapacitated, or use this Feature again to mark another creature. You can mark a creature in this way twice, and you regain all usages of this ability after a Short or Long Rest.
So, it's no secret that martial classes are much much weaker than spellcasting classes, especially in later levels. A martial at lvl 5 can spend their whole action attacking one creature to deal about the same damage as a fireball, but a wizard can blow up four guys with that one fireball, dealing four times the damage. And, when they're out of combat, martials don't really get unique or useful things to solve non-fighting based problems, unless they have a particular subclass. So, what do?
Well first of all, I think one thing that martial classes should explore is weapons. Weapons are something martials get that spellcasters don’t, so what kind of weapon a martial is using should be interesting. The Weapon Mastery properties goes in the right direction, but I think they don’t add quite enough versatility; weapons still feel quite alike, and the effects they can cause aren’t so amazing. So, cutting to the chase, I’d absolutely use You Might Be a DnD's homebrewed weapon system. No point making my own homebrew system when this one does the treat!!
I would make one change to this system, however; if you hit a creature with a weapon you have mastery over, you deal bonus damage. This amount could scale as a character levels up their Martial Level (aka all their levels in martial classes added together); it could start at 1d8, and then get another d8 every 4 levels or so.
But improving the weapons can only take us so far. If we make using weapons the only thing making martials strong and versatile, then unarmed fighting builds will suffer. So, we’ve gotta build in some special martial abilities right into the classes themselves!!
Introducing: Martial Talents.
Starting at 2nd level, martial classes (barbarian, fighter, rogue, and maybe monk) will have the option of choosing between a list of ‘martial talents’. Martial classes are classes for those whose physical abilities transcend that of the average man, able to take down supremely powerful beings with nothing but their athletic prowess. You can basically imagine a Martial Talent as a specific kind of supreme physical feat that they are capable of performing.
At 2nd level, martial classes get to choose one Martial Talent. As they level up, they’ll get to choose more and potentially replace one with another; they’ll get a 2nd at 6th level, a 3rd at 10th level, a 4th at 14th level, and a 5th at 18th level. I also imagine that some subclasses, like Berserker Barbarian or Champion Fighter, would get to choose additional Martial Talents. Each Martial Talent would have a prerequisite; something like 15+ Strength or having a different Martial Talent.
As for what Martial Talents do, I’m pulling straight from comics and anime for this one. Think of any character with super-strength, super-speed, or some incredible mastery of a kind of weapon; these characters have definitely pulled off some totally ridiculously creative feats of superhuman ability, and these Martial Talents would capture those fantasies. Each Martial Talent would have two parts: a Talent Attack and a Passive Talent.
Talent Attacks are super-powerful abilities that a martial class can replace one attack from their Attack action with. They can only use one Talent Attack per turn, and due to their nature, they can’t take any action other than the Attack action if they use a Talent Attack. Examples of this could be; a dashing slash, flying slash, stomping the ground to make an earthquake, throwing a massive boulder, doing a thunderclap, punching something so hard it makes an explosion, etc. etc. These are all your anime super-moves, and them combined with the homebrewed weapon improvements give a Martial character the opportunity to do tons of cool stuff with the Attack action, instead of just deal damage. Something to note is that Martial Classes would be able to use any of their Talent Attacks a number of times per Long Rest equal to 1 + their STR or DEX (whichever is higher) + their PB. That gives them a decent number of usages for all of these abilities, allowing them to keep up power-wise with spellcasters and all of their spell slots.
Passive Talentsare abilities that are focused around utility, both inside of combat and, more importantly, outside of combat. This gives martial classes a way to contribute to the party without just beating stuff up. They are usually thematically linked to their corresponding Talent Attack, and will often benefit each-other. Examples include; getting a burrow speed, increasing how much you can lift, drag, or push, getting super-hearing, being able to track down enemies like a predatory animal, being able to add your Intelligence modifier to all your ability checks, etc. Each Passive Talent will have its own number of usages tied with it, and many of them can be used without any cost.
Now, this system is still a work-in-progres. The main things that I want to achieve are:
letting people pick between all sorts of power fantasies involving having superhuman physical abilities
Making the Passive Talents useful enough that it’ll feel like martials always have something valuable to contribute to the team
I’ve got a list of Martial Talents that I’m currently building out, as shown below. If you have any ideas for stuff you’d like to see as Martial Talents, please let me know!!
Martial Talent List:
Ranged - Flurry of Projectiles. Prerequisite: 13+ Dexterity. Throw or fire an amount of ammunition, tiny objects, or weapons with the ‘thrown’ property up to your Proficiency Bonus. A number of creatures equal to the spent projectiles within a 90 feet cone must make a Dex save or take Piercing or Bludgeoning damage (choose between your weapon’s damage types) equal to 1d10 + your Dexterity modifier.
Also, you can focus your senses to give yourself enhanced precision. When you make a Wisdom check or ranged attack roll, you can spend 10 feet of movement to give yourself a +5 modifier to the roll and remove any disadvantage; you can do this twice, and you refresh these usages when you take a Short or Long Rest.
Melee - Tremor. Prerequisite: 13+ Strength.Strike a surface and create a tremor with a radius of your choice, up to a maximum of 10 times your Proficiency Bonus; each creature other than you within range must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 1d8 Thunder damage and is knocked Prone.
Also, you are able to break through walls and tear up earth. You gain a burrow speed equal to 5 times your Proficiency Bonus. When you reach a Martial Level of 10, you may attempt to dig through solid rock; to do so you must succeed a DC 15 Athletics check. When burrowing, you may choose to leave behind a tunnel your size; this tunnel is unstable, and will collapse after 1d6 hours, filling itself in without disturbing the surrounding earth.
Melee - Dash Strike. Prerequisite: 13+ Strength or Dexterity.If you are not Grappled or Restrained, you may perform a Dash Strike. You can spend 10 feet of movement to dash in a straight line with a length of up to 5 times your Strength or Dexterity modifier (whichever is greater) and a width equal to your reach; this movement does not provoke opportunity attacks. Make a melee weapon attack roll for the weapon you are currently holding; all creatures of your choice in the line with an AC equal to or lower than the roll are dealt the weapon’s normal damage, but suffer no other effects.
Also, you are able to dash through the air using your immense speed and strength. As a bonus action, you may expend 10 feet of movement to dash a distance equal to 10 times your PB in any direction - you may do this even if you do not have a solid surface to leap off of, such as while mid-air or while submerged. When you perform this dash, any fall damage you take is reduced by a number of feet equal to the distance dashed. You can perform this dash two times, and you refresh these usages when you take a Short or Long Rest.
Ranged - Chuck. Prerequisite: 13+ Strength.You can toss an object, willing creature, or creature that you are grappling, within your reach and equal to your size or smaller, a number of feet equal to 5 times your Martial Level. You may attempt to throw the creature forcefully or gently; if thrown gently, the object or creature takes no damage. If thrown forcefully, the thrown target and anything it strikes must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, both targets take 2d6 force damage and are knocked prone; on a successful save, they take only half damage. At 10th level you can throw creatures and objects one size larger than you. At level 15 you can throw creatures and objects 2 sizes larger than you, but only half of your throwing distance.
Also, at level 5, you double the amount of weight you can push, drag, or lift. At 10th level you triple the amount, quadruple at level 15, and quintuple at level 20.
Melee - Living Wall. Prerequisite: 15+ Constitution. You can force an enemy to direct their attention to you in combat, blocking their attacks with your body. All creatures of your choice within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw or take 1d8 psychic damage and be Blocked until the start of your next turn. If a Blocked creature targets you or an allied creature within 5 feet of you with an attack roll or forces them to make a saving throw, you may take a reaction to enter into a body-blocking state. Until the start of your next turn, you gain a number of Temporary Hit Points equal to twice your Martial Level, you have resistance to all damage, and any attacks or effects from Blocked creatures that would target allied creatures within 5 feet of you instead target you. AOE effects can still target protected creatures.
When an effect pushes you, pulls you, or forces you prone against your will and you are on the ground, you may choose to use a reaction to become immovable. Make a DC 12 Strength saving throw. On a success, you gain an amount of Temporary Hit Points equal to your Martial Level, and you cannot be moved or made prone against your will until the end of your next turn. You can become immovable a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus, and you refresh these usages on a Long Rest; if you fail this saving throw, it does not count as spending a usage of this ability.
Melee - After Images. Prerequisite: 15+ Dexterity. You can deceive would-be attackers with after-images caused by your quick movements, opening enemies up to counter-attacks. All creatures of your choice within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw or take 1d8 psychic damage and be Deceived until the start of your next turn. If a Deceived creature targets you with an attack roll or forces you to make a saving throw, you may take a reaction to enter into a dodging state, leaving behind after-images which confuse your attacker. Until the start of your next turn, all attacks from Deceived enemies have disadvantage against you, and you have advantage on saving throws Deceived enemies force you to make. While in this state, if a Deceived creature within your reach misses you with an attack roll, or if you succeed in a saving throw against an effect they cause, you may make a special Opportunity Attack against that creature that does not spend a reaction. You may make this special Opportunity Attack only once per turn. This Opportunity Attack does 1d8 damage of your weapon’s type, does not have modifiers added, and causes no additional effects.
Also, you are a master of stealth and deception, able to hide your intentions and actions with ease. You can move your full speed while in stealth, you can attempt to hide even when you are only obscured by a creature that is at least one size larger than you, and your footsteps are completely silent. Additionally, as an action, you can give one tiny object the ‘Concealed’ weapon property, as you hide it somewhere in your clothing. Only one item can have this property at a time, and it cannot be concealed if you are not wearing clothes. It loses this property if you remove it from its concealed position.
Melee - Spell Breaker. Prerequisite: 15+ Strength. The raw, primal power you wield as a martial fighter can break through even the flowing threads of the Weave. You can strike at a creature’s magical essence, rather than their physical form. Make an attack roll against a creature or object currently utilizing a magical effect. If the attack roll is equal to or higher than the DC of the spell, curse, or the creature or object causing the magical effect, then the target takes 1d8 + STR mod force damage and is dispelled of any magical effects they are concentrating on or being affected by. Cursed items are not dispelled of their curse, but any attunement a creature has with it is broken.
When a creature attempts to cast a spell which affects you, another creature, or an area within 5 feet of you, you may use a reaction to attempt to break the magical flow of the spell before it takes effect. The creature casting the spell must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the spell dissipates with no effect, and the Action, Bonus Action, or Reaction used to cast it is wasted. You can use this ability a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus, and you regain all usages of this ability on a Short or Long Rest.
Ranged - Ricochet. Prerequisite: 13+ Intelligence. When you hit or miss a ranged weapon attack, you may attempt to ricochet the launched projectile from one target to another. As a part of the original attack, make a second attack roll to a new target within 20 feet of the original target; if the attack missed, you may target the original target for this attack. On a hit, this attack does the weapon’s normal damage. On a hit or a miss, a weapon with the thrown property is recalled back to your hand; if you do not have a hand open to catch it, it lands harmlessly in a space within 5 feet of you.
Also, you are able to plan out the trajectory of your actions, calculating the many variables of your current circumstances at super-speeds to achieve the best results when performing a skill check. You may add a bonus to all your skill checks equal to your Intelligence modifier.
Ranged - Flying Strike. Prerequisite: 13+ Strength or Dexterity. You can strike the air with your weapon to create a shockwave, carrying the force of your strike through open space. While holding a melee weapon or while unarmed, you may make a ranged weapon attack to a creature within a number of feet equal to 20 times your Proficiency Bonus. On a hit, the target creature is dealt damage equal to your melee weapon or unarmed strike’s normal weapon damage of the same damage type as that weapon or unarmed strike. Additionally, you are able to make this attack with the same weapon again this turn as a Bonus Action.
Also, your proficiency with shockwaves has granted you carefully attuned senses, enhancing your hearing to supernatural levels. As a bonus action, you can close your eyes, forgoing your vision to attune your hearing. For 10 minutes, as long as you are not Deafened, you have advantage on Perception, Investigation, and Insight checks, as well as Initiative rolls, and you gain Blindsight out to a range equal to 20 times your Proficiency Bonus. For this duration, or until you open your eyes and end this effect (no action required), you are blind outside of the radius of your Blindsight. You can attune your senses in this way twice, and you can regain all usages of this ability on a Short or Long Rest.
Melee - Primal Attack. Prerequisite: 15+ Strength. You can pool all of your energy into one overwhelmingly powerful attack against an enemy, pushing your body to its utmost limit to tap into its inner primal power. Make a melee weapon attack roll against a creature in reach. This attack roll has a +10 bonus applied to it, and if it hits, it is automatically counted as a critical hit, and the struck creature gains vulnerability to the damage of the next attack that hits it. If this attack hits, however, you must spend an amount of your Hit Dice equal to half your Proficiency Bonus and roll them. You take an amount of Force damage equal to the roll, as the force of your attack becomes too much for even your body to withstand.
Also, you are able to tap into the more primal aspects of yourself. You have a climb speed equal to your speed, and advantage on Animal Handling checks. Additionally, you are able to effectively track creatures, like an animal hunting its prey. As a Bonus Action, you can focus on and mark a creature you can see within 60 feet of you as your quarry. Alternatively, you can mark a creature by spending 1 minute studying its tracks. While a creature is marked, you have advantage on Perception and Survival checks to find the target, your first attack each turn has advantage on the creature, and the creature cannot have Advantage on attack rolls, checks, or saving throws made against you. The target is marked as long as it's on the same Plane of Existence as you, and vanishes early if you complete a Long Rest, become Incapacitated, or use this Feature again to mark another creature. You can mark a creature in this way twice, and you regain all usages of this ability after a Short or Long Rest.
I like the system! I would also buff Weapon Masteries so that doesn't become redundant.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Hey! I make (what I believe to be, could use some feedback) good homebrew!
So, it's no secret that martial classes are much much weaker than spellcasting classes, especially in later levels. A martial at lvl 5 can spend their whole action attacking one creature to deal about the same damage as a fireball, but a wizard can blow up four guys with that one fireball, dealing four times the damage. And, when they're out of combat, martials don't really get unique or useful things to solve non-fighting based problems, unless they have a particular subclass. So, what do?
Well first of all, I think one thing that martial classes should explore is weapons. Weapons are something martials get that spellcasters don’t, so what kind of weapon a martial is using should be interesting. The Weapon Mastery properties goes in the right direction, but I think they don’t add quite enough versatility; weapons still feel quite alike, and the effects they can cause aren’t so amazing. So, cutting to the chase, I’d absolutely use You Might Be a DnD's homebrewed weapon system. No point making my own homebrew system when this one does the treat!!
I would make one change to this system, however; if you hit a creature with a weapon you have mastery over, you deal bonus damage. This amount could scale as a character levels up their Martial Level (aka all their levels in martial classes added together); it could start at 1d8, and then get another d8 every 4 levels or so.
But improving the weapons can only take us so far. If we make using weapons the only thing making martials strong and versatile, then unarmed fighting builds will suffer. So, we’ve gotta build in some special martial abilities right into the classes themselves!!
Introducing: Martial Talents.
Starting at 2nd level, martial classes (barbarian, fighter, rogue, and maybe monk) will have the option of choosing between a list of ‘martial talents’. Martial classes are classes for those whose physical abilities transcend that of the average man, able to take down supremely powerful beings with nothing but their athletic prowess. You can basically imagine a Martial Talent as a specific kind of supreme physical feat that they are capable of performing.
At 2nd level, martial classes get to choose one Martial Talent. As they level up, they’ll get to choose more and potentially replace one with another; they’ll get a 2nd at 6th level, a 3rd at 10th level, a 4th at 14th level, and a 5th at 18th level. I also imagine that some subclasses, like Berserker Barbarian or Champion Fighter, would get to choose additional Martial Talents. Each Martial Talent would have a prerequisite; something like 15+ Strength or having a different Martial Talent.
As for what Martial Talents do, I’m pulling straight from comics and anime for this one. Think of any character with super-strength, super-speed, or some incredible mastery of a kind of weapon; these characters have definitely pulled off some totally ridiculously creative feats of superhuman ability, and these Martial Talents would capture those fantasies. Each Martial Talent would have two parts: a Talent Attack and a Passive Talent.
Talent Attacks are super-powerful abilities that a martial class can replace one attack from their Attack action with. They can only use one Talent Attack per turn, and due to their nature, they can’t take any action other than the Attack action if they use a Talent Attack. Examples of this could be; a dashing slash, flying slash, stomping the ground to make an earthquake, throwing a massive boulder, doing a thunderclap, punching something so hard it makes an explosion, etc. etc. These are all your anime super-moves, and them combined with the homebrewed weapon improvements give a Martial character the opportunity to do tons of cool stuff with the Attack action, instead of just deal damage.
Something to note is that Martial Classes would be able to use any of their Talent Attacks a number of times per Long Rest equal to 1 + their STR or DEX (whichever is higher) + their PB. That gives them a decent number of usages for all of these abilities, allowing them to keep up power-wise with spellcasters and all of their spell slots.
Passive Talents are abilities that are focused around utility, both inside of combat and, more importantly, outside of combat. This gives martial classes a way to contribute to the party without just beating stuff up. They are usually thematically linked to their corresponding Talent Attack, and will often benefit each-other. Examples include; getting a burrow speed, increasing how much you can lift, drag, or push, getting super-hearing, being able to track down enemies like a predatory animal, being able to add your Intelligence modifier to all your ability checks, etc.
Each Passive Talent will have its own number of usages tied with it, and many of them can be used without any cost.
Now, this system is still a work-in-progres. The main things that I want to achieve are:
I’ve got a list of Martial Talents that I’m currently building out, as shown below. If you have any ideas for stuff you’d like to see as Martial Talents, please let me know!!
Martial Talent List:
I like the system! I would also buff Weapon Masteries so that doesn't become redundant.
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Please tell me what you think!