I've always wanted to play a Polearm Master Sentinel combo because I've always heard it's powerful, but I'm playing a barbarian that's currently sitting at 17 STR and 19 CON, so that ASI is looking tempting as well. I already have PM because variant human, so I'm only giving up one ASI for it.
Our last campaign got disbanded due to some really toxic behavior on the part of the DM and another player. So the new DM, who knew we had a lot invested in our characters, let us keep one magic item from the old campaign, and roughly the same characters, just leveled down. He didn't specify WHAT TYPE of magic item however, so here I sit at level three with a Belt of Dwarvenkind. The two seventeens were a result of lucky stat rolls.
So I'm sitting pretty good for my level, just wondering if one choice would be mechanically better at this level.
ASI gives you +1 more to hit ad to AC if using unarmored defense. This comes into play always, every swing made by you or foes to hit you.
Sentinel gives you a chance to lock the enemy in place when within your reach. Situational for sure. Myself, i would take the ASI and look to maybe grab the feat on your next ASI, if any are left.
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Talk to your Players.Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
I love sentinel, but man... having two of my primary stats so tantalizingly close to such nice, big numbers would be too tempting for me. I would 100% take the ASI and save the feat for later. I also feel like you're not going to face enemies that really need to be taken on with such a powerful combo of sentinel/PAM at this tier.
Sentinel is more effective if you have couple folks sharing the melee burden with you, like a Paladin or a Fighter, for instance. If you are the sole melee dude in the frontline, then go all in with the ASI.
I love sentinel, but man... having two of my primary stats so tantalizingly close to such nice, big numbers would be too tempting for me. I would 100% take the ASI and save the feat for later. I also feel like you're not going to face enemies that really need to be taken on with such a powerful combo of sentinel/PAM at this tier.
I would go the other way and say take Sentinel now as at this tier you don’t need the 18/20 and can get away with putting off the ASI. But it is very tempting to do. But, sentinel is more situational so why not get it early where you have more opportunities for that situation to come up.
YOLO is the essence of experience, and experience is the cornerstone of wisdom.
Go for it. Sure, you could be reasonable and do things like increase your stats, or even go for GWM as the most reasonable choice of all. But who cares about reason? This is a game about fun, go have fun. Suppose everyone here tells you not to. Suppose everyone tells you that STR is the way to go, to cap off your stats and be done with it. But then you would forever wonder. Your soul would never know peace. Go find peace. If tomorrow you pass, today you will at least know your barbarian used the combo.
I ended up creating a homebrew feat that combined the two and my DM approved it. I stripped two of the Sentinel abilities and added a saving throw for the one I actually wanted to balance it.
It's called "Big Boy"
You've mastered what's known as the "Big Boy" technique and can use your mass to block their path. This feat grants you the following benefits:
*Increase your Constitution score by 1 (to a maximum of 20)
*When you hit a creature with an opportunity attack, you can use your weapon and body to box them in, reducing their speed to 0, they can resist this and attempt to muscle their way out with a strength saving throw, the save is 8 + your proficiency + your constitution modifier.
This feat's flavor was actually inspired by something I've seen bouncers do in bars/clubs a lot, which I've nick-named "Big Boying" someone. Like some guy is getting kicked out, but it hasn't escalated to a fight, so the bouncer sort've just uses their body (usually the belly) to block them or box them in.
4th-level, I would take ASI. At 8th-level, I would take a feat. When playing a spellcaster, I take a half-feat at 4th-level that also improves my spellcasting ability (Fey-Touched, Shadow-Touched, etc.). I mainly take ASI if my character relies on multiple ability scores. If my martial character is an archer, I would take a half-feat that improves Dexterity, like Gunner or Piercer. For barbarians, I ALWAYS take ASI at 4th-level to improve both Strength and Constitution, then take a feat at 8th level. Hope this helps.
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Brains over brawn? Mind over matter? These canny warriors rightly answer, "Why not both?" - Tasha
Up your stats for sure. It’s not just the increase to your attack and damage, it’s an extra hit point per level, its an increase to saving throws, it’s also an increase to your athletics skill. I would definitely go for the stat increase at level 4 and then take the feat at level 8.
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I've always wanted to play a Polearm Master Sentinel combo because I've always heard it's powerful, but I'm playing a barbarian that's currently sitting at 17 STR and 19 CON, so that ASI is looking tempting as well. I already have PM because variant human, so I'm only giving up one ASI for it.
Our last campaign got disbanded due to some really toxic behavior on the part of the DM and another player. So the new DM, who knew we had a lot invested in our characters, let us keep one magic item from the old campaign, and roughly the same characters, just leveled down. He didn't specify WHAT TYPE of magic item however, so here I sit at level three with a Belt of Dwarvenkind. The two seventeens were a result of lucky stat rolls.
So I'm sitting pretty good for my level, just wondering if one choice would be mechanically better at this level.
ASI gives you +1 more to hit ad to AC if using unarmored defense. This comes into play always, every swing made by you or foes to hit you.
Sentinel gives you a chance to lock the enemy in place when within your reach. Situational for sure. Myself, i would take the ASI and look to maybe grab the feat on your next ASI, if any are left.
Talk to your Players. Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
I love sentinel, but man... having two of my primary stats so tantalizingly close to such nice, big numbers would be too tempting for me. I would 100% take the ASI and save the feat for later. I also feel like you're not going to face enemies that really need to be taken on with such a powerful combo of sentinel/PAM at this tier.
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Sentinel is more effective if you have couple folks sharing the melee burden with you, like a Paladin or a Fighter, for instance. If you are the sole melee dude in the frontline, then go all in with the ASI.
I would go the other way and say take Sentinel now as at this tier you don’t need the 18/20 and can get away with putting off the ASI. But it is very tempting to do. But, sentinel is more situational so why not get it early where you have more opportunities for that situation to come up.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
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YOLO is the essence of experience, and experience is the cornerstone of wisdom.
Go for it. Sure, you could be reasonable and do things like increase your stats, or even go for GWM as the most reasonable choice of all. But who cares about reason? This is a game about fun, go have fun. Suppose everyone here tells you not to. Suppose everyone tells you that STR is the way to go, to cap off your stats and be done with it. But then you would forever wonder. Your soul would never know peace. Go find peace. If tomorrow you pass, today you will at least know your barbarian used the combo.
Do it.
I ended up creating a homebrew feat that combined the two and my DM approved it. I stripped two of the Sentinel abilities and added a saving throw for the one I actually wanted to balance it.
It's called "Big Boy"
You've mastered what's known as the "Big Boy" technique and can use your mass to block their path. This feat grants you the following benefits:
*Increase your Constitution score by 1 (to a maximum of 20)
*When you hit a creature with an opportunity attack, you can use your weapon and body to box them in, reducing their speed to 0, they can resist this and attempt to muscle their way out with a strength saving throw, the save is 8 + your proficiency + your constitution modifier.
This feat's flavor was actually inspired by something I've seen bouncers do in bars/clubs a lot, which I've nick-named "Big Boying" someone. Like some guy is getting kicked out, but it hasn't escalated to a fight, so the bouncer sort've just uses their body (usually the belly) to block them or box them in.
4th-level, I would take ASI. At 8th-level, I would take a feat. When playing a spellcaster, I take a half-feat at 4th-level that also improves my spellcasting ability (Fey-Touched, Shadow-Touched, etc.). I mainly take ASI if my character relies on multiple ability scores. If my martial character is an archer, I would take a half-feat that improves Dexterity, like Gunner or Piercer. For barbarians, I ALWAYS take ASI at 4th-level to improve both Strength and Constitution, then take a feat at 8th level. Hope this helps.
Brains over brawn? Mind over matter? These canny warriors rightly answer, "Why not both?" - Tasha
My Homebrews: Monsters, Magic Items, Spells, Races
Rhulg- Hobgoblin Gunsmith
Up your stats for sure. It’s not just the increase to your attack and damage, it’s an extra hit point per level, its an increase to saving throws, it’s also an increase to your athletics skill. I would definitely go for the stat increase at level 4 and then take the feat at level 8.