The Tribal Spearman is an idea I had when thinking up a character who is a Bard/Fighter. He would be primarily a Bard, flavored as a war-chanter for his people, who would take three levels of fighter to gain a little more prestige. In his tribe, war-chanters are like doctors and Fighters are like firefighters. Both are important and respected, but one is a little more glamorous than the other( pretty sure doctors don't get pinup calendars).
For my idea of a tribal warrior, I was inspired by the Zulu warriors of Shaka's era. The Zulu where disciplined and tactical warriors, that's why I decide against using Barbarians and chose Fighters( also, so I can still use spells). But none of the official Archetypes really fit, and I couldn't find any homebrews close to what I wanted.
Much like XGtE's Cavalier and Samurai, Tribal Spearman is base more on the idea of a tribal warrior, rather than historical fact( so don't give me crap about accuracy). Here's what I have so far:
At 3rd Level you gain the Barbarian's Unarmored Defense. The idea was that there are Fighters everywhere, but not all have access to metal armor. For some tribes, enough steel to make a dagger or spear-head can cost a man's weight in gold. The Zulu didn't wear armor, but did use raw-hide shields.
[ A alternate unarmored defense that I think fits the Fighter better. =At 3rd level you gain Shield Expert. If you are wearing no armor while wielding a shield, you may replace the shield's standard AC boost of +2 with your Proficiency Bonus. Any magical bonus to AC still applies.(11-5-18)]
Also at 3rd, you gain Spear Master. [Changed "Spear Mastery" to just "Spear Master" to cut down on confusion between my feature and the UA feat(11-5-18)]The spear doesn't get any love in 5e, and when you think tribal warrior( or Zulu for that matter), you think spears. The spear might be the best weapon a tribesman could have access to, so they would make the most of it. Spear Master grants you inceasing attributes and features as you gain levels in Fighter. -3rd level, in your hands, spears gain the "finesse" weapon property -7th level, as a bonus action you can increase your reach with a spear by 5ft for the rest of your turn -10th level spears damage die increase to d8(d10) -15th level spears gain a +2 to Hit -18th level spears gain a +2 to damage
I was also thinking of adding something that says the spear is compatible with the Pole Arm Master feat. It does't make sense that it's not already.(The 2018 Errata added the spear to the PAM feat)
The rest of the feature levels are less clear. I was thinking of stuff that would emulate the Zulu's tactic "Buffalo Horns Formation/ Impi Tactics". Google "impi tactics", the wiki entry should be first, then click "jump to tactics". Or click here. Check out the rest of the page for inspiration.
At 7th level, you gain "The Horns". I was thinking you would get something like the the GloomStalker Ranger's "Dread Ambusher" feature, with the bonus of the next attack made against the target, not made by you, has advantage.
At 10th level, you gain "The Chest". I really don't know what to put here. The best I could come up with was Superiority Dice and Battle Maneuvers.
At 15th level, you gain "The Loins"( that's loins, not lions). Again, I don't really know what to put here. I was thinking of giving the Fighter a few bonus action options: Dash, Disengage, Dodge, Shove, maybe even Help.
At 18th level, you gain "Tribal Champion". This one I have a good idea for.
-attacks with simple weapons score a critical on a roll of 19 or 20. -when you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a Simple melee weapon, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if it is a 1 or a 2.
Well, that's what I got. So, thoughts, suggestions, critiques?
Getting both unarmored defense and the equivalent of a feat at 3rd level seems like a bit much. Unarmored defense is a core ability, and most of the level 3 subclass abilities are roughly equal, in total, to a feat.
Wouldn't a totem barbarian who takes the Spear Mastery feat get you where you want to go without having to design a new class? You can just reflavor some of the existing totemic abilities:
The Horns encircle and pin the enemy - this sounds like the 3rd level Eagle totem ability (enemies have disadvantage on opportunity attacks; dash as a bonus action).
The Chest delivers the killing blow - this one's harder to square with the existing totems - maybe just level 6 Tiger bonus proficiencies?
The Loins are veterans who reinforce where needed - the 14th level Bear ability (disadvantage on attacks against targets other than you while raging) would be a good fit for this.
I get that you want the class to be a tactical warrior and not a brute, but again, that's just reskinning. Just call rage "tactical focus" or something.
Thank you for your input Generic_Poster, unfortunately a reskinned Barbarian is just not what I'm looking for. Your suggestion of the Totem animals in comparison to the impi tactics is interesting and may change my designs.
Your judgement of gaining the Unarmored Defense feature is fair, but I still want some kind of, well, unarmored defense. It would really fit the idea of the wild-lands warrior that I'm envisioning. I've come up with a replacement idea that I think fits the Fighter better anyway. I'll put it in a new post.
This is a revision of the the 3rd level Unarmored Defense.
-At 3rd level you gain Shield Expert. If you are wearing no armor while wielding a shield, you may replace the shield's standard AC boost of +2 with your Proficiency Bonus. Any magical bonus to AC still applies.
Thinking about it some more, while giving out unarmored defense and spear mastery at third level might be a bit much, I don't think it's going to break the game or anything. You're essentially just giving out a free breastplate, which a 3rd level fighter could easily afford anyway.
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The Tribal Spearman is an idea I had when thinking up a character who is a Bard/Fighter. He would be primarily a Bard, flavored as a war-chanter for his people, who would take three levels of fighter to gain a little more prestige. In his tribe, war-chanters are like doctors and Fighters are like firefighters. Both are important and respected, but one is a little more glamorous than the other( pretty sure doctors don't get pinup calendars).
For my idea of a tribal warrior, I was inspired by the Zulu warriors of Shaka's era. The Zulu where disciplined and tactical warriors, that's why I decide against using Barbarians and chose Fighters( also, so I can still use spells). But none of the official Archetypes really fit, and I couldn't find any homebrews close to what I wanted.
Much like XGtE's Cavalier and Samurai, Tribal Spearman is base more on the idea of a tribal warrior, rather than historical fact( so don't give me crap about accuracy). Here's what I have so far:
At 3rd Level you gain the Barbarian's Unarmored Defense. The idea was that there are Fighters everywhere, but not all have access to metal armor. For some tribes, enough steel to make a dagger or spear-head can cost a man's weight in gold. The Zulu didn't wear armor, but did use raw-hide shields.
[ A alternate unarmored defense that I think fits the Fighter better. =At 3rd level you gain Shield Expert. If you are wearing no armor while wielding a shield, you may replace the shield's standard AC boost of +2 with your Proficiency Bonus. Any magical bonus to AC still applies.(11-5-18)]
Also at 3rd, you gain Spear Master. [Changed "Spear Mastery" to just "Spear Master" to cut down on confusion between my feature and the UA feat(11-5-18)]The spear doesn't get any love in 5e, and when you think tribal warrior( or Zulu for that matter), you think spears. The spear might be the best weapon a tribesman could have access to, so they would make the most of it. Spear Master grants you inceasing attributes and features as you gain levels in Fighter.
-3rd level, in your hands, spears gain the "finesse" weapon property
-7th level, as a bonus action you can increase your reach with a spear by 5ft for the rest of your turn
-10th level spears damage die increase to d8(d10)
-15th level spears gain a +2 to Hit
-18th level spears gain a +2 to damage
I was also thinking of adding something that says the spear is compatible with the Pole Arm Master feat. It does't make sense that it's not already.(The 2018 Errata added the spear to the PAM feat)The rest of the feature levels are less clear. I was thinking of stuff that would emulate the Zulu's tactic "Buffalo Horns Formation/ Impi Tactics". Google "impi tactics", the wiki entry should be first, then click "jump to tactics". Or click here. Check out the rest of the page for inspiration.
At 7th level, you gain "The Horns". I was thinking you would get something like the the GloomStalker Ranger's "Dread Ambusher" feature, with the bonus of the next attack made against the target, not made by you, has advantage.
At 10th level, you gain "The Chest". I really don't know what to put here. The best I could come up with was Superiority Dice and Battle Maneuvers.
At 15th level, you gain "The Loins"( that's loins, not lions). Again, I don't really know what to put here. I was thinking of giving the Fighter a few bonus action options: Dash, Disengage, Dodge, Shove, maybe even Help.
At 18th level, you gain "Tribal Champion". This one I have a good idea for.
-attacks with simple weapons score a critical on a roll of 19 or 20.
-when you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a Simple melee weapon, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if it is a 1 or a 2.
Well, that's what I got. So, thoughts, suggestions, critiques?
Minor quibble: There's already a Spear Mastery feat with most, but not quite all, of the same benefits as your Spear Mastery feature.
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Getting both unarmored defense and the equivalent of a feat at 3rd level seems like a bit much. Unarmored defense is a core ability, and most of the level 3 subclass abilities are roughly equal, in total, to a feat.
Wouldn't a totem barbarian who takes the Spear Mastery feat get you where you want to go without having to design a new class? You can just reflavor some of the existing totemic abilities:
The Horns encircle and pin the enemy - this sounds like the 3rd level Eagle totem ability (enemies have disadvantage on opportunity attacks; dash as a bonus action).
The Chest delivers the killing blow - this one's harder to square with the existing totems - maybe just level 6 Tiger bonus proficiencies?
The Loins are veterans who reinforce where needed - the 14th level Bear ability (disadvantage on attacks against targets other than you while raging) would be a good fit for this.
I get that you want the class to be a tactical warrior and not a brute, but again, that's just reskinning. Just call rage "tactical focus" or something.
Thank you for your input Generic_Poster, unfortunately a reskinned Barbarian is just not what I'm looking for. Your suggestion of the Totem animals in comparison to the impi tactics is interesting and may change my designs.
Your judgement of gaining the Unarmored Defense feature is fair, but I still want some kind of, well, unarmored defense. It would really fit the idea of the wild-lands warrior that I'm envisioning. I've come up with a replacement idea that I think fits the Fighter better anyway. I'll put it in a new post.
This is a revision of the the 3rd level Unarmored Defense.
-At 3rd level you gain Shield Expert. If you are wearing no armor while wielding a shield, you may replace the shield's standard AC boost of +2 with your Proficiency Bonus. Any magical bonus to AC still applies.
Thoughts?
Thinking about it some more, while giving out unarmored defense and spear mastery at third level might be a bit much, I don't think it's going to break the game or anything. You're essentially just giving out a free breastplate, which a 3rd level fighter could easily afford anyway.