My players and I were discussing Shieldmaster last night, and there are several iconic actions that can't be performed. So we hacked and tweaked and discussed, and came to a couple decisions: Add "shield bash" as an option with your Bonus Action attack (improvised weapon, d4 damage), but *don't* add "shield charge" (move 10' or more before attack, can use your shield attack bonus action WITHOUT making an Attack action).
That disagreement led me to think about alternatives, and I ended up at "what about 2nd-tier Shieldmaster"? Which led to the more general question about "what about 2nd-tier feats" - feats that require other feats, like the old 3e feat chains.
Advanced Shieldmaster: You can now use your Bonus Action shieldstrike without making an Attack action first.
Superior Technique: [Must have a Battlemaster maneuver and at least one Superiority Die] Upgrade one of your superiority dice by 1 step. If you have a second SD, upgrade it as well; otherwise, add a new Superiority die, size "d2".
Superior Style: [Must have two Fighting Styles] You can gain the benefits of both fighting styles at the same time, if their requirements are met (like Defensive and pretty much anything, but not Duelling and Great Weapon or TWF).
Superior Heavy Armor Master: The DR you gain from Heavy Armor Master is increased by your Proficiency bonus.
This is all homebrew, of course, but what do you think about the concept? Good idea, bad idea, edition fatigue?
My players and I were discussing Shieldmaster last night, and there are several iconic actions that can't be performed. So we hacked and tweaked and discussed, and came to a couple decisions: Add "shield bash" as an option with your Bonus Action attack (improvised weapon, d4 damage), but *don't* add "shield charge" (move 10' or more before attack, can use your shield attack bonus action WITHOUT making an Attack action).
That disagreement led me to think about alternatives, and I ended up at "what about 2nd-tier Shieldmaster"? Which led to the more general question about "what about 2nd-tier feats" - feats that require other feats, like the old 3e feat chains.
Advanced Shieldmaster: You can now use your Bonus Action shieldstrike without making an Attack action first.
Superior Technique: [Must have a Battlemaster maneuver and at least one Superiority Die] Upgrade one of your superiority dice by 1 step. If you have a second SD, upgrade it as well; otherwise, add a new Superiority die, size "d2".
Superior Style: [Must have two Fighting Styles] You can gain the benefits of both fighting styles at the same time, if their requirements are met (like Defensive and pretty much anything, but not Duelling and Great Weapon or TWF).
Superior Heavy Armor Master: The DR you gain from Heavy Armor Master is increased by your Proficiency bonus.
This is all homebrew, of course, but what do you think about the concept? Good idea, bad idea, edition fatigue?
They specifically forbid that kind of thing after the experience they had with tiered feats in 3rd edition.
One of the things that happens with D&D is that people find creative uses for things, turning weaker things into more powerful.
When you start with things that are already more powerful, it can become abusive.
It's why so many of the more powerful things are now more limited. Spells have concentration. Other things use up reactions and Bonus Actions.
2nd tier feats are a bad idea.