I think some WM are too good, after thinking about use and combining, here are the current results with its solution:
- Cleave: seems OK, emphasizes the use of large heavy weapons with high damage die in what seems a fair way.
- Flex: at first I thought it was very bad, but it adds +1 damage average per hit, so not bad once the others are balanced.
- Graze: totally overpowered. If miss (no matter how much), unlimited times, your score modifier. Think about it, even if a character focuses on defense, no matter what the roll is, on each attack could inflict 4 damage (let's take this standard mid-level modifier), that is i.e. what a caster get from die per level, so with this it can defeat someone simply failing, no matter if the foe is someone that sacrifices other things to get a good armor, good Dex, and using Shield spell.
Solution: apply if you fail by less than 5, and/or (both seems a choice) once per turn. Applying both equals with Cleave, with a probability (in this case missing by few instead another attack roll) of inflicting close the same damage for a typical user, but focusing in a single target instead the requirement to have 2 at range.
- Nick: this one could become very overpowered when combined with Vex and 2-weapons Fighting Style. Nick weapons are usually small, but adding your score modifier is a lot of extra damage for free, even with simple weapons combining hand-axe (Vex) and dagger (Nick) with 2-weapon FS can be a devastating combo. This creates an illusion of choice, as if you can do anything with your Bonus Action, the mentioned previously (the FS no need the hand-axe) is clearly the best option by far. There are plenty of Light weapons that simply will be ignored as not worth.
Solution: change 2-weapon FS to "when you make the attack with the Light weapon using your Bonus Action, you can add your score modifier to the damage". The Nick is dedicated to those having something to do with its Bonus Action, getting an extra and free quick attack with a small weapon, that is not bad (in the case of Rogue could be the one landing the Sneak Attack).
- Push: seems OK but the Pike makes me think about combining with Polearm Master. Notice that now PAM don't combine with Sentinel as before, because the Reactive Strike is a Melee Attack instead an Opportunity Attack. Maybe needs some more thinking.
- Sap: seems OK for helping.
- Slow: in the case of Whip seems that fit nicely to its purpose (distance), in other cases can be (not tested so much) interesting, boring or even exploited combined with other tactics. Needs some more thinking.
- Topple: this one needs to remove any check, it slows the game down a lot. Also have the issue that if we compare with unarmed strike, you have both at the same time, the damage plus the shove, doing this much better even than the unarmed specialists.
Solution: change by something automatic, like making the target lose its Reaction.
Original:
- Vex: seems OK, the offensive version of Sap, interesting for combining with other options.
Edit: Vex needs a revision too.
- Vex: other options like Sap requires to hit, in the case of Vex this is also improved by itself. You can get dual Vex weapon then who needs Reckless Attack with 2-handed weapon, if you can chain attacks with advantage without giving the foe advantage on you. So if dual Vex is so much better than others, means it needs a fix.
Solution: apply once per turn. Vex should combine with others instead with itself. I.e. combining main weapon Sap with off-hand Vex, you could grant advantage to your 1st “Sap” attack next round with your last off-hand Vex one.
Sounds like revisions & rebalancing are forthcoming in upcoming UAs 🤞🏼.
One issue caused by Weapon Mastery is the cheapening of Advantage. Vex & Topple can make Advantage very easy to get very often. Makes features like Reckless Attack lose their value, while making it easier to proc other abilities (like Sneak Attack).
Also, Topple can be frustrating to ranged combatants or casters with spell attack spells, because Prone forces disadvantage on ranged attacks.
Giving Weapon Mastery to Paladins, Rangers, Rogues, and certain subclasses of non-warriors seems to make the Fighter less special. I hope they address this issue as well. I'd like to see all these classes still have their (granted more limited) access to WM. But I'd like to see them figure out something more to make the Fighter stand out as the Weapon Mastery-est. More than was in UA6.
A little tangential, but they changed the Great Weapon Master feat to reduce and limit its bonus damage. And I honestly think those are good changes. But they also changed the Sharpshooter feat, and it had its bonus damage completely eliminated. I'd like to see that changed- or another feat or Weapon Mastery that could be taken to get some of that ranged damage back.
Sounds like revisions & rebalancing are forthcoming in upcoming UAs 🤞🏼.
One issue caused by Weapon Mastery is the cheapening of Advantage. Vex & Topple can make Advantage very easy to get very often. Makes features like Reckless Attack lose their value, while making it easier to proc other abilities (like Sneak Attack).
Also, Topple can be frustrating to ranged combatants or casters with spell attack spells, because Prone forces disadvantage on ranged attacks.
Giving Weapon Mastery to Paladins, Rangers, Rogues, and certain subclasses of non-warriors seems to make the Fighter less special. I hope they address this issue as well. I'd like to see all these classes still have their (granted more limited) access to WM. But I'd like to see them figure out something more to make the Fighter stand out as the Weapon Mastery-est. More than was in UA6.
A little tangential, but they changed the Great Weapon Master feat to reduce and limit its bonus damage. And I honestly think those are good changes. But they also changed the Sharpshooter feat, and it had its bonus damage completely eliminated. I'd like to see that changed- or another feat or Weapon Mastery that could be taken to get some of that ranged damage back.
Getting advantage has been getting easier, as new books came out. You are correct that it may make Reckless Attack lose value, but if your Barbarian can have advantage on their attacks and not give advantage to their enemies, it makes their HP pool/damage resistance that much more powerful. And they still have it, as an option, if they don't have advantage from other sources. The only martial weapons with Vex are rapier and shortsword, which I don't think barbarians will be using. That leaves Topple, which has a save, so may not work. Then you don't have advantage, and you had to declare Reckless Attack with your first attack roll. So if they don't go prone on your first hit it's just regular rolls on both attacks until your next turn (assuming they get up on their turn).
As for ranged allies, this has always been the case for features/spells that let you prone an enemy. It's a choice you have to make dependent on who else is in the party. Nothing new there.
Rapier + Shortsword + 2-weapons FS, how many times it adds its score modifier to damage and with hit chance improved so much.
Previously the dual weapon was broken in many cases by not limiting things like Divine Smite, or damages applied per hit. Now with the revised ones applied once per turn that is fixed. But then we have some case/s where again the dual weapon is much better, and needs to be fixed. All the PAM + GWM is nice, but you have to hit, and have the normal hit chance, in addition to once per turn in the case of GWM, OK, more as it requires 2 feats for the full combo. With unlimited Vex you can chain advantage in a cheesy way adding your score modifier to damage on each hit for a high total amount, simply using a FS, so having those 2 feats free for any other thing.
Giving Weapon Mastery to Paladins, Rangers, Rogues, and certain subclasses of non-warriors seems to make the Fighter less special. I hope they address this issue as well. I'd like to see all these classes still have their (granted more limited) access to WM. But I'd like to see them figure out something more to make the Fighter stand out as the Weapon Mastery-est. More than was in UA6.
I disagree here. I don't think Weapon Mastery was meant to be just a warrior thing, but instead was intended to make weapons themselves more interesting and distinct. I think every class that typically uses weapons should have access to it, while Fighters specifically can customize their Mastery properties, so while everyone gets it, they're still the best with it.
I think one of the worst things about current 5e is how little weapon choice matters. There's only like, three weapon properties anyone needs to pay attention to (Reach, Ranged, and Finesse), and beyond that there's few differences between a halberd and a glaive, or a scimitar and a short-sword. Giving weapon wielders a reason to pick one over the other and making that choice matter would go a long way towards making martials feel as fleshed out as casters do.
Personally, I'd integrate Weapon Masteries into Weapon Traits that any character can use, then make Weapon Masteries allow a free use per turn.
For example: Greatsword has the Graze, Heavy, & Two-handed traits. Graze allows the use of a Bonus Action to deal modifier damage to a target on a miss. Weapon Mastery allows it to be done for free 1/turn.
In another example: Scimitar has the Light, Sweep, and Finesse traits as normal. Light allows the Bonus Action offhand attack while Sweep allows a Bonus Action to deal modifier damage to a second target within reach and 5ft of the original target. Weapon Mastery with Scimitars lets you use a trait 1/turn for free.
This has two effects: making every weapon unique with interesting options (at the cost of a Bonus Action), while also allowing martial characters to either save their Bonus Action for something else or use two Manoeuvre Traits a turn.
Manoeuvre Traits adapted from Masteries or obvious additions, given more intuitive names. All requiring a Bonus Action:
Brace. Can take an Attack of Opportunity as a Reaction if a creature enters your Reach.
Daze. Target must succeed on a Constitution save or be Dazed until the start of your next turn.
Disarm. Target must succeed on a Strength save or drop one item they're holding.
Grapple. Use weapon to Grapple target without needing a free hand.
Graze. Deal modifier damage on a miss.
Guard [+1/2/3]*. Add the Guard value to your AC until the start of your next turn.
Light. If this weapon is wielded in your offhand, you can make an attack with it.
Parry. Add 1 to your AC until the start of your next turn. Allows use of Reaction to make an Attack of Opportunity with that weapon if attacked while Parrying.
Pin. Target must succeed on a Strength save or be Immobilized until the start of your next turn.
Shove. Target must succeed on a Strength save or be pushed 10ft away.
Sweep. Deal modifier damage to one creature within reach and within 5ft of the original target.
Topple. Target must succeed on a Dexterity save or be knocked Prone.
*Not tied to this idea but the thought process is making defence an active choice, so shields no longer automatically grant +2AC. Shields require, at minimum, a Bonus Action to grant their benefit. This allows for bucklers (1d4, Finesse, Light, Guard [1]), kite shields (Shove, Guard [2]), tower shield (Guard [3]).
I think Masteries in general are a good idea in general, but to apply those in the game they'd have to bring back Exotic weapons because 2 weapon types isn't enough to grade the power levels in the Masteries. Also, "mastery" for a thing you can switch daily is odd.
Maybe those could be "stances" that are appliable to some weapons, so even if you get a "mastery" it won't go to waste as soon as you have to switch weapons.
I see Nick and Vex as fixes for rogue, since rogues don't get extra attack. Eventually Vex becomes useless for rogue tho. Personally I think the better fix would have been for rogue to get extra attack with light weapons, so long as dexterity is used as the modifier for both attacks, but these fixes are definitely an improvement. In 5E very easy for Rogue to add nothing in combat if they miss a few attacks since they only have 1 attack a round or have to use bonus action for an off-hand attack, which meant no cunning action.
Graze is not overpowered, it adds more damage than Flex (if you don't have advantage), sure, I do think there should be an absolute miss, but I think it should be if your attack roll misses by more than 5, you don't get to Graze and a nat 1 always misses.
Flex is very good, it's mostly going to affect Paladin, having a 1d10 one handed weapon with a shield is a little insane tho. It's doing the same damage as 2-handed polearms but with no investment on feats or giving up the shield.
Push is situational, but it's potential can be huge, if you push a creature over a cliff, off a bridge. Even in normal combat without situational advantages, pushing back a creature by 10 foot could be allowing your ally to retreat without provoking opportunity attack and yet still get to use their action. Push is more defensive/control, given nothing stop it working with PAM, you can push a creature up to 30 foot back, or up to three creatures 10 foot back. With the reaction too, if you're hitting you're controlling more of how the battlefield looks.
Flex brings back the idea of a hand and a half sword. I do think that spear or quarterstaff should be changed, but otherwise having one flex weapon from each damage type is pretty ok.
I wonder if a reversal of flex would be a good idea for another feature. Something like with mastery it grants the 'light' property. That might just be more an extension of flex in a way, another option for damage increase.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
Flex brings back the idea of a hand and a half sword.
That's not what Flex did. Versatile already had that. What Flex does is make it so that you always have the benefit of two-handing your half-and-a-half sword.
I do think that spear or quarterstaff should be changed, but otherwise having one flex weapon from each damage type is pretty ok.
What needs to be changed? They're both Versatile weapons (and in the real world, both can be wielded 1h or 2h), and their primary mastery is Flex. Seems spot on, to me.
Weapon with Flex wielded 1-Handed gains the Finesse property as long as it continues to be weilded 1-Handed. Used 2-Handed it loses the Finesse property and gains the Heavy property instead, and vise versa.
The downside of adding the heavy property is you then interfere with classes *cough monk, warlock* that can't benefit from heavy.
As for spear and quarterstaff I am primarily looking at it through the lense of the Monk class. They have a limited selection of weapons, and thematically I dislike both spear and staff being treated identically in this case.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
Weapon with Flex wielded 1-Handed gains the Finesse property as long as it continues to be weilded 1-Handed. Used 2-Handed it loses the Finesse property and gains the Heavy property instead, and vise versa.
So, if you use a hand-and-a-half weapon (bigger than a 1h weapon, smaller than a 2h weapon) ... it gets less strength limited when you use it one handed, and harder for a small creature to wield when used 2 handed? That seems backward.
Or are you saying it should qualify to use Heavy masteries when used 2 handed, and qualify to use Finesse masteries when used 1 handed? That's a rather different statement. I can see the justification for the first one (being able to use Heavy masteries when wielding a Versatile weapon 2 handed), but not really the latter (about using Finesse masteries). And the only Mastery that is affected by the Finesse one is Vex.
I think, instead, I would say that if you have Flex mastery with a Versatile weapon, then when you wield it one handed, you use the Versatile damage (the existing rule), but if you wield it two handed, you can use a Mastery that you know that requires the Heavy property.
The main issue is the usage of DC per attack, in the real game with no computer doing it for you can slows down the game too much. For table game we need automatic options with no need of extra rolls and checks.
Also avoid much calculations, so limiting Graze to if failed by less than 5 could be not good in practice. A solution could be simply remove Graze and grant Cleave to those weapons, as they are great weapons can be applied.
The martials already shine the 90% of the combat play time, that is in normal combat, as their sustained DPR is far superior than the casters with their cantrips. And some martials like Paladin have both, can shine in a round-by-round and at moments.
It is about looking for something balanced and that doesn't slow down the game so much. And rolling always with advantage without trade-off is not balanced, just like always dealing damage, Graze seems though for combat against the big Dragon, in that case OK, if you miss you deal some damage, is not so important and not an issue, but clearly is not though against other humanoids, in this case is just not fair.
I think we're long past the point when the talks of "sustained DPR" became obsolete. To be reduced to cantrips, spellcasters have to blast all their spell slots first. And more often than not, for 1-2 encounters per day, this just doesn't happen, unless you're playing a warlock.
Encounters cannot be quantified in “per day”. I already complained it many times. If you abuse of the rest system because DM allows it, is another story.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I think some WM are too good, after thinking about use and combining, here are the current results with its solution:
- Cleave: seems OK, emphasizes the use of large heavy weapons with high damage die in what seems a fair way.
- Flex: at first I thought it was very bad, but it adds +1 damage average per hit, so not bad once the others are balanced.
- Graze: totally overpowered. If miss (no matter how much), unlimited times, your score modifier. Think about it, even if a character focuses on defense, no matter what the roll is, on each attack could inflict 4 damage (let's take this standard mid-level modifier), that is i.e. what a caster get from die per level, so with this it can defeat someone simply failing, no matter if the foe is someone that sacrifices other things to get a good armor, good Dex, and using Shield spell.
Solution: apply if you fail by less than 5, and/or (both seems a choice) once per turn. Applying both equals with Cleave, with a probability (in this case missing by few instead another attack roll) of inflicting close the same damage for a typical user, but focusing in a single target instead the requirement to have 2 at range.
- Nick: this one could become very overpowered when combined with Vex and 2-weapons Fighting Style. Nick weapons are usually small, but adding your score modifier is a lot of extra damage for free, even with simple weapons combining hand-axe (Vex) and dagger (Nick) with 2-weapon FS can be a devastating combo. This creates an illusion of choice, as if you can do anything with your Bonus Action, the mentioned previously (the FS no need the hand-axe) is clearly the best option by far. There are plenty of Light weapons that simply will be ignored as not worth.
Solution: change 2-weapon FS to "when you make the attack with the Light weapon using your Bonus Action, you can add your score modifier to the damage". The Nick is dedicated to those having something to do with its Bonus Action, getting an extra and free quick attack with a small weapon, that is not bad (in the case of Rogue could be the one landing the Sneak Attack).
- Push: seems OK but the Pike makes me think about combining with Polearm Master. Notice that now PAM don't combine with Sentinel as before, because the Reactive Strike is a Melee Attack instead an Opportunity Attack. Maybe needs some more thinking.
- Sap: seems OK for helping.
- Slow: in the case of Whip seems that fit nicely to its purpose (distance), in other cases can be (not tested so much) interesting, boring or even exploited combined with other tactics. Needs some more thinking.
- Topple: this one needs to remove any check, it slows the game down a lot. Also have the issue that if we compare with unarmed strike, you have both at the same time, the damage plus the shove, doing this much better even than the unarmed specialists.
Solution: change by something automatic, like making the target lose its Reaction.
Edit: Vex needs a revision too.
- Vex: other options like Sap requires to hit, in the case of Vex this is also improved by itself. You can get dual Vex weapon then who needs Reckless Attack with 2-handed weapon, if you can chain attacks with advantage without giving the foe advantage on you. So if dual Vex is so much better than others, means it needs a fix.
Solution: apply once per turn. Vex should combine with others instead with itself. I.e. combining main weapon Sap with off-hand Vex, you could grant advantage to your 1st “Sap” attack next round with your last off-hand Vex one.
Sounds like revisions & rebalancing are forthcoming in upcoming UAs 🤞🏼.
One issue caused by Weapon Mastery is the cheapening of Advantage. Vex & Topple can make Advantage very easy to get very often. Makes features like Reckless Attack lose their value, while making it easier to proc other abilities (like Sneak Attack).
Also, Topple can be frustrating to ranged combatants or casters with spell attack spells, because Prone forces disadvantage on ranged attacks.
Giving Weapon Mastery to Paladins, Rangers, Rogues, and certain subclasses of non-warriors seems to make the Fighter less special. I hope they address this issue as well. I'd like to see all these classes still have their (granted more limited) access to WM. But I'd like to see them figure out something more to make the Fighter stand out as the Weapon Mastery-est. More than was in UA6.
A little tangential, but they changed the Great Weapon Master feat to reduce and limit its bonus damage. And I honestly think those are good changes. But they also changed the Sharpshooter feat, and it had its bonus damage completely eliminated. I'd like to see that changed- or another feat or Weapon Mastery that could be taken to get some of that ranged damage back.
Getting advantage has been getting easier, as new books came out. You are correct that it may make Reckless Attack lose value, but if your Barbarian can have advantage on their attacks and not give advantage to their enemies, it makes their HP pool/damage resistance that much more powerful. And they still have it, as an option, if they don't have advantage from other sources. The only martial weapons with Vex are rapier and shortsword, which I don't think barbarians will be using. That leaves Topple, which has a save, so may not work. Then you don't have advantage, and you had to declare Reckless Attack with your first attack roll. So if they don't go prone on your first hit it's just regular rolls on both attacks until your next turn (assuming they get up on their turn).
As for ranged allies, this has always been the case for features/spells that let you prone an enemy. It's a choice you have to make dependent on who else is in the party. Nothing new there.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
Rapier + Shortsword + 2-weapons FS, how many times it adds its score modifier to damage and with hit chance improved so much.
Previously the dual weapon was broken in many cases by not limiting things like Divine Smite, or damages applied per hit. Now with the revised ones applied once per turn that is fixed. But then we have some case/s where again the dual weapon is much better, and needs to be fixed. All the PAM + GWM is nice, but you have to hit, and have the normal hit chance, in addition to once per turn in the case of GWM, OK, more as it requires 2 feats for the full combo. With unlimited Vex you can chain advantage in a cheesy way adding your score modifier to damage on each hit for a high total amount, simply using a FS, so having those 2 feats free for any other thing.
I disagree here. I don't think Weapon Mastery was meant to be just a warrior thing, but instead was intended to make weapons themselves more interesting and distinct. I think every class that typically uses weapons should have access to it, while Fighters specifically can customize their Mastery properties, so while everyone gets it, they're still the best with it.
I think one of the worst things about current 5e is how little weapon choice matters. There's only like, three weapon properties anyone needs to pay attention to (Reach, Ranged, and Finesse), and beyond that there's few differences between a halberd and a glaive, or a scimitar and a short-sword. Giving weapon wielders a reason to pick one over the other and making that choice matter would go a long way towards making martials feel as fleshed out as casters do.
Personally, I'd integrate Weapon Masteries into Weapon Traits that any character can use, then make Weapon Masteries allow a free use per turn.
For example: Greatsword has the Graze, Heavy, & Two-handed traits. Graze allows the use of a Bonus Action to deal modifier damage to a target on a miss. Weapon Mastery allows it to be done for free 1/turn.
In another example: Scimitar has the Light, Sweep, and Finesse traits as normal. Light allows the Bonus Action offhand attack while Sweep allows a Bonus Action to deal modifier damage to a second target within reach and 5ft of the original target. Weapon Mastery with Scimitars lets you use a trait 1/turn for free.
This has two effects: making every weapon unique with interesting options (at the cost of a Bonus Action), while also allowing martial characters to either save their Bonus Action for something else or use two Manoeuvre Traits a turn.
Manoeuvre Traits adapted from Masteries or obvious additions, given more intuitive names. All requiring a Bonus Action:
*Not tied to this idea but the thought process is making defence an active choice, so shields no longer automatically grant +2AC. Shields require, at minimum, a Bonus Action to grant their benefit. This allows for bucklers (1d4, Finesse, Light, Guard [1]), kite shields (Shove, Guard [2]), tower shield (Guard [3]).
EDIT: Finished Shield/Guard note
This is how I'd envision the weapons if Masteries were Traits (excuse personal tweaks):
Simple:
• Unarmed (1 B): Disarm, Grapple, Light, Shove, Topple
• Club (1d4 B): Daze, Light
• Dagger (1d4 P): Finesse, Light, Thrown (20/60)
• Greatclub (1d8 B): Shove, Two-handed
• Handaxe (1d6 S): Light, Sweep, Thrown (20/60)
• Javelin (1d6 P): Thrown (30/120), Pin
• Light Hammer (1d4 B): Light, Thrown (20/60)
• Mace (1d6 B): Daze
• Quarterstaff (1d8 B): Finesse, Topple, Two-handed
• Sickle (1d6 S): Finesse, Light
• Spear (1d6 P): Thrown (20/60), Versatile (1d8, Brace)
• Blowgun (1 P): Ammunition, Light, Loading, Ranged (30/120)
• Crossbow, Hand (1d6 P): Ammunition, Light, Loading, Ranged (30/120)
• Crossbow, Light (1d8 P): Ammunition, Loading, Ranged (80/320), Shove
• Dart (1d4 P): Ammunition, Finesse, Light, Ranged (20/60)
• Shortbow (1d6 P): Ammunition, Pin, Ranged (80/320)
• Sling (1d6 B): Ammunition, Daze, Ranged (60/240)
Martial:
• Battleaxe (1d8 S): Sweep, Versatile (1d10, Topple)
• Flail (1d8 B): Daze
• Glaive (1d10 S): Graze, Heavy, Reach, Two-handed
• Greataxe (1d12 S): Heavy, Two-handed, Sweep
• Greatsword (2d6 S): Graze, Heavy, Two-handed
• Halberd (1d10 S): Heavy, Reach, Sweep, Two-handed
• Lance (1d10 P): Heavy, Reach, Shove, Two-handed (unless Mounted), Mounted (Topple)
• Longsword (1d8 S): Parry, Versatile (1d10, Graze)
• Maul (2d6 B): Heavy, Topple, Two-handed
• Morningstar (1d8 P): Topple
• Pike (1d10 S): Brace, Heavy, Reach, Shove, Two-handed
• Rapier (1d8 P): Disarm, Finesse, Parry
• Scimitar (1d6 S): Finesse, Light, Sweep
• Shortsword (1d6 S/P): Finesse, Light, Parry
• Trident (1d8 P): Thrown (20/60), Versatile (1d10, Disarm)
• Warpick (1d8 P): Disarm, Versatile (1d10, Shove)
• Warhammer (1d8 B): Shove, Versatile (1d10, Daze)
• Whip (1d4 S): Finesse, Grapple, Reach, Topple
• Crossbow, Heavy (1d10 P): Ammunition, Heavy, Loading, Ranged (100/400), Shove, Two-handed
• Longbow (1d8 P): Ammunition, Heavy, Loading, Pin, Ranged (120/480), Two-handed
• Musket (1d12 P): Ammunition, Daze, Loading, Ranged (60/180), Two-handed
• Pistol (1d10 P): Ammunition, Daze, Light, Loading, Ranged (30/90)
Shields:
• Buckler (1d4 B): Light, Finesse, Guard [+1]
• Kite: Shove, Guard [+2]
• Tower: Guard [+3], Heavy
I think Masteries in general are a good idea in general, but to apply those in the game they'd have to bring back Exotic weapons because 2 weapon types isn't enough to grade the power levels in the Masteries.
Also, "mastery" for a thing you can switch daily is odd.
Maybe those could be "stances" that are appliable to some weapons, so even if you get a "mastery" it won't go to waste as soon as you have to switch weapons.
I see Nick and Vex as fixes for rogue, since rogues don't get extra attack. Eventually Vex becomes useless for rogue tho. Personally I think the better fix would have been for rogue to get extra attack with light weapons, so long as dexterity is used as the modifier for both attacks, but these fixes are definitely an improvement. In 5E very easy for Rogue to add nothing in combat if they miss a few attacks since they only have 1 attack a round or have to use bonus action for an off-hand attack, which meant no cunning action.
Graze is not overpowered, it adds more damage than Flex (if you don't have advantage), sure, I do think there should be an absolute miss, but I think it should be if your attack roll misses by more than 5, you don't get to Graze and a nat 1 always misses.
Flex is very good, it's mostly going to affect Paladin, having a 1d10 one handed weapon with a shield is a little insane tho. It's doing the same damage as 2-handed polearms but with no investment on feats or giving up the shield.
Push is situational, but it's potential can be huge, if you push a creature over a cliff, off a bridge. Even in normal combat without situational advantages, pushing back a creature by 10 foot could be allowing your ally to retreat without provoking opportunity attack and yet still get to use their action. Push is more defensive/control, given nothing stop it working with PAM, you can push a creature up to 30 foot back, or up to three creatures 10 foot back. With the reaction too, if you're hitting you're controlling more of how the battlefield looks.
Flex brings back the idea of a hand and a half sword. I do think that spear or quarterstaff should be changed, but otherwise having one flex weapon from each damage type is pretty ok.
I wonder if a reversal of flex would be a good idea for another feature. Something like with mastery it grants the 'light' property. That might just be more an extension of flex in a way, another option for damage increase.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
That's not what Flex did. Versatile already had that. What Flex does is make it so that you always have the benefit of two-handing your half-and-a-half sword.
What needs to be changed? They're both Versatile weapons (and in the real world, both can be wielded 1h or 2h), and their primary mastery is Flex. Seems spot on, to me.
Flex needs to be changed to the following:
Weapon with Flex wielded 1-Handed gains the Finesse property as long as it continues to be weilded 1-Handed. Used 2-Handed it loses the Finesse property and gains the Heavy property instead, and vise versa.
The downside of adding the heavy property is you then interfere with classes *cough monk, warlock* that can't benefit from heavy.
As for spear and quarterstaff I am primarily looking at it through the lense of the Monk class. They have a limited selection of weapons, and thematically I dislike both spear and staff being treated identically in this case.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
So, if you use a hand-and-a-half weapon (bigger than a 1h weapon, smaller than a 2h weapon) ... it gets less strength limited when you use it one handed, and harder for a small creature to wield when used 2 handed? That seems backward.
Or are you saying it should qualify to use Heavy masteries when used 2 handed, and qualify to use Finesse masteries when used 1 handed? That's a rather different statement. I can see the justification for the first one (being able to use Heavy masteries when wielding a Versatile weapon 2 handed), but not really the latter (about using Finesse masteries). And the only Mastery that is affected by the Finesse one is Vex.
I think, instead, I would say that if you have Flex mastery with a Versatile weapon, then when you wield it one handed, you use the Versatile damage (the existing rule), but if you wield it two handed, you can use a Mastery that you know that requires the Heavy property.
Baldur's Gate 3 just showed us how weapon mastery might work: Weapon Actions. Weapon Actions - Baldur's Gate 3 Wiki (bg3.wiki)
A truly perfect approach!
Features like providing one additional Bonus Action and limiting Short Rests to 2 until a Long Rest is needed are just perfect for game balance.
I tabletop playtested it. My teams like it.
The main issue is the usage of DC per attack, in the real game with no computer doing it for you can slows down the game too much. For table game we need automatic options with no need of extra rolls and checks.
Also avoid much calculations, so limiting Graze to if failed by less than 5 could be not good in practice. A solution could be simply remove Graze and grant Cleave to those weapons, as they are great weapons can be applied.
Oh those overpowered martials, they sure need a nerf because they don't ever let the spellcasters shine...
??
The martials already shine the 90% of the combat play time, that is in normal combat, as their sustained DPR is far superior than the casters with their cantrips. And some martials like Paladin have both, can shine in a round-by-round and at moments.
It is about looking for something balanced and that doesn't slow down the game so much. And rolling always with advantage without trade-off is not balanced, just like always dealing damage, Graze seems though for combat against the big Dragon, in that case OK, if you miss you deal some damage, is not so important and not an issue, but clearly is not though against other humanoids, in this case is just not fair.
I think we're long past the point when the talks of "sustained DPR" became obsolete. To be reduced to cantrips, spellcasters have to blast all their spell slots first. And more often than not, for 1-2 encounters per day, this just doesn't happen, unless you're playing a warlock.
Encounters cannot be quantified in “per day”. I already complained it many times. If you abuse of the rest system because DM allows it, is another story.