Sunday, July 29, 2018

Battle Master: Worst 5e Mechanics

In my opinion, 5e's Battle Master Fighter is hands down the worst design of the core classes and archetypes. It's not that it suffers from being underpowered (that award goes to the Way of Four Elements Monk), is counterintuitive (that'd be the Beast Master Ranger), or has a crippling design bug (hello, Wild Magic Sorcerer), its' that of all the classes, it suffers the most egregiously from dissociated mechanics.

For the most part, 5e's done a very good job of clawing back from 4e's dissociated design, which is why the earlier game was frequently derided as feeling like a video game. There are largely 3 kinds of resources:

1. Magical power, mostly in the form of spell slots.
2. Physical stamina, such as a barbarian's rage or a fighter's action surge.
3. Durability, mainly in the form of hit points.

The Battle Master's Combat Superiority Dice don't really fall into any category. They can't be stamina, because they can be used to heal allies or order them to attack, and they're not magical, either. They're completely dissociated from the character and his fictional world. They're not the only example, of course. There's no apparent reason bards can't inspire people more often. The expansions have even more dissociated mechanics, such as the Purple Dragon Knight's ability to share his Second Wind, or Cavalier special attacks being limited by his strength modifier.

But overall, Battle Master is the worst. The class works fine as written, but I don't particularly like having them at the table. They add a weird flavor to the game. You've got your monk channeling ki, your wizard exhausting his magical energy, your barbarian pushing himself to his physical limits, and your battle master...spending superiority dice. It's just weird, and doesn't really fit the tone of the game.

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