laserllama
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Definitely NOT an Alt Barbarian Update!
🕑 Added 2024-10-12 18:52:19 +0000 UTCHey all!
Was having some fun looking at the Armsman Class I put together a month or so ago and it inspired me to cook up a new class - THE SLAYER (which is definitely NOT an Alt Barbarian update play test...?)
Not committing to anything here becoming "official", but let me know what you think of the new mechanics for the SLAYER!
~laserllama
FURY:
The Slayer (which is definitely NOT a Barbarian) gets a feature called FURY. Which, like Rage, gives a lot of benefits. However, unlike Rage, it just lasts for its full duration without any fiddly things necessary to keep it going.
Primal Physique:
Like the Barbarian (which I'm almost 89% certain the Slayer is not), the Slayer gets the ability to have a decent Armor Class, even when not wearing armor. Their beefy bods also help them out even when they wear Light and Medium Armor.
Savage Exploits:
Starting at 1st level, the Slayer can forgo their Fury Damage bonus to instead use an Exploit at some point before the start of their next turn - pretty cool I think! Sadly, the don't have the skill to use their Exploits unless their are in a Fury (get good).
Instinctive Skill:
With the Slayer not having access to "skill Exploits", this feature allows them to either (1) gain additional skill proficiencies, or (2) get a Fury Die bonus to skills you already have.
Extra Attack:
You always have the second attack, but if you are in a Fury you can Dash then attack! Savage!
Feral Instinct:
Your FURY bonuses (advantage) now apply to Dexterity ability checks and saving throws! You can now also enter a FURY to get advantage on a physical (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution) saving throw.
Comments
Phil Best
I like this new approach you've taken with the Armsman and Slayer, where they essentially have an Exploit Die to spend each round, rather than having a pool of dice. I do think that this new approach could be streamlined somewhat, however, especially with the Slayer. Foregoing some benefit to gain an Exploit Die that can be used for some other purpose seems to me to be putting things backwards. Why not have the Armsman and the Slayer gain an Exploit Die each turn (while Fury is active for the Slayer), and then provide essentially a class-specific basic Exploit that they can spend that die on? For example, the Armsman might gain a basic exploit called Expert Strike which doesn't count towards their Exploit limit and which can't be changed, and this allows them to add their Exploit Die to the attack or damage roll of a weapon attack. For the Slayer, I'd actually make Reckless Attack their basic Exploit. They can choose to burn an Exploit Die at the start of their turn to gain advantage on Strength-based weapon attacks for the round, but attacks against them have advantage. Slight nerf to Reckless Attack, but they also always get to add their Exploit Die to damage rolls when using Fury to make up for it. This seems to me like a solid formula that can be generalised to the other classes with combat-oriented exploits. Gain an Exploit Die each turn (maybe with a condition), and then provide a basic way to spend that Exploit Die specific to the class fantasy. The current resource juggling to generate Exploit Dice seems unnecessarily clunky to me. If you were to move to this sort of approach, I think I would also give Slayers an Exploit Die when they enter a Fury, and I would give Armsman an Exploit Die when they roll initiative. That way the Slayer isn't screwed out of an Exploit Die on the turn they Fury, since they weren't in a Fury when their turn began, and Armsman can use reaction-based Exploits before their first turn as long as they are not surprised. Anyway, I think the Armsman and Slayer are looking very cool. I like the changes from the alt Fighter and Barbarian, and I think the Instinctive / Tactical Skill feature is a very elegant way to handle non-combat Exploits.
