Some interesting themes emerging!
Better Average Damage:
Mistwell said:
Advantage on your damage roll, if you hit.
Plaguescarred said:
Or what about a damage minimum threshold akin to the 4E Brutal property?
These would work, but they seem a little blah to me personally. A little too close to the "here's a cookie because you sucked" feel in that they mitigate low rolls. Functional, not too flashy.
Kockback:
Ichneumon said:
I've been thinking of some sort of Sweep ability, where the two-handed fighter forces one or more opponents to use their reaction to get out of the way (by stepping back, going prone, taking cover) or suffer some damage.
Minigiant said:
1) Knockback on a miss
When you miss a target with a two handed or versatile weapon wielded in two hands, the target must move 5 feet away from you. If unable, the target is knocked prone.
Definitely flashier...but might not really matter much in practice. Getting back into melee is pretty trivial, and a melee monster will WANT to be in melee where possible! Hmm...
Unstoppable Forces:
Ashkelon said:
When you make a melee attack, you may impose a -5 penalty to your attack roll to compare the result to the AC of all creatures within 5 feet of you. Each creature with an AC equal or less than your attack roll is hit by the attack, both friend and foe. Roll damage only once for each attack.
Minigiant said:
3) Backswing
When you attack with a two handed weapon or a versatile weapon wielded in two hands on your turn, you can make one improvised weapon attack against another creature adjacent to you.
Talath said:
As I said on the other thread, I'd like to see sweeping damage, where any damage over the excess to kill a monster is applied to another creature within reach (assuming the original attack roll was sufficient enough to hit the new target's AC.)
I like the vibe of an area attack. But then, I liked Cleave, which is sort of an area attack...hmm...and not necessarily something that'll be fun to spam, but some of these work better than others. Hurm. Still probably one of my favorite ideas, personally. I like Talath's version best so far -- easy peasy lemon squeezy. A bit metagame, but not enough to bug me.
Others:
Minigiant said:
2) Destabilizing Swing
When you miss a target with a two handed or versatile weapon wielded in two hands, you can add you Strength modifier to the damage of your next attack that hits that creature.
Why not just add 2xSTR to one hit? Bigger! MOAR!
Minigiant said:
4) Damage or Dodge on a miss
When you miss a target with a two handed or versatile weapon wielded in two hands, the creature still takes damage unless they give up their ability to make reactions until the start of your next turn. If they do not, they are dealt damage equal to your Strength modifier.
So in this hypothetical it'd just look like making an enemy give up its reaction when hit....which is interesting...and fits the "you're off-balance from being hit with a 7-foot slab of metal and you're going to need a minute to focus again" vibe...
It's something that would benefit from a more standard status that got rid of your reactions. A "stunned" or "flat-footed" status or somesuch. But then we might have a bit for the "condition stacking" crowd to be unhappy with...still, I'm kind of fascinated by this idea.
Plaguescarred said:
What about a death threshold mechanic akin to the 4E Assassin Executioner feature?
Not bad....death is a big thing to have happen, and this gets rid of that annoying "I've got 2 hp left!" quality. A little abstract for some tastes, a little like "nothing happens for 5 hits, then BAM...if I'm the one to kill it." I like it for some reasons, don't like it for others...hmm...
Savage Wombat said:
Why can't we have great weapons that work like they did in the real world, instead of focusing on fantasy combat? Have greatswords work against cavalry and pikes or something.
Well, we focus on fantasy combat because in a fantasy RPG, that's where our fantasy weapons come into play.
It's also a little hard on someone who wants to be a specialist to have such a limited class of "favored enemies," and a bit fiddly for anyone who isn't a specialist, to give a gameplay reason. Still, if your goal is realism, I guess that's how that would work?
