PDA

View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next Critical hit class



clash
2016-10-05, 12:17 PM
I am interested in making a class that gets critical hits a lot. Obviously there is the champion fighter, but I want something like swordmasters from fire emblem that have more than 50% critical chance at their best and do a ton of damage with critical hits.

Would it be broken to build a class on the basis of using sneak attack weapons to qualify and scoring a critical hit on a 19-20 at level 1 then increasing it by one number every 2 levels. So level 3 crit chance = 18-20 and so forth.

I am thinking giving it extra attack at level 5 but not having any further increments of extra attack. I ran the numbers and it doesn't seem out of line.

What does the playground think?

DracoKnight
2016-10-05, 12:35 PM
I am interested in making a class that gets critical hits a lot. Obviously there is the champion fighter, but I want something like swordmasters from fire emblem that have more than 50% critical chance at their best and do a ton of damage with critical hits.

Would it be broken to build a class on the basis of using sneak attack weapons to qualify and scoring a critical hit on a 19-20 at level 1 then increasing it by one number every 2 levels. So level 3 crit chance = 18-20 and so forth.

I am thinking giving it extra attack at level 5 but not having any further increments of extra attack. I ran the numbers and it doesn't seem out of line.

What does the playground think?

I've actually made the Swordmaster written up as a level 1-20 class. It's already undergone balancing by the forum, and I can link it here for you.

clash
2016-10-05, 12:55 PM
Sure, that would be useful

GalacticAxekick
2016-10-06, 11:14 AM
I think what's fundamental in making a class interesting is giving it many options. Rewarding smart and creative decision making is what any good game is about, imo.

If the class is based almost wholely on scoring high crits, the class's effectiveness is mostly outside the player's control. It's no different from making a class with no extra abilities, but that has extra high AC or saves or weapon dice.

If you want it to be interesting, give the player some control over when they score crits or how they score crits or what the crits accomplish. For instance:
Instead of raising crit rate, why not create situations where every hit is a crit? Maybe any hit with Advantage becomes a crit! Or maybe a system similar to Superiority Die where points may be burned to produce crits.
Instead of crits merely dealing double damage, maybe provide secondary effects. Perhaps a trio of features: Rattle makes bludgeoning crits daze the enemy, denying them their Dex bonus to AC until they make a Con save. Rend makes piercing crits open armour, denying the foe their armour bonus to AC until they make a Con save. And Rip makes slashing crits tear fleshing, dealing 1STR 1DEX damage turnwise until the enemy makes a con save.

And besides states/abilities/gameplay, remember that every class has some roleplay aspect? What kind of person specializes in crits? If anything, I'd make this a Fighter subclass rather than a class altogether: a replacement for the Champion, as an overwhelmingly powerful Fighter without the tactical diversity of a Battle Master.

clash
2016-10-06, 11:43 AM
I think what's fundamental in making a class interesting is giving it many options. Rewarding smart and creative decision making is what any good game is about, imo.

If the class is based almost wholely on scoring high crits, the class's effectiveness is mostly outside the player's control. It's no different from making a class with no extra abilities, but that has extra high AC or saves or weapon dice.

If you want it to be interesting, give the player some control over when they score crits or how they score crits or what the crits accomplish. For instance:
Instead of raising crit rate, why not create situations where every hit is a crit? Maybe any hit with Advantage becomes a crit! Or maybe a system similar to Superiority Die where points may be burned to produce crits.
Instead of crits merely dealing double damage, maybe provide secondary effects. Perhaps a trio of features: Rattle makes bludgeoning crits daze the enemy, denying them their Dex bonus to AC until they make a Con save. Rend makes piercing crits open armour, denying the foe their armour bonus to AC until they make a Con save. And Rip makes slashing crits tear fleshing, dealing 1STR 1DEX damage turnwise until the enemy makes a con save.

And besides states/abilities/gameplay, remember that every class has some roleplay aspect? What kind of person specializes in crits? If anything, I'd make this a Fighter subclass rather than a class altogether: a replacement for the Champion, as an overwhelmingly powerful Fighter without the tactical diversity of a Battle Master.

This is all good feedback. My intention wasn't to make this class solely based on critical hits but rather that was where their damage scaling came from. They would still have a ghost of unique and interesting abilities. My main question was if it was broken to increase the crit chance to above 50% by level 20. Although this may become more balanced with a limited resource like crit points as you mentioned.