View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next Arsenalist - Martial Archetype

2019-07-15, 06:39 PM
Hello all, just a little random idea. I have always like the stories that feature the characters with the collection of weapons. They are a walking arsenal. They have a weapon for any situation and another one to give to a friend in need. 5e does not support this ideal terribly well since weapons are pretty much weapons with little to differentiate them. But I am going to take a whack at it anyway. :smallsmile: Any critiques?

Mercurial Styles At third level you learn an additional fighting style of your choice from the fighter list. You can only gain the benefits from one fighting style at a time. You can change the fighting style that you are using by taking ten minutes, or during a short or long rest, to practice forms, meditate or rearrange your gear. You learn an additional style at 7th, 10th, 15th and 18th levels.
Light Armory Weapons that you are carrying that are sized for you are only half weight for calculating carrying capacity.
Gear Switch Starting at 3rd level when you take the Attack action you can use an extra free action to draw/stow a weapon.
Weapon Master You know all weapons, if you should encounter a weapon that you do not know how you use you can become proficient in it with 10 minutes of practice. You can also extend your training to others. You are qualified to teach any weapon that you have proficiency with. When teaching someone to use a weapon it will take 100 days.

Pretty much a ribbon but in some campaigns might be more useful.
Bow and Sword in Accord You can use your strength or dexterity for any weapon attack or damage roll.
Self Weapon The gear you carry is not a weapon. You are the weapon. Items you wield grant a +1 bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls if they do not have a bonus already. A item you wield that has a damage die lower than d6 does a d6 worth of damage.
Expanded Attunement You can Attune to an additional weapon beyond the usual limit of 3.
Mercurial Master You can benefit from two fighting styles at the same time.
Expanded Attunement You can Attune to an additional 2 weapons beyond the usual limit of 3.

Still don't have a good idea to cap this off.

2019-07-15, 09:17 PM
Looking this over, you've got some cool ideas, but it suffers from trailing off later on.

Mercurial Styles: This is neat, if a little clunky. I'd do what the Monk did, and bundle the "practicing" thing into taking a short rest. Other than that, this seems fine - heck, it'd be kinda weird if you didn't have something like this for "I use all the weapons".

Gear Switch: I'd honestly just make it so that this lets you get a second stow/draw during your action. Then it would let you actually out a weapon or draw two weapons at once. Besides, this is your big feature this level, so why not let them get away with some shield shenanigans? It's not too big of a deal.

Weapon Master: This is entirely pointless in a standard campaign :p. Other than that, my suggestion from Mercurial Styles still stands.

Expanded Attunement: This should be reworded as "You may attune an additional weapon". Other than that, I question how many magic weapons you'll find (unless you aren't sharing with the rest of the party...)

Mercurial Master: To be expected - no issues here.


I personally would move Gear Switch down to 3rd level and focus on that as your cool, focal feature - that's the kind of thing you go into a subclass like this for. Also, it's pretty typical for Fighter subclasses to get something social or exploration related at 7th level - not sure what you could give them there, but something knowledge related is always a good stopgap.

2019-07-17, 07:35 PM
Some nice work