Greetings, 3WD-verse! DM Chris here. Several weeks ago, we began a journey through my favorite D&D 5e subclasses – from the newer Armorer Artificer to the classic Moon Druid. I wasn’t planning for it to take three articles, but when I started to talk about each there was just too much to say for just one article. Blame my muse, or our collectively shrinking attention span.
Part 1 was the beginning of the class alphabet, but Part 2 steers us into what I consider the heart of the martial classes. My apologies to Barbarian, who is definitely not a guy you want to piss off despite his alphabetic limitations, but here we have the damage dealer’s sweet spot from Fighter through Rogue. Let the fun begin.
Fighter
Favorite Subclass: Battle Master
This one is not necessarily for first-timers, but in the hands of an experienced player this subclass becomes one of the most enjoyable. The Battle Master subclass gives your fighter access to superiority dice. Sounds impressive right off the bat, but the magic is in the Maneuvers. From reducing damage to taking advantage of an enemy missing a melee attack, these little nuggets of battle strategy let you expand “I swing my sword at the skeleton” into “I perform a Feinting Attack to draw the skeleton into a perfect spot for an attack, then after striking them, I Riposte their failed counterattack and hit them again.”
DM Lenny’s Lost Mines of Phandelver campaign featured one of the coolest examples of the Battle Master. DM Dave’s Goliath Pugilist Battle Master Fighter, Kordak Rockwalker, used the power of Maneuvers (and Goat-Ball) to turn his character into a fearsome bare-knuckle brawler. Imagine for a moment all that raw power combined with ripostes and trip attacks. Like the Hulk had a love-child with Captain America. Hopefully you’ll all get to meet the big man when we recap and review the classic starter adventure.
Monk
Favorite Subclass: Way of Glima
Confession: I love monks. Something about them taps into my admiration for kung-fu and samurai movies. The Way of Glima, from Journey to Ragnarok, takes all that martial-arts action and adds in a touch of wrestling with grappling and throws. To help with that, the Glima monk can start to use their Strength to calculate Unarmored Defense at 3rd level, as well as damage opponents both into and out of your grapple. So bulk up your ninjas, my friends. Once you reach 6th level, the subclass finally starts to show its truly wonderful potential, as you get to throw anything in your grasp, including enemies, into something else, like other enemies. Need I say more?
This one is a bit of a curveball, but getting an opportunity to play my human Glima Monk/Moon Druid, Sköll, in DM Tony’s current Journey to Ragnarok game was the tipping point. I blame the abundance of monk subclasses, but no real stand-outs. This one had the right level of commitment to a martial playstyle, giving you a kind of jiu-jitsu feel. And the first time I threw an opponent into another opponent, I was hooked. For some bonus fun, top it off with a couple levels of Moon Druid and a very understanding DM (Thank you, Tony) and you can wrestle as a bear. Kung-Fu Panda, eat your heart out.
Paladin
Favorite Subclass: Oath of Vengeance
Well, here it is. The subclass of subclasses. Divine Smiters, unite! What makes the damage-dealing king, Paladin, even more fearsome? The Oath of Vengeance, that’s what. From the best Paladin spell list, to the battle-altering ability that is the Vow of Enmity, this one is hard to beat for sheer martial power. Imagine for a moment that you could gain advantage for a minute on an enemy once a day. Find the big bad, hit them with Vow of Enmity, then go to town. But save those higher-level spell slots for when the repeated advantage rolls become crits. That’s when to drop your 4th level slot into a Divine Smite and turn 5d8 into 10d8. Then have fun with your friends as they help you count up the ridic damage and ask what subclass you’re playing.
I’m starting to get an idea why I think this is the best part of the class alphabet. Chris gets to go again. My human Oath of Vengeance Paladin, Sir Alured Scarr, from DM Dave’s classic Curse of Strahd campaign, is my most accomplished and highest level character. My boy. I juiced him with two-weapon fighting and the Sentinel feat. Sentinel pairs very nicely with the Oath of Vengeance, especially once you hit 6th level. Then they just can’t get away. Cry me a river, bad guy.
And a big shout out to that paranoid beholder, Xanathar, for the gift that is Find Greater Steed. Picture all this, but mounted on a pegasus. Non-sequitur – My all time favorite movie is Clash of the Titans. Ray Harryhausen was a gift and an absolute genius .I also strongly recommend Jason and the Argonauts and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. Amazing DM inspiration, and despite being decades older, it still feels realer than CGI.
Ranger
Favorite Subclass: Hunter
Ah, Ranger. The class that could have been king. Wrapped in the promise of Aragorn, yet one of our greatest collective failures. But in that morass of potential, there is an old friend that almost connects the void between Thorongil and these imposters that wear his class.The Hunter subclass strips away a lot of fluff and focuses on what I consider to be the perfect Ranger archetype – a hardened warrior who prowls the outskirts of the civilized world, hunting and surviving in a harsh environment. The Colossus Slayer feature in Hunter’s Prey adds a sizable 1d8 to attacks against an opponent that is wounded, and when paired with the Ranger’s best friend, Hunter’s Mark, can bring down even the biggest foe. Once you reach 7th, the Escape the Horde defensive tactic takes your hardened hunter and allows him to move in and out of melee combat.
Years ago, we began a Tomb of Annihilation campaign that unfortunately stalled. I think we’ll return one day when schedules and other stuff allow, but it is from this brief moment in the jungles of Chult that I chose to select this subclass. DM Dave’s Giff Hunter Ranger, Roosevelt, arrived with a rifle and a voice like Teddy Roosevelt himself. Bully! Although it can be difficult to talk about a hippo hunter that sounds like our 26th president non-comedically, the amount of raw damage he was able to inflict with the combination of a rifle, Colossus Slayer, and Hunter’s Mark was impressive. And an angry hippo is frightening as hell.
Rogue
Favorite Subclass: Swashbuckler
What a perfect way to close the damage-dealer’s section. Rogues, like Paladins, are a class that really lets you pour on the damage. The Swashbuckler subclass (another gift from Xanathar) leans into the Rogue’s most important feature, Sneak Attack. Combining Rakish Audacity, which provides Sneak Attack for just being within 5 feet of a single opponent, with Fancy Footwork, which lets you avoid opportunity attacks if you’ve attempted an melee attack against said opponent, this subclass isn’t hiding in the shadows with a bow, they’re darting in and out of single combat as a blur of steel.
For our roguish example, I return to those first days in our burgeoning homebrew world, The Further, where DM Tony and I began to first explore the strange new land we had created. Tony’s human Swashbuckler/Monster Hunter, Lazlo, embodied what I discussed above. He was a blur of steel that carved up opponents and then quickly darted out of their reach. I’d never seen the subclass in action before and came away impressed. Rogue didn’t have to mean a dagger in the back or a bowshot from the shadows anymore, now it could also be the roguish hero who swings down and engages in a sword fight with the evil prince.
Final Thoughts
To Be Continued…
Two parts down, one to go. From the martial paradise that is Fighter through Rogue, we’ll travel on to the mysterious and powerful lair of the spellcasters. Please let me know how you think I’m doing in the comments. See you in two weeks with Part 3 – Sorcerer through Wizard.
And, as always, if you’re rolling new hit points for your 3rd Level Subclass, be sure to check out our affiliate link at FanRoll Dice to receive 10% off your entire order!