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Subclass Fighter Battle Master
The Battle Master is a Fighter subclass built around a library of Maneuvers — tactical moves that spend Superiority Dice to add effects to attacks, grant reactions, or improve allies' actions. Combat Superiority at Level 3 provides four d8 Superiority Dice and access to maneuvers like Trip Attack, Disarming Attack, Commanding Strike, and Precision Attack. Superiority Dice recover on Short Rest. Improved Combat Superiority at Level 10 upgrades the dice from d8 to d10.
| LEVEL | FEATURE |
|---|---|
| 3 | Combat Superiority, Student of War, Know Your Enemy |
| 7 | Improved Combat Superiority (d8 → d8 with 5 dice) |
| 10 | Improved Combat Superiority (d10) |
Combat Superiority You learn maneuvers that are fueled by special dice called Superiority Dice. At Level 3, you have four d8 Superiority Dice.
You can use only one maneuver per attack. You regain your expended Superiority Dice when you finish a Short or Long Rest.
Available Maneuvers (sample):
- Commander's Strike — Forgo one attack, direct an ally to use their Reaction to attack.
- Disarming Attack — On hit, force a Strength save or drop a held object.
- Distracting Strike — On hit, give the next attack roll against the target Advantage.
- Evasive Footwork — Add Superiority Die to AC while you move.
- Feinting Attack — Bonus Action to feint; Advantage on next attack, +die to damage.
- Goading Attack — On hit, target must make Wisdom save or have Disadvantage on attacks against creatures other than you.
- Lunging Attack — Extend reach by 5 feet, add Superiority Die to damage.
- Maneuvering Attack — On hit, let an ally move half their speed without Opportunity Attacks.
- Menacing Attack — On hit, force Wisdom save or impose Frightened.
- Parry — Reaction to reduce incoming damage by Superiority Die + Dexterity modifier.
- Precision Attack — Add Superiority Die to an attack roll.
- Pushing Attack — On hit, force Strength save or push target 15 feet.
- Rally — Use Bonus Action to give an ally Superiority Die + Charisma modifier Temp HP.
- Riposte — Reaction to attack when a creature misses you.
- Sweeping Attack — When you hit with melee, deal Superiority Die damage to an adjacent creature.
- Trip Attack — On hit, force Strength save or knock Prone.
Student of War You gain proficiency with one type of Artisan's Tools of your choice.
Know Your Enemy After spending at least 1 minute observing or interacting with a creature outside of combat, you can identify notable characteristics relative to your own stats: equal, superior, or inferior in each ability score.
Improved Combat Superiority Your Superiority Dice pool increases to 5 dice.
Improved Combat Superiority Your Superiority Dice change from d8s to d10s.
The Battle Master is the highest flexibility Fighter. The maneuver system lets you choose different tactical tools for each encounter — a Trip Attack/Prone setup for melee allies, Precision Attack to guarantee a hit on a crucial swing, Commander's Strike to give a high-damage ally an extra attack, or Rally for emergency Temp HP.
Superiority Dice recover on Short Rest, meaning the Battle Master plays effectively in every encounter of a day. A Fighter with Action Surge and 4 Superiority Dice per Short Rest has distinct resources for both burst turns and sustained tactical variety.
The strength of the maneuver system is that it doesn't require choosing between damage and tactics — Disarming Attack, Trip Attack, and Menacing Attack all add Superiority Die damage on top of their effect. The tactical benefit comes for free with the damage.
At higher levels, Know Your Enemy provides information that informs which maneuvers to prioritize: if you know a creature has a low Strength save, Trip Attack becomes more reliable. If they have high Constitution, avoid maneuvers that target that save.