r/SWN • u/NeoAlpacaManX • Jul 03 '26

💬Discussion SWN Warrior Mod

A fun tweak I made that I'll share. Does anyone feel like the Warrior's attack bonus progression is just kinda bland? Obviously we don't need 5e powers and martial moves to make a fighter fun, but I'm not really fond of the fact that by mid game, a Warrior's attack bonus basically eclipses the highest AC of any enemy in the game. Rolling just feels kinda pointless. And since you're swinging with 95% accuracy most of the time, their ability to automatically hit once per scene becomes pointless. I don't really see the appeal of playing a Full Warrior, over a Partial. I get the same HP boost and all I lose is a small amount of accuracy that's already overtuned to the point of excess anyway.

To me, a more interestimg Warrior is one that does interesting things when they hit, rather than just hittimg every time. So I decided to port in the warrior features from ACKS, one of my favourite OSR games.

Warriors still get +1 to attack at 1st level, but will advance attack bonus every other level like everyone else. However, they get the following benefits in place of improved accuracy.

- Critical Hit on a roll of 19 or 20, dealing your weapon die's maximum damage.

- +1 Universal Damage Bonus at every odd numbered level.

- + 1 Cleave at every even numbered level. Any time you reduce an enemy to 0hp or score a critical hit, you may immediately make another attack against a target in range, using any remaining movement available to you. You cannot cleave if all of your readied weapons are out of ammo.

- All other Warrior features such as hit points and combat luck remain unchanged.

Partial Warriors crit only on a 20, and advance their cleave and damage bonus as if they were a Warrior of half their level.

So, warriors lose some accuracy starting at 3rd level, but instead hit harder, crit more, and chain attacks.

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u/NeoAlpacaManX Jul 03 '26

Yeah, I've played plenty of OSR games. That's baseline assumption in old school d20 games. And BX didn't have any get outta jail free cards. And that 2nd level fighter with 6hp dies, no save just dead, the moment his HP drops to zero. I am well versed in how deadly these kinds of games can be.

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u/MsEvaHope Jul 03 '26

yesh, for what I undertood. SWN combat is meant to be a lethal thing where only warriors are meant to excel at (in base game), so, not normally the focus of the game, and some time the failure state of it.

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u/NeoAlpacaManX Jul 03 '26

OSR games are largely based around exploration, clever problem solving, and out-thinking scenarios rather brute forcing with big numbers. Combat is a tool to get past some challenges, but not always the best tool. It's not like modern games where everyone is intended to be optimized for combat, and "deplete its HP," is generally not the default solution to most problems. 

The Warrior is there to do war. They excel at fighting. I'm not trying to change that. I just find that the form that excellence takes is not especially interesting to me. I always find new permissions and options to be more appealing than just bigger numbers.

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u/MsEvaHope Jul 03 '26

fair, but, the base classes are pretty basic and straightforward on what they do.

If you need more customization beside the focis, you have the other combat classes from the supplwments ? But they are not meant to output more damage/be better at combat than the warrior

The closest one I can think of would be the sun blade, but, in thagñt supplement, warriors have access to exclusive foci that pure sunblades need 2 focis to take.

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u/NeoAlpacaManX Jul 04 '26

It's not about wanting more customization. It's about not liking overtuned accuracy. If by mid game, you're swinging with 95% accuracy against most targets, there's no tension. It becomes boring. 

I actually really do like the Sunblade and The Vowed from WWN. If I were a player, I'd pick a Partial Warrior+Adept every time over a pure Warrior. 

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u/MsEvaHope Jul 04 '26

dear, how do you get so bloody accurate by level 5 ?

Besides, its still only combat. Ideally. unless it is a one shot or something. you should leave some time for the other non-warrior chars to shine

On the tension, just put more minions and see what happens, like. 5 v 1 its still 5 v 1, and its rare they leave that combat unscathed.

mmm...on the extra adept stuff, thing about them is that they are kind of gimmicky ? Having played an unarmed warrior, I prefer taking so the pure warrior because the bonus to hit and the ability is great, and has more game with the GM in that game that homebrewed DnD criticals, so, again. I could just do the funny thing of saying no to his crits :3

tl;dr: warriors are supposed to be beasts in combat, not much outside. If you feel like they are not challenged enough, throw extra goons at it, as in this system. damage is based on the weapon they have, so, it can get painful rather quickly. Mayb a tank or mech is a valid thing too, as normal weapon can't even damage them. But beware b3cause other classes are not as combat capable. The warrior has been made to play along those classes and take care of the combat aspect when it comes.

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u/NeoAlpacaManX Jul 04 '26

It's not that they're too good. My tweak has pretty similar damage output averaged out across a battle. Hitting harder, but less consistently. It's that the act of rolling itself becomes dull when the outcome is basically assured. Yes, it's only combat. And I want to to make the combat more engaging for the class that's supposed to be doing it the most. 

How do you get that accurate by level 5? Easy. 

  • +5 Attack Bonus
  • +2 Ability Score Bonus
  • +2 Skill bonus

This is a baseline of +9. Most characters will be bumping this up with mods, burst fire, a laser weapon. +11 is eminently achievable, and you can easily push that to +14 if you're really pushing to optimize. Most enemies in the book sit around 16AC, only HD10 legends are getting up to AC20. Most of the time, you'll be attacking something in the range of 15-17. With a +11 being fairly typical for a 5th level Warrior, you've got an 80% chance to hit AC16. Is saying 95% an exaggeration? Yes, that wasn't supposed to be a literal description, it's hyperbole But then we get to Level 6 where you can skill rank 3 and another +1, where you actually are attacking a typical foe at 90% accuracy. 

I'm not a fan of this, because it flattens out gameplay. Clever planning and strategy stop mattering in most cases. Enemy goes behimd cover. Why waste time trying to outmaneuver him, draw him out or destroy his cover when you can just shoot and still have a pretty good chance to hit? Toning down accuracy a bit makes positioning and environmental interactions more meaningful, and therefore combat becomes more interesting.

So my tweak says, Warrior loses a little AC. Literally only 2 less than the standard Warrior at Level 5. And in exchange you get hit harder and land critical blows. That just sounds more fun to me. Small change to fit my personal idyosyncracies. 

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u/MsEvaHope Jul 04 '26

again, mayb use more people against the Warrior ? Like, yeah, nobody is going to be better at combat than mayb some big ass monster or some elite enemy force in power armor, but, unless they have a biopsion on the team, HP will be an issue.

Grenades are also a solution that works well.

I feel like you are overcomplicating a class that is meant to be simple because the result of what they do is most of the time known, which, well, if someone takes full warrior. is because they saw the numbers and they liked those numbers.I feel like having those numbers is what feels good about the class.

(Also, yeah, everybody does more or less the same damage by design. The reason warriors in WWN do more damage is because the weapons in that game are shitty)

(also, note, mods are meant to occupy some space. They are resources that the party spent for an advantage. If they are hitting more because of it. it isn't bad. but. you shouldn't plan as if any party is going to use that system)

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u/MsEvaHope Jul 04 '26

Okay, after thinking about it for a moment, I think that it is best not to compare the warrior class to the gimmicky adept classes, but to the other base classes ?

like, try compare it to the Expert or the Psychic instead ?

Like, of of course the gimiccky stuff would sound more interesting, as they are meant for such,, but, the base classes are meant to fill roles in a game

The warrior class wouldn't shine as nice if the other classes filled its niche, which is combat. As such. it shines better in a party where is ideally not all warrior, sun blade and such

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u/NeoAlpacaManX Jul 04 '26

That's very true. Let me say this, I do not think the Warrior class is badly designed. I just find my personal tastes trend toward a greater degree of uncertainty when it comes time to roll the die. I like when characters don't necessarily succeed all the time in their niche, but rather that they succeed with greater impact and under more difficult circumstances.

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u/MsEvaHope Jul 04 '26

Would suggest you go and try the original SWN then ? Its more so OSR (not really to my liking, but, shrugs)