Fighting Styles

This is my interpretation of all 5e fighting styles, inspired by deus ex parabola’s conversions of the 5e fighter. DnD fighting styles represent everything I’m trying not to do in Salty Goo, but they also have the very allluring potential to give ~style~ to a character. Like, their names evoke bigger, cooler things than what their mechanical effects do, if it makes sense.

I started my conversion like a design exercise without knowing if the end result would be useful. I only knew there would be no +X bonuses. Along the way, I started seeing them as tropes, hence the new names, and thought of maybe giving them as boons to my players when their characters are fleshed out trough play. I put the criterias I had in mind for that in italic with a ✤. Now that I’m done and pretty happy about them, I’ve made them a feature of my generic fighter.



Nervous Hunter
✤ Clearly the most paranoid of the group.
You are as tense as your bowstring. When you have your ranged weapon ready, you can interrupt the referee at any moment to shoot whatever they are describing. You have the advantage if you do not know what the target is yet. If you hit an actual danger to you or your friends, you are calmed for the rest of your day.

Focused Loner
✤ Spends time split from the group.
Hush! Take a deep breath. When you close your eyes and don’t speak, you can ~feel~ the presence of any other creature in the room with you (or looking at you if outdoors). When you do so, you can interact and fight with any adjacent being as if you could see them.

Daring Swashbuckler
✤ They love flashy, overcomplicated plans.
Your dashing exploits have earned you a nickname in the area. Choose it. You can now attempt a melee combat maneuver AND use a ranged weapon on your turn. Doing so increases your nickname’s fame.

Stubborn Guardian
✤ They have a short fuse.
No one fucks with you. Once per encounter, you can loudly proclaim that IT ENDS HERE! When you do, you gain 1D6 temporary Hit Points and, as long as you don’t move from where you stand, can block as much space as a large horse.

Lucky Bastard
✤ They. just. keep. dodging. everything. you. throw. at. them!
You’re so lucky you seem to dance through life. As long as you have a free hand, you can switch position with any creature that attacks you in melee or that you attack in melee.

Exuberant Brute
✤ They love bashing things.
You are bigger than life. Any heavy, two-handed melee weapon or oversized, heavy object wielded by you inflicts 2D6 damage as long as you yell. Who cares if you attract more foes!?

Devoted Companion
✤ They have made a promise.
Duty is bigger than you. If you are adjacent, you can heroically take a hit for a person or a thing you have sworn to protect. You must decide before knowing if the spell or attack hits. When you do so, you take 1 less damage, but have disadvantage on your dodge roll* or saving throw to avoid the attack.

* or the enemy has advantage on their attack roll, if that’s how your system works

Drunken Sailor
✤ They got drunk.
Red cheeks, slurred speech and half-closed eyes. Being drunk does not impede your ability to fight or swim. In fact, it allows you to do both at the same time and to hold your breath twice longer, even while you take damage.

Gritty Veteran
✤ They keep referring to their past.
Each time you begin a new adventure, you can tell your group about a violent event from your past and carve a notch in one of your weapons. You have advantage on your damage rolls with this weapon in situations similar to that anecdote, at the referee’s discretion.

Resourceful Trickster
✤ They’ve been hoarding trinkets.
You always have a tool ready: all items smaller than your hand on yourself or on adjacent allies count as being in your quick draw slots and are hidden from view. You can pass them to anybody within throwing range without rolling.

Proud Duelist
✤ They made a rival out of somebody.
Honor dictates that all conflicts are personal. You can challenge any creature with a language to a duel. Until one of you dies or yields by dropping their weapons, you cannot challenge another creature. When your rival misses an attack against you, you can make a free attack with your off-hand.

Professional Pugilist
✤ They attempted to defeat something with their bare hands.
Proper people fight naked. Your fists inflict 1D4 damage. When you are not wearing any piece of armor, you can attack twice with them. When you have 3 or less items in your inventory, you can also attempt a combat maneuver at the same time.

Written on December 25, 2022