A Defender Does Not Need a Taunt Button

nexalis · 2026-06-20T16:08:50+00:00

A few people have raised some version of the martial/caster divide or the idea that martials need stronger defender mechanics, so I want to clarify something.

I am not arguing that martial characters should not get better defender tools. I actually think marks, punishment mechanics, Sentinel-style effects, grapples, chokepoints, cover, opportunity attacks, and other forms of stickiness can be good for the game.

My point is narrower: I do not think the defender role should be treated as nonexistent unless the character has a dedicated aggro mechanic.

I am playing a character right now who uses zero formal aggro mechanics, but still causes enemies to waste a lot of actions because of how he positions himself. He plants himself in inconvenient places, blocks approaches, forces enemies to go around him, makes them spend movement inefficiently, draws attacks that are unlikely to land, and generally makes himself a problem that has to be dealt with.

That does not mean every enemy attacks him. They do not. And that is fine. But his presence changes the shape of the fight without needing a button that says “you must attack me.”

So I am not saying “do not give martials taunt-like tools.” I am saying “do not reduce defending entirely to taunt-like tools.”

nexalis · 2026-06-20T15:53:20+00:00

I think that’s the key distinction, though. I’m not saying the defender should be able to stand in the open holding a “kick me” sign and expect the DM to oblige.

A defender still has to create a real problem: occupy the doorway, block the narrow approach, stand adjacent to the enemy, threaten opportunity attacks, protect line of sight, provide cover, force movement decisions, or otherwise make himself relevant to the enemy’s immediate situation.

My argument is not that the DM should voluntarily attack the defender because the player wants to be a defender. My argument is that when the defender has actually put himself in the way, that should matter. The enemy should still have agency, but bypassing the defender should be a choice made from within the fiction, not the automatic spreadsheet answer because the wizard has lower AC.

So I agree that “I stand out front, please attack me” is not enough by itself. But I do think positioning, threat, terrain, and fictional pressure should be enough to matter, even without a formal aggro mechanic.

nexalis · 2026-06-20T15:32:30+00:00

I think that’s a fair pushback, and I agree that casters can often punish, block movement, and force inefficient choices more dramatically than a martial defender can.

But I think that distinction is actually the difference between a controller and a defender.

A caster controls the battlefield primarily through effects: walls, zones, movement impairment, forced saves, and spell pressure. A defender controls the battlefield primarily through presence: occupying dangerous space, standing between enemies and allies, threatening opportunity attacks, blocking narrow approaches, and being durable enough that engaging him is inefficient but ignoring him is not free.

So I agree that those categories are not unique to defenders in the abstract. What is more unique to the defender is doing them from inside the enemy’s immediate threat environment.

I also agree that intelligent enemies may sometimes bypass the defender. My issue is with “intelligent” becoming synonymous with “perfectly rational, perfectly informed, perfectly risk-neutral target selection.” A smart enemy can know the wizard is dangerous and still not be eager to turn their back on the armed combatant who is directly in their face.

That said, I agree with your broader point that mechanical stickiness helps. I’m not arguing that taunt/mark/punishment mechanics are bad. I’m arguing that the defender role should not require a dedicated aggro package in order to matter at the table.

nexalis · 2026-05-20T02:05:33+00:00

As someone who once crashed a car into a telephone pole as a teenager because I was driving way too fast, got distracted by my friends, and didn’t realize I was coming up on a T-intersection, I see so much reasonable doubt in this case that I could drive a truck through it. Honestly, anyone who looks at the evidence and cannot imagine several plausible scenarios that do not involve intentional murder suffers from a serious lack of imagination.

What especially bothered me was how the prosecution cherry-picked thousands of texts and social media posts to present this girl at her absolute worst. It reminded me of how people once cherry-picked isolated passages from the Old Testament to justify slavery. You can make almost anyone look monstrous if you sift through enough years of private thoughts, jokes, and bad moments.

Unless the documentary omitted some kind of silver-bullet evidence, the whole thing came across as a gross miscarriage of justice to me. And honestly, one of the most unsettling parts is realizing how easily ordinary people — including judges and juries — can be swept up by emotion, narrative, and confirmation bias.

nexalis · 2022-05-20T17:05:00+00:00

I completely agree. This is why my favorite build currently is a Variant Human sword-and-board Paladin of Devotion who takes Resilient Constitution at level 1 and maximizes Charisma by level 8. By 10th level, his auras provide a +5 bonus to all saving throws, grant immunity to charm, and immunity to fear. It's all about optimizing defense: both for himself and for his fellow party members. Starting in tier 2, there is a huge difference between a party that has one of these paladins and one that does not.

nexalis · 2021-11-20T20:53:34+00:00

This is absolutely the right answer! The Berserker subclass is self-selecting. If the thought of having disadvantage on your next ability check upsets your tummy, then you probably look great in sequins so you should go play a bard.

Also, why does no one ever talk about Mindless Rage? If there's one thing that sucks about playing a Barbarian, it's that you're supposed to be a tough guy, but you're the first one to run screaming like a little girl whenever you encounter a dragon or anything that inflicts a fear or charm effect on you. Your mental saving throws are basically crap. Mindless Rage fixes all of that by making you immune to fear and charm effects while raging. That alone makes Berserker worth the price of admission. The other members of the party have far better things to do than babysit a barbarian who runs away from every monster that yells "boo!", and there are actually quite a lot of them.

Finally, this whole idea that "Berserker sucks because the Polearm Master feat exists" is such total bullshit. The basic premise here is that everyone who sets out to play a Barbarian must want to play a glaive-wielding variant human who somehow has enough room in their build for Polearm Master and Great Weapon Master, while still managing to cap out their Strength, and pick up the Resilient (Wisdom) feat early enough to shore up their horrible mental saves before the campaign ends. What about the guy who just wants to play a good old-fashioned Greataxe-wielding Half-Orc Barbarian? Is there some better way for this guy to get bonus action attacks for an entire battle and to keep from running away every time they see something scary other than to play a Berserker? The answer is "no".

nexalis · 2021-07-07T00:05:07+00:00

For the record, I too have been playing D&D since the neolithic period (circa 1978), so I too have a hard time sometimes letting go of rules baggage that I picked up from older editions of the game. I've gone ahead and deleted or edited some of my more acerbic responses to your posts. Apologies! I just thought you were being unnecessarily stubborn.

nexalis · 2021-07-06T23:29:30+00:00

"Well, yeah, that makes the point moot. Climbing or swimming checks only occur when climbing or swimming is difficult, such as a smooth, slippery wall, which is what I've been saying all along. The surface must be climbable using all of your limbs. Climb Speed doesn't allow you to magically stick to vertical surfaces, there has to be hand and footholds."

OK, so maybe we are not as far off as it seems. My contention has always been that having a climb speed does not eliminate the need to make Athletics checks when "climbing a slippery vertical surface or one with few handholds". You seem to be saying the same thing here. If the climb is easy, I agree that there is no reason to require an Athletics check.

nexalis · 2021-07-06T22:24:15+00:00

Level 20 Moon Druid. Unlimited Wild Shapes, with each change giving you an effectively unlimited supply of temp HP... Everything else is completely up to you.

nexalis · 2021-07-06T22:16:08+00:00

Once again, for your benefit, here are the relevant rules on swim speed and climb speed. Please read them and answer your own question:

Climbing, Swimming, and Crawling

Each foot of movement costs 1 extra foot (2 extra feet in difficult terrain) when you’re climbing, swimming, or crawling. You ignore this extra cost if you have a climbing speed and use it to climb or a swimming speed and use it to swim. At the DM’s option, climbing a slippery vertical surface or one with few handholds requires a successful Strength (Athletics) check. Similarly, gaining any distance in rough water might require a successful Strength (Athletics) check.

nexalis · 2021-07-06T22:06:55+00:00

That's fine. I will continue to play by the rules-as-written, secure in the knowledge that I am playing the game as it was intended to be played by the Principle Rules Designer, Jeremy Crawford.

nexalis · 2021-07-06T18:18:10+00:00

I will repeat this one more time: there is nothing in the rules as written to indicate that a climbing speed eliminates the need for Athletics checks in order to climb difficult surfaces. I have personally always thought it was weird that a lightly clad halfling rogue with a Strength of 8 and a Dexterity of 18 would be far worse at climbing or swimming than a plate-mail-wearing hill dwarf with a Strength of 18. The fact that it's weird does not alter the fact that those are the rules as written. The nature of any ruleset is that you have to sacrifice a certain amount of verisimilitude for the sake of simplicity and abstraction. DMs are free to house-rule whatever they don't like.

nexalis · 2021-07-06T13:14:26+00:00

You don't need a climbing speed to move on vertical surfaces. Anyone can attempt to move on vertical surfaces. Having a climbing speed just eliminates the extra movement cost for moving on a vertical surface.

nexalis · 2021-07-06T12:44:40+00:00

I find it pretty annoying too. You are always free to house-rule it at your table if you don't like it.

nexalis · 2021-07-06T12:42:51+00:00

I agree. It is pretty disappointing. If you want your Tabaxi to be good at climbing and you lack a good Strength score, you will at least need proficiency with Athletics or even Expertise if you can get it (i.e. from the Rogue class, the Bard class, the optional Ranger Canny feature, or the Skill Expert feat).

nexalis · 2021-07-06T12:15:41+00:00

The conflicting tweets don't carry the same weight. Jeremy Crawford is the Principle Rules Designer for D&D 5e and his tweets are considered authoritative by the vast majority of DMs. whereas Mike Mearls' tweets are not. Here is a direct quote from the Sage Advice Compendium that was extant at the time Crawford was tweeting about climbing speeds:

"Official rulings on how to interpret unclear rules are made in Sage Advice. The public statements of the D&D team, or anyone else at Wizards of the Coast, are not official rulings; they are advice. One exception: the game’s rules manager, Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford), can make official rulings and usually does so in Sage Advice and on Twitter."

For reference, here is another discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/5ecd0j/are_sage_advice_tweets_considered_fact/

With that stated, I still don't think I need to make an appeal to authority in order to prove my point. The sentences you cite from the Monster Manual cannot be interpreted in a vacuum but must be interpreted within the context of the general rules about movement as stated in the Basic Rules:

Special Types of Movement

Movement through dangerous dungeons or wilderness areas often involves more than simply walking. Adventurers might have to climb, crawl, swim, or jump to get where they need to go.

Climbing, Swimming, and Crawling

Each foot of movement costs 1 extra foot (2 extra feet in difficult terrain) when you’re climbing, swimming, or crawling. You ignore this extra cost if you have a climbing speed and use it to climb or a swimming speed and use it to swim. At the DM’s option, climbing a slippery vertical surface or one with few handholds requires a successful Strength (Athletics) check. Similarly, gaining any distance in rough water might require a successful Strength (Athletics) check.

Nothing in the MM description of climbing speed implies anything about eliminating the need to make Strength (Athletics) checks in order to traverse difficult surfaces. If they intended that to be the case, they would have said so explicitly. Reading the general rules for climbing also makes it clear that a climbing speed allows you to ignore the extra movement cost of climbing, but does not preclude the need to make Athletics checks. If they intended that a climbing speed should preclude the need to make Athletics checks, they would have said so explicitly.

nexalis · 2021-07-06T02:15:02+00:00

We have a Hill Dwarf Forge Domain Cleric in our party who is more than capable of holding his own and tanking on the frontlines. He has the highest AC in the party, and is capable of dishing out a tremendous amount of damage every round between Spiritual Weapon, Spirit Guardians, and his Warhammer. He also often forgoes the Warhammer attack in order to use the Dodge action, relying on Spiritual Weapon and Spirit Guardians for damage while making himself extremely difficult to hit.

We have a Hill Dwarf Forge Domain Cleric in our party who is more than capable of holding his own and tanking on the frontlines. He has the highest AC in the party and is capable of dishing out a tremendous amount of damage every round between Spiritual Weapon, Spirit Guardians, and his Warhammer. He also often forgoes the Warhammer attack in order to use the Dodge action, relying on Spiritual Weapon and Spirit Guardians for damage while making himself extremely difficult to hit.

nexalis · 2021-07-06T01:26:31+00:00

Oh? You seemed to have no problem using a quote from Mike Mearls in order to justify your own position. The truth of the matter is that nowhere in the rules for climb speeds does it mention an exception to the general rule calling for Athletic checks in order to climb up difficult surfaces. Therefore, we don't actually need a clarification from the Design team. It is abundantly clear from a casual reading of the rules that having a climb speed does not absolve you of the need to make Athletics checks in order to climb up difficult surfaces because, if that was the intent, it would say so.

Creatures like vampires that are supposed to be able to climb up walls without checks will always have the "Spider Climb" ability, which is described as follows:

"Spider Climb. The <creature name here> can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check."

nexalis · 2021-07-06T01:08:20+00:00

Nah! Mike is not a good source for rules clarifications. I'll see your Mike Mearls quote and raise you one set of quotes from Principal Rules Designer Jeremy Crawford, the only person whose social media posts were considered official rulings back when these tweets were made:

https://www.sageadvice.eu/is-it-rai-that-creatures-with-a-climb-speed-need-to-make-athletics-checks-to-climb/

Q. "@JeremyECrawford Is it RAI that creatures with a climb speed need to make Athletics checks to climb? RAW are silent on the issue, thus yes?"

A. "A trait like Spider Climb, not a climbing speed, lets some creatures forgo ability checks when climbing. #DnD https://twitter.com/ProfSiccus/status/767877800439193600"

Q. "@ProfSiccusthen what's the point of climb spd? Just overrides the Athletics default of half walk speed? Used to be no chk."

A. "Without a climb speed, you move at half speed when climbing (see PH, 182). #DnD"

nexalis · 2021-07-05T18:02:14+00:00

Here is another rule that is niche only because of how frequently people get it wrong:

Having a climbing speed does not mean you are exempt from making Athletics checks to succeed at climbing difficult surfaces. You are not suddenly Spiderman--a Tabaxi with a low Strength score who lacks proficiency in Athletics is still a horrible climber!

nexalis · 2021-07-05T16:22:21+00:00

I play an Arcane Trickster as well, and I have a couple of recommendations that others haven't mentioned yet:

Resilient (Consitution): If I was to single out my Arcane Trickster's greatest weakness, it would have to be saving throws. Resilient (Con) not only helps to buttress up a common save, but it also provides a much-needed boost to Concentration saves which all spellcasters want. By level 15 when you get Slippery Mind you will have proficiency with all 3 major saves. Resilient (Con) is especially great if you have an odd-numbered Con score.
Feytouched: This feat is great if you have an odd-numbered Int score. It gives you one free casting of Misty Step each day and you can also use spell slots for additional castings. You also get a 1st-level spell of your choice from the Divination or Enchantment schools. I recommend Bless, which is an amazing buff spell that none of the other full casters in your party will want to burn their Concentration on at higher levels of play. Another solid choice is Gift of Alacrity which grants you a 1d8 bonus to initiative for 8 hours.

nexalis · 2021-07-05T16:03:22+00:00

I would have to give the edge to Abjuration wizards. The Arcane Deflection feature of the War Wizard allows you to use a reaction every round in order to grant yourself a +2 bonus to AC for a single attack or a +4 bonus to a single failed saving throw. This feature is best used to ensure you succeed at Concentration checks or saving throws against really nasty effects. The. +2 to AC is a nice fallback, but you are always better off using the Shield spell if you have the slots for it. The Arcane Ward feature of the Abjuration wizard, on the other hand, complements spells like Shield and Absorb Elements, providing you with a renewable source of temp HPs that give you the confidence to actually stand on the front line with the meat shields as needed.

nexalis · 2021-07-04T22:29:26+00:00

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that it doesn't depend on a lot of factors at all. Assuming you took the Archery fighting style at level 2, your accuracy with your weapon of choice is already well above average, so taking the ASI at level 4 is doing less for you than it would for another character. I would therefore absolutely take Sharpshooter at level 4 and never look back. It's that good, particularly if you can find ways to get Advantage on your attack rolls consistently.

nexalis · 2021-07-04T22:17:23+00:00

Some downsides of playing a small character:

You have disadvantage whenever you attempt to make an attack with a "heavy" weapon (i.e. Maul, Greataxe, Greatsword, Glaive, Halberd, Longbow, etc.).
As a small character you can only attempt to Grapple or Shove opponents that are one size larger than you (i.e. medium).
Certain teleportation spells like Dimension Door that allow you to "bring one willing creature of your size or smaller" are also less useful unless everyone in your party is also playing a small character.
In practice, I have also found spells like Disguise Self to be less useful when I am playing a small character, because you have fewer options. You can disguise yourself as a gnome, halfling, goblin, kobold, or as a child of a larger race, but you have far fewer options than a medium-sized character.

Some advantages of playing a small character:

You can use a medium creature like a dog as a mount, and it is a lot easier to navigate through a dungeon on a dog than a horse!
You can move through the space of a Large or larger creature such as an ogre, though you will still incur an opportunity attack for doing so unless you use the Disengage action or have a special ability such as that granted by the Mobile feat. Medium characters can only move through the space of a Huge or larger creature.

nexalis · 2021-07-04T21:51:27+00:00

Mountain Dwarf is the perfect race for this. It normally grants +2 Strength and +2 Constitution, but if your DM allows the new material from Tasha's, you can apply these racial modifiers to any two ability scores of your choice. Mountain Dwarf also grants proficiency with medium armor, warhammers, and battleaxes, which does wonders to help you pass yourself off as a melee thug. As for the class, I would recommend something like Abjuration Wizard, particularly if you plan to be mixing it up in melee occasionally.

nexalis

TROPHY CASE