What Are Combat Maneuvers?
Wizards, clerics, and other spellcasters learn new spells as they increase in level, giving them a fun choice of different abilities to acquire and use on the battlefield and elsewhere.
In Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition, martial classes get a choice of combat maneuvers. You learn combat maneuvers in a way not dissimilar to spells, and you power them by spending ‘exertion’. All non-magical classes get some combat maneuvers, but the class who gets the most by far is, of course, the fighter.
So, what do combat maneuvers look like?
They’re divided into a number of themed traditions. Biting Zephyr focuses on ranged weapons, Mist and Shade is all about deception and feints, Sanguine Knot is based on teamwork, and Spirited Steed contains a range of mounted maneuvers. There are eleven traditions in total.
Tradition list: Adamant Mountain, Biting Zephyr, Mirror’s Glint, Mist and Shade, Rapid Current, Razor’s Edge, Sanguine Knot, Spirited Steed, Tempered Iron, Tooth and Claw, Unending Wheel.
Each maneuver belongs to a tradition, and has a ‘degree’ (which is akin to a spell’s ‘level’). As you can see above, the fighter table tells you how many maneuvers you know and the highest maneuver degree you can use. There’s some examples below from a couple of traditions (ignore the page numbers — they’re just placeholders).
Apart from these maneuvers, all characters can use the basic maneuvers — Disarm, Grab On, Grapple, Knockdown, Overrun, and Shove. We’ve streamlined the use of maneuvers in the play — when you use a maneuver, whether a basic one or one you’ve learned, often your target will make a saving throw vs. your Maneuver DC, which you will have noted on your character sheet. It’s calculated in a similar way to other DCs:
Maneuver DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength or Dexterity modifier