Definitely NOT an Alt Barbarian Update!

I like this new approach you've taken with the Armsman and Slayer, where they essentially have an Exploit Die to spend each round, rather than having a pool of dice. I do think that this new approach could be streamlined somewhat, however, especially with the Slayer. Foregoing some benefit to gain an Exploit Die that can be used for some other purpose seems to me to be putting things backwards. Why not have the Armsman and the Slayer gain an Exploit Die each turn (while Fury is active for the Slayer), and then provide essentially a class-specific basic Exploit that they can spend that die on? For example, the Armsman might gain a basic exploit called Expert Strike which doesn't count towards their Exploit limit and which can't be changed, and this allows them to add their Exploit Die to the attack or damage roll of a weapon attack. For the Slayer, I'd actually make Reckless Attack their basic Exploit. They can choose to burn an Exploit Die at the start of their turn to gain advantage on Strength-based weapon attacks for the round, but attacks against them have advantage. Slight nerf to Reckless Attack, but they also always get to add their Exploit Die to damage rolls when using Fury to make up for it. This seems to me like a solid formula that can be generalised to the other classes with combat-oriented exploits. Gain an Exploit Die each turn (maybe with a condition), and then provide a basic way to spend that Exploit Die specific to the class fantasy. The current resource juggling to generate Exploit Dice seems unnecessarily clunky to me. If you were to move to this sort of approach, I think I would also give Slayers an Exploit Die when they enter a Fury, and I would give Armsman an Exploit Die when they roll initiative. That way the Slayer isn't screwed out of an Exploit Die on the turn they Fury, since they weren't in a Fury when their turn began, and Armsman can use reaction-based Exploits before their first turn as long as they are not surprised. Anyway, I think the Armsman and Slayer are looking very cool. I like the changes from the alt Fighter and Barbarian, and I think the Instinctive / Tactical Skill feature is a very elegant way to handle non-combat Exploits.

Phil Best