Seharvepernfan
2011-05-30, 06:40 AM
A while back I started this thread Skirmisher prestige class (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=191864), which suggested that I make it a feat chain instead.
Since then, I had another idea to better represent my original intentions with the class:
1 - can move up to 1/2 base speed before or after your readied (standard) action as part of your readied action
2 - can move before and after your readied action as part of your readied (standard) action, and you can ready a standard action with a move action.
3 - can move up to base speed as part of your readied action, can ready an action with an immediate action (its an immediate action when used, and you cannot take any other free, swift, or immediate actions while readying this action, and you must ready this type of readied action at the beginning of your turn. Your initiative count stays the same when you ready an action as an immediate action, even if you use the readied action).
So, you can take a full round action, or a standard action and a move action, and still have a readied standard action that lets you move before and/or after your action up to a total distance equal to your base speed.
Example #1: A 1st level skirmished with an initiative count of 15 can, on his turn, move up to his speed and ready an action to attack a specific enemy after his ally with an initiave count of 10 takes his turn.
So, at initiative count 10, his ally casts hold person on the specific enemy, and the skirimished takes his readied action to attack the enemy who is fifteen feet away. The skirmishers base speed is 30ft., so he can move the fifteen feet and attack the now held specific enemy.
The skirmishers initiative count is now 10, but he goes after his ally, but before anyone else with a count of 10 who goes after his ally.
Example #2: A 2nd level skirmisher (with quick draw and a base speed of 60ft. from magic boots) with an initiative count of 15 can, on his turn, take a 5ft. adjustment into a doorway, shoot an enemy with a crossbow as a standard action, then use his move action to ready an action to attack a different enemy 10ft. away from himself (and 10ft. away in another direction from the enemy he shot with his crossbow) if that enemy casts a spell before the skirmishers next turn.
On initiative count 5, the enemy he readied an action against begins to cast a spell. The skirmisher drops his crossbow (a free action), draws his rapier (a free action thanks to quick draw), moves the 10ft. to his enemy, attacks the enemy as he is casting his spell (and successfully disrupts the spell), then tumbles 10ft. towards the enemy he shot with his crossbow, ending his movement in a square adjacent to said enemy successfully and avoiding an attack of opportunity.
His initiative count is now 5, but he goes after the enemy whose spell he disrupted. If he didn't have quick draw, he couldnt have drawn his rapier during his readied action, even if his base attack bonus is +1 or higher, because even though he moved during his readied action, it wasn't a "move" action (it was a standard action, even though he used his move action to ready it). He could move the 10ft. towards his enemy, then tumble the
10ft. towards his other enemy (a total of 30ft.) because his base speed is 60ft., and a 2nd level skirmisher can only move up to half his base speed during
a readied action.
Example #3: A 3rd level skirmisher (with quick draw, a quickened dimension door prepared, and a base speed of 60ft. from magic boots) with an initiative count of 15 readies a standard action to attack a specific enemy 30ft. away if they begin casting a spell.
The skirmisher opts to ready this standard action in place of any free actions he might otherwise take during his turn, and if his readied action is triggered during this round, he can use it as an immediate action.
He then moves 5ft. to the side while drawing his longsword (as part of the move since his Bab is higher than +1) and tumbles 5ft. into a square occupied by an enemy, avoiding an attack of opportunity, and attacks that enemy as a standard action.
On initiative count 5, the specified enemy begins casting a stilled spell, which triggers the skirmishers readied immediate action. The skirmisher tumbles 5ft. towards the spellcaster to avoid an attack of opportunity from leaving a threatened square, moves 20ft. towards the spellcaster, and tumbles the final 5ft. to avoid an attack of opportunity from the spellcaster (who is armed with a sword and shield). He then attacks the spellcaster with his readied standard action (successfully disrupting the spell), tumbles 5ft. away from the spellcaster, then moves another 10ft. away.
On intiative count 4, the first enemy moves towards and attacks an ally of the skirmisher, dropping the ally to -1 hit points. On initiative count 3, a previously hidden third enemy casts web in the area between the skirmisher and his fallen ally, then casts a quickened shatter on the skirmishers longsword, sundering it.
The round ends. On initiative count 15, the skirmisher quick draws a secondary weapon, takes a 5ft. adjustment to get behind a pillar in an adjacent square to acquire heavy cover from any enemies who might try to disrupt his upcoming spell, then uses his standard action to cast his quickened dimension door to move into the square occupied by his fallen ally, to try to prevent the first enemy from making a coup de grace against his ally. He then uses his move action to ready a standard action to counterspell against the enemy who shattered his sword.
On initiative count 5, the first spellcaster moves behind cover and heals himself. On initiative count 4, the first enemy attempts a coup de grace against the skirmishers fallen ally, prompting an attack of opportunity from the skirmisher, who successfully hits the enemy, killing them.
On initiative count 3, the second spellcaster (who used web and shatter during the previous round) attempts to cast a spell, which triggers the skirmishers readied action to counterspell. The skirmisher successfully identifies and counterspells the spell. The enemy spellcaster uses his remaining move action flee. The skirmishers initiative count is now
3.
The second round ends. On initiative count 5, the first spellcaster emerges from cover to continue the battle.
The skirmisher couldnt just quick draw his sword and make a 5ft. adjustment towards the first enemy because by readying a standard action to be used as an immediate action, he forfeits the ability to take free actions during his turn.
During his readied action, he spend 40ft. of movement getting to the caster, and 20ft. of movement getting away, for a total of 60ft. (which is his base speed, the maximum he can move for free during a readied standard action).
His initiative count is still 15 in the following round because his readied action was used as an immediate action. Since he used his readied action as an immediate action, he couldnt cast his prepared quickened dimension door spell as a swift action, though he could still make a 5ft. adjustment and quick draw his secondary weapon, both of which are free actions, but not swift or immediate actions.
He then used a move action to ready his counterspell, because he couldnt ready it as an immediate action since he did not ready it at the beginning of his turn (because he opted to use a couple free actions instead).
Please ignore the poor tactical decisions of the above mentioned combatants and my improper paragraph spacing. I'm just trying to show how these abilities work within the rules.
Would this be too powerful for this prestige class as is?
Too powerful for a feat chain?
Either as a prestige class or a feat chain, how should I go about this if its not fine as is?
Since then, I had another idea to better represent my original intentions with the class:
1 - can move up to 1/2 base speed before or after your readied (standard) action as part of your readied action
2 - can move before and after your readied action as part of your readied (standard) action, and you can ready a standard action with a move action.
3 - can move up to base speed as part of your readied action, can ready an action with an immediate action (its an immediate action when used, and you cannot take any other free, swift, or immediate actions while readying this action, and you must ready this type of readied action at the beginning of your turn. Your initiative count stays the same when you ready an action as an immediate action, even if you use the readied action).
So, you can take a full round action, or a standard action and a move action, and still have a readied standard action that lets you move before and/or after your action up to a total distance equal to your base speed.
Example #1: A 1st level skirmished with an initiative count of 15 can, on his turn, move up to his speed and ready an action to attack a specific enemy after his ally with an initiave count of 10 takes his turn.
So, at initiative count 10, his ally casts hold person on the specific enemy, and the skirimished takes his readied action to attack the enemy who is fifteen feet away. The skirmishers base speed is 30ft., so he can move the fifteen feet and attack the now held specific enemy.
The skirmishers initiative count is now 10, but he goes after his ally, but before anyone else with a count of 10 who goes after his ally.
Example #2: A 2nd level skirmisher (with quick draw and a base speed of 60ft. from magic boots) with an initiative count of 15 can, on his turn, take a 5ft. adjustment into a doorway, shoot an enemy with a crossbow as a standard action, then use his move action to ready an action to attack a different enemy 10ft. away from himself (and 10ft. away in another direction from the enemy he shot with his crossbow) if that enemy casts a spell before the skirmishers next turn.
On initiative count 5, the enemy he readied an action against begins to cast a spell. The skirmisher drops his crossbow (a free action), draws his rapier (a free action thanks to quick draw), moves the 10ft. to his enemy, attacks the enemy as he is casting his spell (and successfully disrupts the spell), then tumbles 10ft. towards the enemy he shot with his crossbow, ending his movement in a square adjacent to said enemy successfully and avoiding an attack of opportunity.
His initiative count is now 5, but he goes after the enemy whose spell he disrupted. If he didn't have quick draw, he couldnt have drawn his rapier during his readied action, even if his base attack bonus is +1 or higher, because even though he moved during his readied action, it wasn't a "move" action (it was a standard action, even though he used his move action to ready it). He could move the 10ft. towards his enemy, then tumble the
10ft. towards his other enemy (a total of 30ft.) because his base speed is 60ft., and a 2nd level skirmisher can only move up to half his base speed during
a readied action.
Example #3: A 3rd level skirmisher (with quick draw, a quickened dimension door prepared, and a base speed of 60ft. from magic boots) with an initiative count of 15 readies a standard action to attack a specific enemy 30ft. away if they begin casting a spell.
The skirmisher opts to ready this standard action in place of any free actions he might otherwise take during his turn, and if his readied action is triggered during this round, he can use it as an immediate action.
He then moves 5ft. to the side while drawing his longsword (as part of the move since his Bab is higher than +1) and tumbles 5ft. into a square occupied by an enemy, avoiding an attack of opportunity, and attacks that enemy as a standard action.
On initiative count 5, the specified enemy begins casting a stilled spell, which triggers the skirmishers readied immediate action. The skirmisher tumbles 5ft. towards the spellcaster to avoid an attack of opportunity from leaving a threatened square, moves 20ft. towards the spellcaster, and tumbles the final 5ft. to avoid an attack of opportunity from the spellcaster (who is armed with a sword and shield). He then attacks the spellcaster with his readied standard action (successfully disrupting the spell), tumbles 5ft. away from the spellcaster, then moves another 10ft. away.
On intiative count 4, the first enemy moves towards and attacks an ally of the skirmisher, dropping the ally to -1 hit points. On initiative count 3, a previously hidden third enemy casts web in the area between the skirmisher and his fallen ally, then casts a quickened shatter on the skirmishers longsword, sundering it.
The round ends. On initiative count 15, the skirmisher quick draws a secondary weapon, takes a 5ft. adjustment to get behind a pillar in an adjacent square to acquire heavy cover from any enemies who might try to disrupt his upcoming spell, then uses his standard action to cast his quickened dimension door to move into the square occupied by his fallen ally, to try to prevent the first enemy from making a coup de grace against his ally. He then uses his move action to ready a standard action to counterspell against the enemy who shattered his sword.
On initiative count 5, the first spellcaster moves behind cover and heals himself. On initiative count 4, the first enemy attempts a coup de grace against the skirmishers fallen ally, prompting an attack of opportunity from the skirmisher, who successfully hits the enemy, killing them.
On initiative count 3, the second spellcaster (who used web and shatter during the previous round) attempts to cast a spell, which triggers the skirmishers readied action to counterspell. The skirmisher successfully identifies and counterspells the spell. The enemy spellcaster uses his remaining move action flee. The skirmishers initiative count is now
3.
The second round ends. On initiative count 5, the first spellcaster emerges from cover to continue the battle.
The skirmisher couldnt just quick draw his sword and make a 5ft. adjustment towards the first enemy because by readying a standard action to be used as an immediate action, he forfeits the ability to take free actions during his turn.
During his readied action, he spend 40ft. of movement getting to the caster, and 20ft. of movement getting away, for a total of 60ft. (which is his base speed, the maximum he can move for free during a readied standard action).
His initiative count is still 15 in the following round because his readied action was used as an immediate action. Since he used his readied action as an immediate action, he couldnt cast his prepared quickened dimension door spell as a swift action, though he could still make a 5ft. adjustment and quick draw his secondary weapon, both of which are free actions, but not swift or immediate actions.
He then used a move action to ready his counterspell, because he couldnt ready it as an immediate action since he did not ready it at the beginning of his turn (because he opted to use a couple free actions instead).
Please ignore the poor tactical decisions of the above mentioned combatants and my improper paragraph spacing. I'm just trying to show how these abilities work within the rules.
Would this be too powerful for this prestige class as is?
Too powerful for a feat chain?
Either as a prestige class or a feat chain, how should I go about this if its not fine as is?