Amechra
2013-02-08, 12:02 PM
Basically, the idea here is to make feats do what, for example, Improved Trip does.
This goes against most conventional wisdom, which "fixes" the "melee has only bad options" concept by adding new options, and not fixing prior options.
Combat Expertise [Fighter]
You are especially good at watching your sides and your front.
Prerequisites: Int 13
Benefit: When you fight defensively, you take a -3 penalty on attack rolls, and gain a +3 dodge bonus to your AC.
If your BAB is at least +5, you take a -2 penalty on attack rolls, and gain a +4 dodge bonus to your AC.
If your BAB is at least +9, you take a -1 penalty on attack rolls, and gain a +5 dodge bonus to your AC.
If your BAB is at least +13, you take no penalty on attack rolls when fighting defensively, and gain a +6 dodge bonus to AC.
Improved Delay [Fighter]
You are good at waiting. You are a prodigy at waiting.
Prerequisites: Dex 13
Benefit: Whenever you use the Delay action, you may choose whether your initiative count changes to its new place due to your delay action, or to return to your original initiative count.
Toughness [General]
You are a tough cookie, readily capable of recuperating from severe injuries.
Prerequisites: Con 13
Benefit: Add your BAB to your level for the purposes of how much HP you recover overnight. In addition, you are always treated as if you had full bed rest for the purpose of how much ability damage you heal from each night.
Finally, you may treat each point of ability drain that you've received as if it were 2 points of ability damage for the purposes of natural healing.
And so on and so forth.
"Combat Expertise" means that we don't have 3 main AC adding feats/options/things that stack, and get all messy... we have Fighting Defensively and Total Defense, the first of which now scaling (and is open to feats that let you gain it as a bonus to Shield AC, or DR or whatever). The first is more of a neatness thing.
The second is more of a "combat mobility" thing, though more with initiative mobility than actual runaround mobility. It actually makes delaying a more attractive option, as sorta a "super readied action."
The third is a demonstration of handing out nice things instead of straight bonuses; instead off a +3 to HP, you get more appreciable overnight healing (A level 20 Full BAB character that only had Toughness and none of the potential later feats that improve it would be recovering 40 points of HP damage each night, 80 if they got bed rest, 120 if they got attention from a healer, and so on, and would be healing Ability Drain. There is design space to expand on here, with stuff like shrugging off diseases with a nap or eventually being able to replicate a self-targeted Heal spell by sleeping overnight. Hell, combat narcolepsy anyone?)
Note that these are a proof of concept more than a polished thing; they are clumsily made so that I can get this out there quickly before I have to run to class.
The tl;Dr version of this post boils down to:
"In my mind, mundane is less about getting a ****-ton of options, it is more about getting a handful, and doing them really well."
Before you say that casters obviate that by having all the tricks... they really only have like 10 distinct (albeit) broad tricks that they can pull off.
This goes against most conventional wisdom, which "fixes" the "melee has only bad options" concept by adding new options, and not fixing prior options.
Combat Expertise [Fighter]
You are especially good at watching your sides and your front.
Prerequisites: Int 13
Benefit: When you fight defensively, you take a -3 penalty on attack rolls, and gain a +3 dodge bonus to your AC.
If your BAB is at least +5, you take a -2 penalty on attack rolls, and gain a +4 dodge bonus to your AC.
If your BAB is at least +9, you take a -1 penalty on attack rolls, and gain a +5 dodge bonus to your AC.
If your BAB is at least +13, you take no penalty on attack rolls when fighting defensively, and gain a +6 dodge bonus to AC.
Improved Delay [Fighter]
You are good at waiting. You are a prodigy at waiting.
Prerequisites: Dex 13
Benefit: Whenever you use the Delay action, you may choose whether your initiative count changes to its new place due to your delay action, or to return to your original initiative count.
Toughness [General]
You are a tough cookie, readily capable of recuperating from severe injuries.
Prerequisites: Con 13
Benefit: Add your BAB to your level for the purposes of how much HP you recover overnight. In addition, you are always treated as if you had full bed rest for the purpose of how much ability damage you heal from each night.
Finally, you may treat each point of ability drain that you've received as if it were 2 points of ability damage for the purposes of natural healing.
And so on and so forth.
"Combat Expertise" means that we don't have 3 main AC adding feats/options/things that stack, and get all messy... we have Fighting Defensively and Total Defense, the first of which now scaling (and is open to feats that let you gain it as a bonus to Shield AC, or DR or whatever). The first is more of a neatness thing.
The second is more of a "combat mobility" thing, though more with initiative mobility than actual runaround mobility. It actually makes delaying a more attractive option, as sorta a "super readied action."
The third is a demonstration of handing out nice things instead of straight bonuses; instead off a +3 to HP, you get more appreciable overnight healing (A level 20 Full BAB character that only had Toughness and none of the potential later feats that improve it would be recovering 40 points of HP damage each night, 80 if they got bed rest, 120 if they got attention from a healer, and so on, and would be healing Ability Drain. There is design space to expand on here, with stuff like shrugging off diseases with a nap or eventually being able to replicate a self-targeted Heal spell by sleeping overnight. Hell, combat narcolepsy anyone?)
Note that these are a proof of concept more than a polished thing; they are clumsily made so that I can get this out there quickly before I have to run to class.
The tl;Dr version of this post boils down to:
"In my mind, mundane is less about getting a ****-ton of options, it is more about getting a handful, and doing them really well."
Before you say that casters obviate that by having all the tricks... they really only have like 10 distinct (albeit) broad tricks that they can pull off.