Melee penalties

[Gamereaper]

I'm creating a new campaign where the pantheon is simply 3 demigod like humans and 1 overgod that speaks only to those 3.

One is a LN fighter, who is the mightiest of the 3. He tests individuals by imposing limits on himself such as blindfolds, ear plugs, holding a weapon improperly, facing them backwards, declaring the opponent victor when he bleeds, using a weaker weapon if they have so many HP, etc. I just want to know if these penalties are stackable and if so, to what extent.

Forgot to mention his build:

Fighter/Crusader 05
Reaping Mauler/Crusader 05
Knight Of The Crown/Crusader 10

He has 10 bonus HD which is the majority of his divine power. He gains the abilities of a prestige class of his choice every level of these 10 bonus HD and proceed to stack abilities every level. He must qualify for the prestige class though to gain the abilities. These bonus HD are all D12, all good saves.

He has the abilities of the following prestige classes:

War Hulk: 10 levels
Doomlord: 9 levels
Frenzied Berserker: 8 levels
Kensai: 7 levels
Primeval (Dire Bear): 6 levels
Bear Warrior: 5 levels
Battlesmith: 4 levels
Chaotician: 3 levels
Hulking Hurler: 2 levels
Animal Lord (Bear): 1 level

[Flickerdart]

Generally, penalties of this nature are untyped, so they would stack.

Holding a weapon improperly could be represented with nonproficiency - he uses a dwarven urgosh without being proficient in it as a joke. He could also be wielding an improperly sized weapon - a Tiny dwarven urgosh deals 1d3 damage if using the spear end, and imposes a -8 attack roll penalty on a Medium wielder (-4 for nonproficiency, and -4 for being 2 size categories too small). If you want further attack roll penalties, he could dual-wield it without having the feats, imposing a -6 penalty to his main hand and -10 to his off hand. If he uses the light end as his main hand attack, he can also Power Attack to gain the penalties to the attack roll, but not the bonus to damage.

Even without PA, we get a total -14 to attack rolls, dealing 1d3 damage. Should be weak enough to let even the weakest monk defeat him.

[Gamereaper]

Generally, penalties of this nature are untyped, so they would stack.

Holding a weapon improperly could be represented with nonproficiency - he uses a dwarven urgosh without being proficient in it as a joke. He could also be wielding an improperly sized weapon - a Tiny dwarven urgosh deals 1d3 damage if using the spear end, and imposes a -8 attack roll penalty on a Medium wielder (-4 for nonproficiency, and -4 for being 2 size categories too small).

Ok, so I'm thinking of these being the penalties.

large 2 handed sword in 1 hand: -8 penalty
reverse grip on said sword: -4 penalty
blind and deaf: 50% concealment
facing backwards: -4 penalty +flat footed

[Flickerdart]

Ok, so I'm thinking of these being the penalties.

large 2 handed sword in 1 hand: -8 penalty
reverse grip on said sword: -4 penalty
blind and deaf: 50% concealment
facing backwards: -4 penalty +flat footed
A large two-handed sword can't be wielded in one hand regardless of how many penalties you take; you actually can't wield a weapon that large even with Monkey Grip. He could treat it as an improvised weapon, but this would not impose any penalty that nonproficiency would not, so it would still be -4.

Facing in D&D isn't a thing, but even if it were, he's already blind so it would do nothing.

[OldTrees1]

Facing backwards: Treat everyone as flanking you.

[Gamereaper]

Facing backwards: Treat everyone as flanking you.

I like that, thanks.

Are there any other creative methods to induce more penalties?


A large two-handed sword can't be wielded in one hand regardless of how many penalties you take; you actually can't wield a weapon that large even with Monkey Grip. He could treat it as an improvised weapon, but this would not impose any penalty that nonproficiency would not, so it would still be -4.

Facing in D&D isn't a thing, but even if it were, he's already blind so it would do nothing.

His STR is around 40 or so without raging, so I figured he could grip a sword like that. As for the facing backwards thing, you have a point there. It just wouldn't stack unless he removes the blind penalty. But regardless, he should be treated as flanked by everyone, I think that is fair.

[Grooke]

He could always let the opponent go first (delay action).

[atemu1234]

He could always let the opponent go first (delay action).

This makes sense.

[Urpriest]

His STR is around 40 or so without raging, so I figured he could grip a sword like that. As for the facing backwards thing, you have a point there. It just wouldn't stack unless he removes the blind penalty. But regardless, he should be treated as flanked by everyone, I think that is fair.

Plenty of monsters have Str that high. If it worked for him, it would work for them, and would be a general rule.

[NecessaryWeevil]

Are there any other creative methods to induce more penalties?


"I know something you don't know."
"And what is that?"
"I...am not left handed."

(Yeah, I know, there's no handedness in 3.5, but it's pretty iconic)

[Ephemeral_Being]

"I know something you don't know."
"And what is that?"
"I...am not left handed."

(Yeah, I know, there's no handedness in 3.5, but it's pretty iconic)

There is an OFFHAND penalty. You could treat the weapon as an offhand weapon, and "equip" a fist in the primary hand that deals only non-lethal damage (no IUS). He could only use the offhand weapon on a full round attack if you did this.

Or you could just apply the -10 (Helm, that's high) penalty, say it's his off-hand, and pull the Princess Bride thing. That's mostly accurate to the rules, and I would even say in the SPIRIT of the rules, if not the exact wording.

[Flickerdart]

Unarmed strike in the main hand works great if he's not proficient, since granting the enemy free AoOs is a good handicap. Since you're allowed to attack into a square, just punch the air next to you before using the sword on the opponent.