[3.5] Any good feats to defend against being tripped?

[KillianHawkeye]

Hey, all! I'm in a game where we just nearly got whooped by a dude specialized in tripping with a polearm. My dwarven fighter/barbarian couldn't get close to him thanks to his reach and my low touch AC, and even my stability bonus was no match for his tripping feats and other bonuses. The fight ended at a draw as we downed his minions and he fled down some stairs and through a door that we weren't able to open, so we're probably going to see him again once he comes back or we find another way of reaching him.

Luckily, I just made it to level 9 and have a choice for a feat, and I'm hoping that you guys and gals can help me become more resistant to being tripped.

Combat feats that I currently have: Power Attack, Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Improved Shield Bash, and Shield Charge.

Our game is not made up of top-level optimizers, but we do occasionally get some one trick ponies like this both as PCs and NPCs.

The only thing I can think of is to take Shield Specialization so that I can pick up Shield Ward later on, but since that will probably be too late to help with my inevitable rematch with Sir Trippicus, a one-Feat solution would be highly preferred if one exists that I qualify for.


Thanks in advance! :smallcool::smallbiggrin:

[razorback]

Instead of using a feat, why not buy a magic item that allows movement without provoking?
AFB at the moment but there were a few different ones in MiC, one of the chronocharms, if I remember correctly, plus boot and/or bracers.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

If you have a Player's Handbook II, it has the feats Shield Specialization and Shield Ward. Shield Specialization is a prerequisite for Shield Ward, and it increases the AC bonus your shield provides by one point. Shield Ward adds your shield's AC bonus (including enhancement bonuses and the increase from shield Specialization) to your touch AC, and to your checks to resist bull rush, grapple, and trip attempts.

You can also find in Chapter 8 of PH2 the rules for retraining feats, skills, class features, etc. It says there that every time you gain a new character level, you can retrain one of your existing feats for a different one. Since you just hit 9th level, you can replace one of your existing feats with Shield Specialization, and take Shield Ward for your new 9th level feat.

[Gabrosin]

Check out Stable Footing, from Races of Eberron. Dwarf/warforged only, but it gives you +4 on the check as long as you're standing on the ground.

That said, it's a fairly weak use of a precious feat slot. Surely the rest of your party can come up with a better solution to neutralize this guy?

[OldTrees1]

Have you considered Tumble? If you have Ride as a class skill you can trade it for Tumble and Tumble allows you to avoid provoking the AoOs that he is tripping you with.

Open Mind(5 skill points) + the 2+Int you get this level should be about 7-10 ranks which gives you a decent chance to avoid AoOs.

[Troacctid]

With the Combat Acrobat feat, it doesn't matter how high your opponent's Strength check is—if you make a flat DC 20 Balance check (which should be a cinch at your level), you can't be knocked prone.

You could also pick up those boots from the Magic Item Compendium that let you stand from prone as a swift action.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

There are skill tricks in Complete Scoundrel if you have ranks in Tumble, such as Nimble Stand which allows you to get up from prone without provoking an AoO, and Back On Your Feet which allows you to stand up from prone as an immediate action without provoking an AoO. Each skill trick can only be used once per encounter, and Back On Your Feet can be used in response to being tripped so you can continue moving. Anyone can trade Ride for Tumble as a class skill (archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a), though you may need to retrain your skill ranks (PH2 Chapter 8). Each skill trick costs 2 skill points, and you can only learn one per level.

Edit: Here's another option that's completely different yet even more effective than a bonus vs trips. Take Item Familiar (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/itemFamiliars.htm) and designate one of your existing rings, preferably a Ring of Protection +1, as your item familiar. Always wear a glove or gauntlet over it so opponents never have line of sight/effect to it and cannot target it directly or Slight of Hand it. I'ts counted as an intelligent item, which is regarded as a construct (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/intelligentItems.htm), and constructs cannot be disabled or destroyed by dispelling or disjunction and even continue to function in antimagic and dead magic areas, though such effects can temporarily suppress the benefits you gain from the feat and from the item. You can upgrade the ring yourself as though you possessed Forge Ring, so have another spellcaster cooperate with you to upgrade it to a Ring of Invisibility (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/rings.htm#invisibility) that has a +1 Deflection bonus to AC added (MIC p234), which should cost you 10,000 gp and 800 xp (you'll get a ton of bonus xp from the 10% bonus for taking Item Familiar anyway). That will take 20 days, and if you need to hire an NPC spellcaster (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/goodsAndServices.htm#spell) to cast Invisibility for you each of those days it will cost you another 1,200 gp.

The reason this is effective: An intelligent item gains actions each round just like a creature does. It can use its actions to activate its own abilities, so the Ring of Invisibility can turn your character invisible after you've attacked each round, so while you're moving and while everyone else is taking their turns you'll be invisible. They can't make attacks of opportunity against you if you're invisible, even if they know where you are (due to Spot/Listen checks), so you can run circles around a tripper opponent and he can't trip you except by spending attacks on his turn, each of which has a 50% chance to miss even if he attacks the correct square.

[Stegyre]

From Magic of Incarnum: Shape Soulmeld (Behir Gorget), +4 bonus to resist trips and bull rushes. (Investing essentia does not improve this, but you probably don't have any essentia to invest, anyway.)

[Gabrosin]

There are skill tricks in Complete Scoundrel if you have ranks in Tumble, such as Nimble Stand which allows you to get up from prone without provoking an AoO, and Back On Your Feet which allows you to stand up from prone as an immediate action without provoking an AoO. Each skill trick can only be used once per encounter, and Back On Your Feet can be used in response to being tripped so you can continue moving. Anyone can trade Ride for Tumble as a class skill (archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a), though you may need to retrain your skill ranks (PH2 Chapter 8). Each skill trick costs 2 skill points, and you can only learn one per level.

Edit: Here's another option that's completely different yet even more effective than a bonus vs trips. Take Item Familiar (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/itemFamiliars.htm) and designate one of your existing rings, preferably a Ring of Protection +1, as your item familiar. Always wear a glove or gauntlet over it so opponents never have line of sight/effect to it and cannot target it directly or Slight of Hand it. I'ts counted as an intelligent item, which is regarded as a construct (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/intelligentItems.htm), and constructs cannot be disabled or destroyed by dispelling or disjunction and even continue to function in antimagic and dead magic areas, though such effects can temporarily suppress the benefits you gain from the feat and from the item. You can upgrade the ring yourself as though you possessed Forge Ring, so have another spellcaster cooperate with you to upgrade it to a Ring of Invisibility (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/rings.htm#invisibility) that has a +1 Deflection bonus to AC added (MIC p234), which should cost you 10,000 gp and 800 xp (you'll get a ton of bonus xp from the 10% bonus for taking Item Familiar anyway). That will take 20 days, and if you need to hire an NPC spellcaster (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/goodsAndServices.htm#spell) to cast Invisibility for you each of those days it will cost you another 1,200 gp.

The reason this is effective: An intelligent item gains actions each round just like a creature does. It can use its actions to activate its own abilities, so the Ring of Invisibility can turn your character invisible after you've attacked each round, so while you're moving and while everyone else is taking their turns you'll be invisible. They can't make attacks of opportunity against you if you're invisible, even if they know where you are (due to Spot/Listen checks), so you can run circles around a tripper opponent and he can't trip you except by spending attacks on his turn, each of which has a 50% chance to miss even if he attacks the correct square.

That is a truly impressive amount of overkill for this problem.

[Calimehter]

Hire a Tiny-sized being with ranks in Ride and the Mounted Combat feat, and have him ride around on your shoulder while you are his "mount". When the tripper attacks, have your "rider" make a Ride check to cause the attack to miss.

For bonus points, see if you can find an awakened parrot for this role . . .

[Red Rubber Band]

I don't have a one feat solution, but there is Combat Stability.

This gives you a +4 against trip, overrun, grapple, disarm, and bull rush.

It requires you to have Combat Focus, WIS 13, and BAB 3. If you spend one more feat on a Combat Form, such as Combat Vigor, that bonus goes up to +8.

[fishyfishyfishy]

Why waste a feat slot on this when you could just change up your tactics? Can't get close? Then don't. Chuck javelins from a safe distance and force your opponent into an area where their reach is of no help. Force him to close in on you so that you can hit him back. You could also try to sunder his weapon.