Joltz
2007-07-27, 02:15 AM
I've been working on and off for a little while on this little mechanic. It's meant to be added as a basic combat mechanic that all classes with the appropriate BAB can use. I didn't really intend to fix any problems or anything with it, just add something fun and cool that melee classes can do.
Battle Focus
Here's a little bit that I hope will make a few things clearer. It all makes perfect sense in my head (and is very simple actually). Taking ideas out of my head in coherent form has always been difficult though...
• Battle focus is a normal combat mechanic/use for action points that’s meant to be available to anyone with the requisite BAB
• Least battle focus has many of the same effects as haste and becomes available at BAB 9
• Lesser battle focus gives the user a second turn each round, as well as some bonuses from least battle focus.
• When an opponent enters battle focus, you may enter battle focus “reactively” as an immediate action. Activating battle focus reactively has a lower prerequisite BAB than activating it yourself.
• Activating battle focus costs an action point, but you may activate it reactively without spending an action point if you have no action points available to spend.
• After the duration of battle focus runs out, you take non-lethal backlash damage and other penalties. You can delay the end of battle focus and the onset of penalties with successful will saves.
• The penalties are based on your BAB, the most strenuous form of battle focus you entered, and a few other factors.
• Using lesser battle focus is extremely difficult and requires a worthy opponent to also enter lesser battle focus at the same time. You may only attack opponents who are also in lesser battle focus, or risk losing your focus.
Basically, I was watching anime and decided to make a mechanic to model the all-out awesomeness that some characters can achieve. Sometimes the spectators can’t even follow the combatants moves because the battle is so fast paced.
Battle Focus is a state of enhanced speed and reflexes that skilled warriors can induce in themselves. Activating Battle Focus is a non-action (like a 5-ft. step) that’s normally available only during your turn. Activating Battle Focus expends one action point. All instances of Battle Focus last for a number of rounds equal to 5+1/2 the user’s BAB. After this time, the user immediately leaves Battle Focus and takes penalties depending on their penalty factor. A character may voluntarily end or alter their Battle Focus on their turn without using an action. A character with access to both Least Battle Focus, and Lesser Battle Focus may change from one to the other. If they do this, they are treated as having been in Lesser Battle Focus the entire time for the purposes of penalties. Entering Lesser Battle Focus from Least Battle Focus still requires an opponent to accept the challenge.
Battle Focus can be re-activated only after the penalties have been accessed and the user has waited a number of rounds equal to the number originally spent in battle focus. In order to re-activate Battle Focus quickly after canceling it, a character may spend a standard action “relaxing” and allowing the body to take its course. This causes the immediate onset of penalties (as opposed to the penalties occurring after the focus normally would have ended).
A character may delay the end of their battle focus and the onset of penalties beyond the normal limits. Both of these are accomplished by making a will save with a DC of 20+4/round previously delayed. Success means that you retain the benefits of Battle Focus until your first turn next round or delay the onset of penalties till your next turn (when you can choose to attempt to delay again). The DCs scale separately.
When a character reaches 9 BAB they gain access to the Least Battle Focus state.
Least Battle Focus (Ex.) You find your flow in battle, allowing you to expend your energy with great results. It doesn’t take an action to activate this ability, but you must spend an action point to use Least Battle Focus (or any other Battle Focus). You gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls, and a +1 dodge bonus to AC and reflex saves. Your speed for all forms of movement increases by 10’. Finally, if you make a single normal attack you may make a second attack at a -5 penalty with the same weapon. If you are using a weapon in your off hand you may make a single off hand attack in addition to two attacks with your primary weapon. If you take the full attack action you gain a single bonus attack at your highest BAB (as per haste). Finally, in the least battle focus state you gain the ability to take an additional 5’ step each round. This step doesn’t have the same restrictions as a normal 5’ step. You may take this step in even if you’ve already moved this round and you can still move if you’ve taken this bonus 5’ step. Your normal 5’ step is subject to the above restrictions as usual.
An opponent who witnesses a character enter Least Battle Focus may immediately enter any Battle Focus available them as an immediate action by spending one action point. If the character has no action points remaining, they may activate it without spending an action point, but it’s more exhausting than activating it normally. If a character doesn’t have access to any form of Battle Focus and has a BAB of at least 6, they may activate Least Battle Focus reactively, but it’s more tiring than activating it normally.
A character gains Lesser Battle Focus when they have 18 BAB
Lesser Battle Focus (Ex.) You’ve become a paragon of combat skill and can fight with incredible quickness. You gain a +3 bonus on attack rolls and a +3 dodge bonus to AC and reflex saves. You gain a second turn each round, taken at an initiative count of -20 relative to your actual initiative score. If you make a single attack, you may also make extra attacks as described in Least Battle Focus. You also gain the bonus 5’ step described in least battle focus.
Spells that target you and have multi-round effects still only affect you on your first turn. Effects that target creatures that start or end their turns in a given area can only affect you once per round. Abilities that are limited to once per round retain these limitations (they don’t become once per turn).
This level of Battle Focus can only be maintained if your opponent steps up to your level. When entering this state you extend an unspoken challenge to all opponents you have line of sight to within 100’. They may choose to enter Lesser Battle Focus even if it’s not their turn and/or they are flat footed. Characters with a BAB as low as 15 can answer a challenge of Lesser Battle Focus (and gain all the benefits) even if they could not activate it themselves. The duration of their Lesser Battle Focus doesn’t begin until the next round, however they gain the dodge bonuses immediately. If no opponent answers your challenge you may choose to enter Least Battle Focus instead, or cancel the focus. If you cancel, no AP is spent and you take no penalties.
If you strike a character who is not using Lesser Battle Focus you lose the benefits of Lesser Battle Focus unless you slay them outright with a single attack. If your Lesser Battle Focus ends for any reason during your second turn, you lose all remaining actions on that turn. If it ends on your primary turn it simply ends. If you’re using an attack that may hit multiple targets, you must target as much of the attack as possible on other combatants using Lesser Battle Focus or lose the benefits (DM discretion). This limitation represents the fact that you must focus your attention selectively to maintain your focus (in addition to preventing you from owning low BAB people really easily).
Characters in the Combat Focus state enjoy slightly altered physics of the world around them (it’s really just them moving fast though). You gain a bonus on jump checks as though your speed was double what it actually is. You gain a +2 haste bonus on balance checks to balance on unstable surfaces because the surface seems to move slower to you.
Falling damage is reduced by 2 dice. Falling characters also split the falling distance when falling from a great height. The first turn of falling causes 150 ft. of downward motion, the second turn 400 ft. and subsequent turns falling are 600 ft./turn (instead of 500 ft. in the first round and 1,200 ft. in subsequent rounds).
All effects of Battle Focus overlap with haste The only benefit you gain from haste while in either of these states is the enhancement bonus to speed and a single extra attack when making a full attack (which doesn't stack with the bonus attack from least BF, so it can only be used while TWFing).
Penalties
{table=head]Penalty Level|Effect
6 Absolute Worst|
exhaustion , DR and fast healing are halved till the character has removed all fatigue, greater backlash (1d8/round)
5 Horrible|
exhaustion, greater backlash (1d8/round)
4 Bad|
exhaustion, backlash (1d6/round)
3 Normal|
fatigue, backlash (1d6/round)
2 Light|
backlash (1d6/round)
1 Best|
minimized backlash (1/round)[/table]
Least Battle Focus starts with a penalty factor of 3, Lesser starts as a 6. The penalty is assessed at the time the focus ends (or would have ended if it was cancelled). A character may delay the assessment of the penalty by 1 round with a successful fortitude save with a DC of 20+4/round after the penalty would have been given. A penalty factor of less than 1 is treated as a 1. A factor greater than 6 is treated as a 6.
• The character gains a free point of mitigation at BAB 12, BAB 16 and BAB 20
• If the Battle Focus is cancelled on or before the end of the 5th round of use 1 point of penalty is mitigated
• A character may attempt to artificially postpone the end of their Battle Focus. This increases the penalty factor by one (not 1/round postponed, just 1). To continue the focus they must make a Will save with a DC equal to 20+4/round after focus would have ended
• If your BAB is too low to have initiated the focus yourself, the penalty factor increases by 1. (this is calculated at the time of the penalty, not the time of initiation)
• If you reactively activate Battle Focus without sacrificing an AP the penalty factor increases by 1
If a character is immune to fatigue or exhaustion, they still take penalties as though they were affected by the appropriate ailment. The fatigue and exhaustion from battle focus require only 10 minutes of non-strenuous activity to remove.
Backlash
Backlash is non-lethal damage. It doesn’t slowly accumulate; you get it all at once when the rest of the penalties are added. Only time actually spent focused causes backlash (canceling it after 2 rounds= 2dX backlash when the time comes) If you would become more tired than is possible (due to a pre-existing fatigued or exhausted condition) then the backlash damage is maximized. If a character is immune to non-lethal damage they instead compare the non-lethal damage they would take to their remaining hp. If the non-lethal damage they would take is greater than their remaining hp then they fall into a state of unconsciousness for a number of rounds equal to the non-lethal damage they would have taken. The only way to wake them from this state prematurely is to heal them so their remaining hp exceeds the non-lethal damage they would have taken.
Feat
Forced Focus
You’re especially good at focusing yourself and can pressure others into keeping up with you.
Prerequisites: Concentration 4 ranks, BAB 18+
Benefit: You may initiate lesser battle focus without having an opponent step up to your challenge. You don’t automatically leave battle focus for striking un-focused opponents if no opponent steps up to your challenge. Unless an opponent steps up before the end of your first turn in the next round your focus ends (but you may attempt to prolong it). If an opponent steps up after you’ve forced the focus your focus continues as usual. If you forcibly extended it, that doesn’t count against you (for penalties afterward or for attempts to extend it after its natural duration).
Normal: You may only enter lesser battle focus if an opponent enters it as well.
Special: A fighter may select this feat as a fighter bonus feat.
I typed it out over a period of several days, so some developing ideas got said twice and I may have a contradiction or two left in. I think I proofread it enough times that it's all good though.
There's one thing obviously missing, greater battle focus. That would end up being epic (either level 27, or BAB 27; can't decide which), and I decided I wanted to sort out the normal stuff and playtest it before I started on the epic version. I'm planning to include this in a campaign I'm DMing as a little treat to surprise my players once they get to a decent level.
I think least battle focus has everything worked out, but I'd like some more effects to add to lesser battle focus. Moving at double speed should have some cool side effects on the world physics.
The feat I added at the end is for the BBEG to use. Nobody's gonna want to let him use something cool like battle focus when only one (maybe) of the party members can. The feat lets him try to force the party to fight on his terms.
Speaking of big bad duels, lesser battle focus is kind of the opposite of the traditional fantasy "look out the wizards are dueling" thing. It makes it dangerous to be in the vicinity of significantly more powerful melee combatants.
I also like how this makes BAB a somewhat more valuable asset. As it is now, the only thing BAB does past 16 is give a bonus to hit, and lots of other things do that. Battle focus gives you something to look forward to at 18 (and a little bit at 20). Another thing I like is the bonus attacks when you'd normally get a single attack. That gives users their best attacks without using a full attack. I really hate trying to get a full attack in sometimes. Hopefully this'll give people an incentive to take a move to an advantageous position.
Battle Focus
Here's a little bit that I hope will make a few things clearer. It all makes perfect sense in my head (and is very simple actually). Taking ideas out of my head in coherent form has always been difficult though...
• Battle focus is a normal combat mechanic/use for action points that’s meant to be available to anyone with the requisite BAB
• Least battle focus has many of the same effects as haste and becomes available at BAB 9
• Lesser battle focus gives the user a second turn each round, as well as some bonuses from least battle focus.
• When an opponent enters battle focus, you may enter battle focus “reactively” as an immediate action. Activating battle focus reactively has a lower prerequisite BAB than activating it yourself.
• Activating battle focus costs an action point, but you may activate it reactively without spending an action point if you have no action points available to spend.
• After the duration of battle focus runs out, you take non-lethal backlash damage and other penalties. You can delay the end of battle focus and the onset of penalties with successful will saves.
• The penalties are based on your BAB, the most strenuous form of battle focus you entered, and a few other factors.
• Using lesser battle focus is extremely difficult and requires a worthy opponent to also enter lesser battle focus at the same time. You may only attack opponents who are also in lesser battle focus, or risk losing your focus.
Basically, I was watching anime and decided to make a mechanic to model the all-out awesomeness that some characters can achieve. Sometimes the spectators can’t even follow the combatants moves because the battle is so fast paced.
Battle Focus is a state of enhanced speed and reflexes that skilled warriors can induce in themselves. Activating Battle Focus is a non-action (like a 5-ft. step) that’s normally available only during your turn. Activating Battle Focus expends one action point. All instances of Battle Focus last for a number of rounds equal to 5+1/2 the user’s BAB. After this time, the user immediately leaves Battle Focus and takes penalties depending on their penalty factor. A character may voluntarily end or alter their Battle Focus on their turn without using an action. A character with access to both Least Battle Focus, and Lesser Battle Focus may change from one to the other. If they do this, they are treated as having been in Lesser Battle Focus the entire time for the purposes of penalties. Entering Lesser Battle Focus from Least Battle Focus still requires an opponent to accept the challenge.
Battle Focus can be re-activated only after the penalties have been accessed and the user has waited a number of rounds equal to the number originally spent in battle focus. In order to re-activate Battle Focus quickly after canceling it, a character may spend a standard action “relaxing” and allowing the body to take its course. This causes the immediate onset of penalties (as opposed to the penalties occurring after the focus normally would have ended).
A character may delay the end of their battle focus and the onset of penalties beyond the normal limits. Both of these are accomplished by making a will save with a DC of 20+4/round previously delayed. Success means that you retain the benefits of Battle Focus until your first turn next round or delay the onset of penalties till your next turn (when you can choose to attempt to delay again). The DCs scale separately.
When a character reaches 9 BAB they gain access to the Least Battle Focus state.
Least Battle Focus (Ex.) You find your flow in battle, allowing you to expend your energy with great results. It doesn’t take an action to activate this ability, but you must spend an action point to use Least Battle Focus (or any other Battle Focus). You gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls, and a +1 dodge bonus to AC and reflex saves. Your speed for all forms of movement increases by 10’. Finally, if you make a single normal attack you may make a second attack at a -5 penalty with the same weapon. If you are using a weapon in your off hand you may make a single off hand attack in addition to two attacks with your primary weapon. If you take the full attack action you gain a single bonus attack at your highest BAB (as per haste). Finally, in the least battle focus state you gain the ability to take an additional 5’ step each round. This step doesn’t have the same restrictions as a normal 5’ step. You may take this step in even if you’ve already moved this round and you can still move if you’ve taken this bonus 5’ step. Your normal 5’ step is subject to the above restrictions as usual.
An opponent who witnesses a character enter Least Battle Focus may immediately enter any Battle Focus available them as an immediate action by spending one action point. If the character has no action points remaining, they may activate it without spending an action point, but it’s more exhausting than activating it normally. If a character doesn’t have access to any form of Battle Focus and has a BAB of at least 6, they may activate Least Battle Focus reactively, but it’s more tiring than activating it normally.
A character gains Lesser Battle Focus when they have 18 BAB
Lesser Battle Focus (Ex.) You’ve become a paragon of combat skill and can fight with incredible quickness. You gain a +3 bonus on attack rolls and a +3 dodge bonus to AC and reflex saves. You gain a second turn each round, taken at an initiative count of -20 relative to your actual initiative score. If you make a single attack, you may also make extra attacks as described in Least Battle Focus. You also gain the bonus 5’ step described in least battle focus.
Spells that target you and have multi-round effects still only affect you on your first turn. Effects that target creatures that start or end their turns in a given area can only affect you once per round. Abilities that are limited to once per round retain these limitations (they don’t become once per turn).
This level of Battle Focus can only be maintained if your opponent steps up to your level. When entering this state you extend an unspoken challenge to all opponents you have line of sight to within 100’. They may choose to enter Lesser Battle Focus even if it’s not their turn and/or they are flat footed. Characters with a BAB as low as 15 can answer a challenge of Lesser Battle Focus (and gain all the benefits) even if they could not activate it themselves. The duration of their Lesser Battle Focus doesn’t begin until the next round, however they gain the dodge bonuses immediately. If no opponent answers your challenge you may choose to enter Least Battle Focus instead, or cancel the focus. If you cancel, no AP is spent and you take no penalties.
If you strike a character who is not using Lesser Battle Focus you lose the benefits of Lesser Battle Focus unless you slay them outright with a single attack. If your Lesser Battle Focus ends for any reason during your second turn, you lose all remaining actions on that turn. If it ends on your primary turn it simply ends. If you’re using an attack that may hit multiple targets, you must target as much of the attack as possible on other combatants using Lesser Battle Focus or lose the benefits (DM discretion). This limitation represents the fact that you must focus your attention selectively to maintain your focus (in addition to preventing you from owning low BAB people really easily).
Characters in the Combat Focus state enjoy slightly altered physics of the world around them (it’s really just them moving fast though). You gain a bonus on jump checks as though your speed was double what it actually is. You gain a +2 haste bonus on balance checks to balance on unstable surfaces because the surface seems to move slower to you.
Falling damage is reduced by 2 dice. Falling characters also split the falling distance when falling from a great height. The first turn of falling causes 150 ft. of downward motion, the second turn 400 ft. and subsequent turns falling are 600 ft./turn (instead of 500 ft. in the first round and 1,200 ft. in subsequent rounds).
All effects of Battle Focus overlap with haste The only benefit you gain from haste while in either of these states is the enhancement bonus to speed and a single extra attack when making a full attack (which doesn't stack with the bonus attack from least BF, so it can only be used while TWFing).
Penalties
{table=head]Penalty Level|Effect
6 Absolute Worst|
exhaustion , DR and fast healing are halved till the character has removed all fatigue, greater backlash (1d8/round)
5 Horrible|
exhaustion, greater backlash (1d8/round)
4 Bad|
exhaustion, backlash (1d6/round)
3 Normal|
fatigue, backlash (1d6/round)
2 Light|
backlash (1d6/round)
1 Best|
minimized backlash (1/round)[/table]
Least Battle Focus starts with a penalty factor of 3, Lesser starts as a 6. The penalty is assessed at the time the focus ends (or would have ended if it was cancelled). A character may delay the assessment of the penalty by 1 round with a successful fortitude save with a DC of 20+4/round after the penalty would have been given. A penalty factor of less than 1 is treated as a 1. A factor greater than 6 is treated as a 6.
• The character gains a free point of mitigation at BAB 12, BAB 16 and BAB 20
• If the Battle Focus is cancelled on or before the end of the 5th round of use 1 point of penalty is mitigated
• A character may attempt to artificially postpone the end of their Battle Focus. This increases the penalty factor by one (not 1/round postponed, just 1). To continue the focus they must make a Will save with a DC equal to 20+4/round after focus would have ended
• If your BAB is too low to have initiated the focus yourself, the penalty factor increases by 1. (this is calculated at the time of the penalty, not the time of initiation)
• If you reactively activate Battle Focus without sacrificing an AP the penalty factor increases by 1
If a character is immune to fatigue or exhaustion, they still take penalties as though they were affected by the appropriate ailment. The fatigue and exhaustion from battle focus require only 10 minutes of non-strenuous activity to remove.
Backlash
Backlash is non-lethal damage. It doesn’t slowly accumulate; you get it all at once when the rest of the penalties are added. Only time actually spent focused causes backlash (canceling it after 2 rounds= 2dX backlash when the time comes) If you would become more tired than is possible (due to a pre-existing fatigued or exhausted condition) then the backlash damage is maximized. If a character is immune to non-lethal damage they instead compare the non-lethal damage they would take to their remaining hp. If the non-lethal damage they would take is greater than their remaining hp then they fall into a state of unconsciousness for a number of rounds equal to the non-lethal damage they would have taken. The only way to wake them from this state prematurely is to heal them so their remaining hp exceeds the non-lethal damage they would have taken.
Feat
Forced Focus
You’re especially good at focusing yourself and can pressure others into keeping up with you.
Prerequisites: Concentration 4 ranks, BAB 18+
Benefit: You may initiate lesser battle focus without having an opponent step up to your challenge. You don’t automatically leave battle focus for striking un-focused opponents if no opponent steps up to your challenge. Unless an opponent steps up before the end of your first turn in the next round your focus ends (but you may attempt to prolong it). If an opponent steps up after you’ve forced the focus your focus continues as usual. If you forcibly extended it, that doesn’t count against you (for penalties afterward or for attempts to extend it after its natural duration).
Normal: You may only enter lesser battle focus if an opponent enters it as well.
Special: A fighter may select this feat as a fighter bonus feat.
I typed it out over a period of several days, so some developing ideas got said twice and I may have a contradiction or two left in. I think I proofread it enough times that it's all good though.
There's one thing obviously missing, greater battle focus. That would end up being epic (either level 27, or BAB 27; can't decide which), and I decided I wanted to sort out the normal stuff and playtest it before I started on the epic version. I'm planning to include this in a campaign I'm DMing as a little treat to surprise my players once they get to a decent level.
I think least battle focus has everything worked out, but I'd like some more effects to add to lesser battle focus. Moving at double speed should have some cool side effects on the world physics.
The feat I added at the end is for the BBEG to use. Nobody's gonna want to let him use something cool like battle focus when only one (maybe) of the party members can. The feat lets him try to force the party to fight on his terms.
Speaking of big bad duels, lesser battle focus is kind of the opposite of the traditional fantasy "look out the wizards are dueling" thing. It makes it dangerous to be in the vicinity of significantly more powerful melee combatants.
I also like how this makes BAB a somewhat more valuable asset. As it is now, the only thing BAB does past 16 is give a bonus to hit, and lots of other things do that. Battle focus gives you something to look forward to at 18 (and a little bit at 20). Another thing I like is the bonus attacks when you'd normally get a single attack. That gives users their best attacks without using a full attack. I really hate trying to get a full attack in sometimes. Hopefully this'll give people an incentive to take a move to an advantageous position.