Promethean
2023-10-03, 07:18 PM
An actual serious attempt to play with martial character mechanics. Would like help and feedback for the ideas below.
First off:
A lot of special attacks are just straight up self-debuffs with very little scaling(for example: Feint is horrible for this). Martial characters also have very few ways to apply conditions to enemies. So here are som Changes I had in mind:
Universal to all:
All mundane special attacks use an attack action that can be made as part of a full attack. All mundane special attacks use an Melee attack roll + size bonus + any unique modifier for the type of special attack.
The flat Footed condition now imposes a -4 dexterity penalty to AC in addition to denying the opponent's Dex bonus(treat as if the victim had a Dex of 3 for the purposes of AC bonus). Any situation that forces a creature to be denied their dex bonus to AC also imposes the flat-footed condition.
Rolls to confirm a critical can also threaten a critical as if they were an attack. In such a case, another confirmation is rolled, and if confirmed, the final critical multiplier is increased by 1. This second confirmation roll may also threaten a critical, etc.
Onslaught: New special attack/full attack system change.
Characters may make multiple attack actions as a full round action regardless of BaB. The character in question simply rolls for attack and damage once, every successive attack afterward uses the first roll with modifiers as appropriate for iterative attacks(Normally: -5 for second attack, -10 for third, etc) and each iterative attacks that succeeds against the defender's armor class does the same damage as the first roll.
If an iterative attack is made that doesn't succeed against the opponent's armor class ends the full attack. At level where a class would normally gain an extra attack(every +5 BaB), the player may instead choose to re-roll their first attack and/or damage dice before beginning the onslaught(with one re-roll per +5 bonus, per turn). Players that re-roll their dice must keep the roll, even if it's lower than their first roll. Players may not re-roll their dice after they begin making iterative attacks.
Creatures using Multiple weapons roll the first iteration of each weapon's damage independently, but all weapons use the same initial attack roll in an onslaught.
During an onslaught, each weapon can only threaten a critical during the first attack it's used.
Feint: Attacker uses a melee Attack + Bluff vs the victim's opposed roll using BaB + Sense motive. If the attacker wins, the opponent is rendered flat-footed for the round. Armor class is irrelevant for either roll.
Grapple: There are no size restrictions on establishing a grapple as long as the attacker can overcome the opponent's size bonus to grapple checks. Creatures may not use escape artist to escape a grapple. Freedom of movement provides no bonus against grapples. Teleportation and plane-shifting effects either transports all parties participating in a grapple or fail outright if unable to.
Parry: New special attack.
When a creature is attacked in melee, They may make a melee attack as an attack of opportunity. If their result is higher than the attack they are trying to prevent, that attack is negated.
A parry action does not result in damage and does not check against AC.
If The defender has the combat reflexes feat, they may negate a number of additional attacks equal to their dexterity modifier. The defender does not need to roll for these additional parries, they used the first parry's result at no penalty(this also applies to other attacks of opportunity).
If holding a shield, the user may add the shield's armor and enhancement bonus to their parry roll.
Called Shots: New special attack. When making an attack, the attacker may take a penalty to target a specific body part. If attacker inflicts ([Number of defender hit dice] + [Con Mod]) damage to the area, they can automatically inflict a condition of their choice:
Limbs(-5 penalty on attack to target):limb is crippled. Held weapons/items in the limb are dropped and Natural attacks associated with that limb are removed for the duration of combat.
If 50% of a creature's grasping limbs are crippled, they lose 1/2 their BaB due to inability to balance and gain an arcane spell failure chance of 50%.
If 50% of a creature's walking limbs are crippled, they are rendered Flat footed and Prone.
Head(-8 Penalty to attack): Head injury. Target must succeed a fortitude save vs a DC of Attacker's damage or be inflict one of the following conditions at the attacker's choice:
Blindness: Defender is rendered Blind
Deafness: Target is rendered Deaf.
Daze: Target is dazed for 1 round.
Torso(-3 Penalty to attack): Gut/Groin attack. Target must succeed a fortitude save vs a DC of Attacker's damage or be inflict one of the following conditions at the attacker's choice:
Sickened: Target is sickened. If already sickened, target is nauseated.
Fatigue: Target is fatigued. If already fatigued, target is exhausted. If already exhausted, target is staggered.
Vital Area(-10 to attack): Brain, Heart, Spine. Target is allowed a reflex save vs the attack result to negate. If reflex fails, target must succeed a fortitude save vs Damage dealt or suffer one of the following effects at the attacker's choice:
Brain: Automatic critical, no confirmation needed. Target takes ability drain to Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma equal to the damage die of the weapon used in the attack. Immunity to ability damage/drain is ignored.
Spine: Automatic critical, no confirmation needed. Target takes ability drain to Strength and Dexterity equal to the damage die of the weapon used in the attack. Immunity to ability damage/drain is ignored.
Heart: Automatic critical, no confirmation needed. Target takes ability drain to Constitution equal to the damage die of the weapon used in the attack. Immunity to ability damage/drain is ignored.
Second: Feats.
Epic feats have the "21st level" requirement removed. All other skill/ability score/spellcasting/etc. requirements remain
Fighter bonus feats are to be changed to include more variable numeric effects that scale by level or ability score(example: Awesome Blow now allows a free action bull rush attempt per attack that doesn't require the attacker to move with the victim. If a victim is stopped by an obstacle, both the victim and obstacle take 1d6 of damage for every 5 feet the bull rush attempt result indicates they should move.). This will be a Looong list so I'm not gonna post it all here, but I'd like suggestions
Third: Exceptional Ability scores
I want to re-introduce the exceptional ability score system from previous editions that give ability scores over 18 quasi-magical effects in their own right. However, 3e ability score go Much higher than previous editions(which were capped at 25), so I want to know if anyone has any ideas on how to scale such a system.
First off:
A lot of special attacks are just straight up self-debuffs with very little scaling(for example: Feint is horrible for this). Martial characters also have very few ways to apply conditions to enemies. So here are som Changes I had in mind:
Universal to all:
All mundane special attacks use an attack action that can be made as part of a full attack. All mundane special attacks use an Melee attack roll + size bonus + any unique modifier for the type of special attack.
The flat Footed condition now imposes a -4 dexterity penalty to AC in addition to denying the opponent's Dex bonus(treat as if the victim had a Dex of 3 for the purposes of AC bonus). Any situation that forces a creature to be denied their dex bonus to AC also imposes the flat-footed condition.
Rolls to confirm a critical can also threaten a critical as if they were an attack. In such a case, another confirmation is rolled, and if confirmed, the final critical multiplier is increased by 1. This second confirmation roll may also threaten a critical, etc.
Onslaught: New special attack/full attack system change.
Characters may make multiple attack actions as a full round action regardless of BaB. The character in question simply rolls for attack and damage once, every successive attack afterward uses the first roll with modifiers as appropriate for iterative attacks(Normally: -5 for second attack, -10 for third, etc) and each iterative attacks that succeeds against the defender's armor class does the same damage as the first roll.
If an iterative attack is made that doesn't succeed against the opponent's armor class ends the full attack. At level where a class would normally gain an extra attack(every +5 BaB), the player may instead choose to re-roll their first attack and/or damage dice before beginning the onslaught(with one re-roll per +5 bonus, per turn). Players that re-roll their dice must keep the roll, even if it's lower than their first roll. Players may not re-roll their dice after they begin making iterative attacks.
Creatures using Multiple weapons roll the first iteration of each weapon's damage independently, but all weapons use the same initial attack roll in an onslaught.
During an onslaught, each weapon can only threaten a critical during the first attack it's used.
Feint: Attacker uses a melee Attack + Bluff vs the victim's opposed roll using BaB + Sense motive. If the attacker wins, the opponent is rendered flat-footed for the round. Armor class is irrelevant for either roll.
Grapple: There are no size restrictions on establishing a grapple as long as the attacker can overcome the opponent's size bonus to grapple checks. Creatures may not use escape artist to escape a grapple. Freedom of movement provides no bonus against grapples. Teleportation and plane-shifting effects either transports all parties participating in a grapple or fail outright if unable to.
Parry: New special attack.
When a creature is attacked in melee, They may make a melee attack as an attack of opportunity. If their result is higher than the attack they are trying to prevent, that attack is negated.
A parry action does not result in damage and does not check against AC.
If The defender has the combat reflexes feat, they may negate a number of additional attacks equal to their dexterity modifier. The defender does not need to roll for these additional parries, they used the first parry's result at no penalty(this also applies to other attacks of opportunity).
If holding a shield, the user may add the shield's armor and enhancement bonus to their parry roll.
Called Shots: New special attack. When making an attack, the attacker may take a penalty to target a specific body part. If attacker inflicts ([Number of defender hit dice] + [Con Mod]) damage to the area, they can automatically inflict a condition of their choice:
Limbs(-5 penalty on attack to target):limb is crippled. Held weapons/items in the limb are dropped and Natural attacks associated with that limb are removed for the duration of combat.
If 50% of a creature's grasping limbs are crippled, they lose 1/2 their BaB due to inability to balance and gain an arcane spell failure chance of 50%.
If 50% of a creature's walking limbs are crippled, they are rendered Flat footed and Prone.
Head(-8 Penalty to attack): Head injury. Target must succeed a fortitude save vs a DC of Attacker's damage or be inflict one of the following conditions at the attacker's choice:
Blindness: Defender is rendered Blind
Deafness: Target is rendered Deaf.
Daze: Target is dazed for 1 round.
Torso(-3 Penalty to attack): Gut/Groin attack. Target must succeed a fortitude save vs a DC of Attacker's damage or be inflict one of the following conditions at the attacker's choice:
Sickened: Target is sickened. If already sickened, target is nauseated.
Fatigue: Target is fatigued. If already fatigued, target is exhausted. If already exhausted, target is staggered.
Vital Area(-10 to attack): Brain, Heart, Spine. Target is allowed a reflex save vs the attack result to negate. If reflex fails, target must succeed a fortitude save vs Damage dealt or suffer one of the following effects at the attacker's choice:
Brain: Automatic critical, no confirmation needed. Target takes ability drain to Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma equal to the damage die of the weapon used in the attack. Immunity to ability damage/drain is ignored.
Spine: Automatic critical, no confirmation needed. Target takes ability drain to Strength and Dexterity equal to the damage die of the weapon used in the attack. Immunity to ability damage/drain is ignored.
Heart: Automatic critical, no confirmation needed. Target takes ability drain to Constitution equal to the damage die of the weapon used in the attack. Immunity to ability damage/drain is ignored.
Second: Feats.
Epic feats have the "21st level" requirement removed. All other skill/ability score/spellcasting/etc. requirements remain
Fighter bonus feats are to be changed to include more variable numeric effects that scale by level or ability score(example: Awesome Blow now allows a free action bull rush attempt per attack that doesn't require the attacker to move with the victim. If a victim is stopped by an obstacle, both the victim and obstacle take 1d6 of damage for every 5 feet the bull rush attempt result indicates they should move.). This will be a Looong list so I'm not gonna post it all here, but I'd like suggestions
Third: Exceptional Ability scores
I want to re-introduce the exceptional ability score system from previous editions that give ability scores over 18 quasi-magical effects in their own right. However, 3e ability score go Much higher than previous editions(which were capped at 25), so I want to know if anyone has any ideas on how to scale such a system.