Removing Full Round Attacks

[Thrawn183]

So I was thinking (something I try to do on a consistent basis ) and I was wondering what would happen if you removed full round attacks from 3.5, getting your full iterative attack as a standard action?

How about this in conjunction with making a single attack as a swift action? Or just removing quicken spell and spells that can be cast as a swift action?

[sofawall]

So you can do BAB/5(round up)+1 attacks per round?

[Eldariel]

So I was thinking (something I try to do on a consistent basis ) and I was wondering what would happen if you removed full round attacks from 3.5, getting your full iterative attack as a standard action?

How about this in conjunction with making a single attack as a swift action? Or just removing quicken spell and spells that can be cast as a swift action?

Well, it'd help. It wouldn't fix things, but I've played with such rules for a while and it definitely helps. For it to truly matter though, iteratives shouldn't have downwards-scaling bonuses; -5 at most for all. Otherwise they'll just be excess dice rolled much of the time.

Though swift action to do an attack feels kinda...weird. Then again, yeah, you can cast swift spells too. Maybe allow it after you get the first iterative?

[Sinfire Titan]

Well, it'd help. It wouldn't fix things, but I've played with such rules for a while and it definitely helps. For it to truly matter though, iteratives shouldn't have downwards-scaling bonuses; -5 at most for all. Otherwise they'll just be excess dice rolled much of the time.

Though swift action to do an attack feels kinda...weird. Then again, yeah, you can cast swift spells too. Maybe allow it after you get the first iterative?

I actually contemplated this for a Fighter class feature. Swift action for the attack action starting at 8th, Standard action for full attack starting at 14th. Charge would still be a full-round action (but modified to be triple speed with pounce). I ruled that they couldn't use the Attack action if they use a Full Round or Standard action to make any kind of attack (including strikes, etc).

[Curmudgeon]

If you make this sort of change, you're either really going to increase the value of mobility type feats like Spring Attack, or render them completely worthless if you keep them to a single attack.

I think it's really too big a change to make without going through several dozens of feats and even more class abilities and deciding how each will be impacted. Using a swift action to make one attack is a much more straightforward rule alteration, so I'd do just that and see how it works.

[Thrawn183]

Well yeah, but spring attack is already a wreck.

I also have a problem with the way charging without pounce works. You're almost always better off by waiting for your oppenent to charge and hit you once and return with a full round attack.

[sofawall]

Well yeah, but spring attack is already a wreck.

I also have a problem with the way charging without pounce works. You're almost always better off by waiting for your oppenent to charge and hit you once and return with a full round attack.

Shock Trooper/Spirited Charge/Valorous Lance. Bam.

[Mongoose87]

Well yeah, but spring attack is already a wreck.

I also have a problem with the way charging without pounce works. You're almost always better off by waiting for your oppenent to charge and hit you once and return with a full round attack.

Not if you're my lance-wielding, dinosaur-riding Paladin.

[sofawall]

Holy crap. Two in a row.

[Thrawn183]

Seriously, I've only played one game with a PC that was mounted. I've never seen a mounted NPC.

Though riding dinosaurs is rediculously awesome.

[woodenbandman]

I like the idea of Frank and K's iteratives at a static -5. Maybe a combination of the two. Normal iteratives as a standard action, static -5 as a full-round.

[AgentPaper]

Or maybe, you can attack X times base, either as a standard action at a -5 penalty, or as a full-round without the penalty. Or you can just attack once with no penalty as a standard action.

[theMycon]

I actually contemplated this as the Fighter class features...

Fixed your grammar for you.

Okay, logic error. Your grammar was technically correct.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Doing this and removing iterative penalties works out perfectly fine for my group; at 20th level, a fighter doing +20/+20/+20/+20/+20 (with a speed weapon/haste/etc.) or a rogue doing +15/+15/+15/+15/+15/+15 ('cause what rogue doesn't take TWF?) should be expected. We've also combined a bunch of feats so you actually get worthwhile benefits from all your feats and tweaked them to work with the new structure (particularly Spring Attack and co.) but that's outside the scope of this thread.

[jiriku]

Skirmish becomes much more potent. Flurry of blows sucks much less. Initiative bonuses become more important, since the winner of initiative can rush up and full-attack a flat-footed opponent on round 1. Two-weapon fighting becomes more effective in mobile battles. So does sneak attack. Effects that stagger or trip an opponent become less useful. Battles overall become shorter, so in-combat buffing becomes less attractive. The haste spell becomes more powerful. High armor class becomes slightly more effective, since there are more iterative attacks with low bonuses getting thrown around.