Reworked Garrotte Ring

[Boci]

Garrotte ring:
5gp, weight: -, 1d8 (medium), x2/20, Slashing
For 1 gp a simple garrotte rope can be bought. This is not considered automatically hidden as a garrotte ring is, but an ingenious scoundrel should not find this a problem. It is treated as a dagger when trying to hide it in your hand via sleigh of hands.

Garrotte Ring: The wearer of this large, ostentatious ring can detach the gem atop it and pull forth a length of extremely fine, tough wire that can be used to strangle an opponent. Pulling out the wire is a free action, but rewinding it requires a full-round action. A garrotte attack uses the grappling rules from the Player's Handbook, with a few additions.

Attack of Opportunity: A garrotte attempt provokes an attack of opportunity from the target, unless they are flat footed against you, even if they possess the combat reflexes feat. If the attack of opportunity deals damage, the garrotte attack fails.

Getting the Garrotte in Place: To attack with a garrotte, you must first loop the weapon over your opponent's head and work it into place around his neck. You must be able to reach the target's head, so you normally cannot garrotte an opponent two or more size categories larger than yourself. However, if such an opponent is sitting or lying down, or you are attacking from overhead, a garrotte attack might still be possible.
To begin a garrotte attack, you must make a successful melee attack to grab your opponent. If the opponent is flatfooted, you may instead make a touch attack. Unlike a normal melee touch attack however, you do not ignore your opponent's natural armour, and full plate adds +4 AC.

Strangle: Make a grapple check, with a +1 bonus if you possess the feat weapon focus (garrotte). You do not automatically lose the grapple check if your opponent is two or more size categories larger than you are. If you succeed, your opponent is considered grappled and has started to strangle. You immediately deal your garrotte's damage. Your Strength modifier applies to this damage, and if that modifier is a bonus, you get one and one-half times that bonus if you use both hands in the attack. If you fail the grapple check, you don't start strangling your opponent or dealing damage. Instead your opponent slips free and is no longer considered grappled.

Move in: You can hit an adjacent creature with a garrotte, you do not need to move into their square.

Maintaining a Garrotte Attach Once you have a garrotte in place, have won the grapple check, and have moved into your opponent's space, you can continue to deal garrotte damage with successful grapple checks as often as you are entitled to attempt them. If you can make multiple attacks in a round, you can use them to attempt grapple checks to deal damage. The garrotte remains in place until you release your opponent or until it escapes your hold. Additionally, whilst grappled the target cannot cast spells with verbal components, but is not restricted by somatic components.

New feats:

Weapon Focus (garrotte):
Benefit: You receive a +1 bonus on attack rolls with a garrotte.

Quick Strangler:
Preq: Weapon Focus (garrotte), BAB+1
Benefit: You can use a garrotte rope whilst wielding a weapon in your offhand.

Deft Strangler:
Preq: Weapon Focus (garrotte), BAB: +4
Benefit: When making a grapple attempt with a garrotte against a flat footed, you can substitute a sleigh of hands attempt for the roll, albeit with a -5 penalty. The bonus for weapon focus (garrotte) does not apply.

Improved deft strangler:
Preq: Weapon Focus (garrotte), BAB: +6, deft strangler
Benefit: You no longer take the -5 penalty when using Sleigh of Hands instead of an opposed grapple check. You can still only use this option if the target if flat footed.

Sickening Strangle (Style)
Preq: Weapon focus (garrotte), Deft strangler
Benefit: If a creature takes damage from your garrotte, they are sickened for 1 round. A sickened creature must also spend a swift action to draw breath or they will be nauseated for the next round.

Locking Garrotte:
Preq: Weapon focus (garrotte), Deft strangler, Sickening strangle
Benefit: If you are strangling a creature you can use a swift action to lock the garrotte in place. To break free, the creature must beat the last check you made before locking it in place, but for each new attempt they make they gains a cumulative +2 bonus.

So, too much?

[TabletopNuke]

As it is, the garrote ring is a fairly ineffective weapon. Since garrote wire is primarily used to strangle, I think the suffocation rules should come into play. This would also help offset the difficulty in using it.

Garrote wire should probably be a lot cheaper too. Piano wire is an acceptable substitute, and a pound of it costs about $15.

Also, I'd put the whole weapon at a half pound in weight, tops.

Also, garrote wire is often used with a bar on each end to grip (like this). Is there a reason you used a ring instead?

Once you get all this worked out, I'd love to use in in my Breakdown setting. Would you mind? (You'd get credit for it, naturally.)

[Boci]

As it is, the garrote ring is a fairly ineffective weapon.

As written, my version is still a bit ineffective (although not as bad) until you start investing feats into its use.

Since garrote wire is primarily used to strangle, I think the suffocation rules should come into play. This would also help offset the difficulty in using it.

Suffocating in D&D takes far too long to have an affect. A commoner can hold his breath for 18-20 rounds, siffering no ill affect until that is over.

Garrote wire should probably be a lot cheaper too. Piano wire is an acceptable substitute, and a pound of it costs about $15.

Good point, cut the price to 5gp.

Also, I'd put the whole weapon at a half pound in weight, tops.

Sorry I wasn't clear, weight is -.

Also, garrote wire is often used with a bar on each end to grip (like this). Is there a reason you used a ring instead?

I found the ring when searching the threads here and thought those were the origional rules. I added you can have a plain garotte.

Once you get all this worked out, I'd love to use in in my Breakdown setting. Would you mind? (You'd get credit for it, naturally.)

Go ahead. What kind of a setting is breakdown like?

[Baron Corm]

Suffocating in D&D takes far too long to have an affect. A commoner can hold his breath for 18-20 rounds, siffering no ill affect until that is over.

But he hasn't just run out of air, he is being strangled. So you can cut the "breath holding time" down by the difference in your won grapple check. For example, if you got a 20, and he got a 10, the amount of time he could hold his breath for would be reduced by 10 rounds.

[TabletopNuke]

This is not as easily hid as a garotte ring, but is more adaptable since it can be hidden in a variaety of places.

This needs to be reworded, it's confusing.

Weapon Focus (garotte ring):
Benefit: You receive a +1 bonus on attack roles and grapple attempt with a garotte ring.

I'd suggest making a note at the weapon entry that Weapon Focus (Garrote Ring) applies to grapple attempts, rather than a feat listing. Also, you'll need to clarify if it also applies to Sleight of Hand checks made with Deft Strangler.

Deft Strangler:
Preq: Weapon Focus (garotte ring), BAB: +4
Benefit: When making a grapple attempt with a garotte ring, you can substitute a sleigh of hands attempt for the role, albeit with a -5 penalty.

I'd suggest ruling that you can only use this feat when your enemies are denied there dexterity bonus.

Go ahead. What kind of a setting is breakdown like?

Sci-fi/Fantasy. The link is in my signature. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think of it so far.

[Boci]

This needs to be reworded, it's confusing.

Done. Also made spelling consistent.

I'd suggest making a note at the weapon entry that Weapon Focus (Garrote Ring) applies to grapple attempts, rather than a feat listing. Also, you'll need to clarify if it also applies to Sleight of Hand checks made with Deft Strangler.

Done, the bonus does not apply.

I'd suggest ruling that you can only use this feat when your enemies are denied there dexterity bonus.

Made it flat footed.

Sci-fi/Fantasy. The link is in my signature. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think of it so far.

Cool, thanks.

But he hasn't just run out of air, he is being strangled. So you can cut the "breath holding time" down by the difference in your won grapple check. For example, if you got a 20, and he got a 10, the amount of time he could hold his breath for would be reduced by 10 rounds.

But the first actual negative result of suffocation is that the target drops to 0hp, which is just problomatic.

[Latronis]

i was recently trying to think of someway for a villian to pull a wire from a bracer\gauntlet and choke a pc

[Boci]

i was recently trying to think of someway for a villian to pull a wire from a bracer\gauntlet and choke a pc

Well with 4 feats (weapon focus (garrotte), deft strangler, sickening strangle and locking garrotte) he could so so. Its quite a large investmant, but the pay off should be worth it.

[Latronis]

yeah it's easy enough to fluff it into the gauntlet\bracer whatever i decide to go with.

Though i'd have to run some hypotheticals and see if it really is worth it, i'll get back to you on that

[Boci]

Though i'd have to run some hypotheticals and see if it really is worth it, i'll get back to you on that

Thanks. I trying to come up with a way to make this a decent option without investing much/anything. Maybe a couple of skill tricks.