Special Attacks?

[Eldan]

This topic has been mentioned recently in the fighter fix thread, but I think it deserves it's own thread. Basically, to paraphrase what has been said there: "Why can only level X fighters do that?"

What are things you think should be available to everyone as special attacks in combat (i.e. similar to charge, grapple, feint, sunder...)? Not just with feats or class features, but generally, without special training?

Brought up in the fighter thread, one suggestion:

Dispelling Strike

With a slash of your blade, you sever the intricate connections between weave and reality, ending the spell...

As a melee attack, you can attempt to dispel various magical effects on a target. The attack deals no damage. Instead, you make a check, 1d20+1/5 damage dealt by the attack against a DC of 11 plus the spell's caster level. If successful, the spell is dispelled as detailed in the "targeted dispel" section of Dispel Magic.

Special: a cold iron weapon gives a +4 bonus on this check.

I'm not sure if that is balanced, but I think it would at least be a help for melee characters.

So, what other ideas are out there? Things covered already by feats everyone should be able to do? Status effects? Haft strikes?

[lesser_minion]

I guess there are quite a few things you could probably do, and this also provides a decent opportunity to murder grapples in the face.

Another possibility:

Manoeuvre

You attempt to force your opponent onto the back foot

As an attack action, you may make a melee touch attack against your target. If this hits, then make an opposed initiative check against your target.

If this succeeds, then at the earliest opportunity, your target must move 10ft. as a move action, remaining entirely within your threatened area for the entirety of the move, to a square of your choice, which need not be safe.

Freedom of movement and similar effects do not help the target, but she does not provoke attacks of opportunity from you for this movement. Note that the distance moved is absolute - the victim must try to ensure that she has enough speed to make the move.


Any thoughts?

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Dispelling Strike

[...]

Instead, you make a check, 1d20+1/5 damage dealt by the attack against a DC of 11 plus the spell's caster level. If successful, the spell is dispelled as detailed in the "targeted dispel" section of Dispel Magic.

Special: a cold iron weapon gives a +4 bonus on this check.

While I don't have a problem with this, I anticipate that some groups would see this as too "magical" for the fighter to do this with any weapon, whereas cold iron is the stereotypical anti-magical metal. I would suggest that, instead of having an uncapped check with a bonus from cold iron, the check should be capped like the dispel line and cold iron lets you ignore that cap. That way, spells of a certain power actually require cold iron to dispel, and it doesn't make it too easy.

Manoeuvre

[...]

If this succeeds, then the target's next standard action is to move to a square of your choice which must be within your threatened area.

Knocking out someone's standard action is quite powerful for a combat maneuver, especially using an opposed Int check; a smart enough character can effectively lock down any Animal he wants more than half the time. It should probably use up their move action instead and prevent them from moving on their next turn, which achieves the same aim (put your opponent where you want) but doesn't make them useless--and, as a side effect, prevents casters from doing the 5-foot-step-and-cast trick, so in conjunction with other things that prevent casters from casting defensively this would actually make melee dangerous for a caster.

[Eldan]

If you wanted to keep someone in place, wouldn't you use Trip anyway?

[lesser_minion]

Hmm... Alright.

Part of the idea was to also allow you to force an opponent to concentrate on defence, which is a lot more realistic than forcing them to attack you and only you by slapping them in the face with a glove.

If you wanted to keep someone in place, wouldn't you use Trip anyway?

You can move while prone.

This also lets you force your opponent into an untenable position (which may be over a 200 foot drop, if you want). You can also use it to set up flanking easily, or to set up a whole pile of attacks of opportunity from your friends.

The way it's worded now, you can now try to cancel the target's action as an attack of opportunity, which obviates a few feats, but seems reasonable.

I also changed it to an initiative check, so animals aren't quite so screwed any more.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

I hadn't considered the "chuck your opponent off a cliff" uses before. Looks much better now.