Giving noncasters Some Love – a simple way of making them count

[nonsi]

We all know what noncasters are “starved” for……………: ACTIONS
The 3e action system makes all martial classes lose the action economy race at the mid-high levels before it even starts.

Here’s a handful of rules to help them make better use of their actions, plus some more options.
I’m not kidding myself that there could be full equilibrium without spellpower – but without spellpower, I believe this is as close as one can get.



Attacks Sequence & Movement:

- Making all your melee or range attacks from where you stand (including against multiple targets within reach/range) takes a standard action.
- Also, as a full round action, you can make use of all your attacks while moving up to your speed, targeting anyone within reach you see fit to attack. Your movement provokes AoOs as normal.
- Upon Gaining 3 attacks per round, you can spend a standard action to make a single attack while moving up to your speed. You may also make a single attack from where you stand as a move-action.
- TWF and extra attacks granted by the Monk's FoB are both applicable in any attack sequence that takes a standard-action or longer - moving or not.


Redefined Actions:

- A standard action can be replaced with 2 move actions or a 2nd swift action.
- A move action can be substituted for a 5ft-step, trading distance for avoiding AoOs.
- Total Defense consumes a standard action. Your remaining move action takes a full round action to execute.


Foil Action:

One can ready an action to foil someone else's action (single).
Foil Action allows a movement of up to 1/2 one's speed and making an attack against a creature.
Foil Action allows disruption of any of the following actions:
- Attack sequence
- Casting of a spell
- Activating a device (magical or otherwise)
- Consuming edible/drinkable substance
- Using any of the following skills: Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Handle Animal, Perform, Ride and Swim.
You make an attack roll. If the attack hits, the creature's action fails (movement is halted, spells fizzle, attack is cancelled, etc). The movement provokes AoOs as normal, but the attack doesn't.




And a handful of useful action/mobility associated feats:

Armor Mastery: Medium [General]
Requirements: BAB +4, STR 15+, Medium Armor Proficiency
Benefit: Medium armor no longer hinders your base land speed and your max-DEX increases by +1 when wearing any type of light/medium armor.

Armor Mastery: Heavy [General]
Requirements: BAB +9, STR 19+, Heavy Armor Proficiency, Armor Mastery (medium)
Benefit: Heavy armor no longer hinders your base land speed and your max-DEX increases by +1 when wearing any type of armor (stacking with Armor Mastery (medium)).

Close Combat Archery [General]
Requirements: BAB +6, Precise Shot, Shot on the Run
Benefit: You can attack with a Bow (any type) or tossed objects even while threatened and not provoke AoOs.

Covering Fire [General]
Requirements: Base Ref Save +3, Weapon Proficiency (any bow / crossbow), Rapid Shot / Rapid Reload (respectively)
Benefit: As a swift action, you can designate a 60-degree cone area within your weapon's range increment or 30ft (whichever's greater) where you can react to opponents' movement or attack. If the opportunity arises and your shot hits, the target suffers -10ft penalty to its speed or -2 on its next attack (depending on the action that triggered your attack), and cannot take swift/immediate actions until after its next turn.

Mobile Assault [General]
Requirements: Dodge, Mobility
Benefit: When making full round multiple attacks you may take 5ft steps before, in between and after each attack, as long as the total distance doesn’t exceed your base movement speed. You may take two 5ft steps in a row, trading your attack for your second 5ft step.

[DracoDei]

Looks interesting.

I had other things to say, but upon further thought I realized they didn't apply.

[nonsi]

Looks interesting.

Question is: Did I nail it? Did I do too much? Too little?

[Glimbur]

Trading a standard for two swift actions can be problematic. Many abilities (quickened spells, naturally swift spells, magic items, some skill tricks, boosts/counters from ToB, and many more things) are balanced on the idea of one swift action per turn. Sometimes a swift action is more useful than a standard.

[nonsi]

Trading a standard for two swift actions can be problematic. Many abilities (quickened spells, naturally swift spells, magic items, some skill tricks, boosts/counters from ToB, and many more things) are balanced on the idea of one swift action per turn. Sometimes a swift action is more useful than a standard.

Actually, "a 2nd swift action" - given you usually have one - means you trade a standard action for a single swift action.
I understand why this could be confusing. Maybe I just should have said "A standard action can be replaced with 2 move actions or a single swift action."

[Yitzi]

While the mobility feats make some sense (although Close Combat Archery already exists as an epic feat, and Armor Mastery: Heavy should probably also let you treat heavy armor as medium, so that you can get the benefit of barbarian speed increase or Speed of Thought, and Foil Action might be more appropriate as a class feature for monk or the like), I'd say the real key to making nonspellcasters more effective isn't so much to make them able to keep up in the action economy as to negate the importance of the action economy in the first place.

Other stuff worth considering are things like the Stand Still feat, which seems designed to make it easier to get full attack actions in.

[nonsi]

Close Combat Archery already exists as an epic feat,

Too little, too late.
Level 6 characters are already beyond any human that ever lived. Such feats should be within their grasp, not just limited pre-epic to a single PrC in the whole wide universe.

and Armor Mastery: Heavy should probably also let you treat heavy armor as medium, so that you can get the benefit of barbarian speed increase or Speed of Thought

Definitely makes sense.

and Foil Action might be more appropriate as a class feature for monk or the like)

Actually, Foil Action is something you and I can do.
Makes no sense wasting a class feature for that.

I'd say the real key to making nonspellcasters more effective isn't so much to make them able to keep up in the action economy as to negate the importance of the action economy in the first place.

Like what?

Other stuff worth considering are things like the Stand Still feat, which seems designed to make it easier to get full attack actions in.

Stand Still is badly written.
It shouldn't be applicable against opponents you can't grapple.

[Yitzi]

Actually, Foil Action is something you and I can do.

Moving and attacking fast enough to disrupt?

Like what?

Well, what causes the action economy to be important to the point where many weak actions (quickened spells, summons, etc.) are worth that much more than one strong one? Whatever the answer is, the point would be to remove it.

[Salbazier]

Actually, "a 2nd swift action" - given you usually have one - means you trade a standard action for a single swift action.
I understand why this could be confusing. Maybe I just should have said "A standard action can be replaced with 2 move actions or a single swift action."

Isn't that how things work normally? (excluding the 2 move action bit)

[Veklim]

As far as I've ever been aware you may only have one swift and one immediate action per round, but as many free actions (within reason!) as you like. At least that's how I remember the rules reading last time I checked...

[nonsi]

Isn't that how things work normally? (excluding the 2 move action bit)

RAW:
1. Only a single swift OR immediate action per round (you can swap the former for the latter, but not vice versa).
2. A standard action cannot be broken down to 2 move actions.