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View Full Version : [Feats] "Stand and fight" is for idiots!



Miles Invictus
2007-03-05, 05:32 AM
Basically, a small set of feats for those of you with an eye for sneaking around in the bushes and making heavy use of cover. Five-Second Rush is useful for anyone trying to get a bit of a bonus against ranged attackers, while the other feats are designed to give a helping hand to those who frequently employ splash weapons and crossbows.

If anyone's got better names for these feats, my ears are open. I'm fond of "Five-Second Rush" and maybe "Hug the Earth!", but I'd like to get some more evocative terms for the other two.

Five-Second Rush (General, Fighter, Prone)
You retain your mobility, even while prone.
Prerequisite: One other Prone feat
Benefit: You may stand up from a prone position as a swift action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. When you rise as a swift action, you gain a -2 penalty to attack rolls for the rest of your turn. You may avoid this penalty by rising as a move action, like normal. When crawling as a move action, you may move an additional five feet. Neither action counts as strenuous for a disabled character.
Normal: Standing up from a prone position counts as a move action that provokes an attack of opportunity. You may crawl five feet as a move action.


Hug the Earth! (General, Fighter, Prone)
You have learned to use a prone fighting position to great defensive advantage.
Prerequisite: Base Attack +1
Benefit: When prone, you gain an additional +1 AC against ranged attacks and a +1 circumstance bonus to Reflex saves. For every two Prone feats that you possess, these bonuses increase by +1.
Normal: Prone creatures have +4 AC against ranged attacks.


Prone Fighter (General, Fighter, Prone)
You are an effective ranged fighter when prone.
Prerequisite: Base Attack +1
Benefit: When prone, you gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls with ranged weapons, and a +5 circumstance bonus to Hide checks. For every two Prone feats that you possess, your bonus to ranged attack rolls increases by +1, and your bonus to Hide checks increases by +2.
You may also reload crossbow-like weapons more quickly. If the weapon normally takes a full-round action to reload (i.e. heavy crossbow, repeating crossbows), you may reload it as a move action. If it normally takes a move action to reload (i.e. light crossbow), you may reload it as a free action. This last benefit stacks with other feats that improve reload times, such as Rapid Reload.


Foxhole Fighter (General, Fighter, Prone)
You can use cover to maximum effect.
Prerequisite: Base Attack +5, Prone Fighter, one other Prone feat
Benefit: When adjacent to a “low obstacle”, it provides cover against enemies regardless of distance. If you are adjacent to a “low obstacle” that provides cover against an opponent, you gain the benefits of your Prone feats against that enemy, even if you are not actually prone. You only gain benefits that involve enemies in one form or another. (e.g. Prone Fighter's attack and hide bonuses would apply, but its effect on reload times would not.)
Normal: “Low obstacles” (such as a wall no higher than half your height) only provide cover against opponents closer than 30 feet. You must be prone to gain any benefit from your Prone feats.

swampninja
2007-03-05, 06:06 AM
EDIT: Sorry, ought to say - "Nice work! I like! but..."

I think you ought to make Prone Fighter the pre-requisite for ALL the other feats - otherwise, I think Five Second Rush and Hug The Earth are too good without any additional pre-reqs.

Just my 2cp.

Ranis
2007-03-05, 09:11 AM
I agree, Hug the Earth is quite good without that backup feat.

kellandros
2007-03-05, 11:35 AM
I'm not sure about that ability to load weapons faster while prone, I would think it would normally be harder to do than standing up to begin with. I guess it depends on the mechanism to reload a crossbow.

Windlass crank: still need room to run the mechanism
foot stirrup(place foot into metal strap at base, grab cord and pull with both hands): less leverage
light crossbow(can draw it with only one hand): same timeframe

Plus, most quivers are designed for use while standing up- you would have a better chance to spill your arrows reaching for them while lying down.

I just would suggest not making it stack with rapid reload, at least for flavor reasons.

Ever Phasm
2007-03-05, 03:20 PM
Very good but think practically.

I agree with Kellandros and Swampninja and additionally, make it so that you can only use crossbows better when prone (ever tried firring a bow or throwing an axe prone?)

Or Homebrew certain weapons that work better prone. As a DM I would say that a masterwork crossbow could have been specifically designed to be used while prone.

kellandros
2007-03-05, 05:00 PM
Hmm, thinking back now, there was the rain of arrows scene in Jet Li's Hero that may be similar in concept.

You had the massive army, sending wave after wave of arrows out. One set were people with crossbows. They were sitting on the ground, with their feet held against the front part of the crossbow. Then they would lift their legs and the bow upwards to the chosen angle, load an arrow, grab the bowstring with both hands, and then release it firing off to the distance. This would have to be a custom designed crossbow to use effectively.

The upside of this is your formations can be stacked deeper if you have a set of these guys in front. Useless in melee or any non-area attack.
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Also, lying prone would only help against directly aimed shots. But if you face a hail of arrows, arcing down from above, you are offering a much larger area of your body for them to intercept. This might be balanced by the current rules- these prone bonuses as written should not apply to indirect fire.

Miles Invictus
2007-03-05, 06:37 PM
How do they look with the revised changes?

Hug the Earth!: Rather than give it more prerequisites, I gave it a smaller initial bonus. This encourages the player to continue to invest in Prone feats, hopefully without weakening it. I'd like to give PCs a less restrictive path through the feat chain, but if the feat is too weak with this alteration, I'll revert it to normal and throw in some prerequisites.

Prone Fighter: Removed rapid-firing of throwing/splash weapons (regular bows cannot be fired prone, by the way). Just as a defense of the rapid-fire ability -- I'm assuming that the character can devote more effort to reloading, since they aren't holding the entire weight of the weapon in their hands while reloading.

kellandros
2007-03-05, 10:27 PM
I think someone with these abilities should use a pop-up attack frequently.

Start crouched down in a pit, with a loaded crossbow. Pop up quickly (using five second rush ability), fire off your shot, and quickly drop back into cover. Plus is you could re-hide immediately, and potentially sneak off for another sneak attack.

I'd expect some sort of penalty normally for doing so- you can't prepare and aim for your target. You'd also be vulnerable after the first attempt- someone readies an action to shoot you the next time you stick your head out.

Icewalker
2007-03-06, 03:47 AM
I like them, but the rapid reload crossbows thing is a bit sketchy. I understand how they could devote more effort to reloading, that makes sense, but it wouldn't actually allow you to reload the bow faster.

Miles Invictus
2007-03-06, 09:37 PM
I can't think of another way to emphasize the easier reloading, though. Maybe allow a free reload if they end their turn without moving?

Kellandros brings up a good point, about aiming -- Five-Second Rush is intended as an aid to movement, not to making swift attacks. I think I'll put in a penalty to attack for the rest of the round.