Equip The Garrotte..any suggestions on strangulation?

Emirikol · 14th March 2009, 07:30 AM

The Garrotte..any suggestions on strangulation?

jh

malcolm_n · 14th March 2009, 07:34 AM

Being strangled = Stunned except to release from the garrote? That's how i'd run it I think. But you'd have to maintain the hold to do so. And a locking garrote would have a set Fortitude defense for the target to beat with a str attack.

Oh, if the target fails to release itself after the first round, it begins to "drown."

Odysseus · 14th March 2009, 02:18 PM

how about for A Garotte

Requires combatadvantage or surprise to attack.
intial attack vs ref, to start the grab.
requires minor action to maintain
and an attack vs fort to deal damage at the start of the targets round

Also have a look at bugbear strangular in the MM

EP · 14th March 2009, 06:17 PM

Make it part of a grab action. Agreed on the combat advantage because you need to sneak up on the target. Make a Dexterity vs Reflex attack and the garotte inflicts 1d6 damage. Sustaining the garotte is a standard action (instead of minor for sustaining a grab) because of the specific strength you have to put into the choking.

The target is also dazed, meaning they can either try to shake off their strangler or use a move action to run them into a wall or object. Works better than stunned because a stunned character can take no action so they can't try to escape. Something that can help PCs in case a DM tries it on them.

Irda Ranger · 14th March 2009, 06:50 PM

EP's suggestions look good to me.

My ads are that once the garrot is in place:
1) The strangler would grant CA to anyone not the target.
2) The rules for "suffocation during combat" on pg. 159 of the DMG would apply (this would be in addition to the 1d6 damage sustained each round from the garrott itself).

Frankly it's sort of a slow way to kill someone who has a decent number of healing surges. I wouldn't try it during normal combat unless I had a Bugbear Strangler-like ability to use the target as a meatshield. I guess it's a good option though if the target is alone and you need to take them out quietly.

BendBars/LiftGates · 14th March 2009, 07:14 PM

If you have a DDI subscription, then your quest is over. The article "The Art of the Kill," from Monday has everything you need. In addition to being a huge, mega-article with all kinds of great content, it has rules for the garotte as a weapon and then does a "multiclass" Weapon Training feat chain for it. It gives you a series of encounter powers at various points during the heroic teir that you can substitute in for other powers. They're pretty cool and definitely go a long way toward making the garotte a valid weapon for a certain build of stealthy PCs. Eventually, you get the Body Shield ability just like the bugbear strangler.

However, since you are asking this, I assume you don't have a DDI subscription. You should get one.

AbdulAlhazred · 14th March 2009, 07:21 PM

I'm not really 100% sure why you have to apply a condition to the target. BB Strangler doesn't. It might be a bit too effective that way. The healing surge part kind of isn't going to matter much with PCs, but it is going to be the MAIN form of damage if the target is a monster. Consider the rogue garrots the ancient huge red dragon... OK, it is an epic monster, so it has 3 surges, starting on the fourth round the thing is taking 300 points of damage per round, auto hit. It isn't completely broken, but if the target is also dazed, it seems a bit too potent for that type of a solo monster.

Zero Cochrane · 14th March 2009, 10:42 PM

I came up with the following house rule for my campaign.

CHOKING adapted from creatures in the Monster Manual
You can choke a creature that you have grabbed and immobilized – Attack : Strength vs. Fortitude. Damage: as an unarmed attack. Choking is a standard action.
Choking with a garrote: You can choke a surprised or helpless creature with a garrote if you make a successful choking attack. A standard garrote imposes a -4 penalty to the victim's roll to escape. An improvised garrote (such as a belt or length of rope) imposes only a -2 penalty.

**Plane Sailing** · 15th March 2009, 02:05 AM

I think that any rules you come up with probably ought to take into account the Rogue power Garrotte Grip (Daily Attack 15) - you don't want to overshadow that (and it isn't too hot to start with)