Grayhawk
First Post
Pre 3.5e there was some talk on these boards about disarm, sunder & trip being too easy.
With 3.5e these actions got even easier, as the 'Improved' feats now grant a +4 bonus to the opposed roll as well.
(And now that standing up from prone provokes an AoO, tripping is even better than before.)
So here's a possible solution to make these actions a little bit harder, while still making the 'Improved' feats worthwhile:
Normal: The opposed roll for a disarm, sunder or trip attempt carries a penalty of -2 for the initiater, as well as triggering an AoO from the defender.
With 'Improved' feat: The initiater doesn't provoke an AoO and gets a +2 bonus to the opposed roll, whether he's initiating or defending.
This way, these actions will be harder overall, but an 'Improved' feat will net a bonus of +4 (like in 3.5e), and someone with Improved Disarm will be better at defending against disarm attempts.
I would also let the opposed attack rolls of disarm and sunder carry over to trip, making this an opposed attack roll as well (having the defender decide whether to add his str or dex bonus to his BAB when defending).
Also, I won't let Improved Trip grant a free attack, as that now will come from the AoO when trying to get back up. Instead the feat will prevent a counter trip attempt.
In the end I think it would be nice to have just one mechanic to remember when trying one of these special actions (so this could probably carry over to bull rush, overrun and maybe even grabble as well. With grabbling still requiring a touch attack.)
This way all the 'Improved' feats will act in a similar way: No AoO on initiating, +2 on an opposed attack roll, no risk of being faced with a similar counterattack on a failed check.
Are there any obvious flaws with this system?
With 3.5e these actions got even easier, as the 'Improved' feats now grant a +4 bonus to the opposed roll as well.
(And now that standing up from prone provokes an AoO, tripping is even better than before.)
So here's a possible solution to make these actions a little bit harder, while still making the 'Improved' feats worthwhile:
Normal: The opposed roll for a disarm, sunder or trip attempt carries a penalty of -2 for the initiater, as well as triggering an AoO from the defender.
With 'Improved' feat: The initiater doesn't provoke an AoO and gets a +2 bonus to the opposed roll, whether he's initiating or defending.
This way, these actions will be harder overall, but an 'Improved' feat will net a bonus of +4 (like in 3.5e), and someone with Improved Disarm will be better at defending against disarm attempts.
I would also let the opposed attack rolls of disarm and sunder carry over to trip, making this an opposed attack roll as well (having the defender decide whether to add his str or dex bonus to his BAB when defending).
Also, I won't let Improved Trip grant a free attack, as that now will come from the AoO when trying to get back up. Instead the feat will prevent a counter trip attempt.
In the end I think it would be nice to have just one mechanic to remember when trying one of these special actions (so this could probably carry over to bull rush, overrun and maybe even grabble as well. With grabbling still requiring a touch attack.)
This way all the 'Improved' feats will act in a similar way: No AoO on initiating, +2 on an opposed attack roll, no risk of being faced with a similar counterattack on a failed check.
Are there any obvious flaws with this system?
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