Flavor Question

[Magidex]

There's a feat that lets the Fighter target Reflex instead of AC with a certain power. (Dual Strike, at-will Standard action, melee reach, must be wielding two melee weapons, Str vs. AC, two targets, 1[W] damage per attack.)
There's a Bard at-will power that reads, "Hit: 1[W] + Cha damage, and the target takes a -2 penalty to a defense of your choice until the end of your next turn."

Seeing as every bit of this is player knowledge of game mechanics, how do the characters know to do this? How does the bard know that the fighter needs the enemies' reflex lowered and not AC like normal? How does the fighter tell the bard which defense he needs lowered?

How, for example, would all of this be portrayed without mixing player/character knowledge?

 

[Gradine]

The Dual Strike one is simple; when targeting AC, you're essentially applying brute force. Targeting Reflex is a matter of precision and careful aim. When you're targeting Reflex, you're going after a weak point in the enemy's armor (or equivalent); this forces the enemy to either dodge or quickly protect the weak spot (this is the reason shields add to Reflex as well.) A fighter taking the feat is specifically practicing this form/technique/attack style (however you want to flavor the exploit) to apply more finesse and precision.

The Bard power simply requires looking at what each defense is meant to represent. If you want to lower the enemy's AC, flavor the power as cutting some straps off the armor (for naturally armored opponents, this can involve working on an already existing wound, making it easier to strike for allies.) Want to lower an opponents will? Demoralize them- maybe a humiliating or painful attack. Lowering reflex is easier; just distract them. Fortitude's a little bit more difficult to conceptualize... perhaps a quick blow to the windpipe (proper breathing is key for both endurance and for pain tolerance.)

In general, your bard is going to know how their allies function in combat. If you've got a telepathic psion in your party, you're going to understand that their more effective against weak-willed opponents. By demoralizing or angering your opponent, you can cause them to momentarily lose control; a fatal mistake for an opponent trying to resist psychic attacks. Or say you've teamed up with the aforementioned Dual Striking, reflex-targeting fighter. By distracting their opponent, you lessen their ability to dodge your ally's attacks.

Once you get past the crunch of the different defenses at look at their fluff, the basic idea behind each NAD, and it's easy to see why your characters (not just your players) would want to target different defenses with different attacks.

 

[talarei07]

we had this come up too. what i did (as the Bard) was get the group of characters get together and discuss what each character was capable of and develop code words for the powers if they were supposed to work in concert. as far how to describe a power that lowers reflex defense, well
Fighter: "I have this nifty attack that the enemy has to more rely on his ability to dodge it than his armors ability to protect him"
Bard "Whoa, man i got this nifty spell that makes em a little clumsier. We should totally work those together in combat."
Fighter: "Yeah we'll call it Peanut butter jelly time!"
Bard:.....
(roughly the conversation between the two characters)