LostSoul said:
Those are some good ideas, barsoomcore. I think I might have to steal them.
But wait! There's more!
Er, no, there isn't. But I did a little thinking and came up with some actual, sort of, rules.
So the idea is to make combat less "stand still and we'll hack each other into pieces" and more "Woo! Let's chase each other all over the battlefield like crazed monkeys with edged weapons!"
In case you didn't know, I'm rooting for the monkeys. Crazed monkeys, yum.
This rule is an alteration to the existing combat rules. It is not a feat nor a combat action but a new result to existing actions (damage, actually). One can come up with feats that might come out of this new rule, however.
Knockback Effect (a damage effect)
Anytime a character is hit for damage by a melee weapon, that character moves five feet directly away from the character who just hit them. The attacker may if they choose move five feet to maintain the distance between them, but cannot otherwise take a move action. Both moves happen everytime a character is struck by a melee weapon for damage. These movements are considered free actions but draw attacks of opportunity as normal movement. The attacker's following move must come before any other action by the attacker, including additional attacks, five-foot steps, or move-equivalent actions.
Attacks of opportunity, if successful, likewise move the defender, but the attacker cannot in that case choose to follow. Attackers can only follow defenders on the attacker's action.
A defending character can attempt to stand firm in the face of their enemy's attack. A character can resist the Knockback Effect by making a melee attack roll against a DC of 10 + the damage dealt by the attack. If successful, the character remains in the square they were in and the attacker is unable to move forward.
If a character's movement would take them into a solid object, they do not move. Instead they suffer a -1 circumstance bonus to AC after taking a hit that deals damage until their next action. This penalty stacks. They can avoid this penalty by successfully resisting the Knockback Effect, as detailed above.
Expected results of the new rule:
-- People will end up chasing each other all over the battlefield.
-- Making a clean getaway now requires smacking them, driving them back so they no longer threaten you, and then running for it.
-- Flanking someone will really suck for them because if one attacker hits he drives the defender into the same square as the opposite attacker (thus giving that one an attack of opportunity which, if successful, smacks him right back into the middle -- flanked by people with sneak attack = dead very quickly).
-- Driving people into walls or corners will be an effective tactic. Being in a corner against someone who gets multiple attacks per round is quickly going to start sucking.
-- Trying to resist getting pushed off cliffs will be more common (I see drastic changes in Barsimian geography coming up).
-- Retreating into a mass of your buddies is a very smart idea (you can keep from getting hit multiple times if your opponent doesn't want to risk a bunch of AoO's).
-- Taking a five-foot step just to change the angle of attack will be a common tactic, in order to drive your opponent in a given direction.
Problems
-- What's the point of Bull Rush now? Actually, I have a bit of an answer -- with Bull Rush you don't have to do damage (so you could Bull Rush someone with damage resistance, who ought to be immune to Knockback) and you can push them back more than five feet if you happen to be strong like tractor. Or big.
-- Is it more record-keeping and dice-rolling? I kinda don't think so though a play-test or two is probably in order. You only roll dice in extraordinary circumstances (like when you're teetering on the edge of a cliff), which is maybe kind of a good thing (I imagine a certain degree of nail-biting at those rolls...).
-- It's important to keep in mind that this isn't really
Knockback, right? You're not sending people flying -- they're just having to retreat in order to not get their heads cut off. Hence the resist roll is an attack roll and not an opposed Strength check -- you just have to keep your wits and your instincts sharp and you can stand firm.
