Ranged Basic Charge

[Negflar2099]

*moved over from 4e Rules Forum*

Right now you can't use a Ranged Basic Attack with a Charge. That's melee attacks only. So I'm proposing a companion to Charge that works with Ranged Basic Attacks. I call it Strafe. It works with Ranged Basic Attacks only and instead of a +1 to hit you get a -2 but other than it works like Charge.

So here it is:

Strafe
Action: Standard
Description: Move up to your speed and make a basic ranged attack with a -2 penalty.
Special: After you use this move you can't take any other actions for this turn without spending an action point.

I see this having two practical effects. Magic Missile would become a much better power since you can move and then strafe allowing you to get really far away from your enemies and thus take advantage of magic missile's range. That might fix some of the problems with magic missile.

On the other hand it would make eldritch blast (which is a fine power already) much more powerful. Not to mention the effect it would have on any other powers that count as ranged basic attacks.

I don't know if this adding this would be a good idea or not. I thought about making it a feat but I don't think it's worth it as a feat. What do you think?

 

[Wolf88]

Looks good and balanced, but i'd have to try it in game to be sure of that...

 

[Paultimatum]

I'd agree, I think it looks like a good idea.

 

[Mesh Hong]

I really don't want to like this idea at all, as ranged PCs are already very difficult to pin down in combat (I have a bow ranger in my group that is practically impossible to attack).

But it seems reasonable, personally I would like to see a slightly bigger penalty either -3 or -4 (as essentially you are running which would be a -5 and grant combat advantage).

All in all I don't really see a need for this power, but if you do then it seems like a reasonable house rule.

 

[Negflar2099]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll try it out in my game and see how it goes.

 

[Mengu]

I kind of would like to see a heavy thrown weapon exception to a regular charge. If at the end of your charge movement you don't make it to a square adjacent to the target, and are wielding a heavy thrown weapon, you may throw the weapon with a +1 attack bonus. This gives a bit more milage to heavy thrown weapons.

 

[Brain]

Flavor:
I can see the thrown weapon as part of a charge but not a magic missile, eldritch blast, longbow or whatever.

Mechanics:
There are powers that allow move/shoot combinations for various classes, and those are balanced around the set of actions available to the pcs.

Overall:
I recommend an option of some kind that isn't free (feat, class feature, whatnot) to make charging with a thrown weapon (maybe only heavy) doable.

 

[Paul Strack]

I agree with Mesh Hong. I think it is important, balance-wise, that you cannot make a ranged attack in combination with a charge. Otherwise, a party of snipers can kill a melee-only monster with very little risk, simply by backing up each round.

As the rules stand, the melee-only creatures can generally close within a round or two, and ranged-attackers can only stay out of melee if they are screened by melee fighters. That is the way it should be, IMO.

 

[ravenheart]

I think this could be a good idea, but for the sake of balance maybe something like this:

Strafe
Action: Standard
Description: Move up to half your speed and make a basic ranged attack. You must choose to either take a -5 penalty to this attack, OR take a -2 penalty to this atttack and you grant combat advantage to all enemies until the beginning of your next turn.
Special: After you use this move you can't take any other actions for this turn without spending an action point.

 

[Syrsuro]

I agree with most of the objections given above.

If I were to try to craft a rule like this, it would be similar to the following:

• Only useable with thrown weapons and only useable if the character moves towards the opponent [the idea of a charge to to increase the momentum behind your attack. You can't increase momentum while running in the opposite direction. You can, however, use a move action to back up and then charge forward as a standard action].
• The character must move at least two squares before the attack roll and must stop moving after making the attack roll.
• The character is considered to be making a ranged attack and draws Opportunity Attacks from all adjacent opponents during the entire charge action.
• The range of the thrown weapon is increased by 1 (short range) or 2 (long range) [as a result of the added momentum].
• Must be the last action taken in a turn, unless the player spends an action point.

Note: This does not directly increase the accuracy, it increases the range - both by virtue of the movement before the attack and also as a direct benefit. You are not necessarily more accurate when throwing on the run, but you can throw farther.

This does indirectly increase accuracy at medium ranges, however as targets which would have been at long range are brought into the short range.

Carl