Glancing Blow Looks Like A Miss

[FireLance]

It appears that the feat formerly known as Reaper is now a combat maneuver called Glancing Blow that requires the fighter to expend expertise dice and to have missed on a roll of 10+.

This might go some way to address the concerns that some players had on automatic damage.

However, I don't think the mathematics will work out. It looks like this ability will hardly ever come into play because the fighter will hit most opponents on a roll of 10+ anyway.

As an example, the sample dwarf fighter has an attack bonus of +6 (+3 from class, +3 from Strength of 16), and most of the enemies in the bestiary have ACs of 16 or less. While he's a Guardian instead of a Slayer, if he was a Slayer, I can find only one creature (Dark Priest, AC 17) that he would miss on a 10 (exactly), and only from levels 1 to 3, because he gains an additional point of attack bonus at level 4. A human fighter Slayer, who could start with a Strength of 18, would never use this ability unless he was suffering some kind of attack roll penalty.

It might be better to have it trigger when the fighter misses by 4 or less, or for simplicity, on an attack roll of 5+.

 

[Ahnehnois]

It feels less stupid that the original version. At least it doesn't work if you roll low. But I still wouldn't allow it.

 

[mlund]

If you can hit them taking ten, you can head-butt / eye-gouge / pommel-smash / [insert whatever description of hitting that works with missing the primary attack] them for 1dX - I like it. I think I like it a lot.

- Marty Lund

 

[LostSoul]

It might be better to have it trigger when the fighter misses by 4 or less, or for simplicity, on an attack roll of 5+.

Like Palladium Fantasy?

 

[Someone]

"Roll your cs die and add it to your attack roll, but the attack deaks half damage"

I would have gone that way.

 

[Raith5]

If you can hit them taking ten, you can head-butt / eye-gouge / pommel-smash / [insert whatever description of hitting that works with missing the primary attack] them for 1dX - I like it. I think I like it a lot.

- Marty Lund

I like it as well. Despite the math seeming strange as firelance indicates. But Glancing blow sounds too anodyne. They should call it Fighting Dirty or something.

 

[CM]

It feels like a poor choice of maneuver now.

Before it was free, and happened on all attacks. Now it requires the expenditure of an expertise die in addition to the 10+ requirement. It should just simply work like: Trigger: you miss with a weapon attack. Effect: You roll your expertise die anyway and deal that damage.

A side note on the topic of maneuvers: Does Deadly Strike need to be declared before you determine whether your attack kills the opponent?

 

[triqui]

It feels like a poor choice of maneuver now.

Before it was free, and happened on all attacks. Now it requires the expenditure of an expertise die in addition to the 10+ requirement. It should just simply work like: Trigger: you miss with a weapon attack. Effect: You roll your expertise die anyway and deal that damage.

A side note on the topic of maneuvers: Does Deadly Strike need to be declared before you determine whether your attack kills the opponent?

It's Mechanically ineffective as it is now.

I'd make it work on 5+

 

[Thac0 the Barbarian]

I actually like how it works. It implies that it doesn't come up with the weaker creatures, you either miss the entirely or you squash them like a bug. It may come up with the more heavily armored creatures, imagine injuring the forearm of someone blocking your blow with a shield. The fact that it's of limited use it with the creatures given them in the Bestiary may not imply that it is of no use overall. A lot depends on what they choose to do with additional creatures, and to what extent of their armor classes will be be bounded. This isn't meant to it meant to imply that the numbers exactly correct, but I think the overall flavor is spot on.

 

[Ahnehnois]

"Roll your cs die and add it to your attack roll, but the attack deaks half damage"

I would have gone that way.

Interesting idea. Sort of like a built in action point for the fighter. It has the virtue of still taking the enemy's AC into account and still requiring you to produce a number above it, while giving the CS ability some juice.