A Simple Fix for Glancing Blow

[GX.Sigma]

What it currently says: "...when you miss a creature with a weapon attack but roll at least a 10 on the d20..."

What it should say: "...when you miss a creature with a weapon attack, but the result of your attack roll is at least 10..."

Explanation: 10 is the base AC, so if you hit that, all that's stopping you is their armor or dodging ability, and Glancing Blow deals damage through that. Makes way more sense than requiring you to hit AC 17 so you can get a glancing blow on someone with AC 20.

Also, it's how the monster "armor piercing" ability works, so why not have them be the same?

 

[Yora]

What problem does this fix?

I think rolling at least a 10 on the die is the better way to do it. The chance for that is always 50% and even though the increase of the BAB is planned to be very limited, you still can get the chance to hit AC 10 easily to 70% at first level and 90% not much later.

 

[Chris_Nightwing]

I imagine they have already copy-pasted this very thing, since as you note, they have the armor piercing mechanic.

 

[underfoot007ct]

What it currently says: "...when you miss a creature with a weapon attack but roll at least a 10 on the d20..."

What it should say: "...when you miss a creature with a weapon attack, but the result of your attack roll is at least 10..."

Explanation: 10 is the base AC, so if you hit that, all that's stopping you is their armor or dodging ability, and Glancing Blow deals damage through that. Makes way more sense than requiring you to hit AC 17 so you can get a glancing blow on someone with AC 20.

Also, it's how the monster "armor piercing" ability works, so why not have them be the same?

Fixing means something is broken, so what exactly are you repairing? Seems to be rules tweaking for tweaking sake. I just don't see any problem either.

 

[Yora]

However, I think armor piercing needs to be rephrased. I've always assumed it means rolling a 10 rather than hitting AC 10.

 

[GX.Sigma]

What problem does this fix?

Fixing means something is broken, so what exactly are you repairing? Seems to be rules tweaking for tweaking sake. I just don't see any problem either.

Situations in which the current Glancing Blow does literally anything:

1. You have a +3 in your attack stat and are fighting the Dark Priest, in which case it has a 5% chance to activate
2. You have +2 in your attack stat, in which case it has a 5% chance to activate against the chieftains and the minotaur, and 10% against the priest
3. You have +1 or less in your attack stat for some reason

You don't see that as a problem?

 

[Nikosandros]

Fixing means something is broken, so what exactly are you repairing? Seems to be rules tweaking for tweaking sake. I just don't see any problem either.

The issue is that a 1st level fighter with Str 16 hits AC 16 on a 10, so that the power is largely useless.

 

[ZombieRoboNinja]

A level 5 fighter with 20 Str already hits ac10 on everything but a natural 1, so it would be simpler just to get rid of the minimum roll requirement.

 

[triqui]

What problem does this fix?

It makes the skill usefu in some situationsl, as opposite of what it is right now.

I think rolling at least a 10 on the die is the better way to do it. The chance for that is always 50% and even though the increase of the BAB is planned to be very limited, you still can get the chance to hit AC 10 easily to 70% at first level and 90% not much later.

The problem with that, is that it does nothing. In 99.99% of the cases, a fighter will hit with a 10, in a "bounded accuracy" system as we are playtesting, against equal level threats.
A human fighter with normal array, hits on everything with a 10, at level *one*.

 

[Vikingkingq]

What it currently says: "...when you miss a creature with a weapon attack but roll at least a 10 on the d20..."

What it should say: "...when you miss a creature with a weapon attack, but the result of your attack roll is at least 10..."

Certainly that makes more sense, although I think it's still problematical. A starting Fighter with Strength 17 is going to see this ability activate 20% of the time, but that drops to 15% by level 4; a starting Human Fighter with Strength 18 is going to see it activate 15%, dropping to 10% by level 4. (I think - math isn't my strong suit)

I think a simpler design would be "Once per turn when you miss a creature with a weapon attack, you can spend expertise dice to turn the miss into a glancing blow."