[3.5E] New Revision Spotlight article - The Combat Chapter

[MerricB]

G'day people!

Latest spotlight: The Improved Combat Chapter

Of particular interest:
* underwater combat rules in the DMG
* strike a weapon action becomes the Sunder action, and
* the Sunder feat becomes the Improved Sunder feat (clarifying terms, much appreciated!)

Looks good to me, though I still want more information... no, what I want are the 3.5E rulebooks!

Cheers!

 

[Illuminae]

Something in the article caught my attention...

a restricted activity

I dont know if I like the sound of this....


It sounds like... partial action....

but... different...

mmmmmmmm...

is it?

is it not?

hhhhmmmmm.....

 

[MerricB]

A restricted activity could mean those situational activities - you know, something you do whilst grappling, or in place of a melee attack.

Cheers!

 

[Dark Jezter]

Wait a minute, if partial actions aren't allowed anymore, how will readying actions be handled?

 

[MerricB]

The new name for Partial actions is Standard Action.

In 3E, the Partial action was defined as a "Standard action without a move"; so if you rename Partial actions as Standard actions, you get the following list of things you can do in a turn:

3.5E:
* A Full Round action
* A Standard Action and a Move Action
* Two Move Actions
* A Standard Action
* A Move action

This is much simpler than 3E's confusing welter of Standard, Partial, Move, Move-Equivalent and Full round actions - along with the "replacement" actions of Trip, Grapple and Disarm.

Thus, in 3.5E as your action you may choose to "ready" a Standard action.

Incidentally, Charge was a Standard action in 3E. In 3.5E, I expect it will become a Full Round action; the Partial Charge will become a Standard Action.

Cheers!

 

[Illuminae]

Hey Merric,

I cant find the explicit mention of the Partial Charge in the PHB.
Ive been looking for it for two sessions and cant find it.
Do you know where it is?

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

It's mentioned on page 121 and in both the text and table on page 127. It doesn't have its own entry, though.

 

[MerricB]

It is also in the D&D FAQ (available on Wizards' website):

Q. I can’t find any rules on a partial charge. I would assume that it is just a charge at half the speed of normal, but I don’t know where I can find that information. So what exactly is a partial charge?

A. A partial charge is a charge you take as a partial action. It works just like a regular charge, except that you can only move your speed—not up to twice your speed as in a regular charge.

Cheers!

 

[Ranger REG]

* underwater combat rules in the DMG

I hope they include feats like Swim-By Attack or an underwater application of Spring Attack (a dolphin would use this to slap you with his tail and move on).

* strike a weapon action becomes the Sunder action, and
* the Sunder feat becomes the Improved Sunder feat (clarifying terms, much appreciated!)

They need to downplay the Strike a Weapon rules. I'm getting my weapon destroyed by a cooperative attack (one enemy provoke AoO as a diversion for his ally to Strike my weapon) that prompted me to pick up Combat Reflexes. Also, while the abstract combat rules implies that I'm also blocking my attacker's weapon with whatever I have (including my weapon) without fear that my weapon would break, Strike a Weapon rules allows attacker to easily destroy my weapon. At the very least, make masterwork and magical weapons immune to critical hits, if not all weapons both magical and nonmagical.

 

[coyote6]

Re: Re: [3.5E] New Revision Spotlight article - The Combat Chapter

Strike a Weapon rules allows attacker to easily destroy my weapon. At the very least, make masterwork and magical weapons immune to critical hits, if not all weapons both magical and nonmagical.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. AFAIK, weapons are objects, and all objects are immune to critical hits. Am I missing or forgetting something?