D&D 4E 4E Inspired Feats: Relentless Attack, Charging Rush, & More

[el-remmen]

I came up with this feat after my group's playtest of 4E. In general we didn't like the rules, but did like some of the movement possibilities it suggests - thus this feat. . I hope to come up with more building on this one - but wanted to get some feedback.

Relentless Attack [general]
You are an expert at pressing the attack against a withdrawing enemy.
Prerequisite: Dex 11, Base Attack +1
Benefit: Whenever an adjacent opponent takes a five foot step that would move them away from being adjacent to you, you may immediately move five feet to remain adjacent. This movement still draws attacks of opportunity if it made within the threatened area of another opponent. Each step taken in this way applies a cumulative -1 circumstance penalty to you armor class until the start of your next turn. You may not move more than half your speed this way between turns.
Special: A fighter may choose Relentless Attack as one of his bonus feats.

 

[Clay_More]

Howdy Remmen!

Its a good feat, and probably a feat that I could see a use for. Initially, I thought it looked a bit strong, especially with its rather low prerequisites, but I then saw the various limitations on it and it actually looks kind of fair, since there's both a limit to how far you can move and you gain an AC penalty.

I actually thought a bit "ahead" after reading the feat, that you could imagine an Epic feat with this feat as prerequisite that would allow you to pursue someone using a teleportation spell or effect (could even imagine an additional feat that would allow you to pursue someone across the planes). It was actually something I had in mind for a melee-based anti-caster PrC I was working on.

 

[el-remmen]

Thanks for the comments.

Since I never run epic level games, I really don't spend much time considering epic abilities.

However, the next feat I am thinking on is something that allows an engaged character to follow someone who is using the withdraw action without making withdrawal completely useless or allowing for too much movement between turns.

I do have another 4E inspired feat to post - what I'll do is edit the title of this thread and post it as well.

 

[el-remmen]

Charging Rush [general]
You push back your opponent as part of a charging attack.
Prerequisite: Improved Bullrush
Benefit: When armed and performing a bullrush as part of charge you may also make an attack at your highest attack bonus. If your attack misses, you fail to perform the bullrush. If wielding a heavy shield you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to your opposed roll.
Special: If you succeed in knocking down your opponent as part of your attack roll, he falls at the end of the bullrush. A fighter may select Charging Rush as one of his fighter bonus feats.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Charging Rush [general]
You push back your opponent as part of a charging attack.
Prerequisite: Improved Bullrush
Benefit: When armed and performing a bullrush as part of charge you may also make an attack at your highest attack bonus. If your attack misses, you fail to perform the bullrush. If wielding a heavy shield you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to your opposed roll.
Special: If you succeed in knocking down your opponent as part of your attack roll, he falls at the end of the bullrush. A fighter may select Charging Rush as one of his fighter bonus feats.

So this is basically a weaker Knockback with fewer prerequisites? What's that part about knocking the foe down? Is it part of the feat, or is it referencing using some other means of knocking a foe down on a bull rush, like Rampaging Bull Rush or the Domino Rush maneuver of the Shock Trooper feat?

I came up with this feat after my group's playtest of 4E. In general we didn't like the rules, but did like some of the movement possibilities it suggests - thus this feat. . I hope to come up with more building on this one - but wanted to get some feedback.

Relentless Attack [general]
You are an expert at pressing the attack against a withdrawing enemy.
Prerequisite: Dex 11, Base Attack +1
Benefit: Whenever an adjacent opponent takes a five foot step that would move them away from being adjacent to you, you may immediately move five feet to remain adjacent. This movement still draws attacks of opportunity if it made within the threatened area of another opponent. Each step taken in this way applies a cumulative -1 circumstance penalty to you armor class until the start of your next turn. You may not move more than half your speed this way between turns.
Special: A fighter may choose Relentless Attack as one of his bonus feats.

Note you can already do this, just not with such low prerequisites. Which is fine, as the other options are better. In ToB alone, you've got Evasive Reflexes (take a 5 ft step instead of AoO, could be used to pursue, requires Combat Reflexes to use extensively) and the level 5 Setting Sun counter, Mirrored Pursuit, which works for any movement away from you. There's another Setting Sun counter specifically to 5 ft step into a vacated space, can't recall the name...

As far as your balancing method, I'm not sure how effective it is. The feat seems designed for a Fighter battling a Mage. Which creates two problems. First, the AC penalty is so ridiculously worth it to stay on a caster it isn't even worth thinking about. Second, it'd be fine around level 6, but before that, the casters are actually pretty weak and have trouble casting defensively. Conversely, melee people tend to do quite well. I don't know if it's a good idea to make this feat available, as-is, from first character level.

Also, I'm genuinely curious. Are there actual published feats that require an 11 in a stat? Usually, it's 13+ or they don't even bother listing one, IME.

 

[el-remmen]

Hi, thanks for responding StreamoftheSky.

In rereading the feat I noticed the knocking down part and realized I forgot to explain it - we use a knockdown house rule (adapted from 2E Combat & Tatics book) - so any blow or bullrush has a chance to knock someone down (based on weapon, character strength and opponent size). You can read about it here.

I don't own (or plan to own) Tome of Battle as the stuff in there is not to my gaming style from what I have seen of it.

The 11 in a stat is just there to establish a minimum competency, not really meant to be prohibitive.

The AC penalty might be too low, you're right about that - but at the same time in my own case, I run games with few magic items - so ACs are not inflated by magic. On the other hand we do use a base defense bonus house rule - so perhaps I should increase it to -2 per step.