Am I breaking any rules with this tactic?

[Odysseus]

IMO with a standard tactic your trying to employ, moving into the room straight away shouldn't be standard. And when you do move in, leapfrog moves , one character had ready actions, the other moves forward etc. That way you don't need to change the rules.
As to the suggested feat. Any stealthy character is going to want it. Which is a sign its too good

 

[Asmo]

Here's how I would do it:

1-Party preps for combat outside door.
2-Door is kicked down.
<Initiative is rolled, assuming hostiles on the other side>
3 (round 1) - It's likely the party gets a surprise round to move or attack. Ideally, melee fighters should delay their action until the ranged combatants have softened up the enemy.
4 (round 2) - attacks occur in initiative order.

As a party you can still get good usage out of that surprise round - archers can fire, spells can be cast, and fighters can close to combat. Fighters could charge into combat if they've got a clear line.

Giving the party any more advantage than this would be too much. This is enough.

I was thinking about number 1 in this example: party is preparing outside the door. If buffing with spells is included, is it even possible to gain surprise as the PHB states ( p. 174 under Components) that " to provide a verbal component, you must be able to speak in a strong voice"
Pretty hard to surprise someone under these conditions?
Do you dm:s play by this rule, or do you let it slip?

Asmo

 

[Artoomis]

I was thinking about number 1 in this example: party is preparing outside the door. If buffing with spells is included, is it even possible to gain surprise as the PHB states ( p. 174 under Components) that " to provide a verbal component, you must be able to speak in a strong voice"
Pretty hard to surprise someone under these conditions?
Do you dm:s play by this rule, or do you let it slip?

Asmo

I think it is an important balancing factor. Spells are very powerfdul and need these balancing factors to be retained. YMMV

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

I was thinking about number 1 in this example: party is preparing outside the door. If buffing with spells is included, is it even possible to gain surprise as the PHB states ( p. 174 under Components) that " to provide a verbal component, you must be able to speak in a strong voice"
Pretty hard to surprise someone under these conditions?
Do you dm:s play by this rule, or do you let it slip?

Consider that it's not possible to just hear someone; the other party needs to make at least one Listen check. There's a penalty for being on the other side of a door; there's a penalty for being on the other side of a wall; there's a penalty for distance from the source of the noise; there's a penalty for being distracted (like, say, playing poker in the guardroom).

Taken together, there's a good chance that the creatures on the opposite side of the door won't hear you.

Of course, there's probably a small chance that they might, in which case they might decide to surprise you.

 

[Hussar]

I think the prerequisites for that feat are way to low for some thing that powerful.

I think should require Improved Initiative and Combat Reflexes at a minimum.

Really? You think it's that powerful? Why? I'm sorry, but I see parties surprising opponents so rarely that I would think that this feat wouldn't come up all that often. It doesn't allow any bonus attacks or anything like that, all it does is add a move action to the standard action allowed by the surprise round.

I suppose the thief could surprise, run up and sneak attack, but, then again, the thief usually uses a ranged weapon instead anyway, so it's not that huge of a difference. Besides that, a rogue can use the partial charge action anyway, so he can always run up and sneak attack.

About the only thing I suppose this really helps on is sniping, but, even then you still take the -20 to your hide checks for that.

I'm sorry, I'm not seeing how this is so powerful.

 

[Caliban]

Really? You think it's that powerful?

Absolutely. I think that even the pre-reqs I added aren't going far enough.

Why? I'm sorry, but I see parties surprising opponents so rarely that I would think that this feat wouldn't come up all that often. It doesn't allow any bonus attacks or anything like that, all it does is add a move action to the standard action allowed by the surprise round.

The feat you posted states that the suprise round can be treated as a full round, it doesn't limit them to a move action and a standard action. As such, it would indeed allow a full round off attacks in the suprise round.

About the only thing I suppose this really helps on is sniping, but, even then you still take the -20 to your hide checks for that.

If your opponents have lost their Dex bonus to AC (such as when you suprise them or beat them on initiative), then you don't need to hide to sneak attack them. This means the rogue could do a full round of sneak attacks with his bow during the surprise round, and possibly a second full round if he beats them on initiative.

Even without considering a rogue, any well built archer could do scarry amounts of damage in that situation.

I'm sorry, I'm not seeing how this is so powerful.

I think you are looking a this from only one side of the issue.

Your right in that PC's don't suprise bad guys nearly as often as the bad guys surprise the PC's.

Imagine that the bad guys have this feat.

How many PC's can survive potentially two full rounds of attacks from an opponent while they are flat-footed? Maybe a fighter, barbarian, or front-line cleric, but most other classes will be down or nearly down before they get to act.

And it only get's worse at higher levels.

 

[Denaes]

Also, if someone has a full round to act, they can make use of extra attacks they might have.

 

[Hussar]

I really think you may be overstating the case. Since 99% of surprise rounds happen at range, the bad guys aren't generally going to be doing more than a single attack since they have to move in.

I can see this as a major advantage to an archer type, but, then again, because it comes up so rarely, I wouldn't bother making the pre-req's too difficult. Yes, I can see situations where this could be very deadly, but, then again, it's only in very limited circumstances where that becomes a major issue.

Thanks for the input though.

 

[the Jester]

I'm with Caliban; that's extremely potent. I might almost restrict it to epic levels.

Hussar, I realize that you think that Caliban's overstating his case, but to properly balance a feat, spell or ability you need to look at it in its most broken context, and this feat offers several easy ways to break it (sneak attack, archers).

 

[Hussar]

Alright, here's a pretty simple fix.

Bushwacker General

Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +1

During a surprise round, when you surprise an opponent, you may take a move action in addition to the standard action granted by the surprise round.

Normal: During a surprise round, you may only take a standard action.

There, problem solved.