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<blockquote data-quote="Justin Bacon" data-source="post: 2747728" data-attributes="member: 3795">One of the great advantages of a reach weapon is just that: Reach. You get a chance to hit people before they can close with you and attack you in turn. Ever watch wuxia films? There are several films which will show you how a very effective fighter can use a reach weapon to make sure that no one closes with them.You just don't sneak up on people on a battlefield, unless they're completely unaware of the possibility of a threat coming from that direction. (Which would require an appropriate Hide check mechanic, like the one found in the Complete Adventurer.) Just because I've been fighting guy A over there doesn't mean I'm going to let guy B come up behind me and stab me in the back.There is absolutely nothing unintuitive about attacks of opportunity. They're an elegant game mechanic that reflects the reality of the battlefield in a very effective fashion, thanks largely to the fact that they bypass the initiative system (rather than weighting it down).Whaddya talkin' about? If I'm madly fighting for my life against eight guys who have me surroundedl, it is absolutely the guy who lowers his guard that I'm going to focus my attention on for the moment: I'm desperately looking for an opening to even the numbers up. Why wouldn't I take advantage of one if it suddenly appeared?Cleave: &quot;You follow through with powerful blows.&quot; (PHB, p 92)AoO: &quot;Sometimes, however, a combatant in melee lets her guard down. In this case, combatants near her can take advantage of her lapse in defense to attack her for free.&quot; (PHB, p. 137)There's no big secret here. These things are stated right in the rulebooks.Justin Alexander Bacon<a href="http://www.thealexandrian.net" target="_blank">http://www.thealexandrian.net</a></blockquote>

[QUOTE="Justin Bacon, post: 2747728, member: 3795"] One of the great advantages of a reach weapon is just that: Reach. You get a chance to hit people before they can close with you and attack you in turn. Ever watch wuxia films? There are several films which will show you how a very effective fighter can use a reach weapon to make sure that no one closes with them. You just don't sneak up on people on a battlefield, unless they're completely unaware of the possibility of a threat coming from that direction. (Which would require an appropriate Hide check mechanic, like the one found in the Complete Adventurer.) Just because I've been fighting guy A over there doesn't mean I'm going to let guy B come up behind me and stab me in the back. There is absolutely nothing unintuitive about attacks of opportunity. They're an elegant game mechanic that reflects the reality of the battlefield in a very effective fashion, thanks largely to the fact that they bypass the initiative system (rather than weighting it down). Whaddya talkin' about? If I'm madly fighting for my life against eight guys who have me surroundedl, it is [i]absolutely[/i] the guy who lowers his guard that I'm going to focus my attention on for the moment: I'm [i]desperately[/i] looking for an opening to even the numbers up. Why [i]wouldn't[/i] I take advantage of one if it suddenly appeared? Cleave: "You follow through with powerful blows." (PHB, p 92) AoO: "Sometimes, however, a combatant in melee lets her guard down. In this case, combatants near her can take advantage of her lapse in defense to attack her for free." (PHB, p. 137) There's no big secret here. These things are stated right in the rulebooks. Justin Alexander Bacon [url]http://www.thealexandrian.net[/url] [/QUOTE]

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