(Been done, I know) What is with Quick Draw?

Talvisota

First Post
I remember this being looked at before, but my connection out here is not quailty enough for me to go a-searching for the thread.

What is with the Quick Draw feat when, if you have a BAB of +1, you can draw your weapon during a move action? Am I missing something, guys?

The only thing I can think of is close combat weapon-switching, but this is only if you need to switch weapons as opposed to just drawing.
 

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Useful in the surprise round when you're caught without a weapon in your hand -- can draw and attack right away in one partial action. Good for a rogue, then, to get off that flat-footed sneak attack.
 

Quick Draw is also very useful for those people who throw things.

The feat's very useful though. A 11th level fighter is shooting at a charging giant with a bow. When the giant comes within range he drops his bow (free action), draws his sword (free action) steps forward 5 feet and attacks three times.

Without Quickdraw, he only gets one attack. It's best used for switching between missile & melee weapons, or when going from parleying to attack.

Cheers!
 

Ah, I get it. Having never DMed 3e but this new campaign, I haven't had PCs who have more than one attack yet. It does make sense when you want the full-round action.

Thanks!
 

Quickdraw is one of those feats that makes sense for some characters but not others.

I play a fighter 2/wizard 6 who uses quickdraw all the time. His main weapon is a glaive which he uses to take AoOs on humanoid foes as they charge him. At that point, he drops the glaive (free action), draws his light flail (free action because he has quickdraw), readies his shield (move equivalent action), and can still attack. This is also useful for allowing a weapon switch as he moves. He can drop the glaive, ready the shield (combined with his movement), quickdraw his weapon, and attack. The ability to switch to his shield and single handed weapon only in the round in which he wants to attack enables him to minimize arcane spell failure by not having his shield readied when he casts spells.

It is also useful if a DM insists that he needs to spend an MEA to ready his glaive after letting go with one hand in order to cast a spell. Some DMs have also let me use the feat to grab wands or scrolls as a free action.

In theory my character could also charge one foe, drop him with an attack, cleave into another, and drop the second foe too. At this point, only having a haste action left, he could drop his weapon, quickdraw his bow and ready an attack to disrupt any spell cast by the opposition.

I've also found it useful when my character has been hit by Confusion. If combat is over, as soon as he rolls to act normally, he quickdraws and drops all of his weapons so that he isn't a threat to other party members.

Other characters who find quickdraw useful have already been mentioned. Anyone who gets into combat a lot without having already drawn their weapons. Anyone who uses thrown missile weapons. Anyone who wants to regularly switch between weapons.
 

Not to mention the two-weapon fighter.

My ranger/rogue (who has three attacks due to BAB) is deadly, even if he isn't armed in the first regular round; he quickdraws both weapons, strikes three times with his on-hand and once with his off, whereas without quickdraw he'd spend a full round drawing both weapons. Not all dms will allow you to quickdraw multiple weapons in the same round, though.
 

I would as long as he has the two weapon fighting feat. Which means he's trained long enough to be able to do it.
 
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the Jester said:
Not to mention the two-weapon fighter.

My ranger/rogue (who has three attacks due to BAB) is deadly, even if he isn't armed in the first regular round; he quickdraws both weapons, strikes three times with his on-hand and once with his off, whereas without quickdraw he'd spend a full round drawing both weapons. Not all dms will allow you to quickdraw multiple weapons in the same round, though.

They should...

From the SRD:

Draw a weapon [Move Equivalent][AoO: No]

Description: If a combatant has a base attack bonus of +1 or higher, a combatant can combine one of these actions with a regular move. If a combatant has the Two-Weapon Fighting feat, a combatant can draw two light or one-handed weapons in the time it would normally take a combatant to draw one.
 
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I have a player with this feat and I let him grab small items with a quickdraw. So he's pulling potions, wands, scrolls, and the sort. I just use a little logic and don't let him grab the cheesecloth that is crammed at the bottom of his backpack.

I also let anyone with +1 BAB or better do the same sort of things (grab small and readily available items) on the move.

Has not broke the game yet. I do try to limit them to one quickdraw (factoring in the two weapons part) or draw on the run per round. Two or three and it starts to get silly IMO. YMMV
 

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