Blinding fast strike

[Garthanos]

Occasionally in fiction one runs into a martial type who can draw and strike (and even sheath their weapon afterwards) so fast that few will even see the attack ... just wondering how that might be expressed in the game

Misdirected Mark... might be part of it. (Bard ability)
Being able to draw and strike as part of a single action might be a part of it. (Samurai)

This ability idea inspired by Full Metal Alchemist

 

[Garthanos]

What might be an effect one could give to misdirected mark if you have no allies in range... I find myself thinking I would like some of the Warlord and Bard abilities to be more versatile about a context with fewer allies.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Yeah, so what are the advantages of such a fast strike? Swiftness and possibly not being noticed. So, allow it as a reason for getting surprise. Remember surprise in 4e is a PURELY narrative element (it can be gated by Perception/Insight checks, or maybe others, but it only arises for narrative reasons). So, a technique that creates the narrative reason for surprise is a perfectly excellent idea. Now let it also allow you to make an attack without suffering any of the mechanical consequences of attacking, unless someone overcomes your attack roll with Perception or something like that.

 

[Garthanos]

Yeah, so what are the advantages of such a fast strike? Swiftness and possibly not being noticed. So, allow it as a reason for getting surprise. Remember surprise in 4e is a PURELY narrative element (it can be gated by Perception/Insight checks, or maybe others, but it only arises for narrative reasons). So, a technique that creates the narrative reason for surprise is a perfectly excellent idea. Now let it also allow you to make an attack without suffering any of the mechanical consequences of attacking,

Doesn't use an "action",ie free action could be one element (I think a misdirected mark is a deception element if you have something else to attribute the attack too if you don't the distraction or confusion effect in a fight could grant combat advantage)

unless someone overcomes your attack roll with Perception or something like that.

One could gateway the deception to a general effect of not being able to identify where the attack came from, ie one couldn't testify to it.

I think in story it actually generated an intimidation effect in those who actually realized where it came from.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Well, there's the classic scene of the guy who's standing there and all of a sudden he starts to spit blood and his head falls off. lol. Nobody even saw the guy next to him draw, it was so fast. I'd hope that would be pretty intimidating.

I think a LOT of this kind of stuff though is best modeled as "the really high level guy suddenly 'kills' all the low level minions just by showing them how bad-assed he is. They fail their morale and stop being a relevant component of the plot". I think there's always this endless quest to materialize the bad-assery in some sort of specific ability that someone of the same level as the bad guy can have that just makes him that big of a bad-ass, but really you're intimidated by Musashi because he's fought 100's of sword fights and he's 21st level and you're some farmboy that just picked up a sword, you better be scared of him. He doesn't need some special ability written on his sheet for that. Or let us say that maybe he has "iaijitsu' written there, but does it need any mechanics? Or does it just mean "channels his bad-assery by being incredibly fast" and you just narrate how that plays out.

 

[Garthanos]

Well, there's the classic scene of the guy who's standing there and all of a sudden he starts to spit blood and his head falls off. lol. Nobody even saw the guy next to him draw, it was so fast. I'd hope that would be pretty intimidating.

I think a LOT of this kind of stuff though is best modeled as "the really high level guy suddenly 'kills' all the low level minions just by showing them how bad-assed he is.

Yes actually an area effect fear based psychic damage (perhaps not much) effect attached to a successful other attack which wipes minions could well be the bad-addassery thing... or perhaps I had also considered making the Intimidate skilled combat use effect more along those lines instead of being single target focused. Of note minions not being technically intimidatable because they do not have a bloodied status is an error.

Attaching that bad-assery effect as a splash from ANY attack plus intimidate skill use might be very appropriate and make it a multi-class accessible function.

The Samurai Theme has an Iaijutsu free action weapon draw during initiative with a round of crits on 18-20 .. it also allows a free shift of 2 so that's pretty nice.

The didn't even see the attack element hmmmm could still be a good visualization for a combat effect of misdirected mark - appropriate probably to anyone that isn't a defender, ie could be a theme power swap for a Samurai.

 

[Garthanos]

One could even give the Samurai the rogue fast hands utility and the misdirected mark(bard) and we have free action draw and sheath and an attack that seems to come from someone else...