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<blockquote data-quote="DracoSuave" data-source="post: 5146108" data-attributes="member: 71571">One thing before we begin:When I say 'It's an active combat stance' I do not mean 'Total Defense is a power with the Stance keyword.'&nbsp; I mean it's a gorram stance in the traditional non-power-defined way.&nbsp; And no, I can't think of a word that describes it better than 'stance'.Actually this one is easy.&nbsp; I'd not do a thing, and let the player do -exactly- what he describes.Then, if an enemy manages to catch them unawares (which is difficult, admittedly, with the player watching the door, I'd give him a circumstance bonus to his perception if the monster were coming in that way, but a penalty against monsters coming in the other way) the surprise round hits.One of two things happens.If the guy is surprised, then his readied action doesn't matter, as he cannot take actions during a surprise round.&nbsp; This explicitly includes immediate reactions.&nbsp; He can cry 'But I readied' but he was still caught with his pants down.&nbsp; He hesitated.&nbsp; Whatever.If the guy is NOT surprised, then he gets his readied action just fine, and then can take his normal action.The thing to remember is that rounds -do- happen outside of combat (see skill challenges).&nbsp; Encounters begin as soon as the players have a challenge, regardless if they are aware of it or not.The point here is that I actually don't want to punish what is inherently a good idea, tactically.&nbsp; It might not -work- (luck, his perception, different factors come into play), but at least he gets rewarded for making smart, specific moves.But, if he doesn't have the Perception to pull it off regularly, he knows that's just not his character's strong suit.&nbsp; You want rangers and rogues doing this sort of thing.In this case, the door kicker may or may not be aware of enemies on the other side of the door.&nbsp; He can kick the door, and surprise awareness is determined using the usual methods.&nbsp; If he is not surprised, he can spend his surprise round going into Total Defense if he wants.&nbsp; I got no problem with that, and sometimes that's a really smart move.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="DracoSuave, post: 5146108, member: 71571"] One thing before we begin: When I say 'It's an active combat stance' I do not mean 'Total Defense is a power with the Stance keyword.' I mean it's a gorram stance in the traditional non-power-defined way. And no, I can't think of a word that describes it better than 'stance'. Actually this one is easy. I'd not do a thing, and let the player do -exactly- what he describes. Then, if an enemy manages to catch them unawares (which is difficult, admittedly, with the player watching the door, I'd give him a circumstance bonus to his perception if the monster were coming in that way, but a penalty against monsters coming in the other way) the surprise round hits. One of two things happens. If the guy is surprised, then his readied action doesn't matter, as [B]he cannot take actions during a surprise round. This explicitly includes immediate reactions.[/B] He can cry 'But I readied' but he was still caught with his pants down. He hesitated. Whatever. If the guy is NOT surprised, then he gets his readied action just fine, and then can take his normal action. The thing to remember is that rounds -do- happen outside of combat (see skill challenges). Encounters begin as soon as the players have a challenge, regardless if they are aware of it or not. The point here is that I actually don't want to punish what is inherently a good idea, tactically. It might not -work- (luck, his perception, different factors come into play), but at least he gets rewarded for making smart, specific moves. But, if he doesn't have the Perception to pull it off regularly, he knows that's just not his character's strong suit. You want rangers and rogues doing this sort of thing. In this case, the door kicker may or may not be aware of enemies on the other side of the door. He can kick the door, and surprise awareness is determined using the usual methods. If he is not surprised, he can spend his surprise round going into Total Defense if he wants. I got no problem with that, and sometimes that's a really smart move. [/QUOTE]

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