Elder-Basilisk
First Post
3.5 has made tripping a very effective tactic. I played my first mid-high (10-12 level) living Greyhawk game in 3.5 last night and I was impressed by how much devastation even a Ftr 1/Wiz 10/Eldritch Knight 1 can dish out using a guisarme and improved trip while polymorphed into a troll or an Annis hag. In the low-mid level (6-7) 3.5 home game I'm playing, I've also beat my DM into a state of shock with how effective my dwarf Ftr 4/Bbn 3 with improved trip and a dwarven waraxe is.
As a DM and a writer, I expect that I will have to deal with PCs with improved Trip. As a player, I expect that in a few weeks to a few months, I will have to deal with villains using improved trip. What do you suggest for doing this? I've a few thoughts of my own which I'll lay out:
Tripping is a based on an opposed strength check (at +4 if you've got Improved Trip). Since you could lose your weapon or be tripped yourself if you fail, it's very much a game of playing the numbers. When my character is in troll form, he's got +14 to his trip roll (+6 strength, +4 size, +4 Improved Trip). When my dwarf character is raging, bull's strengthed, and enlarged, he has +17 (+9 strength, +4 size, +4 improved trip) to the roll to trip his foes and +21 to avoid being tripped himself (+4 stability (dwarf). A foe who can get within two to four points of those numbers is much safer than one who can't.
So, what foes are not very vulnerable to improved trip?
1. large animals. They typically have a high strength, which, combined with +4 for size, and +4 for four legs makes attempting to trip them a risky proposition.
2. Anything huge. Bipedal huge creatures might only have +8 for being huge but that and the usual strength they have makes it rare for characters to have the strength advantage.
3. Enlarged (or large) raging barbarians. The combination of high strength and large size means that most such foes will be in the same ballpark as the characters tripping them--making it a risky (although probably still worthwhile) proposition.
4. Giants. Again, it's probably still worth trying to trip them but they will usually stand a very good chance of not being tripped.
Now, most of that is for the DM. Fighter-type characters who want to resist tripping foes need their own strategies.
1. Enlarge Person/Mass Enlarge Person/Righteous Might. If you're large too, a lot of the tripper's comparative advantage goes away.
2. Ray of Enfeeblement. Knocking 8 points off the tripper's strength score is a double-whammy. He has more trouble hitting and he has more trouble winning the opposed strength contest.
3. Feeblemind/Touch of Idiocy. If his int is 1, he doesn't qualify for Combat Expertise and therefore can't use Improved Trip.
4. Blink/Displacement/Greater Invis: a 50% miss chance on the trip and a 50% miss chance on the subsequent attack make Improved Trip markedly less effective. Also, being invisible means you don't provoke AoOs so you can stand up without provoking--thus negating one of the big advantages of Improved Trip (the ability to trade one attack for two (improved trip and the standing up AoO)).
5. Mirror Image: This falls under the general category of "not getting hit" but multiple images make a foe unlikely to successfully trip you.
6. Improved Grapple: It's fairly easy to hit your foe with a touch attack--even at the -4 for being prone. And being prone doesn't inflict any penalties upon your grapple checks.
7. Obscuring Mist: Trips are really nasty in combination with combat reflexes. Obscuring mist at least prevents foes from being able to see you at more than 5 feet and thus prevents foes from tripping you as you approach them and depriving you of the ability to attack.
Any other strategies for fighting tripping opponents?
As a DM and a writer, I expect that I will have to deal with PCs with improved Trip. As a player, I expect that in a few weeks to a few months, I will have to deal with villains using improved trip. What do you suggest for doing this? I've a few thoughts of my own which I'll lay out:
Tripping is a based on an opposed strength check (at +4 if you've got Improved Trip). Since you could lose your weapon or be tripped yourself if you fail, it's very much a game of playing the numbers. When my character is in troll form, he's got +14 to his trip roll (+6 strength, +4 size, +4 Improved Trip). When my dwarf character is raging, bull's strengthed, and enlarged, he has +17 (+9 strength, +4 size, +4 improved trip) to the roll to trip his foes and +21 to avoid being tripped himself (+4 stability (dwarf). A foe who can get within two to four points of those numbers is much safer than one who can't.
So, what foes are not very vulnerable to improved trip?
1. large animals. They typically have a high strength, which, combined with +4 for size, and +4 for four legs makes attempting to trip them a risky proposition.
2. Anything huge. Bipedal huge creatures might only have +8 for being huge but that and the usual strength they have makes it rare for characters to have the strength advantage.
3. Enlarged (or large) raging barbarians. The combination of high strength and large size means that most such foes will be in the same ballpark as the characters tripping them--making it a risky (although probably still worthwhile) proposition.
4. Giants. Again, it's probably still worth trying to trip them but they will usually stand a very good chance of not being tripped.
Now, most of that is for the DM. Fighter-type characters who want to resist tripping foes need their own strategies.
1. Enlarge Person/Mass Enlarge Person/Righteous Might. If you're large too, a lot of the tripper's comparative advantage goes away.
2. Ray of Enfeeblement. Knocking 8 points off the tripper's strength score is a double-whammy. He has more trouble hitting and he has more trouble winning the opposed strength contest.
3. Feeblemind/Touch of Idiocy. If his int is 1, he doesn't qualify for Combat Expertise and therefore can't use Improved Trip.
4. Blink/Displacement/Greater Invis: a 50% miss chance on the trip and a 50% miss chance on the subsequent attack make Improved Trip markedly less effective. Also, being invisible means you don't provoke AoOs so you can stand up without provoking--thus negating one of the big advantages of Improved Trip (the ability to trade one attack for two (improved trip and the standing up AoO)).
5. Mirror Image: This falls under the general category of "not getting hit" but multiple images make a foe unlikely to successfully trip you.
6. Improved Grapple: It's fairly easy to hit your foe with a touch attack--even at the -4 for being prone. And being prone doesn't inflict any penalties upon your grapple checks.
7. Obscuring Mist: Trips are really nasty in combination with combat reflexes. Obscuring mist at least prevents foes from being able to see you at more than 5 feet and thus prevents foes from tripping you as you approach them and depriving you of the ability to attack.
Any other strategies for fighting tripping opponents?
