Beholder Bob said:
Making some changes, noted in orange.
Brace: as a move action, gain a +4 to resist Trip, Bull Rush, and Overrun – though you suffer -4 AC to avoid being hit by these same attacks. You may maintain this as a free action, but you may not move while maintaining it. If you move (willingly or not) or fall prone, you cease to be braced.
It was suggested to me that this manuever is weak. Do others concur?
I don't think that's necessarily a problem. It's a good idea for anyone with only one attack (or only one effective attack facing any foe who uses those attacks. It's a good bonus and the only cost is a move action (the -4 to AC is only relevant vs. trip and the touch attack is usually just a formality there). If at level 6+, it's not always obvious that you'd want to use this manuever, I don't see the problem.
Defensive Sunder: as a standard attack, attack a foe’s weapon as they attack you with it without provoking an attack of opportunity. While doing so, you gain -2 dodge AC against attackers other then the one you are performing a Defensive Sunder against. You may only perform this maneuver against a foe that attacks at your initiative or less – and you lower your initiative to your foe’s initiative by virtue of using this maneuver.
Clarify & limit the action: This is now a standard action, it is declared at the beginning of your round, but is not applied until the foes round. If the foe does not attack you - or does not use a weapon in his attack, this action is wasted.
This reads like a variant of the readied action; you could clean up the wording by just saying "you may ready an action to sunder a weapon...." which would bring all of the initiative effects with it unless you use some kind of variant roll every round initiative system.
I'm not quite sure I see the point though. Sunder is enough of a corner case tactic that I usually see it as being worth the AoO whenever it's really good and if you like using it more than that, you probably just take the feat. This makes it a little more attractive to characters without the feat, but I don't see that making a big difference--maybe in the first five levels or so where there's not much opportunity cost to readying vs. just attacking.[/quote]
Ignore Foe: Folks seem to halve 2 seperate arguements Vs this maneuver, too powerful or nerfs rogues. Any arguments to the contrary? I like this manuever, but the debate against it seems strong.
I'm in the nerfs rogues camp on this. (For pretty much anything else, it's pointless since, IME I'm not really worried about the +2 bonus if my character is flanked by fighter types. I'm just worried about the bad tactical position.) If it's too powerful, it's because it nerfs rogues.
As a separate argument, the AoO mechanics seem a bit clunky.
Maneuver Foe: as a standard action, you make an attack roll against AC (10 + your foe’s attack bonus). If you hit, your foe must either move 5’ in a direction of your choice or be flat-footed against you for 1 round. If you miss by 5+, you provoke an AOO from that foe.
Another web site generated a response claiming this manuever supercedes bull rush. Does this manuever seem too strong?
It does somewhat nerf bull rush. Bull rush usually provokes AoOs and can't usually be followed up with more attacks. Furthermore, it's easier to get an attack bonus advantage over your foe than it is to gain a strength advantage.
I don't think that's necessarily a problem though. If you'd rather have people cleverly attacking to manuever their foes than bull rushing them, it's just a matter of cinematics.
As a side note, the "flat-footed against you" mechanic seems a bit clunky. Usually, you're either flatfooted or you're not. That's an aesthetic thing though. The real point is that anyone with uncanny dodge and combat reflexes doesn't care at all and that anyone with combat reflexes only cares if you're a rogue. I don't see any particular reason why rogues and barbarians should be immune to this manuever. So, I'd recommend changing it to "loses their dex bonus to AC against your attacks until your next initiative."
Roll with the Blow: sacrifice your next standard action and fall prone in order to reduce damage from a melee attack in ½. You take full damage unless you succeed in a Reflex save against the attacker’s roll to hit roll. On a failed roll, you take full damage, lose your next standard action, and are still prone. As a side effect of this action, whether you succeed or not, you may make a 5’ move out of turn.
Defensive Roll for everybody!!! It's a powerful ability, but if you want the cinematic of characters being knocked to the ground with regularity, it'll do the job.
Set: as a full round action that provokes an AOO on the round performed & each round maintained, you focus on a single foe’s movements to gain a +1 to hit that foe with a ranged attack on the following round. You maintain this bonus so long as you do not move, fall prone, make an attack against a different target, or Set against a different foe.
The name must be changed - I opt for Targeting. The reason - I do not want it mistaken for the action of setting a spear! It was suggested I make this more powerful, but I thought it about on par. In need of re-wording: This manuever requires a full round action to initiate, though you may maintain it as a free action. When initiated & while maintained, you provoke AOO from adjacent foes.
I can only think of two situations where this might be useful--where you need a 20 to hit and only have a single attack. Or when your enemy doesn't know you're there and combat hasn't started. Otherwise, +1 to hit isn't worth a full round action in the early rounds of combat. IME, most combats are over in less than 5 rounds....
B
