Dodge and Mobility, while Fighting Defensively (or with a Total Defense)

[Azlan]

If a character with Dodge and Mobility chooses to fight defensively, does he get a total dodge bonus of +6/+7 against attacks of opportunity? (The second dodge bonus is for use against one opponent.)

If that same character chooses to use a total defense, does he get a total dodge bonus of +8/+9 against attacks of opportunity? (Note that even with a total defense, you still get to move your speed.)

Can a character combine the Tumble skill with his Dodge and Mobility feats, thus gaining him a total dodge bonus of +7/+8 against attacks of opportunity while fighting defensively; or, a total dodge bonus of +10/+11 against attacks of opportunity while using a total defense against attacks of opportunity?



I have a character who wears heavy armor in my campaign. He has taken the Dodge and Mobility feats, and he likes to play the artful dodger, dancing all around the battlefield. Granted, he cannot use the Tumble skill while wearing heavy armor, but he can still use his Dodge and Mobility feats. The other players in the group have been so impressed with this combination of feats, they are considering taking it for their characters, with one or two of them combining it with the Tumble skill as well.

I don't know... this just doesn't seem right. I mean, these stackable bonuses seem a bit too high. And for a character in heavy armor being able to use Dodge and Mobility just as well as someone in light armor or none at all...



I'm sure my players would be shocked and extremely displeased if I turned the tables upon them; with, say, a pack of goblin rogues having the Dodge and Mobility feats, and the Tumble skill to boot. The player characters would be getting sneak-attacked left and right, and they'd be hard pressed to attack those mobile goblins with their high (and stackable) dodge bonuses, as those goblins maneuvered into flanking positions.

But I don't like to DM that way, becomes then it becomes a game of "one-upmanship" between the players and the DM.

 

[Darklone]

Sure, that works. But will your goblins still hit the heros?

 

[Fenes 2]

Dodge bonuses stack, so we play it like that. Our duelist with tumble 14+ (giving a +4 dodge bonus to fighting defensively according to the rules in OA), Dodge, mobility and elaborate parry is something to behold.

Remeber, if you have enough tumble to beat 15 anyway AoOs from movement largely cease to be a threat.

 

[Baron Von StarBlade]

Just to clarify, Mobility only allows the +4 Dodge bonus from AoO's caused by movement, not all AoO's.

 

[Maitre Du Donjon]

A little recapitulative table, perhaps?

Dodge: +1 dodge bonus vs 1 opponent

Mobility: +4 dodge bonus vs. AoO's provoked by moving

Fighting defensively: +2 dodge bonus but -4 to hit

Fighting defensively & Tumble 5+: +3 dodge bonus but -4 to hit

Total defense: +4 dodge bonus but no attacks. May move.

Total defense & Tumble 5+: +6 dodge bonus but no attacks. May move.

So a dodging, mobilized, totally defending tumble expert will have:
+10 dodge bonus vs. opponents who get AoO's against him because he moved
+6 dodge bonus vs. everyone else
On top of that, against one particular opponent, he'll have an additional +1 dodge bonus.

He will only move his speed.

He will not attack anyone.

Sure, you can stack on the dodge bonuses, but your attacks are reduced consequently (if you do attack at all).

The players that dances around the battlefield, never getting hit, probably isnt dishing out massive amounts of damage, although he must not get hit very often either.

Maitre D