Dodge didn't change?

[Ashrem Bayle]

I had heard before that Dodge would give a +2 AC bonus vs. one target in 3.5. Now I see this is not true and it hasn't changed at all.

Looks like I will go back to my +1 AC Dodge Bonus that applies to everyone house rule.

Thoughts?

My thinking was the +2 would be significant enough to be worth the extra effort of selecting specific enemies each round. In my opinion, a +1 vs 1 opponant isn't very powerful and isn't worth the additional trouble of keeping up with the selected enemy. In fact, to me, a universal +1 Dodge Bonus sounds about right for a Feat.

 

[MadScientist]

I use the exact same house rule. I was just fed up with the whole which orc are you dodging again question. It slowed down play and just made the feat NOT very worth while on its own. Even with the +1 dodge AC to everyone the feat is generally only taken by those persuing that feat chain.

Edit: Added the NOT in third sentence so it actually conveyed my intended thought.

 

[Destil]

I wish they had inculded Agile Ripost (I think that's the name, from d20 modren): when the opponent your dodging misses you, you get an AoO againt them.

 

[cerberus2112]

Destil said I wish they had inculded Agile Ripost (I think that's the name, from d20 modren): when the opponent your dodging misses you, you get an AoO againt them.

I think Agile Riposte should remain in Modern, where people aren't routinely engaging in Melee combat. It's there for people taking a severely suboptimal route (compared to say, guns). In D&D however, it would have to great an impact on combat, and people are assumed to be knowledgeable of using and countering this very thing constantly through the combat round.

 

[James McMurray]

I think the dodge feat is fine as written. Its power lies not in what it does by itself, but in the feats that it is a prereq for.

 

[ForceUser]

I think the dodge feat is fine as written. Its power lies not in what it does by itself, but in the feats that it is a prereq for.

I agree. Dodge is a fine feat as-is.

 

[Caliban]

While I don't have a real problem with Dodge as it is, I think it's more "user friendly" to have it be a flat +1 dodge bonus to AC.

At higher levels I find myself not remembering to allocate the +1 AC, because it's hard to keep track of from round to round when fighting multiple opponents.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Consider the way that + feats are balanced.

Weapon Focus+1 in every round of melee

Weapon Specialisation +2 in those rounds in which you hit.

Improved Initiative +4 only once in a melee

Combat Casting +4 - again in relatively rare circumstances.

If Dodge gave a +1 bonus against ALL attackers, it could be coming into effect many times every melee round. By making it only effective against 1 target, it means that it occurs with approx the same frequency as weapon specialisation (the other +1 feat).

It appears that the amount of bonus a feat gives is determined at some basic level by how frequently it will come into play. The more frequent, the lower the bonus.

Cheers

 

[hong]

Consider the way that + feats are balanced.

Weapon Specialisation +1 in every round of melee

Weapon Specialisation +2 in those rounds in which you hit.

Improved Initiative +4 only once in a melee

Combat Casting +4 - again in relatively rare circumstances.

If Dodge gave a +1 bonus against ALL attackers, it could be coming into effect many times every melee round. By making it only effective against 1 target, it means that it occurs with approx the same frequency as weapon specialisation (the other +1 feat).

Huh?

 

[Tabarnak Smokeblower]

I agree with PS.

Anyways, there are so many rules that bog down combat, it's not like one more is going to change much But I thought I read that dodge had become an universal +1 dodge bonus. Perhaps it could only apply to regular attacks made against you? Would that make any sense (probably not)? Would that complicate things even further (perhaps)?

TS