Explain bracing for a charge to me

I think Sejis has the right of it. Probably the best way to use the RAW is to state that you ready and then right down what you are readying for on a card. In fact it strikes me that this is probably the best thing for all actions in a combat.

Now that I really think about it the thing that really slows down combat in 3.5 is not the system. Its the players bickering over what each person should do.

"I am going to do this" "Why!? That will totally mess things up!" "What do you mean" "An ogre has reach and he is swinging a spiked chain" "Yeah but I play a barbarian who hates ogres" "Let the mge cast fireball then go in" "Hrm well now that you point our the chain, I think I will not do that..."

Recently before I put my playing on hiatus, I instituted a "conversation round" that was where each person in the party could attempt to communicate with the others in a 6 second time frame. This was to limit all the tactical bickering.

Now what I am thinking of doing is having each person privately write on a card what their action is before they roll initiative and each round before their turn. The only time they can discus tactics is when they take their turn they get 6 seconds to communicate somthing.
 

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Additionally I think a good house rule would be to allow a character to automatically set to a charge (if they have the appropriate weapon) when they are not in anyones threatened space and they are charged.
 

isoChron said:
Think about the movie Braveheart as the scots lift the pikes at last moment to break the charging heavy cavalry.
Hyp had another interesting interpretation of that movie. He explained it as readying to ready to set against a charge. So, the charging people knew they were readying (maybe), but not for what. When they got to the point of no return, the defenders readied actions (standard action) triggered and now they readied to set against the charge (another standard action), and when they attackers were within range, the defenders attacked (the final readied standard action). Clever use of the readied action. :)
 

isoChron said:
Yes, but how long does it take to set a spear against a charge ?
1. Ready action and stand with spear held normally
2. See enemy charging. This takes some distance / time. Triggers readied action.
3. Set spear to ground while he covers his distance.
4. Impale charger

That's the way I see it done with normal weapons. Think about the movie Braveheart as the scots lift the pikes at last moment to break the charging heavy cavalry.

Just my way of describing it.

True, hadn't thought of it that way
 

Primitive Screwhead said:
Honestly, ever since the option became RAW I have not seen in used in play yet.

((Repeated over and over again by various people))

Just like charging itself, it's not something that will come up in every combat. I've only used it a few times myself, but it works quite well in some situations:

1) Zombies. If you have a str bonus to make it worthwhile, it's great for the initial hit (then drop it to use a better weapon). The double damage is usually enough to make it worthwhile even if you are subtracting 5 from the total. Keep in mind you'l usually get an AoO in addition to the readied attack, though it's only normal damage not double.

2) Unintelligent foes. And by unintelligent I don't mean Fang the 6 int Half-orc barbarian, I mean the int 2 animal/dire animal

3) Who loves to charge? Mounted opponents. Oftentimes being on the receving end of their charge is an unpleasant affair, but if it's going to happen, its going to happen. You might as well make them unhappy about the situation as well.

You can also think of ways to improve upon its use, kind of like spring attack being great with a reach weapon. In this case, a high movement speed and tumble can let you backup and ready against a charge, meaning the enemy will have to charge you (unless he has a high move speed as well) incurring a potential double damage attack and possible AoO for every one attack he gets against you.

Or, the invisible rogue readying an action (using the party fighter to lure an enemy into charging). Sneak attack doesn't get multiplied, but that's still one powerful hit and a great way to break invisibilty.
 

Infiniti2000 said:
How is that different from the normal surprise round? From what you've explained, that's the rule not a house rule. :)


My house rule, in more detail, is thus:

The first round of combat is always a "partial round".
If everyone, or no-one, is surprised then everyone can act.
Otherwise only non-surprised characters can act during that round.
 

Here is another senario. Even if your opponent knows you are readying, that might be worth it. When that knight using spirited charges decides not to charge because you have a long spear, it's worth it.
 

Infiniti2000 said:
Hyp had another interesting interpretation of that movie. He explained it as readying to ready to set against a charge. So, the charging people knew they were readying (maybe), but not for what. When they got to the point of no return, the defenders readied actions (standard action) triggered and now they readied to set against the charge (another standard action), and when they attackers were within range, the defenders attacked (the final readied standard action). Clever use of the readied action. :)

Isn't that like a wish for another wish or the feat that lets you take any feat you qualify for? ;)
 

Cabral said:
Isn't that like a wish for another wish or the feat that lets you take any feat you qualify for? ;)
Sounds like it, yes, but the interesting thing about it is that even if you can tell that the person is readying, you might not know that they are readying to ready for a charge. It was said earlier that setting (readying) for a charge is too obvious. :)
 

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