Feats for one handed fighting

[Dandu]

I am going to try and give anyone who wants to emulate a Hollywood duelist or fencer something.

(Note: these feats have changed quite a bit from their original incarnations.)

En Garde
[General], [Fighter], [Tactical]
Prerequisite: BAB +3, Dodge
The En Garde feat allows for two tactical maneuvers.

• Lash Out: To use this maneuver, you must wield a weapon in one hand without benefiting from a weapon or shield wielded in your other hand. When you make an attack action (including a standard attack, full attack, combat maneuver, or even a strike maneuver, but not an attack of opportunity), you can make an additional attack at your highest bonus with a -5 penalty. This attack uses your weapon and deals damage as normal.
• Dynamic Entry: In order to use this feat, you must make a dashing entrance of the type that would make ladies swoon, such as swinging on board an adjacent ship via rope, crashing through a stained glass window into a church, blowing up a prison door to free the inmates, or dropping into a ballroom from atop a chandelier. When doing so, you take no damage from falling or debris incurred by your actions. All opponents who witness your arrival receive a -5 penalty to initiative.

Derring-do
[General], [Fighter], [Tactical]
Prerequisite: BAB +6, Dodge, Mobility, En Garde

The Derring-Do feat feat enables you to perform three tactical maneuvers.

• Fence Like A Devil: To use this maneuver, you must wield a weapon in one hand without benefiting from a weapon or shield wielded in your other hand. You may, as a swift action, adopt a stance that reduces your movement speed by half and gain an extra 5 feet of reach with your weapon. Shifting out of this stance is a swift action.
• Parry Like A Fiend: To use this maneuver, you must wield a weapon in one hand without benefiting from a weapon or shield wielded in your other hand. When you make any kind of attack action, you can choose to forfeit one attack in order to designate every foe as the target of your Dodge feat until the start of your next turn. You can use this even if you would only have had one attack from the attacking action. meaning you make no actual attacks and just a flourish with your weapon.
• Dance Like An Angel: In order to use this feat, you must take a full round action to display your skill with your weapon. All onlookers within a hundred feet must make a Will saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 your character level + your Dex modifier) or be fascinated for 1 round, as the spell. You may extend the effect for an additional 1 round per point of BAB you possess, but must spend a standard action each round to do so.

Singlehanded Victory
[General], [Fighter], [Tactical]
Prerequisite: BAB +9, Dodge, Mobility, En Garde, Derring-Do
The Singlehanded Victory feat enables three tactical maneuvers.

• Riposte: To use this maneuver, you must designate an opponent with the Dodge feat. Whenever this opponent misses you, you may make an attack of opportunity against him.
• Not Left Handed: To use this maneuver, you must wield a weapon in one hand without benefiting from a weapon or shield wielded in your other hand, and forgo your Strength bonus to weapon damage. In return, you may apply your Dexterity bonus to your weapon damage and combat maneuver rolls.
• Blade Flurry: To use this maneuver, you must wield a weapon in one hand without benefiting from a weapon or shield wielded in your other hand, and have designated a target with your Dodge feat. On each melee attack you make, you may choose squares that you threaten that are adjacent to each other, and apply your attacks to targets in those two squares equally. This ability may be used on any attack, except for cleave attempts, but only if you have not moved more than 10 feet since the end of your last turn.

 

[Jackinthegreen]

Why would the extra attack from With One Hand Behind My Back be an unarmed attack? Those using weapons generally don't have good unarmed damage. The feat would be more functional if it was just another attack with the primary weapon, but treated as a secondary attack using the standard modifiers. Dropping the Str requirement would help fit the flavor since one-handed builds a la swashbuckler tend to dump the stat.

Derring-Do is somewhat tough to quantify since the reach is nice and it makes Dodge actually useful, but it feels like there are too many prerequisites.

Singlehanded Victory should definitely have its Str requirement removed. As-is it's rather difficult for Weapon Finesse types to get it, and those are the ones most likely to use a single weapon in one hand and no weapon in the other.

 

[Dandu]

Why would the extra attack from With One Hand Behind My Back be an unarmed attack?

Typo from copying the text of Snap Kick and not changing one key word.

Derring-Do is somewhat tough to quantify since the reach is nice and it makes Dodge actually useful, but it feels like there are too many prerequisites.

I think I'll ditch the skill prerequisites.

Singlehanded Victory should definitely have its Str requirement removed. As-is it's rather difficult for Weapon Finesse types to get it, and those are the ones most likely to use a single weapon in one hand and no weapon in the other.

Ah yes, probably a good idea.

Now, there's still the issue of how to deal relevant damage, but I figure between the Hit and Run fighter ACF, Swashbuckler, and a dip in Rogue with the Craven feat, there should be a decent number of options out there. If not, I'm sure we can always make a feat.

 

[Jackinthegreen]

Aside from fixing the wording and such, they seem fairly useful now. Speaking of fixing the wording, the lines referencing damage bonus equal to 1/2 strength modifier should be taken out. As I recall, one-handed weapons wielded in the primary hand already get a bonus equal to the strength modifier. If we make the extra attack from With One Hand Behind My Back a secondary attack then it might need the mention of 1/2 str bonus to damage for the extra attack.

 

[Dandu]

I believe I have taken care of the issues. Would you kindly look again?

 

[Jackinthegreen]

I'm not sure of keeping the strength bonus on Singlehanded Victory. It doesn't seem fitting, but I suppose having the style work for people who have strength as their primary attribute is good for keeping it relevant. If it's to be kept I'd change the wording to read "When wielding a one-handed weapon in one hand and nothing in your off hand, you add 1.5 times your strength modifier as a bonus on damage rolls as if it were a two-handed weapon."

 

[Dandu]

I'm not sure of keeping the strength bonus on Singlehanded Victory. It doesn't seem fitting, but I suppose having the style work for people who have strength as their primary attribute is good for keeping it relevant. If it's to be kept I'd change the wording to read "When wielding a one-handed weapon in one hand and nothing in your off hand, you add 1.5 times your strength modifier as a bonus on damage rolls as if it were a two-handed weapon."

There have been many changes. What do you think of the current paradigm?

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

I like them all, but the first two might be too strong (depending on what you're doing for other combat styles). Namely... Two attacks with the same weapon at full strength bonus as early as level 1, and with any sort of attack action, is really powerful in general, and it absolutely makes TWF look like a joke in comparison. You cite Slashing Fury and Snap Kick as similar feats, but those are like level 14 and 6 feats, respectively, and have much more prereqs (and in the case of Snap Kick, is boosting an even WORSE combat style...). I'd probably be ok with it if it were more like a level 4-6 feat, but I don't like it at level 1. I understand that would throw off the progression for the latter 2 feats.

As for Derring-Do, the Parry Like a Fiend tactic seems over the top. Even if you took no other fighter feats at all besides these (unlikely) and their pre-reqs, you'd be looking at around +6 AC against...realistically, every single enemy. The one enemy per BAB is kind of silly...do you usually face bands of 30? By just BAB +6, you probably have enough targets to cover you for 99% of all combats you'll ever face. If you want to keep the high dodge bonuses, I suggest these changes at least:
- Other than your actual Dodge buddy, anyone else you dodge via this tactic only works while you are in melee with them (or perhaps more specifically, while you threaten them, but that might be too harsh)
- The additional targets do not count as being "dodged" for the purposes of other feats/effects, like Elusive Target, which honestly...a character with these feats anyway would be an idiot not to grab. While all of my suggestions are "optional," this one more so. Counting many foes as being dodged isn't powerful on its own, I just am wary of it leading to brokenness in combo with other things...
- The attack you forfeit is your first one at full BAB

You said in PM the last one might be underpowered...I disagree. It's very well balanced and my favorite of the 3. Getting Sweeping Strike and a less restrictive Shadow Blade (yeah, that also adds str, I know) in a single feat is pretty darn good!

Only other critique is that I would like it if each of the tactical feats had some funky, cool third tactic that wasn't such an automatic gimme rebalancing effort, and more in line of how many tactical feat tactics work. A very specific set up for a decent payoff. You can keep the "basically automatic to meet the criteria blatant rebalancing" stuff, just add a fun 3rd option, too.

 

[Dandu]

The PM you got was for the alpha version of the feats, which were a bit underpowered.

Also, I changed a few things while you were composing the reply. You should probably reread and edit your post.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

I wish you'd just post the changes in new posts and maybe keep the most current update in the OP, this whole thread's going to be complete nonsense to someone trying to read it 2 weeks from now!

I'll comment tommorrow, it's late now. You might also want to clarify what "and nothing in your other hand" means. It's basically been used before, but it was always pretty vague, this is a good chance to clear up if it simply means no weapon in the other hand, or you can't even have like a lantern or something.