Insufferable Mobility

[Gez]

I got the idea for this feat yesterday while drifting asleep...

Insufferable Mobility [Combat]
When on the defensive, you are annoying jumping and twisting unpredictably around, greatly frustrating your opponents who end up attacking the air.
Prerequisite: Size Small or smaller, Dodge, base Reflexes save +5 or more, Tumble 6 ranks or more.
Benefit: When you take the total defense action, instead of the regular +6 dodge bonus to your AC, you gain a dodge bonus to your AC equal to your ranks in the Tumble skill. You are required to take a 5-foot-step during your total defense action if you want to benefit from this feat.

For example, if Lidda has this feat and 12 ranks in Tumble, she'll gain a +12 dodge bonus to her AC when doing the total defense action and taking a 5-ft.-step.

 

[darthkilmor]

Looks nice, whats the point of the must take a 5-step though?

 

[Terwox]

The 5' step is for flavor, mainly, I think.
Hmm, maybe if it only allowed a 5' (you normally get a move w/ total defense, don't you? unsure.) or if it changed to "each additional 5 ranks in tumble grants you an additional +2 bonus on total defense." Otherwise it seems really good -- I know you can't DO anything, but a single feat should make you really difficult to hit, not virtually impossible to hit.
Maybe tumble ranks/3 as the bonus, or even tumble ranks/2, probably capping at +8 to +11 or something.
I dunno! Full defense for tumblers generally made them impossible to hit anyway, +6 is a lot as it is, so I'm really not sure.
Certainly a cool visual idea though, tumble ranks to AC seems a bit heavy, though. Maybe the same feat would be ok if it capped at +10. If it capped at +10, you could even lower the requirements. Dunno. Might also work fine in play, I'm not sure!
Hmm, you could have a wall of monkey tumbling rogues in front of fighters with spears, stabbing between them. chuckle, that's a neat mental image, at least.

 

[gamecat]

id playtest it first, but it seems kinda cool... i dont get the size limit though.

 

[Zephyrus]

As Is, I dont like it and I can see it getting out of hand very easily.

I would say perhaps that the feat grants an additional +2 to the dodge bonus to AC when using Total Defense and +1 with Fighting Densively at 11 Ranks, +4/+2 at 17 Ranks and +6/+3 at 23 Ranks. (For a total of +12 when using Total Defense at 20th Levele w/ Max Rank in Tumble). In effect, the feat allows the synergy/special of Tumble to continue to grow when using Total Defense or Fighting Defensivly instead of 'capping out' at 5 Ranks <which is mearly 2nd level max rank).

However, its benefit is best when using Total Defense. Fighting Defensively with this use doesnt become worth while untill 17 ranks and you'd be better off with Combat Expertice until then.

 

[BSF]

Interesting idea, but it does seem like a really hefty bump to AC. I'm not sure it would be broken, but I will toss out an alternative limit to be chewed on and spit back out.

AC bonus = Ref save bonus, up to your ranks in Tumble.

This provides an incentive to keep advancing Tumble, at least as quickly as your Ref save is improving.

 

[Gez]

id playtest it first, but it seems kinda cool... i dont get the size limit though.

I don't picture an orc insufferably nimbly bouncing all across the battlefield, dodging blows.

But halflings, gnomes, goblins, kobolds, and whatever it is that Yoda is, yes, definitely.

And yes, it does make you virtually un-hittable (although there is still the 5% chance of a natural 20). But on the other hand, you are unable to do anything yourself. Basically, this feat allows you to nearly bring the battle to a stale, bidding your time until reinforcement arrives or another opportunity to resume fighting.

 

[hong]

I don't think the size limit is necessary. Half-orcs may not be nimble, but I could definitely see elves and half-elves, or monks of any race, taking this feat. It's very kung-fu-ish. Since I prefer feats to be as generic as possible for a given mechanic, I'd rather the size limit be removed.

Along the same lines, if the feat is made more generic, the name "Insufferable Mobility" could also do with some tinkering. "Fleet-Footed"? "Fleeting Target"?

 

[Lopke_Quasath]

I agree that there should be no size limitation, or at least include medium size creatures. The idea of an ogre mincing about is rather amusing though.

I like the name, too. It evokes a nice image of dancing around the enemy, taunting and getting in their faces.

I actually thought of the kender from DragonLance right away.

However, as it stands now it is definitely over-powered. I liked the idea put forth by BardStephenFox adding your Reflex Save to your AC, limited by ranks in Tumble. That would encourage other useful feats like Lightning Reflexes.

If powered down a little bit more, you could include another benefit of drawing enemies attention, through actions or words. Then your allies could attack with a bonus/sneak attack regardless of flanking position.