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I've solved Power Attack!

Kzach

Banned
Banned
Power Attack
Fighter Attack 1
An unbalancing attack that sacrifices mobility for power.

At-Will * Martial, Weapon
Standard Action
Melee
weapon
Requirement: You cannot move in a round in which you use this power.
Target: One creature
Attack: Melee weapon vs. AC

Hit: 2[W] + Strength damage. Suffer a -2 penalty to AC until the start of your next turn.
 

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To strong for a at-will power (judging by the existing powers we have seen), but too weak for a encounter power.

There should be some "special effect" with the power. Something that makes it feel "powerful". Pushing the target one square back (exists already, IIRC) or something like that. Adding damage is insufficient.
 


Frostmarrow said:
"Suffer a -2 penalty to AC until the start of your next turn."

Don't design powers that benefit forgetful players.
I'd rather design it as something like that:

Power Attack
Fighter Attack 1
You swing your weapon recklessly, hoping to crush your foes with raw strength.

At-Will * Martial, Weapon
Standard Action
Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Melee weapon -2 vs. AC

Hit: 2[W] + Strength damage and the target falls prone.
Miss: You provoke an Opportunity Attack from the target.

Due to the penalty to the attack, it's not always optimal to use this, and since this attack punishes failure, it becomes a gamble - sure, you can get extra damage and knock him down, but if you fail, YOU get whacked. Due to the penalty, you only want to do that if you're hitting easily, or feeling desperate/reckless.

Of course, the penalty has to be tweaked and fine-tuned, but that's what we need playtest for.

Cheers, LT.
 

Lord Tirian said:
I'd rather design it as something like that:

Power Attack
Fighter Attack 1
You swing your weapon recklessly, hoping to crush your foes with raw strength.

At-Will * Martial, Weapon
Standard Action
Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Melee weapon -2 vs. AC

Hit: 2[W] + Strength damage and the target falls prone.
Miss: You provoke an Opportunity Attack from the target.

Due to the penalty to the attack, it's not always optimal to use this, and since this attack punishes failure, it becomes a gamble - sure, you can get extra damage and knock him down, but if you fail, YOU get whacked. Due to the penalty, you only want to do that if you're hitting easily, or feeling desperate/reckless.

Of course, the penalty has to be tweaked and fine-tuned, but that's what we need playtest for.

Cheers, LT.

I like where you are going with this, but it seems like a too much of a gamble for not enough reward.

Something that is a super powerful swing should have some sort of a benefit from a miss, showing that it was such a powerful strike, that even though it did not land solid, it still did something.

Fighter Attack 1
You swing your weapon recklessly, hoping to crush your foes with raw strength.

Encounter * Martial, Weapon
Standard Action
Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Melee weapon vs. AC
Special: Attack provokes AO from all opponents other than the target

Hit: 2[W] + Strength damage and the target falls prone.
Miss: Strength damage and target is Dazed for one round.


This shows the awesome strength of the attack by being an encounter power, doing some damage on a miss, and still having some effect on a miss. It is useful to knock down your opponent and deal a decent amount of damage on a hit, but the recklessness of the assault leaves you open to attacks from others (except the person you are attacking, you who too concerned with you trying to crush him).

Comparing to the other 1st lvl encounter power:
Passing attack: two swings and a shift, so has the potential of dealing 2[w]+2[str], and the second attack is at a bonus to hit, and there is a free movement in there.
This PA: deals [str] less damage, but does it all to one target. Has a knock-down effect on hit, and on-miss effect. Is disadvantaged by the provoking of AOs.

Passing attack is better againt multilple foes that are close together, Power Attack better when everyone is spread out or only 1 enemy is present.
 

jaer said:
I like where you are going with this, but it seems like a too much of a gamble for not enough reward.

Something that is a super powerful swing should have some sort of a benefit from a miss, showing that it was such a powerful strike, that even though it did not land solid, it still did something.

what if the result of a miss was that you pushed the target 1 square - you didn't connect, but you swung so hard and wild that they backed off to get out of the way?
 

beverson said:
what if the result of a miss was that you pushed the target 1 square - you didn't connect, but you swung so hard and wild that they backed off to get out of the way?

Works for me!
 

Jaer... Lord Tirian was writing his as an At Will power, not Encounter. Keep in mind his version is doable on every swing, hence the reason for the Miss drawback.

Encounter powers are already limited and can be stronger... At Will will need built in drawbacks to not be the only power you'd ever use among your At Wills.
 

Lord Tirian I like that power and am probably going to use it in my campaigns. I'll probably rename it as something else since you know Power Attack will be in the PH1. But I think its great and fits well with the 2H fighter's style. The only thing I would say is that it required a 2H maybe, but even that isn't necessary to make it good.
 

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