Making the Dodge feat +1 AC vs. any/all?

[frankthedm]

The feat lets you take mobility and spring attack. Pluce AC is far more valuable than bonus to hit in core character abilities since it is cheap for magic. Plus as the poster above notes, Dex 13 for dodge is just at the sweet spot of dex scores for heavy armor classes. It would give those characters too much of a boon.

As a happy comprimise I offer a second feat to apply dodge to all foes.
Artful Dodger: bab+2 dex 15

 

[ForceUser]

Would it overpower the Dodge feat to allow the +1 AC bonus against all opponents? Throughout D&D3.X, me and all Players I've played with find it difficult to remember to declare the target for this feat on their turn.

Quasqueton

I agree that it's difficult to remember to declare a Dodge, but I think adding a blanket +1 AC makes it a must-have for any Dex-based character. However, you could always use the Arcana Unearthed version of Dodge, which grants a permanent +1 dodge bonus to AC, but also imposes a permanent -1 penalty to attacks. I think that's fair.

 

[Zaruthustran]

In all the games I've played in with people who have characters with Dodge, they forget about it, oh, 60% of the time. Or if they remember to declare a dodge target during their turn, by the time the monsters go everyone has forgotten who the target was.

The RttToEE game just made dodge work against the first opponent that attacked you. In my games I use that rule, *unless* the dodger specifically chooses a different opponent. That way the Dodge feat still has some use even if the player forgets about the feat.

-z

 

[Celtavian]

re

I think they should eliminate Combat Expertise and use that mechanic for Dodge. That would make it closer to the effectiveness of Power Attack. Or instead of eliminating Combat Expertise, they should add a new AC bonus type called the Parry bonus and allow Combat Expertise to grant a parry bonus rather than a Dodge bonus.

 

[Creamsteak]

Here is what I use:

This material is Open Game Content, and is licensed for public use under the terms of the Open Game License v1.0a.
OUT-OF-TURN DODGE
Any time you are about to be attacked, you can give up your next turn to gain a +4 dodge bonus to your AC. You must be able to apply your Dexterity bonus to your AC against the attack (so you can’t use it when flat-footed, for instance), and you declare this before the attack roll is made. Your initiative does not change; you simply do not take an action on your next turn. You gain this dodge bonus until the next time your initiative comes up after your “skipped” turn.
This rule gives a character the option of defending himself, providing an additional element to combat tactics. It also provides adventurers with additional tactical options, such as a “wolf pack” tactic: When a group attacks a single target, whoever the target retaliates against uses the out-of-turn dodge to aid his AC, while each of the others attacks the opponent on his or her turn.

–Andrew Finch

Except that I've torn it from it's source and put it as a Dodge feat feature. Ta-da.

DODGE [GENERAL]
Prerequisite: Dex 13.
Benefit: During your action, you designate an opponent and receive a +1 dodge bonus to Armor Class against attacks from that opponent. You can select a new opponent on any action.
In addition, any time you are about to be attacked by the designated opponent, you can give up your next turn to gain a +4 dodge bonus to your AC. You must be able to apply your Dexterity bonus to your AC against the attack (so you can’t use it when flat-footed, for instance), and you declare this before the attack roll is made. Your initiative does not change; you simply do not take an action on your next turn. You gain this dodge bonus until the next time your initiative comes up after your “skipped” turn.

 

[Oscar carramiñana]

I think dodge vs all oponents are unbalanced vs all others basic feats.

 

[Kodam]

Not too powerful

Hi!

I don`t think that Dodge would be overpowerded if it could be applied against all opponents. It would make a difference just once every 20 attacks plus it would cause one in 20 threats not become a crit! As others have mentioned at the moment its mostly a wasted feat b/c you often forget it in the heat of combat. Contrary to Weapon Focus Dodge won't help you against a spellcasting enemy one bit.

And it wouldn't become a no-brainer at all! Or would anyone take this powered Dodge as a spellcaster w/o even considering metamagic, Item Creation, Imp. Init., Combat Casting; as a spellcaster? Divine feats for the approriate classes? It would be interesting for the warrior classes, of course. But I don't think that it would be a must have even for them, since there are so many other interesting feats as well.

Kodam

 

[Endur]

The problem with dodge as a feat is that the player is supposed to announce who his dodge feat applies to. This is a BAD requirement from a role-playing perspective. Players should focus on announcements that enhance role-playing. Game-rules announcements should be mimimized or eliminated.

A +1 dodge bonus to AC vs. all enemies would be fine; there are many feats that provide far more powerful benefits than this. And it wouldn't require the player to announce in every single round of combat who his bonus applies against.

Feats like: Iron Will, Weapon Focus, Specialization, Cleave, etc. are all GOOD role playing feats in that you don't have to announce them every time you use them. Feats like Expertise, Power Attack, Dodge, and some others are bad since you are constantly talking about game effects and not in character role playing.

 

[Staffan]

I agree that it's difficult to remember to declare a Dodge, but I think adding a blanket +1 AC makes it a must-have for any Dex-based character. However, you could always use the Arcana Unearthed version of Dodge, which grants a permanent +1 dodge bonus to AC, but also imposes a permanent -1 penalty to attacks. I think that's fair.

Personally, I think the AU "Defensive Stance" talent (or whatever it's called - I don't have the book available ATM) sucks. It's a Talent (you only get one or two, and you have to take it/them at first level), and it's basically a much inferior version of Combat Expertise (fixed at 1 point). I thought Talents were supposed to be slightly better than regular feats?

I think a straight +1 dodge bonus to AC would be a great Talent - possibly with the limitation that it stacks with Dex bonus when determining MaxDex from armor.

 

[rrealm]

What if dodge granted a +1 bonus to AC for all melee attacks OR a +1 ranged attacks in a given round? On the following round the person can change from melee protection to ranged protection or vice versa. Not as powerful as the +1 always AC but certainly more useful than the way it is written out of the book. If the person fails to specify, the default would be melee attacks.

Edit: stopid tyypos