New feat: Parry Arrows

[Kai Lord]

Aragorn's wild swing at the end of Lord of the Rings that knocks the dagger out of the air has got to be one of the coolest moves in the movie. There's also a scene in Princess Mononoke where Aaka knocks several arrows away with his sword while riding his elk as it swims across a lake.

I thought that it would be cool to be able to do that in D&D but to my surprise only the Duelist PrC can do this. With a plethora of Deflect Arrows feats that all assume you are doing this with your bare hands I decided that a feat was missing, so I created one. Feel free to critique.

PARRY ARROWS (General)

You can deflect incoming arrows, as well as crossbow bolts, spears, and other shot or thrown weapons with a favored melee weapon.

Prerequisites: Dex 13+, Weapon Focus w/melee weapon.
Benefit: You must be wielding a melee weapon in which you have Weapon Focus to use this feat. Once per round when you would normally be hit with a ranged weapon, you may make a Reflex saving throw against a DC of 20 (if the ranged weapon has a magical bonus to attack, the DC increases by that amount.) If you succeed, you deflect the weapon. You must be aware of the attack and not flat-footed. Attempting to deflect a ranged weapon doesn't count as an action. Exceptional ranged weapons, such as boulders hurled by giants or Melf's Acid Arrows, can't be deflected.

 

[drowdude]

This should be in house rules dood.

 

[Kai Lord]

This should be in house rules dood.

Hmm. Never thought to put it there, since I really only read this and the General forum. I'm sure someone will move it soon enough. Regardless, what do you think of the feat, dood?

 

[Crothian]

I'd add that if being attacked my a magic item, the reflex DC goes up whatever the plus on the weapon is.

 

[Kai Lord]

I'd add that if being attacked my a magic item, the reflex DC goes up whatever the plus on the weapon is.

Ah, my friend, read my feat again..."Once per round when you would normally be hit with a ranged weapon, you may make a Reflex saving throw against a DC of 20 (if the ranged weapon has a magical bonus to attack, the DC increases by that amount.)"

However, you got me thinking. If you parry with a magic weapon, do you think the enhancement bonus of your weapon should lower the Reflex DC?

EDIT: I also considered limiting the weapons that can be used to parry to slashing weapons only. I can't really picture someone deflecting arrows with a flail or a lance. What do you think? Hmm, maybe you should only be able to do it with weapons your size category or smaller. Can't say I can really picture someone doing this with a greatsword....

 

[drnuncheon]

EDIT: I also considered limiting the weapons that can be used to parry to slashing weapons only. I can't really picture someone deflecting arrows with a flail or a lance. What do you think? Hmm, maybe you should only be able to do it with weapons your size category or smaller. Can't say I can really picture someone doing this with a greatsword....

Consider a quarterstaff, though...that might be easier to picture.

Also, greatswords are more maneuverable than you might think.

But if I had to pick a cutoff, I'd say 'finessable weapons' - that would pretty much cover anything that would be light enough to block something coming in like that.

(Personally, I always used Expertise, and defined the bonus to AC as knocking the arrows out of the air...I also think it's weird that it's no harder to parry an incoming bolt than it is to parry an incoming spear, when the bolt is moving faster and is far smaller...)

J

 

[HEL Pit Fiend]

I thought that it would be cool to be able to do that in D&D but to my surprise only the Duelist PrC can do this. With a plethora of Deflect Arrows feats that all assume you are doing this with your bare hands I decided that a feat was missing, so I created one. Feel free to critique.

The Duelist PrC class makes a note that she (the Duelist) must have a piercing weapon (Duelist's favored weapon type) in hand for the deflect arrows to work. Bare handed, she cannot deflect any arrows, even though she has the feat.

 

[Taloras]

Read the book Dissolution from the War of the Spider Queen series (first in the series, just out a couple months ago). The drow weapons master Ryld uses his greatsword to knock arrows out of the way all the time. Of course, its a magical greatsword....that might be one of the properties, it doesnt say. Still, i can see it happening, if youve got good enough reflexes.

 

[Kai Lord]

Consider a quarterstaff, though...that might be easier to picture.

Also, greatswords are more maneuverable than you might think.

But if I had to pick a cutoff, I'd say 'finessable weapons' - that would pretty much cover anything that would be light enough to block something coming in like that.

But then that rules out longsword, which is what Aragorn used, as well as the aforementioned quarterstaff.

(Personally, I always used Expertise, and defined the bonus to AC as knocking the arrows out of the air...I also think it's weird that it's no harder to parry an incoming bolt than it is to parry an incoming spear, when the bolt is moving faster and is far smaller...)

That gave me an idea for a feat that might be better than Parry Arrows. How does this sound:

IMPROVED EXPERTISE (General)
You can wield your weapon defensively at a moment's notice.
Prerequisites: Int 13+, Dex 13+, Expertise.
Benefit: When attacked, you may add up to +5 to your AC even if it is not your turn to attack. On the following round, all attacks suffer a penalty to attack equal to your AC bonus. You may not use Improved Expertise if you are denied your Dex bonus to AC for any reason.

This would apply to melee combat, but would also give you that instant reaction to possibly swat ranged weapons out of the air, just as Aragorn did. Do you think this is better or worse than my Parry Arrows feat? I tried to make both a natural extension of Deflect Arrows and Expertise, respectively.

 

[kreynolds]

Here's some more feats that I thought some of you might find useful...

Feat Creation God [General]
You can whip up a new feat in record time.
Benefit: You can create a feat with a moments notice. No prior notification or request is required, as you are the god of feat creation.
Normal: Without this feat, it could take you hours, days, months, or if your just that damn stupid, years, to create a new feat.
Special: This feat doesn’t require your feats to be balanced at all. It merely requires that you format them properly.

Improved Feat Creation God [General]
You are the master of feat creation, even if you’re not the DM.
Prerequisites: Cha 13+, Feat Creation God, Get Whatever You Want, Shameless, Shmuck, must not have the Jackass or Piss & Moan feats.
Benefit: You can get any feat approved by your DM, no matter how stupid, idiotic, improperly formatted, or imbalanced it is. Hell, your feats can break the entire damn game and it won’t make a difference to your DM.
Normal: Without this feat, good luck getting your feats approved.
Special: If you found this feat because you noticed that one of the other players in your group is getting really stupid feats approved, find another DM that isn't so frickin' ignorant.
Note: You cannot use the Feat Creation God feat to create this feat.

Greater Feat Creation God [General]
Not only are you are the master of feat creation, you’re feats are actually worth a damn.
Prerequisites: Cha 17+, Feat Creation God, Get Whatever You Want, Improved Feat Creation God, It’s Not Over Yet, Shameless, Shmuck, must not have the Jackass or Piss & Moan feats.
Benefit: Your feats are always useable, creative, balanced, and priceless. There is no possibility that your feats will suck.
Normal: Without this feat, your feats could be great, or they might really bite the big one, even though your DM will always approve them. Finally, you can actually take pride in your work.
Special: This feat doesn’t actually make your feats any better than they were before, though it does make you think they are, if only to help keep you from killing yourself.
Note: You cannot use the Feat Creation God or Improved Feat Creation God feats to create this feat.

...and they just keep getting better and better.

Seriously though, Kai Lord, nice beginning on that Improved Expertise feat. Very inventive.