Ranged Power Attack?

[Grayhawk]

Are there any official feats that work like Power Attack for ranged weapons?

Would such a thing be too powerful?

If not, can you balance it by the prereqs and how much damage you can add?

I was thinking about limiting it to a standard action, so you could only make one such attack per round, but won't you then be better of making multiple attacks instead? (Especially if the damage bonus is capped pretty low.)

Please rate the following:

Called Shot
Prereq: Dex 13+, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
Subtract up to your Dex bonus from ranged attack rolls and add to damage rolls for a round.

 

[Impeesa]

Peerless Archer (from Silver Marches) gets it as a third level ability. I don't think there's an official feat that matches it, though various third party books have similar ones (that work like power attack - variable, capped at BAB). Personally, I'd have a lot of trouble rationalizing it for anything other than maybe thrown weapons...

--Impeesa--

 

[Grayhawk]

Personally, I'd have a lot of trouble rationalizing it for anything other than maybe thrown weapons...

If you think about it like a ranged Power Attack I see what you mean, but let me clarify:

My personal rationalization for Power Attack (which I know many disagree with), is that it's a wild swing, giving up accuracy for more damage. (I feel that the Str prereq backs me up on this.)

I'm opposed to the called shot variants that bypass the HP mechanic, as I feel that called shots can be emulated using existing mechanics. To me, a called shot is about accepting penalties to hit where it really hurts (you might be aiming for the extremities instead of the body, etc). So it's more like a surgical strike than the wild swing of the Power Attack. (Again, IMHO.)

So in this regard, the only thing my feat and Power Attack has in common is the mechanic of subtracting from the attack roll and adding to damage.

Does that make any sense?

Ind the end, different people will rationalize such feats differently, so I'd rather hear about whether you guys find the feat balanced or have input on how it could be fixed.

 

[Vymair]

Archers are so deadly already that I personally would never allow such a feat into my game even if it existed. I think Rapid Shot + Ranged Power Attack would enable a well-built archer to do insane amounts of damage.

Our group respects archers so much that one of our DMs has stated "If you make an archer, I'm adding archers to all my encounters as well."

 

[hong]

http://www.zipworld.com.au/~hong/dnd/combatfeats.htm#called_shot

 

[Grayhawk]

http://www.zipworld.com.au/~hong/dnd/combatfeats.htm#called_shot

Thanks for the link hong, it's been a while since I've checked out your rules.

I can see why you'd want to make a called shot feat limited to one shot per round but granting more than 1:1 damage. (My original idea also had only one called shot per round, but at 1:1 it seemed too weak.)

How's that feat working out for you in play?

Btw, I also have an aiming mechanic that doesn't require a feat. (Just like a charge, everybody can do it.)

At first, it was a MEA that granted a +2 bonus to your next ranged attack roll, as well as a -2 AC penalty that carried over to your next action due to standing still while aiming. (Again, the +2/-2 mechanic was lifted from charge.)

But I found that my group's Rogue archer got too many +2 shots off without suffering the AC penalty due to him being out of reach, so I changed it to just being a +1 bonus without any AC penalty to keep track of.

On the called shot feat, I'm going back to it just being once per round.

How does this sound:


Called Shot
Prereq: Dex 13+, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
As a full-round action you make a single ranged attack. Subtract up to your Dex bonus from the attack roll and add twice this amount to the damage roll.


Even though everything that adds damage to a ranged attack either works regardles of range or only works within 30 feet, I was thinking about letting this feat apply to attacks made within the weapons range increment (within 60 feet for a shortbow, etc).

I prefer to copy existing mechanics when making house rules but sometimes you got to break new ground. It seems appropiate to me that a called shot feat should apply it's damage at a range greater than the standard 30 feet, but would it be unbalancing to let it do so?

(Obviously, what's balanced for one persons game isn't for another's. When judging this feat and it's possible range, try and imagine a game with no PrC's and only core material.)

 

[hong]

Thanks for the link hong, it's been a while since I've checked out your rules.

I can see why you'd want to make a called shot feat limited to one shot per round but granting more than 1:1 damage. (My original idea also had only one called shot per round, but at 1:1 it seemed too weak.)

How's that feat working out for you in play?

The way I've written it up, it's probably still relatively weak, because of the need to make an "aimed shot". By default, this is a full-round action. However, if you also have the Improved Aimed Shot feat, which changes an aimed shot into a standard action and gives a bonus to hit, it's not so bad: like a different take on Manyshot.

Then I made up a PrC which granted a +3/-1 called shot as a signature ability, along with (effectively) true strike multiple times/day. That might have been a bit much, but it was fun.

Called Shot
Prereq: Dex 13+, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
As a full-round action you make a single ranged attack. Subtract up to your Dex bonus from the attack roll and add twice this amount to the damage roll.


Even though everything that adds damage to a ranged attack either works regardles of range or only works within 30 feet, I was thinking about letting this feat apply to attacks made within the weapons range increment (within 60 feet for a shortbow, etc).

I prefer to copy existing mechanics when making house rules but sometimes you got to break new ground. It seems appropiate to me that a called shot feat should apply it's damage at a range greater than the standard 30 feet, but would it be unbalancing to let it do so?

(Obviously, what's balanced for one persons game isn't for another's. When judging this feat and it's possible range, try and imagine a game with no PrC's and only core material.)

It seems fairly weak. If you're using up a FRA, and taking an attack penalty as well, you're probably better off just making a full attack: more attacks, more damage, fewer penalties. The exception might be if you need to blow through DR, but I don't see this as a big enough advantage to justify taking the feat, especially if you're limiting the damage bonus to 2xDex. Maybe make it a standard action; that way you can move and still make a called shot, or ready one if necessary.

 

[Darklone]

If you think about it like a ranged Power Attack I see what you mean, but let me clarify:

My personal rationalization for Power Attack (which I know many disagree with), is that it's a wild swing, giving up accuracy for more damage. (I feel that the Str prereq backs me up on this.)

Eeeeeeeeeks. A wild swing will damage your weapon and make it easier to parry/deflect the blow. Ridiculously easy, to be exact. Power Attack makes more sense as a careful precise strike with a lot of concentration. Hard to do, but effective.

Ranged Power Attack... I'd go along the OotBI with his +1d8 or so stuff. It doesn't make sense to shoot "less exact" with a higher chance for failure for more damage with a bow. Shooting once for more damage instead of launching several arrows makes sense.

 

[Grayhawk]

It seems fairly weak. If you're using up a FRA, and taking an attack penalty as well, you're probably better off just making a full attack: more attacks, more damage, fewer penalties. The exception might be if you need to blow through DR, but I don't see this as a big enough advantage to justify taking the feat, especially if you're limiting the damage bonus to 2xDex. Maybe make it a standard action; that way you can move and still make a called shot, or ready one if necessary.

Thanks for your input!

I'd rather have it a bit on the weak side than the other way around. In my game I have some house rules (which you of course have a hard time taking into consideration) that are geared towards lowering the overall powerlevel, so I think it'll be fine.

(I've also changed Power Attack to be limited by Str instead of BAB. This makes it better at low levels, but I won't have anyone doing 20 extra hit points vs inanimate objects at 10th level with no miss chance. Not that something like that isn't 'balanced', but I guess it just doesn't sit well with me that this feat should make you that much better at overcomming the DR of castlewalls, etc.)

If I was to make the Called Shot feat work as a standard action, I'd propably give it a prereq of BAB +6, as you'd then propably qualify for it at the same time as you qualify for Many Shot, prompting a choice between shooting more arrows or a single one for more damage, as a standard action.

Now, how do you guys feel about letting a feat like this apply it's damage beyond the standard 30 feet? (Like I mentioned above, I was thinking about letting it work within the weapon's range increment.)