You are using Binetti's defense against me.

[geosapient]

Is there a way to make combat more interesting without making it take even more time? It's kind of hard to imagine a fight that goes like this:

Prince Humperdink: "There was a mighty duel. It ranged all over... both were masters."

When it normally just has two or more combatants standing in the same 5' squares until one or more of them drop.


Is it asking too much to have flavor in the combat? Is there anything in the books that adds detail to battle?

 

[Felix]

I suspect that if you had two duelists (PrC or otherwise) with Weapon Finesse, Dodge, Combat Expertise, Disarm, Mobility, etc... then the combat would be much different than two full-plate-and-tower-shield toting Dwarven-war-axe-wielding Power Attacking fighters going at it. It's just usually the case that heavy armor wearing fighters have a mechanical advantage in standard DnD. If you want to discourage the wearing of Armor, I suggest you have a few fights on a sailing ship.

Considering that the combat in Princess Bride included Bull Rushes, feinting, Intimidate checks, and use of the terrain to provide bonuses, I suspect something like that fight could very well take place in DnD. It just wouldn't take place with Tordek.

Prince Humperdink: "There was a mighty slugfest. They didn't move from where they stood, but hewed away at each other... both were as resilent as the tide."

 

[Stalker0]

Keep in mind how large a 5 foot space actually. With 5 foot steps alone you can cover a lot of territory.

 

[Musrum]

I suspect that if you had two duelists (PrC or otherwise) with Weapon Finesse, Dodge, Combat Expertise, Disarm, Mobility, etc... then the combat would be much different than two full-plate-and-tower-shield toting Dwarven-war-axe-wielding Power Attacking fighters going at it. It's just usually the case that heavy armor wearing fighters have a mechanical advantage in standard DnD. If you want to discourage the wearing of Armor, I suggest you have a few fights on a sailing ship.

Considering that the combat in Princess Bride included Bull Rushes, feinting, Intimidate checks, and use of the terrain to provide bonuses, I suspect something like that fight could very well take place in DnD. It just wouldn't take place with Tordek.

Prince Humperdink: "There was a mighty slugfest. They didn't move from where they stood, but hewed away at each other... both were as resilent as the tide."

Has Prince Humperdink replaced Aragorn as the iconic ranger?

 

[geosapient]

Though I understand your point, Weapon Finesse, Combat Expertise and Dodge seem to only add bonuses in any of our campaigns - no flavor. Disarm would be different as it has an immediate effect that forces a combatant to make a decision.

You would think that with a free 5' move players would want to take advantage of that. This, however, is not the case. Of course if a fighter picked up Supreme Cleave I'm sure that he would move 5' or more in a round (even if he'd not moved in combat before).

Unless something happens to force a move everyone just seems content where they are. The only person that seems to move around the battle field is the Cleric and that is just to heal people.

When in the movie did they use bull rush? I can think of multiple charge attacks but no bull rushes.

 

[geosapient]

Has Prince Humperdink replaced Aragorn as the iconic ranger?

Prince Humperdink at least had personality. And I hate using Lord of the Rings for examples.

 

[Hypersmurf]

When in the movie did they use bull rush? I can think of multiple charge attacks but no bull rushes.

"And you can die too, for all I care!"

"Rodents Of Unusual Size? I don't think they exist."

One class that does a lot of moving is the Scout.

-Hyp.

 

[geosapient]

"And you can die too, for all I care!"

"Rodents Of Unusual Size? I don't think they exist."

One class that does a lot of moving is the Scout.

-Hyp.

"Yes, yes. You're very smart. Shut up."

I would hardly consider Buttercup pushing Westley to be a bull rush (she didn't have a 10' head start). The rat maybe (I'll have to watch the scene when I get home). At the moment, in my mind I see the rat charging, biting and tripping.

I guess the Scout does have some potential. He would at least get the fighters moving to chase.

 

[Felix]

Has Prince Humperdink replaced Aragorn as the iconic ranger?

Nah. Humperdink is battling Belkar for Iconic Evil Ranger.

...seem to only add bonuses in any of our campaigns - no flavor.

I think feats should be more focused on providing mechanical benefits; flavor can be added by the player.

The only person that seems to move around the battle field is the Cleric and that is just to heal people.

Or folks with Spring Attack. It's a hell of a thing to witness a Barbarian/Scout with Spring Attack, Power Attack and Leap Attack go after people. Sure, that's 9th level, but like Humperdink said, "They were both masters". Doesn't seem like low-level stuff to me.

 

[Hypersmurf]

I would hardly consider Buttercup pushing Westley to be a bull rush (she didn't have a 10' head start).

You don't need one. A Bull Rush can be a standard action, or part of a charge.

With the standard action, you're just moving into the square of an adjacent opponent.

-Hyp.