If that's the case I'm thinking of instituting the marking scheme from 4E.
How about giving everyone the ability to mark a target (free action). The marked target counts as "engaged" by you. Your threatened area toward the engaged target is extended by 5ft +5ft/5 levels. You also maintain your threatened are as normal. That way a single 5ft step doesn't necessarily get a person out of a threatened area. Those with multiple weapons can engage a number of foes equal to the number of weapons they are wielding (maximum targets equal to your Wisdom Mod, minimum 1). Everyone gets +1 AoO every 5 levels.
Enemies do not get this ability.
3.8th Edition: Iterative Attacks
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Username17
- Serious Badass
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Ugh. The 4e Marking system is really bad, do not do anything that is recognizable as the 4e Marking system. It does everything wrong.
The idea of marking enemies in order to show that they are threatened is a good one, it's just that 4e does it very badly. For starters, only one mark counts at a time. That's completely ass backwards. Secondly, it penalizes offense rather than defense to ignore a mark - meaning that it doesn't provide any incentives deeper than target acquisition. Worse still, the people who give out the marks in the first place are the tanks, meaning that the whole exercise is wasted - all of that reduces to a small and non-stacking AC bonus to the DPS characters. What-fucking-ever.
If you want Marking to influence people's actions - and you do if you want to include it at all - you want to start with giving out attack bonuses for having marked an enemy without them marking you in return. Which means that when you go in there spinning with a bunch of blades, threatening a large number of enemies, you are forcing them all to go on guard against you lest you decide to focus fire on one of them that ignored you and gank them in the back with both weapons.
So the swashbuckler becomes a guy who ties up large numbers of enemies and does huge burst damage if enemies can't or won't place their marks on him. It's like an agro-catching mechanic from an MMO except that it operates on rational rather than arbitrary principals. That makes it suitable for an RPG, unlike the crap they served up in 4e's marking system that does not.
-Username17
The idea of marking enemies in order to show that they are threatened is a good one, it's just that 4e does it very badly. For starters, only one mark counts at a time. That's completely ass backwards. Secondly, it penalizes offense rather than defense to ignore a mark - meaning that it doesn't provide any incentives deeper than target acquisition. Worse still, the people who give out the marks in the first place are the tanks, meaning that the whole exercise is wasted - all of that reduces to a small and non-stacking AC bonus to the DPS characters. What-fucking-ever.
If you want Marking to influence people's actions - and you do if you want to include it at all - you want to start with giving out attack bonuses for having marked an enemy without them marking you in return. Which means that when you go in there spinning with a bunch of blades, threatening a large number of enemies, you are forcing them all to go on guard against you lest you decide to focus fire on one of them that ignored you and gank them in the back with both weapons.
So the swashbuckler becomes a guy who ties up large numbers of enemies and does huge burst damage if enemies can't or won't place their marks on him. It's like an agro-catching mechanic from an MMO except that it operates on rational rather than arbitrary principals. That makes it suitable for an RPG, unlike the crap they served up in 4e's marking system that does not.
-Username17
Sounds reasonable how about this:
Everyone can mark a target as a free action. Any target can be marked by multiple PCs. Your threatening range is increased by 5ft +5ft/5 levels vs your mark. You receive a cumulative bonus on the marked target for any turn in which the target does not target you or an area you occupy with an effect (Thinking a +2 bonus for this). What's more the target is considered flanked by everyone who gets the bonus. Those with multiple weapons can engage a number of foes equal to the number of weapons they are wielding (maximum targets equal to your Wisdom Mod, minimum 1). Everyone gets +1 AoO every 5 levels.
After thinking about it I'll just keep iterative attacks but not restrict them by level. You must announce how many extra attacks you intend to make when you initiate an attack action. For each extra attack you perform you impose a - 5 penalty on all attacks you make (this is cumulative of course, limited to 4 extra attacks at a -20 penalty) for this turn. TWFs can take TWF and gain an off hand attack at a smaller cost to all attacks (thinking -4 for one handed weapons -2 for light). You gain an extra offhand attack for every iterative attack you decide to make. Rapid shot and flurry of blows still impose the same penalty. To keep people from fishing for crits, natural 20s will no longer be an automatic success/critical. Also natural 1s will not be automatic misses/failures.
Everyone can mark a target as a free action. Any target can be marked by multiple PCs. Your threatening range is increased by 5ft +5ft/5 levels vs your mark. You receive a cumulative bonus on the marked target for any turn in which the target does not target you or an area you occupy with an effect (Thinking a +2 bonus for this). What's more the target is considered flanked by everyone who gets the bonus. Those with multiple weapons can engage a number of foes equal to the number of weapons they are wielding (maximum targets equal to your Wisdom Mod, minimum 1). Everyone gets +1 AoO every 5 levels.
After thinking about it I'll just keep iterative attacks but not restrict them by level. You must announce how many extra attacks you intend to make when you initiate an attack action. For each extra attack you perform you impose a - 5 penalty on all attacks you make (this is cumulative of course, limited to 4 extra attacks at a -20 penalty) for this turn. TWFs can take TWF and gain an off hand attack at a smaller cost to all attacks (thinking -4 for one handed weapons -2 for light). You gain an extra offhand attack for every iterative attack you decide to make. Rapid shot and flurry of blows still impose the same penalty. To keep people from fishing for crits, natural 20s will no longer be an automatic success/critical. Also natural 1s will not be automatic misses/failures.
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RandomCasualty2
- Prince
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I like this concept.FrankTrollman wrote: If you want Marking to influence people's actions - and you do if you want to include it at all - you want to start with giving out attack bonuses for having marked an enemy without them marking you in return. Which means that when you go in there spinning with a bunch of blades, threatening a large number of enemies, you are forcing them all to go on guard against you lest you decide to focus fire on one of them that ignored you and gank them in the back with both weapons.