Exploring Specialized Fighting Styles
All right, lets play catch-up! I owe you ladies and gentlegamers a post in regards to Specialized Combat Styles! Now this assumes that you know how Weapon Proficiencies work, but it works just slightly different. Dedicating 1 Weapon Proficiency slot to a fighting style means that you are now specialized in its use. Most of the time only straight up Fighters can specialize in anything (Rangers & Paladins may not specialize as they are a sub-class) however fighting styles are a bit different, so it pays to go back and look at the previous post here.
One-Handed Fighting Style
Folks who are specialized in this method of combat, are tricky fighters! They are much better at blocking and parrying then unspecialized characters, and this grants them a bonus of 1 to their Armor Class.
A Fighter may spend a 2nd slot on this fighting style and gain a bonus of 2 to AC but that is the limit.
In order to qualify for this bonus, you can’t be using a shield, but this does allow you to have a free hand to grab objects, or punch people square in the face if you’ve got them pinned down with your weapon.
2-Hander Fighting Style
Folks who are specialists of this style are much faster in combat then others are, the benefit is that the player shaves 3 points off of his weapon speed. This bonus only applies to fighting with weapons which either require two hands to operate, or can be used two handed (i.e. bastard sword). Of course to gain any benefits from this, one has to be applying weapon speeds to their initiative.
Additionally, most folks don’t realize that lots of weapons can be used two-handed, if a player states that he is doing this, and he is specialized in this fighting style, he gains a +1 to damage.
Weapon & Shield Fighting Style
This is the one that got me confused, because I already wrote about this, but I’ll list it again. Specialists of this fighting style can chose to make an additional attack with a shield punch. When doing this, you don’t gain the AC bonus for the shield for that round, additionally you suffer a –2 to attack with your weapon, and a –4 to attack with your shield. If you put an additional slot dedicated to this fighting style, your weapon attacks normally, and you only suffer a –2 to attack with your shield.
For more information on shields click here.
Two Weapon Fighting Style
As a general rule, we only want Rangers to attack with two weapons without penalties because this is a class bonus specific to that sub-class, thus we want to keep it that way. However! How we fix this is that we demand that the weapon in the characters off hand must be a size smaller then the one in the characters favored hand. Now the Complete Fighters Handbook disrespects this rule, so here I will be drift away from its suggestions, but I realize that not everybody has my mentality thus as an option, a specialized fighter can wield weapons of equal size, and only suffer a –2 to the off hand attack.
I don’t follow those rules because I feel that this steps on the toes of all Rangers, I do however grant the normal attack, and –2 penalty (unspecialized fighters make attacks with –2 penalty to their favored hand, and –4 to attack with their off hand)
What this also allows, is for a fighter to make two separate tactical attacks, if he chooses too, he can parry with his off hand (+1 to AC) or pin with his good hand and attack with his off hand. Whatever he wants to do, if the 2 attacks are different from each other, he’ll give up a –1 to all attacks just because he is watching for 2 different things.
It should also be stated right here that a Ranger who chooses to specialize in this fighting style does not gain bonuses to attacks, he can’t improve his natural ability of two-handed awesomeness, thus he is already specialized in this attack form and can choose one of the other fighting styles to specialize in if he wishes to.
Overview
All of this stuff is advanced, but it does fit well in the core rules. Advanced players use this kind of stuff because after a while, standard combat can get boring as heck! If you want to make the game more challenging or different, then I suggest paying more attention to fighting styles, a good DM will also apply this to their NPCs, monsters who only attack with their fists could qualify for different attacks. Take the Flesh Golem for instance. Anybody that ever read Frankenstein knows that the monster was much more entertaining then simply rolling dice to determine hits and damage, spice it up some by letting them interact with their environment!
Fighting styles aren’t just limited to what I’ve put forth from the Complete Fighters Handbook, we can also come up with our own, all we need is an idea and to come up with an effect. PC characters won’t have access to all of them, don’t be afraid to try new things, if they don’t work then just don’t do it again or try and tweak it until you find the right recipe. As long as we are having fun, then we are doing it right.
Monday, August 17, 2009
|
Labels:
combat,
Proficiencies
|
- campaign ideas
- NPC's
- combat
- Miscellany
- encounters
- rants
- Ripper's Gaming Sessions
- monsters
- money and equipment
- Reviews
- pc classes
- magic
- Proficiencies
- Treasure
- Time and Movement
- Sunday Supplemental
- experience
- campaign add-ins
- Alignment
- races
- Mechanic Series
- vision and light
- Ability Scores
- wizard spells
- Supplemental
- priest spells
My Blog List
-
The Legend of Drizzt with Mike Witwer – Episode 268 – 5/30/2023 - Shane Plays Geek Talk Episode #268 – 5/30/2023 Author and D&D historian Mike Witwer shares the details on his newest book The Legend of Drizzt Visual Dic...15 hours ago
-
more cool skeletons - These cool party dudes are from a 19th century work by an artist named Kyosai.22 hours ago
-
Dungeon 23 - Wk 24 - I Can't Stop Mapping! Sharing More Random Tables - I think I may have a slight problem... I am enjoying mapping way too much and I can't stop at just 5 to 10 min. Over the past week, I've filled up half ...1 day ago
-
[Review] Noofutra - I spent much of my teenage years playing *Shadowrun* - a game I once called "the most fundamentally awful and crass idea ever invented [...] a crime agai...1 week ago
-
The Astral and Ethereal Went From Interchangable to Overcomplicated. How Can D&D Fix Them? - As introduced in the original Dungeons & Dragons supplements, the astral and the ethereal planes seemed like two names for the same place. D&D characters v...1 week ago
-
Is it Appendix N worthy material? The Sword Itself by Joe Abercrombie (Review & my Appendix N) - *This is part 2 of our book review series. "Our" meaning that Eric Diaz over at the wonderful blog Methods & Madmen and yours truly started readig books...3 weeks ago
-
Vecna Rebooted and Greyhawk - Having spent most of my life working as an archaeologist and now as a public historian, I suppose it is not surprising that I would be drawn to puzzles ...3 weeks ago
-
Magical Magic That Feels Magical - *14. Heart Of The Beast: Cast this spell on a slain monster’s heart (or reasonably equivalent organ or portion), then consume it. At any time, you may ...2 months ago
-
Kezmarok, Counting Houses, and Amazon Battle-Barges: Recent News from the Hill Cantons - And now the news from the Hill Cantons… The great half-ruined southern metropolis of Kezmarok is back in the shouted news of Cantonal town criers with...2 months ago
-
New Wotc D&D Survey - New Wotc D&D Survey I enjoy filling these out and telling them things they don't want to hear.2 months ago
-
Coming Fast! 50th Anniversary of OD&D January 2024 (OGL comments) (& how Wizbro is stupid) - The 50th Anniversary, the 50th Birthday of OD&D is approaching and will be here in January 2024. Wizards of the Coast, instead of preparing for something s...3 months ago
-
Original Dungeons & Dragons Has Its 50th Anniversary In January 2024 (Feb 2023) - The countdown to the 50th Anniversary of the Original Dungeons and Dragons in January 2024 continues. Give the drama with Wizards during January 2023, it...3 months ago
-
I'm In!! The monthly posting challenge leadup to the 50th Anniversary of OD&D in 2024 - I am inspired by this post found here, to be part of the monthly posting during 2023 and 2024 to highlight the 50th Anniversary of OD&D. We were challeng...4 months ago
-
Gli Sproloqui del Grognardo: il Cacciatore di Regolamenti - Ciao, capita anche a voi quando passate vicino alla libreria dove rimangono – ordinatamente e in bella mostra - i manuali con i quali avete giocato negli...9 months ago
-
The Cultist, The Torturer, and the Slaver classes for OSR Sword & Sorcery Games. - Why these three classes? Honestly because I'm bored in my medical retirement and I want a few classes besides my Barbarian, Brute, etc builds to run my Swo...10 months ago
-
It's been a decade, now... - This is a tough time of year for me. So, with your indulgence, here's this link to a post I did a decade ago... EDIT: I have no idea why it didn't take. S...1 year ago
-
This Blog is now on Indefinite Hiatus - Greetings, I haven’t been able to post except sporadically for a while. I just found out I will need to find a new place to live within the next few months...1 year ago
-
Alignment and Lawful Clerics - This is the third in a series of web log posts where I describe what “alignment” must mean in the Perilous Realms, based upon our group’s tone and play-s...1 year ago
-
Ind of the Year - The Colors of Magic - On December 1st, there will be a nice bundle of small, indie itch RPGs from around the world called the *Ind of the Year Bundle 2020* that includes *The Co...2 years ago
-
Be The DM, 1 - OK, I've run plenty of games and I've talked with and read the thoughts of many other DM's. One thing is certain; No two DM's are the same. I have seen ...2 years ago
-
The Crowning of King Harold - Here is a spooky story that comes from my latest novel, Lions Red and Gold, available now in digital and dead tree only on Amazon. I post it here in ho...2 years ago
-
MIDLANDS CHARACTER GENERATION - Character development (of Player via imagined formative experiences) in my dog in DMing. Placyer character development is a huge part of my sandbox. I use ...2 years ago
-
Lake Geneva Original RPG Campaign: Merlynd the Magician: A Remembrance of Don Kaye, ... - Lake Geneva Original RPG Campaign: Merlynd the Magician: A Remembrance of Don Kaye, ...: LINK to Description and Ordering: https://www.tlbgames.com/colle...3 years ago
-
Character Concepts: Planescape pt 3 - Part 1 Part 2 Continuing my series on oddball Planescape Faction Personalities... Harmonium Sidby the Stick (LG/halfling/fighter) - Sidby's a good enough b...3 years ago
-
D&D Sling Damage vs. Large Targets - In many early editions of D&D, weapons were assigned two damage values: one for small/medium targets (i.e. man-sized) and one for large targets (giants and...3 years ago
-
Announcing the Contest Winner! (Plus Some Interesting US Coin Facts) - The third semi-annual Save Versus All Wands contest - What is the Value of this Coin Hoard - is over. $1,000 was the winning guess, only a bit below the ...4 years ago
Statcounter
Contact me at Ripx187@gmail.com
Search This Blog
Blog Archive
-
►
2018
(5)
- ► October 2018 (1)
- ► September 2018 (1)
- ► April 2018 (1)
- ► February 2018 (1)
- ► January 2018 (1)
-
►
2017
(39)
- ► November 2017 (1)
- ► September 2017 (3)
- ► August 2017 (2)
- ► April 2017 (6)
- ► March 2017 (5)
- ► February 2017 (5)
- ► January 2017 (4)
-
►
2016
(58)
- ► December 2016 (4)
- ► November 2016 (6)
- ► October 2016 (5)
- ► September 2016 (4)
- ► August 2016 (4)
- ► April 2016 (4)
- ► March 2016 (4)
- ► February 2016 (4)
- ► January 2016 (7)
-
►
2015
(24)
- ► December 2015 (6)
- ► November 2015 (7)
- ► October 2015 (7)
- ► September 2015 (4)
-
►
2010
(14)
- ► March 2010 (5)
- ► February 2010 (5)
- ► January 2010 (4)
-
▼
2009
(123)
- ► December 2009 (3)
- ► November 2009 (4)
- ► October 2009 (6)
- ► September 2009 (4)
-
▼
August 2009
(13)
- Chapter I: The Goblin
- New Project to begin soon
- Reversing as Story Element
- Medusa Cactus
- Low Level Adventures & Monster Treasure
- Exploring Specialized Fighting Styles
- Plants, Dangerous: Fear Weed
- Societies and Factions in the D&D World
- Different Fighting Styles for Different Classes
- Thief Skills for the Masses
- More 2e Love
- RPG Blog Carnival: Conventions, Ren Fairs, Carniva...
- Books as Treasure
- ► April 2009 (15)
- ► March 2009 (14)
- ► February 2009 (5)
- ► January 2009 (10)
-
►
2008
(73)
- ► December 2008 (3)
- ► November 2008 (4)
- ► October 2008 (5)
- ► September 2008 (4)
- ► August 2008 (4)
- ► April 2008 (18)
- ► March 2008 (5)
2 comments:
Tacoma Says: (It won't let me post except as Anonymous!)
Have you considered instead of a "weapon handling type" fighting style, something more like the martial arts styles from the Ninja Handbook?
You'd have each style give a special bonus when using approved weapons. The Ninja Handbook was pretty vague on this and a player making up his own style could just say it worked with all weapons and unarmed. There wasn't a rule against it.
Some examples:
Swashbuckler Style: +4 Movement once per three rounds, +2 AC against Swashbuckler weapons. Allowed: Dagger, Rapier, Saber, Main-Gauche, Buckler, Non-Bulky Armor.
Skirmisher Style: Movement penalties due to terrain are halved. Movement is +1. Allowed: Weapons 3 pounds and under, Buckler, Non-Bulky Armor.
Shield Maiden Style: Universal shield bonus (you get your shield bonus against attacks from all sides), Shield Other (you can give your shield bonus to an adjacent friend once per round). Allowed: Any.
Of course this can easily drift into becoming a feat system. But it's conditional and exclusive: you don't get it in every circumstance and you have to choose which way you will fight on a round to round basis.
Then again, one could argue that proficiencies with passive effects are much like feats (Tumble giving a bonus in unarmed fighting and when falling, Juggling allowing you to catch thrown missiles).
I'm just thinking something along the lines of expanding the Bladesong / Martial Arts systems as a way to spend Weapon Prof slots, available to all classes (though based on weapon/armor restrictions some will take better advantage of each). The trick is that you can't just learn any style, and you don't start the game with a catalogue of the styles. You fight someone who knows it, you watch an arena match and find out about it, or it's mentioned in your week of training for your next level. It's something extra you have to go out and bargain or sieze - a new type of treasure.
One could expand the PO:S&M thing for spellcasters with their Signature Spell and such, giving benefits in spell duels if you have the right style. Again, this might bleed into feat territory, but not so much if you make it conditional and exclusive like a fighting style.
Hey Tacoma, sorry about the server being picky.
I must admit that I've never read the Complete Ninja Handbook, when it came out I thought that it looked like a waste of money, as you know, TSR was putting out lots of books, regardless of quality or usefulness that they actually were, this just seemed to be one of those weird things that would just anger me, so I didn't pick it up. I do own it now . . . but ummmmmm, I've never actually read it. Shameful isn't it?
I don't think that I'd replace the original system, but I would like to replace that clunky Martial Arts chart. I've never been happy with how the system handles unarmed combat, but I just don't have the brains to think of a better system . . . well, and one that is compatable with the rules.
Consider Ninga guide on my reading list, I really don't want to comment to much about it until after I've read it.
Post a Comment