Author Topic: Attacks: The Basics  (Read 858 times)

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Bauglir

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Attacks: The Basics
« on: May 19, 2011, 12:09:05 AM »
In order to resolve the issues in this thread, I've rewritten the way attacks work from the ground up. Ideally, practically nothing should have changed; I don't want to go rewrite everything's statblock or invalidate people's builds. This isn't a balancing measure; this is solely for design aesthetics (unifying all attack forms, from unarmed strikes to manufactured weapons to natural attacks) and for providing clear definitions for vague terms in the rules, while sticking with what the designers seem to have intended. Please tell me if I've broken other parts of the game, or forgotten anything.

EDIT: Except I did make it so you can't TWF with just unarmed strikes. So sue me. I'd just prefer not to get into arguments about the various "My monk as thousands upon thousands of hairs" shenanigans, or even "Well, I also have 2 feet, so I should have 4 unarmed strikes, right? And my head, too." Aside from that, though, 100% going with what the authors intended.

Attacks

Attacks come in several forms. An attack uses a weapon; if you wield a longsword, you make a longsword attack, while if you wield a bite as a natural weapon, you make a bite attack. There are three categories of weapon; manufactured weapons and natural weapons, as well as unarmed strikes (which share several qualities with both types of weapon). Because most player characters generally use manufactured weapons as their main method of attack, these are the basic type of weapon; other weapons are defined by their differences from manufactured weapons. To wield a weapon means to use it to gain an attack; a wielded weapon must be used for at least one attack roll in its attack.

You carry a manufactured weapon, and it can be disarmed and so on; generally, whenever other rules refer to a "weapon", they refer to a manufactured weapon. If you make full attack with a manufactured weapon, and your Base Attack Bonus is sufficiently high, you may make additional attack rolls; these are called iterative attacks (but each is not actually a separate attack; here, attack refers to a type of attack method you have available, so that if you wield a longsword and your Base Attack Bonus entitles you to iterative attacks, you still only have a single longsword attack). These attacks usually must be made with that particular weapon, but if you happen to be carrying other weapons as well (even natural weapons), you can use them instead. Ordinarily, you may employ only a single manufactured weapon attack in a round, but see Fighting with Multiple Weapons, below.

Natural weapons represent weaponry that is a part of a creature's body, such as horns, sharp fangs, or claws, and they work like manufactured weapons, except that you cannot be disarmed of a natural weapon, nor can it be sundered. Natural weapons need not be drawn. Furthermore, you do not get iterative attacks with a natural weapon, no matter how high your Base Attack Bonus might be. All natural weapons are light weapons, unless otherwise noted. Just as when wielding a manufactured weapon, you are considered armed and threaten spaces you reach. As a general rule, natural attacks threaten critical hits only on a roll of a natural 20 (unless otherwise noted). A creature with multiple natural weapons has one attack that is its primary natural weapon; it can never choose another natural weapon to be its primary attack (see below).

Unarmed attacks represent a strike from a body part not specifically adapted to use as a weapon, such as a punch, headbutt, or kick from a normal human. All creatures have a single unarmed attack, no matter how many (or few) limbs the creature might have. Like a natural weapon, an unarmed attack need not be drawn, is always a light weapon (unless otherwise specified), nor can it be sundered or disarmed. An unarmed attack even can benefit from special abilities and other effects that affect natural weapon as if it were a natural weapon. Unlike a natural weapon, an unarmed attack does not allow a creature to be treated as armed, and thus provokes an attack of opportunity for each use. Furthermore, it deals nonlethal damage by default; a creature can take a -4 penalty on the attack roll to deal lethal damage instead. For all other purposes, an unarmed strike works like a manufactured weapon; thus, you are allowed to make iterative attacks with it, and it interferes with the use of natural attacks as described below (generally due to requiring the use of an appendage to make the attack or to retain balance).

Fighting with Multiple Weapons:

A creature may often wish to attack with several weapons in a round. This is possible, but difficult. A creature can make as many manufactured weapon attacks in a turn as it has limbs capable of grasping weapons (typically 2), but all but one (the primary attack, which can be chosen freely at the beginning of the creature's turn) of these attacks is considered secondary. A two-handed weapon is a bit of an exception; it occupies two hands, naturally, and thus each two-handed weapon a creature wield prevents it from making a single secondary manufactured weapon attack it could otherwise be entitled to make. Using a secondary attack imposes a -2 penalty on all attacks made in that round, even the creature's primary attack. Furthermore, the secondary attack takes a further -5 penalty, and yet another -2 penalty if the secondary attack's weapon is not a light weapon. Each additional secondary attack beyond the first takes an additional -2 penalty (or -4, if the attack is not made with a light weapon), and imposes another -1 penalty on all attacks made in that round. Finally, a secondary attack is not entitled to iterative attacks.

If a creature uses natural weapons, all natural weapons other than its primary natural weapon are considered secondary, except the natural weapons are generally easier to use in conjunction with one another; natural weapons do not impose a -2 penalty on all attacks made in a round, nor do additional natural attacks apply increasing penalties (but secondary natural attacks do take a -5 penalty). However, if a creature uses another attack (such as a manufactured weapon attack) as a primary attack, even its primary natural weapon is considered a secondary attack, and takes appropriate penalties. Obviously, using secondary natural weapon attacks does not reduce the penalties associated with secondary manufactured weapon attacks.

The use of natural weapons with other fighting styles does have drawbacks however; a creature's anatomy does not account for wielding manufactured weapons. If a creature has certain types of natural weapons (such as claws or a slam) that use a limb that could grasp a weapon, the creature must sacrifice one of these natural weapon attacks to use a manufactured weapon. No matter how many such attacks a creature might have, it must sacrifice only one such natural weapon attack for each manufactured weapon attack it wishes to make (for instance, an awakened Giant Octopus has 8 tentacle attacks, and could sacrifice each in order to gain 8 longsword attacks, each of which could make iterative attacks at ever-increasing penalties; such an octopus is likely to have a negative attack modifier by the end of the routine!)

Multiweapon Fighting:
Prerequisites: Dex 13
Benefit: If you make one secondary manufactured weapon attack in a round, that attack does not take the -5 penalty for being a secondary attack. The -2 penalty to all attacks made in that round remains, however, as does the penalty for wielding a weapon that is not light as a secondary attack. Additional secondary manufactured weapon attacks beyond this apply penalties as normal.
Furthermore, you are entitled to iterative attacks with this secondary manufactured weapon attack.
Special: You can take this feat multiple times. Each time you do, you can make an additional secondary manufactured weapon attack that does not take a -5 penalty, and with which you may make iterative attacks.
Special: Even though an unarmed strike typically benefits from effects and abilities as if it were a natural attack, not a manufactured attack, it benefits from this feat.

Improved Multiweapon Fighting:
Prerequisites: Dex 15, BAB +3, Multiweapon Fighting
Benefit: If you make secondary manufactured weapon attacks in a round, you do not apply the additional -1 penalty for additional secondary manufactured weapon attacks beyond the first. Furthermore, you do not apply an additional penalty for wielding a weapon other than a light weapon as a secondary attack.
Special: Even though an unarmed strike typically benefits from effects and abilities as if it were a natural attack, not a manufactured attack, it benefits from this feat.

Multiattack:
Prerequisites: Dex 13
Benefit: If you make any secondary natural attacks in a round, you take only a -2 penalty on each instead of a -5.
Special: Even though an unarmed strike typically benefits from effects and abilities as if it were a natural attack, not a manufactured attack, it does not benefit from this feat.

Improved Multiattack:
Prerequisites: Dex 13, BAB +3, Multiattack
Benefit: If you make any secondary natural attacks in a round, you take no penalty on these attacks for making secondary natural attacks.
Special: Even though an unarmed strike typically benefits from effects and abilities as if it were a natural attack, not a manufactured attack, it does not benefit from this feat.

Rapidstrike:
Prerequisites: Dex 19 or Str 19, BAB +6
Benefit: If you make an attack with your primary natural weapon in a round, you are entitled to a single iterative attack with it, if you would be entitled to iterative attacks with it if it were a manufactured weapon.
Special: You may take this feat a second time. If you do so, you are entitled to all the iterative attacks with your primary natural weapon that you would ordinarily gain from your base attack bonus if it were a manufactured weapon, instead of just one.
Special: Even though an unarmed strike typically benefits from effects and abilities as if it were a natural attack, not a manufactured attack, it does not benefit from this feat.
« Last Edit: May 19, 2011, 12:39:44 AM by Bauglir »
So you end up stuck in an endless loop, unable to act, forever.

In retrospect, much like Keanu Reeves.