Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Joseph_Silver 02-28-07, 06:28 PM	I'm not a big fan of psionics, not because I find it overpowered, but because it seems more sci-fi than fantasy to me. Anyway, I was in Character Optimization when I learned of this feat. :eek: Wow. I never noticed this feat before. Stand Still [General] You can prevent foes from fleeing or closing. Prerequisite Str 13. Benefit When a foe’s movement out of a square you threaten grants you an attack of opportunity, you can give up that attack and instead attempt to stop your foe in his tracks. Make your attack of opportunity normally. If you hit your foe, he must succeed on a Reflex save against a DC of 10 + your damage roll (the opponent does not actually take damage), or immediately halt as if he had used up his move actions for the round. Since you use the Stand Still feat in place of your attack of opportunity, you can do so only a number of times per round equal to the number of times per round you could make an attack of opportunity (normally just one). Normal Attacks of opportunity cannot halt your foes in their tracks. This is a must-have for melee fighters! Melee fighters annihilate anything that's right next to them and can't move away. At level 20, a melee fighter can deal an average of 200+ damage per round, even if he can't pierce the enemy's damage reduction. I'm definitely taking this feat for my pure fighter characters. What do you think?
Seerow 02-28-07, 06:29 PM	Yep. Totally awesome feat for any melee character. It doesn't even require psionics.
primemover003 02-28-07, 06:55 PM	It's only ok... Improved Trip is a better option because if you do stop them you get a free attack while they're prone. So you stop their movement, damage them, and force them to provoke another AoO by standing OR Crawling away or force them to attack from Prone. It's 2.5 times better than stand still. If you want a feat that is must have look at Rapid Metabolism.
ClementWillowbreaker 02-28-07, 07:38 PM	It's 2.5 times better than stand still. Because we all carry spiked chains and like making contested Str checks against dragons. Tripping is actually hard to do in real games, even with feats. Stand Still accomplishes the battlefield control aspect much better.
Vaelan 02-28-07, 08:19 PM	Tripping is actually hard to do in real games, even with feats. Not so much. The whole "get Polymorphed into something big and nasty" strategy tends to make tripping more than viable.
Tempest Stormwind 02-28-07, 08:24 PM	It's a very well-known feat, along with Greater Manyshot and, to a lesser extent, Cloak Dance. Those three are in the XPH and of interest to non-XPH characters as much as psionic characters (do note that Stand Still works wonders on a psychic warrior, especially one under Expansion and using psionic feats to boost his offense). I'm not a big fan of psionics, not because I find it overpowered, but because it seems more sci-fi than fantasy to me.That's not an excuse, by the way. Have you ever described ANYTHING differently than it was in the book? Say, called a bastard sword a katana, or named a spell anything differently, or used a class (or combination of classes) to get a different concept (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0209.html)? Then claiming that psionics are too sci-fi for you is being just plain ol' hippocritical. In Eberron, where they fit nicely, they're seen alternately as the power of dreams (dream magic of a sort) with the Inspired and kalashtar, or the powers of magical experimentation and utter madness (in the illithid and similar Xoriat aberrations) -- on top of the default flavor. I wouldn't call that sci-fi. For more information, see the Truenaming Psionics link in my sig. People have reflavored the entire freaking XPH so you don't have to. On the topic of tripping, it is still quite easy to do. Interestingly, though, characters that trip can benefit from Stand Still WHILE STILL BENEFITING FROM BEING A GOOD TRIPPER. The things that make a tripper good (huge threatened area, high Strength, Combat Reflexes, and anything good that triggers on a trip) also make Stand Still a vicious option. Plus, as written, you can stop ANYTHING as it moves by you -- including flyers. Tripping a flying creature is something that isn't addressed in the normal rules. A great example of Stand Still in place of conventional "trippers" would be Chester the Molester (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=10201398&postcount=146), one of three Tome of Battle battlefield controllers put together by RadicalTaoist. The other two (Lester the Molester and Tess the Molestress) are also in that thread, and are well worth the read, but only Chester uses Stand Still.
primemover003 02-28-07, 09:02 PM	Because we all carry spiked chains and like making contested Str checks against dragons. Tripping is actually hard to do in real games, even with feats. Stand Still accomplishes the battlefield control aspect much better. I use a Guisarme, not the spiked cheese, and I did trip a Large dragon at 4th level (yes it was a one in a hundred roll, but it can happen)! Expansion/ Enlarge person is a wonderful thing. Add to that my Jotunbrud feat (basically gives powerful build minus the larger weapon clause) and I can trip some pretty nasty stuff.
Nightshade 02-28-07, 09:52 PM	Also, Improved Trip requires Combat Expertise, which itself requires an INT 13. Stand Still only requires STR 13.
Joseph_Silver 03-01-07, 12:52 AM	It's a very well-known feat, along with Greater Manyshot and, to a lesser extent, Cloak Dance. Those three are in the XPH and of interest to non-XPH characters as much as psionic characters (do note that Stand Still works wonders on a psychic warrior, especially one under Expansion and using psionic feats to boost his offense). That's not an excuse, by the way. Have you ever described ANYTHING differently than it was in the book? Say, called a bastard sword a katana, or named a spell anything differently, or used a class (or combination of classes) to get a different concept (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0209.html)? Then claiming that psionics are too sci-fi for you is being just plain ol' hippocritical. How am I being a hypocrite? Dude, different strokes for different folks. I simply prefer magic. I avoid psionics, truenaming, and whatever alternate magic systems there are in D&D simply because I don't feel like using them, not because they're inferior or broken or whatever. I don't need an excuse to dislike them because it's my personal preference. Yes, I do know that psionics is a lot more balanced than magic, but I still prefer magic. I expected more maturity from the one who coined the Stormwind Fallacy. :mad: In Eberron, where they fit nicely, they're seen alternately as the power of dreams (dream magic of a sort) with the Inspired and kalashtar, or the powers of magical experimentation and utter madness (in the illithid and similar Xoriat aberrations) -- on top of the default flavor. I wouldn't call that sci-fi. Oh, I'm a big fan of Eberron, by the way, but I prefer to stay within Khorvaire (I'm a DM). I feel that only magic or psionics, not both, should be in Eberron. Why? It's simply my preference. And perhaps one of the biggest reasons why I avoid psionics is because I don't own the Expanded Psionics Handbook. I don't feel like playing right next to my computer to access the SRD when psionics is involved.
Tempest Stormwind 03-01-07, 01:13 AM	How am I being a hypocrite? Dude, different strokes for different folks. I simply prefer magic. I avoid psionics, truenaming, and whatever alternate magic systems there are in D&D simply because I don't feel like using them, not because they're inferior or broken or whatever. I don't need an excuse to dislike them because it's my personal preference. Yes, I do know that psionics is a lot more balanced than magic, but I still prefer magic. I expected more maturity from the one who coined the Stormwind Fallacy. :mad: That sequence was aimed at anyone who reflavors some parts of the core rules, but then takes offense that the flavor of another system is why they don't use it. They've demonstrated the ability to change flavor that doesn't match their imagination on their own initiative, and yet claim that the default flavor is a problem that they solve by not using it (instead of at least trying to reflavor, as they've already shown they can do); hence the hippocracy. This was NOT directed at you in particular, nor was it intended to say "use them or else". It was just a general alert -- if flavor's mutable, then don't complain about flavor. Flavor is mutable. Therefore... Oh, I'm a big fan of Eberron, by the way, but I prefer to stay within Khorvaire (I'm a DM). I feel that only magic or psionics, not both, should be in Eberron. Why? It's simply my preference.Fair enough. Do note that the way Eberron's built, the psionic elements CAN still be there, just hiding. The kalashtar favor stealth, and the Dark operate behind-the-scenes, both of them using subtle and undetected psionic ability... so maybe, just maybe, the lack of psionic ability that you show in Eberron stems from them being *very good* at what they do. ;)And perhaps one of the biggest reasons why I avoid psionics is because I don't own the Expanded Psionics Handbook. I don't feel like playing right next to my computer to access the SRD when psionics is involved.Fair enough.
Arcane Guyver 03-01-07, 12:29 PM	And perhaps one of the biggest reasons why I avoid psionics is because I don't own the Expanded Psionics Handbook. I don't feel like playing right next to my computer to access the SRD when psionics is involved. I would like to point out that 3.5 psionics are actually very close, mechanically, to spellcasting. Of all the 'sub-systems' being released for D&D, psionics is probably the easiest to incorporate - so easy, in fact, some refuse to use it because they think it's just 'magic with spell points.' I highly recommend just giving the basics of the system a once-over before completely writing it off. At the very least, the Soulknife is a cool (but tragically underpowered) class in the XPH that doesn't use psionic powers, and you can easily use it without any other psionics around.
s4ndm4n 03-01-07, 12:52 PM	I use a Guisarme, not the spiked cheese, and I did trip a Large dragon at 4th level (yes it was a one in a hundred roll, but it can happen)! Expansion/ Enlarge person is a wonderful thing. Add to that my Jotunbrud feat (basically gives powerful build minus the larger weapon clause) and I can trip some pretty nasty stuff. .......... you fought a dragon with 16HD at 4th lvl?..... Anyway, Stand Still is really good,I never mentioned it before.The ultimate class combo seems to be the knight, also from the EXP.PHBook:vigilant defender most likely will hold passing "tumblers" until the end of the encouter.really cool.
primemover003 03-01-07, 04:22 PM	.......... you fought a dragon with 16HD at 4th lvl?..... Anyway, Stand Still is really good,I never mentioned it before.The ultimate class combo seems to be the knight, also from the EXP.PHBook:vigilant defender most likely will hold passing "tumblers" until the end of the encouter.really cool. 18 actually, young adult blue. I wouldn't exactly say we fought it alone. Our DM's used the Dragons attack on the town as a Story device. The major NPC's of the town were present and really did the killing of the beast BUT we did participate in the "fun." It killed the majority of the Temple of Marthammor, including the high priestess (Clr9) and a Paladin of Lathander (Pal 7ish) before falling. My character managed to not only make the Frightful Presence save (nat 20) but also kept it on the ground for two rounds through my judicious use of Tripping. As a Large creature with a Reach weapon I was outside it's reach and it was quickly surrounded by stout dwarven warriors and clerics. Though looking at Stand Still I can see how it'd almost be better against big Strong beasts with lower Reflex saves, though I don't do a lot of damage unless I use my Greater Psionic Weapon feat. Even at level 11 size Large I generally only average 14 damage without GPW or Corrosive Weapon. But I went for DEX, max AoO's and AC over hitting power.
chucky 03-01-07, 04:33 PM	Think about this: Thicket of blased (stance from tob) + Spiked chain + stand still. Any movement within yiur reach provoked a AOO. Even taking a 5 foot step. So if sombody tries the old stop outside your reach thing and then move forward taking 5 foot steps they still get wacked. If the critter rolled bad enough on its saves it could possible never get closer to you then 10 feet away from you.
primemover003 03-01-07, 05:00 PM	Does Thicket of Blades counter Spring Attack or Tumble? I haven't seen The Book of Nine Swords yet.
Tempest Stormwind 03-01-07, 05:29 PM	Does Thicket of Blades counter Spring Attack or Tumble? I haven't seen The Book of Nine Swords yet. Yup. It literally says "...any opponent you threaten that takes any sort of movement, including a 5-foot step, provokes an attack of opportunity...". Spring Attack says that it doesn't provoke AoOs, however -- in general, though, I'd say Thicket of Blades works better for this. See, tumbling normally says you can move without provoking AoOs, but Thicket says ANY sort of movement -- it even works on the Withdraw action. I'd say Spring Attack could avoid AoOs from ANYTHING EXCEPT Thicket or things worded like Thicket as a result.