PEACH: unarmed disarm feat [Archive] - Wizards Community

PEACH: unarmed disarm feat [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Longarms
05-06-07, 04:20 AM Prereq. improved grapple, dodge.

Unarmed disarm:
You may parlay a disarm manuver into a grapple by controlling your opponent's weapon arm. If the opponent you have designated as your Dodge target (see the Dodge feat) misses you with a melee attack or melee touch attack, get get a special disarm AoO against them. If you succeed with the disarm AoO, you have grabbed your opponent's weapon arm and are now grappling. If you fail with the AoO, your opponent does not get to make a free disarm attempt on you, but may finish his turn normally.

This special way of entering a grapple does not do any damage. Your opponent gets to finish the rest of his turn normally, except that he is now in ivolved in a grapple with you. When you choose to parlay the disarm into a grapple, your opponent's weapon is not dropped and does not end up in your hand as with a normal successful unarmed disarm. You only get to make one of these attempts per round against the person you have designated as your dodge target, regardless of how many attacks that person makes against you.
jaelis
05-06-07, 10:25 AM So do you have to enter a grapple, or can you just disarm as normal?

If you can disarm as normal, it seems very strong to me. For a monk, having an empty hand is no disadvantage, and with 5 ranks in tumble, fighting defensively isn't bad either, especially with some of the feats that boost it. In return, you get a free disarm for every attack against you... it wouldn't be hard to become nigh-invulnerable to weapon attacks.

If you can only use the disarm to start a grapple, then it's no so bad... grappling can be good, but it does tie you up with a single opponent, so you can't really pull it off over and over and over. But in that case the mechanics are kind of wonky... why base it on a disarm? I'd go instead for a feat that just grants you a free grapple attempt against anyone who strikes you with a weapon.
Longarms
05-06-07, 01:56 PM "In return, you get a free disarm for every attack against you... it wouldn't be hard to become nigh-invulnerable to weapon attacks."

I should have said explicitly - you can only make one of these AoO disarm attempts per round regardless of whether you have combat relfexes or how many opponents attack you. Edited. Thanks for the input, it seemed clear in my mind when I wrote it but looking back I never really conveyed that point to the reader...

"fighting defensively isn't bad either, especially with some of the feats that boost it."

Changed it to be based on your dodge target. If it still seems overpowering, I would be surprised, as it seems fairly similiar to agile riposte now.

"But in that case the mechanics are kind of wonky... why base it on a disarm? I'd go instead for a feat that just grants you a free grapple attempt against anyone who strikes you with a weapon."

Yea, I thought about going the way you described. However, I went this way for flavour and balance. For flavour, it just seems like you would be executing similiar motions as you would for a disarm action, but then you would just continue controlling their arm. For balance, to really capitalize on this feat one has to be good at both disarming and grappling making it a nice niche feat for the right type of character.

Someone could switch it to just a grapple check like you suggested, in that case, I think improved disarm should be a prerequisite to retain the flavour.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Longarms 05-06-07, 04:20 AM	Prereq. improved grapple, dodge. Unarmed disarm: You may parlay a disarm manuver into a grapple by controlling your opponent's weapon arm. If the opponent you have designated as your Dodge target (see the Dodge feat) misses you with a melee attack or melee touch attack, get get a special disarm AoO against them. If you succeed with the disarm AoO, you have grabbed your opponent's weapon arm and are now grappling. If you fail with the AoO, your opponent does not get to make a free disarm attempt on you, but may finish his turn normally. This special way of entering a grapple does not do any damage. Your opponent gets to finish the rest of his turn normally, except that he is now in ivolved in a grapple with you. When you choose to parlay the disarm into a grapple, your opponent's weapon is not dropped and does not end up in your hand as with a normal successful unarmed disarm. You only get to make one of these attempts per round against the person you have designated as your dodge target, regardless of how many attacks that person makes against you.
jaelis 05-06-07, 10:25 AM	So do you have to enter a grapple, or can you just disarm as normal? If you can disarm as normal, it seems very strong to me. For a monk, having an empty hand is no disadvantage, and with 5 ranks in tumble, fighting defensively isn't bad either, especially with some of the feats that boost it. In return, you get a free disarm for every attack against you... it wouldn't be hard to become nigh-invulnerable to weapon attacks. If you can only use the disarm to start a grapple, then it's no so bad... grappling can be good, but it does tie you up with a single opponent, so you can't really pull it off over and over and over. But in that case the mechanics are kind of wonky... why base it on a disarm? I'd go instead for a feat that just grants you a free grapple attempt against anyone who strikes you with a weapon.
Longarms 05-06-07, 01:56 PM	"In return, you get a free disarm for every attack against you... it wouldn't be hard to become nigh-invulnerable to weapon attacks." I should have said explicitly - you can only make one of these AoO disarm attempts per round regardless of whether you have combat relfexes or how many opponents attack you. Edited. Thanks for the input, it seemed clear in my mind when I wrote it but looking back I never really conveyed that point to the reader... "fighting defensively isn't bad either, especially with some of the feats that boost it." Changed it to be based on your dodge target. If it still seems overpowering, I would be surprised, as it seems fairly similiar to agile riposte now. "But in that case the mechanics are kind of wonky... why base it on a disarm? I'd go instead for a feat that just grants you a free grapple attempt against anyone who strikes you with a weapon." Yea, I thought about going the way you described. However, I went this way for flavour and balance. For flavour, it just seems like you would be executing similiar motions as you would for a disarm action, but then you would just continue controlling their arm. For balance, to really capitalize on this feat one has to be good at both disarming and grappling making it a nice niche feat for the right type of character. Someone could switch it to just a grapple check like you suggested, in that case, I think improved disarm should be a prerequisite to retain the flavour.