New Use for the Concentration Skill [Archive] - Wizards Community

New Use for the Concentration Skill [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
SaddestPleasure
03-11-05, 12:21 AM While reading the threads on enhancing Charisma's general usefulness, it occurred to me that there are ways to enhance the usefulness of other aspects of D&D. One such is the Concentration skill. I have no problem accepting that a skill might be more useful for some classes than others, but some classes that have Concentration as a class skill (such as monks) really get little use from it. It makes sense that monks in particular would have Concentration as a class skill, but with the rules as they stand there's little reason for monks to actually put ranks into it.

But wait . . . There is light on the horizon. I hereby present a new use for the Concentration skill, presented in the standard format (or as close as possible).

CONCENTRATION (CON)
You are particularly good at focusing your mind.

Check: You can focus your mind to temporarily ignore damage or drain on the body, such as being wounded, fatigued, or other conditions that cause pain or sap energy.

Make a Concentration check against the DC of the condition you are trying to suppress, according to the following chart. If the check succeeds, the suppression lasts for the rest of the round, allowing you to act unimpeded by that effect for the rest of your turn, if you have actions left. If you successfully suppress a condition that limits the number of actions you may take in your turn, you may act normally for the remainder of your turn, as if you were not limited by that condition. If you are still under the effect of an unsuppressed condition that limits your actions (such as being nauseated and disabled at the same time), your actions are still limited as normal.

The suppression of the condition lasts until the beginning of your next turn. In addition, for every 5 points that your Concentration check exceeded the condition's DC, the suppression lasts for an additional round. You can suppress more than one condition at the same time, they just require separate actions.

A suppressed condition has not gone away, it simply fails to affect you for the duration of the suppression. When the suppression ends, the condition returns, provided it has not expired in the meantime.

For example, 3rd-level monk Ember has a Concentration modifier of +8. She's been sickened by a troglodyte's foul stench, but needs to make a critical Climb check up onto a ledge. She takes a standard action to suppress the sickened condition. She makes a Concentration check versus a DC of 20, and gets a result of 23. As she has a move action left in the round, she can make her Climb check at no penalty due to being sickened. Should she need to make any other rolls after her turn is over but before the beginning of her next action, such as if she made an attack of opportunity, she would not suffer the usual -2 penalty for being sickened. At the beginning of her next turn the condition returns (unless it had worn off in the meantime). She can take a standard action to attempt to suppress it again, if she chooses. Had her Concentration check result been a 25 instead of 23, she could have spent the entire round unhindered by her sickened condition.

You must maintain your focus in order to keep the condition suppressed. If you take damage while maintaining your focus, you must make a Concentration check against a DC equal to 10 + the damage dealt. If you fail the check, you lose your concentration and the suppressed condition immediately comes back into effect.

Fatigued: Move action, DC 15
Exhausted: Full-round action, DC 25
Sickened: Standard action, DC 20
Nauseated: Move action, DC 25
Staggered: Standard action, DC 20
Disabled: Standard action, DC 30
In pain, -1: Move action, DC 15
In pain, -2 or -3: Standard action, DC 20
In pain, -4 or more: Full-round action, DC 25 or more

*'Action' indicates the amount of time required to overcome the condition.

The 'in pain' condition is that caused by spells such as symbol of pain and similar effects. Pick a category of pain according to the penalty or penalties the condition imposes. Symbol of pain, for instance, causes a -4 penalty on attack rolls, skill checks, and ability checks, and so falls into the 'In pain, -4 or more' category. The effects of symbol of pain would require a full-round action against DC 25 to suppress. For DCs of similar effects not listed, use the list as a guide.

You cannot take 10 on Concentration checks to suppress conditions.

Action: Varies. See list above.

Try Again: Yes.

Special: A character with the Endurance feat gets a +2 bonus to Concentration checks to suppress conditions.

A character with the Diehard feat gets a +2 bonus to Concentration checks to suppress conditions.

Feats
The way is open for new feats, such as the following.

QUICK FOCUS (General)
You are skilled at quickly gaining your focus in combat.
Prerequisite: Concentration 6 ranks.
Benefit: The action required for you to make Concentration checks to suppress detrimental conditions is reduced by one step. Full-round actions become standard actions, standard actions become move actions, and move actions become free actions. For example, making a Concentration check to suppress the sickened condition is normally a standard action, but if you possess Quick Focus, you may attempt it as a move action.
Special: Overcoming 5 or more points of ability damage remains a full-round action, as does attempting to overcome pain effects with penalties of -6 or higher, or conditions of similar power.
A fighter may select Quick Focus as one of his fighter bonus feats.

MIGHTY FOCUS (General)
You possess such toughness and inner fortitude that you can overcome physical conditions you normally wouldn't be able to.
Prerequisite: Base Fortitude save 4+, Concentration 10 ranks.
Benefit: You can make a Concentration check to attempt to suppress conditions that you normally can't, typically because you aren't allowed actions while under the condition's effects. You can attempt to overcome the additional following conditions: Dazed, stunned, and paralyzed. Refer to the following table for DCs.

You may attempt to make such a suppression Concentration check only once while under the effects of one of these conditions.

Dazed: Move action, DC 20
Stunned: Standard action, DC 25
Paralyzed: Full-round action, DC 30

*Although you cannot normally take actions while under any of these conditions, if you manage to successfully suppress the condition you receive actions for the rest of the round as if the Concentration check had taken the noted action. For instance, if you successfully overcome the dazed condition, you may still perform a standard action (and free actions), as if you had used a move action to suppress the condition.
Special: A fighter may select Mighty Focus as one of his fighter bonus feats.

STEELY FOCUS (General)
You possess such toughness and mental focus that you can temporarily overcome the effects of fear.
Prerequisite: Base Will save 4+, Concentration 10 ranks.
Benefit: You can make a Concentration check to attempt to suppress fear conditions. You can attempt to overcome the additional following conditions: Shaken, frightened, panicked, cowering. Refer to the following table for DCs.

You may attempt to make a suppression Concentration check only once while under the effects of one of these conditions.

Shaken: Move action, DC 20
Frightened: Standard action, DC 25
Panicked: Full-round action, DC 30
Cowering: Full-round action, DC 30

*A frightened or panicked character cannot normally choose his actions. At the start of a round while panicked, frightened, or cower, you may choose to make a suppression Concentration check. If you succeed, you may act in the rest of the round as if you had used the noted action for the Concentration check. For instance, if you successfully overcome the frightened condition, you may still perform a move action (and free actions), as if you had used a standard action to suppress the condition.

Special: A fighter may select Steely Focus as one of his fighter bonus feats.

Thoughts
And there it is. Overall I think it's a good use for Concentration. It isn't overpowering, as each condition requires a separate check, and the suppression may not last long. It gives fighter-type characters an additional option in combat and increases their self-reliance (as they don't have to wait for magical help or quaff a potion to overcome a condition), though with the actions required and the sometimes stiff DCs it may be a tough choice. Of course, it's not just for fighting classes, as spellcasters typically put ranks into Concentration too.

If you choose to use this rule, I'd suggest adding Concentration as a class skill to more classes, such as fighters and maybe barbarians (the skill in general doesn't fit, but this use might).

As for ways to improve this rule, I'm not sure of the length of time of the suppression. I'm wondering if it should take effect on the current round (as it is) and last through the following round, plus an additional round for every 5 points the check beats the DC. So basically that way it would last for 2 rounds (counting the first round), plus any extra for a high check result.

Please let me know your thoughts and (constructive) criticisms.

Cheers!

-SaddestPleasure
Millenia
03-12-05, 11:51 PM I think the 2-round initial idea is good, and I also think this idea is good. *Houserules it into her campaign*
shadow_walker2.0
03-15-05, 03:58 PM I like it it seem like it was professonaly done.
Crashy75
03-17-05, 10:10 PM Very good!!!! I really like this idea. I've been toying with using concentration for auto-hypnosis type affects (and eliminating the auto-hypnosis skill)..I'll have to incorporate this as well... :clap:

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
SaddestPleasure 03-11-05, 12:21 AM	While reading the threads on enhancing Charisma's general usefulness, it occurred to me that there are ways to enhance the usefulness of other aspects of D&D. One such is the Concentration skill. I have no problem accepting that a skill might be more useful for some classes than others, but some classes that have Concentration as a class skill (such as monks) really get little use from it. It makes sense that monks in particular would have Concentration as a class skill, but with the rules as they stand there's little reason for monks to actually put ranks into it. But wait . . . There is light on the horizon. I hereby present a new use for the Concentration skill, presented in the standard format (or as close as possible). CONCENTRATION (CON) You are particularly good at focusing your mind. Check: You can focus your mind to temporarily ignore damage or drain on the body, such as being wounded, fatigued, or other conditions that cause pain or sap energy. Make a Concentration check against the DC of the condition you are trying to suppress, according to the following chart. If the check succeeds, the suppression lasts for the rest of the round, allowing you to act unimpeded by that effect for the rest of your turn, if you have actions left. If you successfully suppress a condition that limits the number of actions you may take in your turn, you may act normally for the remainder of your turn, as if you were not limited by that condition. If you are still under the effect of an unsuppressed condition that limits your actions (such as being nauseated and disabled at the same time), your actions are still limited as normal. The suppression of the condition lasts until the beginning of your next turn. In addition, for every 5 points that your Concentration check exceeded the condition's DC, the suppression lasts for an additional round. You can suppress more than one condition at the same time, they just require separate actions. A suppressed condition has not gone away, it simply fails to affect you for the duration of the suppression. When the suppression ends, the condition returns, provided it has not expired in the meantime. For example, 3rd-level monk Ember has a Concentration modifier of +8. She's been sickened by a troglodyte's foul stench, but needs to make a critical Climb check up onto a ledge. She takes a standard action to suppress the sickened condition. She makes a Concentration check versus a DC of 20, and gets a result of 23. As she has a move action left in the round, she can make her Climb check at no penalty due to being sickened. Should she need to make any other rolls after her turn is over but before the beginning of her next action, such as if she made an attack of opportunity, she would not suffer the usual -2 penalty for being sickened. At the beginning of her next turn the condition returns (unless it had worn off in the meantime). She can take a standard action to attempt to suppress it again, if she chooses. Had her Concentration check result been a 25 instead of 23, she could have spent the entire round unhindered by her sickened condition. You must maintain your focus in order to keep the condition suppressed. If you take damage while maintaining your focus, you must make a Concentration check against a DC equal to 10 + the damage dealt. If you fail the check, you lose your concentration and the suppressed condition immediately comes back into effect. Fatigued: Move action, DC 15 Exhausted: Full-round action, DC 25 Sickened: Standard action, DC 20 Nauseated: Move action, DC 25 Staggered: Standard action, DC 20 Disabled: Standard action, DC 30 In pain, -1: Move action, DC 15 In pain, -2 or -3: Standard action, DC 20 In pain, -4 or more: Full-round action, DC 25 or more 'Action' indicates the amount of time required to overcome the condition. The 'in pain' condition is that caused by spells such as symbol of pain and similar effects. Pick a category of pain according to the penalty or penalties the condition imposes. Symbol of pain, for instance, causes a -4 penalty on attack rolls, skill checks, and ability checks, and so falls into the 'In pain, -4 or more' category. The effects of symbol of pain would require a full-round action against DC 25 to suppress. For DCs of similar effects not listed, use the list as a guide. You cannot take 10 on Concentration checks to suppress conditions. Action: Varies. See list above. Try Again: Yes. Special: A character with the Endurance feat gets a +2 bonus to Concentration checks to suppress conditions. A character with the Diehard feat gets a +2 bonus to Concentration checks to suppress conditions. Feats The way is open for new feats, such as the following. QUICK FOCUS (General) You are skilled at quickly gaining your focus in combat. Prerequisite: Concentration 6 ranks. Benefit: The action required for you to make Concentration checks to suppress detrimental conditions is reduced by one step. Full-round actions become standard actions, standard actions become move actions, and move actions become free actions. For example, making a Concentration check to suppress the sickened condition is normally a standard action, but if you possess Quick Focus, you may attempt it as a move action. Special: Overcoming 5 or more points of ability damage remains a full-round action, as does attempting to overcome pain effects with penalties of -6 or higher, or conditions of similar power. A fighter may select Quick Focus as one of his fighter bonus feats. MIGHTY FOCUS (General) You possess such toughness and inner fortitude that you can overcome physical conditions you normally wouldn't be able to. Prerequisite: Base Fortitude save 4+, Concentration 10 ranks. Benefit: You can make a Concentration check to attempt to suppress conditions that you normally can't, typically because you aren't allowed actions while under the condition's effects. You can attempt to overcome the additional following conditions: Dazed, stunned, and paralyzed. Refer to the following table for DCs. You may attempt to make such a suppression Concentration check only once while under the effects of one of these conditions. Dazed: Move action, DC 20 Stunned: Standard action, DC 25 Paralyzed: Full-round action, DC 30 Although you cannot normally take actions while under any of these conditions, if you manage to successfully suppress the condition you receive actions for the rest of the round as if the Concentration check had taken the noted action. For instance, if you successfully overcome the dazed condition, you may still perform a standard action (and free actions), as if you had used a move action to suppress the condition. Special: A fighter may select Mighty Focus as one of his fighter bonus feats. STEELY FOCUS (General) You possess such toughness and mental focus that you can temporarily overcome the effects of fear. Prerequisite: Base Will save 4+, Concentration 10 ranks. Benefit: You can make a Concentration check to attempt to suppress fear conditions. You can attempt to overcome the additional following conditions: Shaken, frightened, panicked, cowering. Refer to the following table for DCs. You may attempt to make a suppression Concentration check only once while under the effects of one of these conditions. Shaken: Move action, DC 20 Frightened: Standard action, DC 25 Panicked: Full-round action, DC 30 Cowering: Full-round action, DC 30 *A frightened or panicked character cannot normally choose his actions. At the start of a round while panicked, frightened, or cower, you may choose to make a suppression Concentration check. If you succeed, you may act in the rest of the round as if you had used the noted action for the Concentration check. For instance, if you successfully overcome the frightened condition, you may still perform a move action (and free actions), as if you had used a standard action to suppress the condition. Special: A fighter may select Steely Focus as one of his fighter bonus feats. Thoughts And there it is. Overall I think it's a good use for Concentration. It isn't overpowering, as each condition requires a separate check, and the suppression may not last long. It gives fighter-type characters an additional option in combat and increases their self-reliance (as they don't have to wait for magical help or quaff a potion to overcome a condition), though with the actions required and the sometimes stiff DCs it may be a tough choice. Of course, it's not just for fighting classes, as spellcasters typically put ranks into Concentration too. If you choose to use this rule, I'd suggest adding Concentration as a class skill to more classes, such as fighters and maybe barbarians (the skill in general doesn't fit, but this use might). As for ways to improve this rule, I'm not sure of the length of time of the suppression. I'm wondering if it should take effect on the current round (as it is) and last through the following round, plus an additional round for every 5 points the check beats the DC. So basically that way it would last for 2 rounds (counting the first round), plus any extra for a high check result. Please let me know your thoughts and (constructive) criticisms. Cheers! -SaddestPleasure
Millenia 03-12-05, 11:51 PM	I think the 2-round initial idea is good, and I also think this idea is good. Houserules it into her campaign
shadow_walker2.0 03-15-05, 03:58 PM	I like it it seem like it was professonaly done.
Crashy75 03-17-05, 10:10 PM	Very good!!!! I really like this idea. I've been toying with using concentration for auto-hypnosis type affects (and eliminating the auto-hypnosis skill)..I'll have to incorporate this as well... :clap: