This is by no means a complete list and will be updated as much as possible. I will try to give each and every power 5 options for Limit Breaks. I will try to create a comprehensive list of feats that trigger and expand the options availible for Limit Breaks.
So lets start by explaining, what is a Limit Break.
A Limit Break is an option that becomes availible to players randomly in combat when some key event takes place that allows them to exploit their abilities. Limit Breaks are not as powerful as encounter powers, but are more powerful then standard at-wills. Basically a Limit Break allows someone to modify an at-will power.
Anyways here are the basic design concepts for a Limit Break and how they work. Remember this is a crude concept and I will start working on everything ASAP, starting with the at-wills in the PHB, then the PHB2, and finally the two campaign setting books. Anyways have fun and hope this gets the wheels turning.
LIMIT BREAKS
Limit Breaks are a random event that takes place during combat. They are at-wills that are charged with heroic power of the characters. Certain skills and powers can increase your chances of getting a Limit Break, others increase the power of your Limit Break.
How a Limit Break Works
First at the beginning of a round the player rolls 1d6. If they roll a 6 you have a Limit Break. At which point you have Limit Breaker status:
- Limit Breaks only effect At-Will powers.
- You have until the start of your next turn to use your Limit Break.
- When you use the Limit Break you have multiple options to pick from each At-Will. These options change depending on what At-will power and class the power is in. You may pick one option from the list to alter the power.
Designing a Limit Break
All players will be allowed to pick 3 choices on how to upgrade their At-Wills for their Limit Breaks. However there are probably infinite possibilities that can be made, but only 3 choices will be available to them when they get a Limit Break.
These options are as follows but are not limited to these choices:
- Increase Damage: If a player choice is to increase damage then the following happens. If the damage is determined by a weapon then the player may add 1[W] to the damage. If the attack is not based on a weapon then the die size is increased by 1 using the following chart.
- Increase AoE: The AoE increases by 1 size. If the attack was a Burst 1, it is now a Burst 2, if it was a Blast 3 it is now a Blast 4.
- Selective Targeting: If the attack is an AoE you may remove a number of targets equal to your attack attribute’s modifier. For instance if the attack is Intelligence vs Reflex and your Intelligence is 18, you can negate the attack against 4 targets. However that is only for the initial attack, any effects afterwards still effect those in the area (for instance players caught in Stinking Cloud will take damage at the start of their turn if they are still in the area).
- Increased Effect: If the attack has an effect it can be upgraded (for instance Slowed becomes Immobilized) OR the effect’s duration can be changed.
At-Will Options reserved.
Artificer Limit Break Options
Aggravating Force
- Increase Damage by your Wisdom modifier or Constitution modifier.
- The next alley to attack the target receives a bonus equal to your Wisdom modifier or Constitution modifier.
- The next alley to attack target receives a +2 bonus to the attack roll and a bonus to damage equal to your Intelligence modifier.
- Until the end of your next turn, all allies adjacent to the target receive a +2 bonus to attack rolls against it.
- The target takes a penalty to its next attack roll equal to your Wisdom or Constitution modifier.
Ethereal Chill
- Increase damage to 1d10.
- Increase the Cold damage received from attacking an ally to include your Intelligence modifier.
- Increase the Area Burst 1, within 5; to area Burst 2, within 5.
- Increase the range to Area Burst 1, within 10.
- The ally receives a +2 bonus to their defense against an attack.
Magic Weapon
- Change the Attack entry to either Intelligence + Wisdom modifier vs AC or Intelligence + Constitution modifier vs AC.
- Increase the damage by your Wisdom or Constitution modifier.
- Increase the bonus damage given to allies to your Intelligence modifier, instead of Constitution or Wisdom.
- Change adjacent to all allies.
- Increase the bonus to attack granted to adjacent allies to either you Wisdom or Constitution modifier.
Static Shock
- Increase range to 10.
- Increase damage to 1d10.
- Change the penalty to the target’s damage roll to equal your Intelligence modifier.
- The target also takes a penalty to attack rolls equal to your Constitution modifier.
- All adjacent enemies take a -2 penalty to their damage rolls.
Thundering Armor
- Change the bonus to AC to equal your Wisdom or Constitution modifier.
- Increase damage to 1d10.
- You can Push the target a number of squares equal to your Wisdom or Constitution modifier.
- Change Push to Slide.
- All adjacent enemies to the Primary target are now secondary targets. If hit they takes thunder damage equal to your Intelligence modifier and are Pushed 1 square away from the Primary target.
Unbalancing Force
- Increase Damage to 1d10.
- Increase range to 10.
- The number of squares Pushed by the next ally who hits the target is equal to your Wisdom or Constitution modifier.
- The target is also knocked Prone by the next ally who hits it before the end of your next turn.
- The next attack against the target gets a +2 to attack.
At-Will Options & Feats reserved.
Please feel free to leave suggestions and comments. Also I wanted to note a limit break should be the equivalent of a Psionic At-will using 1 Power Point (from what I can take 2 Power Points on an at-will make it equal to an encounter power). Also another question how to handle Psionic Classes and Power Points????
I think this would be a neat system if you got rid of encounter powers all-together.
But limit break to me sounds like a reaction to some important event. What if instead of getting these points based on a dice roll every round, each character has a set of triggers? A few possibilities:
- when first bloodied in an encounter
- when you spend your last daily/encounter power
- when an ally drops to 0 hit points
- when you take a critical hit
I also like the idea of scrapping encounter (and maybe even daily) powers and using this system instead. It would make battles much more manga-like - rather than pumping out all your best powers at the beging of a combat, you build up to them as you collect limit break points.
Actually Nu I planned on creating a goup of feats that triggered and improved the abilities of Limit Breaks. For instance in Paragon level I was thinking you could pick a feat that allows you to pick another ability to use on a limit break. For heroic tier, I was thinking of feats that triggered Limit Breaks.
As I said this is still a work in progress.
any more feedback? I'm actually going to be redoing some of the bonuses and such after alot of thought I broke down the classes by type as a summary on what they should do and how the bonuses should be applied. Anyways any additional feed back would be nice.
I think I would find the idea more compelling if it was more strongly tied to, well, fluff. Right now I see a lot of mechanics without a clear non-mechanical justification.
I would suggest setting up something like the domain feats from divine power.
Have a whole list of "limit break" feats, each tied to a particular motivation or play style. Each should have its own trigger(s) and a set of powers it affects (no more than one power per class). The domain feats apply the same augment to each power, but there's no reason you couldn't set up different effects for each, like the martial feats from the Gladiator article.
Of course, since these bonuses are highly conditional, they can be much more extreme than those provided by domain and gladiator feats.
So I guess you could just provide this list as is and encourage players to explain the in-character reasons for their chosen limit breaks.
Now like I said this is not a complete list and I will need help filling in the blanks, in making the bonuses fit not just the power but the classes.
I propose..roll a Limit Break roll each time a trigger action occurs for that character (and this can be changed each time the character takes a short rest, to account for varying styles of play the character might choose along the course of an adventure). At a minimum, have one trigger per basic build per class (so 2 per class). This list would include things like...
Control Effects and Spell Damage for Wizards (referring to Control Wiz, War Wiz, and the most common effects related to those builds, so Wizard with Control Effects Limit Break trigger selected, would then get a chance to build up to a limit break every time a spell is cast successfully which causes a status condition)
Then, insetad of making it .16% chance to get a limit break, use a d4+2 roll to add to the characters Limit Break Points until the character has 20 Limit Break Points, no leftover (average once per 5 rolls, but possibly as little as 4 rolls, but never more than 7 rolls to achieve a limit break). Also, unused points carry over to the next fight, but leftovers once you hit 20 pts do not; until you use the Limit Break.
Then have the limit break be like you described, but again pertaining to that character's role (a magnificent heal for the Cleric, or increase crit range for the Rogue, or magnified effects for the Wizard, for example). The effect probably couldnt be changed except perhaps once per level, to avoid having to write fluff for the reasoning each time.
The idea came to me just now to allow a feat too based on this system..Brutal Limit Breaker, in which the character could never roll less than a 2 on a Limit Break Point roll. If say, someone wanted to be a frequent Limit Breaker.
In this case, it works just like a monster's recharge power. Sense most combats will last a "Turn" (old school D&D term for 10 rounds), then a player should get their Limit Break atleast 1 per encounter.
However sense this isn't a game of 100% accuracy, sometimes they will get them 2 or 3 times an encounter and sometimes not at all.
Also this allows for more "random" combat situations. It allows the players to, randomly expose weaknesses in monsters.
I am however currently playtesting the rules with a group in a PbP they will soon get their first chance to test out their powers. I will update with more info and see how much of a diffance it makes.
Well the reason I didn't do a new "attribute" or something like that, is I wanted to keep it fairly simple.
In this case, it works just like a monster's recharge power. Sense most combats will last a "Turn" (old school D&D term for 10 rounds), then a player should get their Limit Break atleast 1 per encounter.
well, if thats the desired occurrence rate, make it a d10 roll when not already charged, and recharge on 10. Simple to determine that way.
Speaking of simplicity, the effects of the limit break are not simple. You have something new for every power it seems! Best way to implement this would be to have a unilaterally applied benefit, so you can easily apply it to whatever power they are using. Maybe increase an effect's damage die (or healing die) by one size and give the players a double roll for attack (to ensure it isn't wasted), or instead of the reroll, make the power a Reliable power for the purposes of the Limit Break. As opposed to increasing ranges and all that, at least effect dice are easy to increase without having to rewrite powers' effects.
almost every turn 1 player should have a Limit Break, and in 6 rounds of combat every player should have used 1 limit break.
I'm planning on increasing the effects of Limit Breaks a little bit, and making them almost the equivalent of Encounter powers. Atleast I'm thinking of going this way.
Also I am thinking of breaking them down, less by power and more by Class/Role.
Each class will have a specialty type where if players pick that type of Limit Break it will fit more with that role. The "secondary" role of classes will help define how each classes Limit Breaks work. However this is just an idea.
For Instance:
Controlers
Bigger increases on status effects, AoEs, and forced movements.
Defenders
(not quit sure yet, regardless of what people say defenders are really just melee controllers with a strong affinty to a secondary role).
Leaders
Bigger bonuses to allies, added healing, and increased healing/temp HP bonuses.
Strikers
Increased damages.
Well like I said it works just like the monster Recharge in this case. Mathmatically speaking
almost every turn 1 player should have a Limit Break, and in 6 rounds of combat every player should have used 1 limit break.
I'm planning on increasing the effects of Limit Breaks a little bit, and making them almost the equivalent of Encounter powers. Atleast I'm thinking of going this way.
Also I am thinking of breaking them down, less by power and more by Class/Role.
Each class will have a specialty type where if players pick that type of Limit Break it will fit more with that role. The "secondary" role of classes will help define how each classes Limit Breaks work. However this is just an idea.
For Instance:
Controlers
Bigger increases on status effects, AoEs, and forced movements.
Defenders
(not quit sure yet, regardless of what people say defenders are really just melee controllers with a strong affinty to a secondary role).
Leaders
Bigger bonuses to allies, added healing, and increased healing/temp HP bonuses.
Strikers
Increased damages.
So many possibilities...so much work to make it uniquely affect each class. So I am guessing a simple change to a powers' effect simply won't work for ya eh?
Push/Pull become Slide, Slide becomes Teleport.
Slow becomes Immobilized, Immobilized becomes Petrified????
Something along those lines, I think there is one out there but i'm not sure.
Well I can do that, but I think to lessen the complication that just straight up offering certain things...for one I need to find an Effect Progression chart...for example.
Push/Pull become Slide, Slide becomes Teleport.
Slow becomes Immobilized, Immobilized becomes Petrified????
Something along those lines, I think there is one out there but i'm not sure.
PHB has plenty good descriptions to make that call yourself I'd say. Here's what I came up with as far as what is on pages 277 (Conditions) and 278 (Durations). I guess its a given most of this, but this is how I would rank it I think..
Conditions: Marked < Deafened < Granting Combat Advantage < Immobilized < Blinded < Dazed < Prone < Restrained < Stunned(aka Suprised) < Petrified < Dominated < Unconscious.
Durations: Minor Sustain < Move Sustain < Until the Start of Your Next Turn < Until the End of Your Next Turn < Save Ends < Until the End of the Encounter.
And as for damage, there is of course: Dmg < Increased Damage Die < Dmg + Ongoing Damage (save ends) < Dmg + Ongoing Damage (save ends, but failed save means more damage)