Alternative effect(s) for pounce? - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Alternative effect(s) for pounce?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
rypta
May 01, 2009 16:00:17 Hey guys, I've been playing a charging build with pounce in a campaign. Pounce has just made my character too effective in combat and I want to tone it down so as not to punish the less powerful members of the party when the DM tries to make something to kill me. Its not necessarily a balance issue as much as it just doesn't fit in with the other people I'm playing with.

Any ideas for an alternative effect for pounce? I was thinking about suggesting charges being trip attempts in addition to the damage dealt, or maybe some kind of knock back effect, wondering what other people think.

I understand its technically not an optimization question, but I figure you are guys are the most familiar with charge builds and would have the most appropriate suggestions.
#2
phaedrusxy
May 01, 2009 16:05:24 There are certainly ways to knock people down when you hit them, and other things like that. You'd probably need to rebuild your character a bit to do it legally, though. Things to look at: The Knock-down feat, and the Dungeoncrasher fighter alternate class feature.
#3
agahii
May 01, 2009 16:07:38 I'd encourage the other melee people to pick up pounce as well (or optimize at least a little), that way in the future you do not have to gimp yourself.

Trip attempts are gonna be kind of crap aginst larger monsters.

A tame reccomendation could be like..an additional +2 to attack on charges(bringing the total to +4) and then power attack that +2(or 4) away. Definitly not as good as a full attack, but decent for a charger build.

At higher levels pounce is great for keeping melee mildly on par (though not really) with tier 1 casters. So eventually you may want to ask for it back (when casters start to outpace melee a great deal more)

Though if it is an all melee group, It is ok to scrap it I think, to not outpace non optimized characters.
#4
feloniousela
May 01, 2009 16:23:37 Have it so you can only attack twice instead of full attack. If that is still too much, make it a more defensive ability, like, you only get to attack once, but you do not provoke AoOs whilst charging, or even you can make one direction change while charging.
#5
ithamar
May 01, 2009 16:46:31 As a player you could just opt not to pounce once in a while. If you're afraid of ruining someone else's fun, just tone it down on your own. Perhaps limit yourself to one pounce per encounter and then just do regular attacks. That way when your group is up against a big enemy (or group of enemies) you will still have pounce at your disposal for when you really, really need it.
#6
rypta
May 01, 2009 21:48:33 Well, of course I thought about just not using it, but I want the DM to be able to make encounters without having to wonder if its going to be a situation where I decide to use it. Perhaps limiting it to set number of attacks, or uses per day is the simplest way to go.
#7
nickresonance
May 02, 2009 2:05:56 You could take a nod from Tome of Battle. One of the Tiger Claw maneuvers is Pouncing Charge, and maneuvers are expended for the encounter once used (barring recovery mechanics, of course).
#8
pyro_azer
May 02, 2009 6:16:25 There is a feat called hurling charge (UE?) that limits the attacks on a charge to two and one must be thrown.
#9
rastawiz
May 02, 2009 18:31:24 There are plenty ways for your DM to negate your abilities without hurting the gameplay for the others.

Any good DM can always find a way to overcome the players' styles.

I would let you know of a few, but better to let the DM suprise you. ;)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 rypta May 01, 2009 16:00:17	Hey guys, I've been playing a charging build with pounce in a campaign. Pounce has just made my character too effective in combat and I want to tone it down so as not to punish the less powerful members of the party when the DM tries to make something to kill me. Its not necessarily a balance issue as much as it just doesn't fit in with the other people I'm playing with. Any ideas for an alternative effect for pounce? I was thinking about suggesting charges being trip attempts in addition to the damage dealt, or maybe some kind of knock back effect, wondering what other people think. I understand its technically not an optimization question, but I figure you are guys are the most familiar with charge builds and would have the most appropriate suggestions.
#2 phaedrusxy May 01, 2009 16:05:24	There are certainly ways to knock people down when you hit them, and other things like that. You'd probably need to rebuild your character a bit to do it legally, though. Things to look at: The Knock-down feat, and the Dungeoncrasher fighter alternate class feature.
#3 agahii May 01, 2009 16:07:38	I'd encourage the other melee people to pick up pounce as well (or optimize at least a little), that way in the future you do not have to gimp yourself. Trip attempts are gonna be kind of crap aginst larger monsters. A tame reccomendation could be like..an additional +2 to attack on charges(bringing the total to +4) and then power attack that +2(or 4) away. Definitly not as good as a full attack, but decent for a charger build. At higher levels pounce is great for keeping melee mildly on par (though not really) with tier 1 casters. So eventually you may want to ask for it back (when casters start to outpace melee a great deal more) Though if it is an all melee group, It is ok to scrap it I think, to not outpace non optimized characters.
#4 feloniousela May 01, 2009 16:23:37	Have it so you can only attack twice instead of full attack. If that is still too much, make it a more defensive ability, like, you only get to attack once, but you do not provoke AoOs whilst charging, or even you can make one direction change while charging.
#5 ithamar May 01, 2009 16:46:31	As a player you could just opt not to pounce once in a while. If you're afraid of ruining someone else's fun, just tone it down on your own. Perhaps limit yourself to one pounce per encounter and then just do regular attacks. That way when your group is up against a big enemy (or group of enemies) you will still have pounce at your disposal for when you really, really need it.
#6 rypta May 01, 2009 21:48:33	Well, of course I thought about just not using it, but I want the DM to be able to make encounters without having to wonder if its going to be a situation where I decide to use it. Perhaps limiting it to set number of attacks, or uses per day is the simplest way to go.
#7 nickresonance May 02, 2009 2:05:56	You could take a nod from Tome of Battle. One of the Tiger Claw maneuvers is Pouncing Charge, and maneuvers are expended for the encounter once used (barring recovery mechanics, of course).
#8 pyro_azer May 02, 2009 6:16:25	There is a feat called hurling charge (UE?) that limits the attacks on a charge to two and one must be thrown.
#9 rastawiz May 02, 2009 18:31:24	There are plenty ways for your DM to negate your abilities without hurting the gameplay for the others. Any good DM can always find a way to overcome the players' styles. I would let you know of a few, but better to let the DM suprise you. ;)