One of the things Ive never really liked about 3e combat is that its very
static. There`s a little bit of movement, but for the most part characters
go toe to toe with opponents, roll attacks and take/deliver damage. There
are, of course, rules to make it more dynamic (trip, bull rush, etc.) but
since they provoke attacks of opportunity, players are reluctant to use
them unless their PCs also take feats or a particular prestige class to
avoid the AoO. The following critical hit/fumble variant is meant to make
combat more dynamic.
Fumble
When you roll a 1 on an attack roll you provoke a fumble threat. You must
make a Reflex save (DC 15) to avoid a fumble. If you do fumble one of your
opponents (determined randomly if you face multiple opponents) gets to roll
on the table below.
NOTE: At present I think Im going to use this for both melee and missile combat. The results of the table below are almost all melee options, of course, so it might be argued that an opponent at a distance would not provoke a character to drop his/er weapon because of a free disarm attempt or fall prone because of a free trip attack, but the results here are not necessarily meant to represent an opponent performing that action. Rather, it represents a character who fumbled actually losing his grip or stumbling in the highly abstracted D&D combat. More powerful/skillful opponents do put people in a position where they are more likely to make mistakes, so using the opponents values for the results of a fumble check will reflect
that. Im not wild about the DC 15 Reflex save to avoid the fumble. Id
prefer an opposed check, but I couldn`t come up with what traits that check
would be based on.
Critical Hit Variant
After a critical hit is confirmed roll on the following table to determine
additional effects. Taking an additional critical hit effect is
optional. That is, if you get a critical hit on a target and roll a 6 on
the table below you dont have to make the free grapple attack if you dont
want.
d12 Result
1 Free strike at armor or shield (50/50).
2 Free disarm attempt. (If target is unarmed reroll this result.)
3 Free sunder attempt. (If target is unarmed reroll this result.)
4 Free feint.
5 Free bull rush attack.
6 Free grapple check.
7 Free trip attack.
8 Make a DC 15 Will save or be dazed for 1 round.
9 Make a DC 15 Will save or be blinded for 1 round.
10 Make a DC 15 Will save or suffer -2 to Str or Dex (50/50)
for 1 round.
11 Target or fumbler suffers x1 of subdual damage.
12 Roll twice ignoring this result if rolled again.
Of these 8-11 are the ones Im least enthused about. Id rather an opposed
roll, but again I couldnt think of what trait(s) would oppose one another for the purpose of those effects. #11 is OK, but again theres no opposed
roll which I`d like for all the effects.
Anyone have thoughts on this?
Gary
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, but I would like if the combat were more tactical. IMC we use the optional rule of the DMG that when you roll a natural 1 on an attack roll you must make a DC 10 Dex check or fumble. The rule is abstract on what is fumble - it says the standard is to concede an AoO, but it can be other things, like falling prone.
.