Combat changes

[Anvilin]

I really don't think we need a play by play of the actions we are typing into the game. Can someone explain to me what the deal is? It is rather annoying and I suggest going back to the way things where!

[Gwain]

What's happening exactly here?

[Laroremas]

I personally like the new system and I think it has a lot of potential.

Also, sorry for spamming bugs at the immortals, assuming they did not get in before Mask made his post.

[Gwain]

When and if it does work what will casting defensively do? The combatmode profile says 'cast spells defensively to avoid attacks of opportunity' I don't quite understand what that means and how it will translate to fk, does it mean that when we go to cast, an attack of opportunity from our opponents will always be blocked or is there only a chance it will be blocked, also will we experience other negative affects for using this tactic such as a higher rate of spell casting failure?

[Mask]

When and if it does work what will casting defensively do? The combatmode profile says 'cast spells defensively to avoid attacks of opportunity' I don't quite understand what that means and how it will translate to fk, does it mean that when we go to cast, an attack of opportunity from our opponents will always be blocked or is there only a chance it will be blocked, also will we experience other negative affects for using this tactic such as a higher rate of spell casting failure?

Like I said, it's not implemented yet. When it is, I will explain how it works.

[Gwain]

Fair enough. Its just sounds very exciting.

[Briek]

Personally, I like the changes I've seen thus far.

[Tarven]

I really don't think we need a play by play of the actions we are typing into the game. Can someone explain to me what the deal is? It is rather annoying and I suggest going back to the way things where!

The effects are more than just a play by play. Be patient. I was opposed to this too, initially, but there are a lot of balancing things going into this.

RE casting defensively: Normally, when casting within melee range of an opponent, you incur attacks of opportunity. This combat mode instead has you roll concentration in order to avoid such, and is from SRD. Essentially, when casting, normally you would 'drop your guard' as it were, as you focus entirely on casting your spell. With defensive casting, you split your focus, causing the concentration roll, but prevents the AoO which could potentially not only cause you to receive extra damage, but also to be forced to roll concentration anyway, possibly at a higher TN.

[Laroremas]

A drow invader begins to chant.
You guess a drow invader is casting vampiric touch.
You attack a drow invader as he opens his guard.

<99%hp 80m 97%mv>
A drow invader utters the words, 'zawsufuq hajqp'.
You dodge a drow invader's vampiric touch.

Sometimes in the attacks of opportunity against someone casting, you don't attack. It should be noted that I wasn't casting a spell before this happened, and it has happened multiple times.

(although it should be noted that it does also work sometimes, if not most of the time)

[Tarven]

A drow invader begins to chant.
You guess a drow invader is casting vampiric touch.
You attack a drow invader as he opens his guard.

<99%hp 80m 97%mv>
A drow invader utters the words, 'zawsufuq hajqp'.
You dodge a drow invader's vampiric touch.

Sometimes in the attacks of opportunity against someone casting, you don't attack. It should be noted that I wasn't casting a spell before this happened, and it has happened multiple times.

(although it should be noted that it does also work sometimes, if not most of the time)

Odd. I'm guessing you didn't get any other AoO that turn? In any of the times when the AoO occurred, have you missed? I'm thinking maybe it's a matter of missing emotes?

[Anvilin]

hmm Maybe to keep guys like me from spazzing at a little change you guys should warn us! lol I'm interested to see how this turns out. I still don't like the added spam everytime you type a command when in a battle.

[Tarven]

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5223&start=80

The warning. =P

[Anvilin]

I guess I should pay more attention!

[Anvilin]

How will Quick Draw work with the new combat system? Reading the helpfile suggest that with quick draw there would not be any lag, but waiting for the right time kind of makes this feat lose its usefulness

[Hrosskell]

I was going to echo this concern after a little testing. It seemed that my draw speed was still considerably slower; haven't tested after the copy-overs tonight.

As per d20, should be a free action with this feat(think you get 1 per round and can still make full actions?).

Full-Round Action
A full-round action consumes all your effort during a round. The only movement you can take during a full-round action is a 5-foot step before, during, or after the action. You can also perform free actions (see below).

Some full-round actions do not allow you to take a 5-foot step.

Some full-round actions can be taken as standard actions, but only in situations when you are limited to performing only a standard action during your round. The descriptions of specific actions, below, detail which actions allow this option.

Free Action
Free actions consume a very small amount of time and effort. You can perform one or more free actions while taking another action normally. However, there are reasonable limits on what you can really do for free.

From the d20srd.

[Tarven]

Actually, you can make any number of free actions, within reason, on your turn. You can only, however, make 1 swift action. Also, free actions and swift actions (as was pointed out to me by another) still occur on your own combat pass.

Ideally, for those with quick draw, you'd be able to stack commands. IE, if you wanted to get a scroll from your pack, hold it, and recite from it, you should be able to do all of that on a single combat turn, reasonably. Similarly you should be able to get a potion from your pack, hold a potion, and quaff it. Or draw a weapon (two if you have two weapon fighting feat) and still get your full attack, etc.

I don't think the new system makes Quick Draw less useless. I think quite the opposite, once it's working correctly.

[Hrosskell]

Alright, so a little more experience under the belt and I'm noticing that rescue has some odd behaviors compared to the old way. While I imagine some are semi-intentional, a few don't make sense to me. In particular:

Autoassist seems broken by and large:
That's pretty much all I can say about that. Definitely don't see myself joining in combat quickly at all; have to engage, and it rolls initiative all over, even if a party member is already in the fight.

Rescue sets target out of fight:
When rescued, there used to be a short delay where auto-assist picked you back up and into the fight. As it stands, rescue causes the target to have to manually re-engage or suffer almost an entire fight without acting again--and not the person using it. I can't quite find a reason for this behavior.

Rescues carry over between fights:
Ashbel reported several times that rescues done to Cahir "carried over" from previous fights. For example, if she typed rescue shortly before a mobile died and a new one walked into the room aggressively (within upwards of 5 seconds), she would rescue again. I realized this one had to do with the new delays, but I'm not sure if there's a way to stop it from happening inbetween combats.

The first rescue prepares to do so, not the case with more:
I noticed after being rescued, I could rescue back--the first one started with a delay, and missed. The next few had no delay, also missed, and I didn't make any attacks--this leads me to believe that it might be an "in combat" type deal.

It strikes me that it might do to add a feat for rescue that cuts this delay/combat removal stuff a little. Rescue isn't a mechanic that exists exactly in d20srd, but it is one of the most vital mechanics for a whole specialization in fighters (tankers need love too) and really adds a lot to the RP besides "I've got the biggest sword in the land, meal with me."

More to come as the system is figured.

[Alitar]

You prepare to disarm ...
You are too tired to disarm!

Costs the round's attacks however doesn't give the disarm attempt. Are we able to adjust this so that the "too tired" echo comes before the preparation, and the preparation simply doesn't happen?(I imagine this might apply to a number of things)

[Mask]

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to comment. The following changes have been made today:

1) Rescue mechanics have changed somewhat.
2) Actions should no longer carry over from one fight to the next.
3) Mobs that start fights using a variety of mob-only commands should now respect initiative rolls a little better.
4) You won't get an AoO echo unless you can actually make an AoO.

Please keep the feedback coming.

[Trillarel]

'Wimpy 50' works with the first blow (the one which brings you below 50), but not when you're already below 50. My dwarf would still try to fight with his health between 20-49 - 'No way! I am still fighting!' echo. /I barely got out alive./

Also, specifying a direction always fails. I suggest changing it (typing 'flee' takes longer than typing 'u' or 'w' or whatever). Also, having 'Argh! Can't find the exit!' echo when there's only ONE exit from a room?

What I mean about changing the direction:
- using direction to flee might fail for low int or low wis characters
- direction should work a percentage of the time, 100% of the time if there's only one exit from a room