Skills in Combat

[Supplement Four]

I'm interested in ways skills can be used in combat.

Bluff can be used to perform a feint.

Intimidate can be used to demoralize your opponent.

Balance can be used to give the more balanced fighter a modifier to hit.

3 ranks in Appraise gets you armament judgement.

Are there any other ways you use skills in your games while in combat?



Candidates are: Concentration, maybe a specific Knowledge skill used to gain an edge....could Perform be used somehow?

What about Sense Motive? I know it's used to defend agains the Feint, but what about it being used to predict where your opponent will swing, gaining you a bonus to your defense?



Thoughts?

 

[Clovenhoof]

Don't forget Tumble to move without drawing AoOs.

Apart from that, I don't think we need too many skills in combat. If you make combat too skill-heavy, you also need to give Soldiers more skill points, or they come out worse.
But if you want more, you might want to look at the modifications the old game Neverwinter Nights makes to the D&D skill system.

- there's a Taunt skill, by which you try to insult your opponent so he loses his temper, lowering his combat values, as a Standard Action.
"You fight like a dairy farmer."
- this is resisted by a Concentration check.
- there is also a Discipline skill which is used to resist disarm, knockdown or similar attempts
- and there is a Parry skill which allows you to, well, actively parry attacks and, if the parry roll is good enough, make a riposte attack. (All in all it doesn't work too well, I have to say)

However, it needs to be said that this solution overall did not exactly arouse much acclaim among the D&D/NWN gaming community. So I'd be careful before implementing something like that into my p&p game.

 

[rabindranath72]

Taunt can be effectively implemented as a use of Bluff (as it's done, for example, in the Dragonlance Campaign Setting for the Kender ability).

 

[Spectator]

Good point Clovenhoof.
The skill based combat would diminish the fighter even further.
Not to mention it may make the combat round EVEN looooonnnnngggggeeerrrr.