Rasmus Wagner |
9 people marked this as FAQ candidate. 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Check this out. Bard with the Buccaneer archetype gets this little beauty:
Knock Out (Ex)At 5th level, a buccaneer may focus his blows in an attempt to knock out an opponent. Once per day as a swift action, the buccaneer can choose one target to attempt to knock out. The buccaneer adds his Charisma bonus (if any) on his attack roll and adds his buccaneer level on any nonlethal damage rolls made against the target. The bonus lasts until the buccaneer deals nonlethal damage to his target or until the buccaneer chooses a new target to attempt to knock out. He can use this ability one additional time per day for every six levels he possesses beyond 5th, to a maximum of three times per day at 17th level.
This ability replaces lore master.
Cha to hit, level to non-lethal damage, ends when you deal non-lethal damage to the target. Nothing keeps you from doing lethal damage, getting your Cha to attack rolls.
Phasics |
So your bard gets +CHA bonus to hit
and then you deliver wimpy damage with the blow ? meh
I guess you could make a strength bard and TWF etc etc but then you'd need to go with a lower CHA and thus less effective use of this power
yeah I'm not seeing it being a problem
something the save for a BBEG maybe
the effects end if you change targets so its only good against one opponent/day at 5th.
Phasics |
You know, I'm almost willing to look into if that was a typo.
The ability would be much more worthwhile if it ended upon dealing lethal damage.
As it is now, it's one pitiful bard hit for non-lethal damage.
As written you can add +CHA to hit and deal lethal damage round after round until your targets dead. so long as you don't deal non-lethal or change targets the effect doesn't end.
I guess killing someone still knocks them out :P
Diego Rossi |
You are all forgetting something [beside the OP], what it is exchanged for:
Lore Master (Ex): At 5th level, the bard becomes a master of lore and can take 10 on any Knowledge skill check that he has ranks in. A bard can choose not to take 10 and can instead roll normally. In addition, once per day, the bard can take 20 on any Knowledge skill check as a standard action. He can use this ability one additional time per day for every six levels he possesses beyond 5th, to a maximum of three times per day at 17th level.
If you are after a combat advantage the buccaneer ability is stronger. In most other situations the standard bard ability is stronger.