
Lysira Silverclaw |

I had all the best intentions of posting today. Then, work decided today was going to exhaust all of us. Tomorrow is not looking much better, but I will try to get something up tomorrow after some sleep. Sorry for delaying things.

Lysira Silverclaw |

I decided her nature spirit needed a name. Thus, it is now named Abungu.

Arren Icewalker |

I have this feeling that if this is just us making unarmed strikes against one another, Lysira's gonna probably win handily. Cause you know. Improved Unarmed Strike.
I do have a question, though. Are we just gonna run it like combat or is somebody going to narrate it for us?

DM Frogfoot |

We'll be using dueling and performance combat rules, listed here and here.
I'll sum up what the players need to know, below:
Each participant in a duel can take a special action called a dueling dodge. This special maneuver gives a duelist a temporary bonus to his AC and on Reflex saves, but leaves him vulnerable to other attacks until the start of his next turn.
Whenever a character participating in a duel is the target of a melee attack, a ranged attack, a supernatural ability, or a spell or spell-like ability from another participant of the duel, he can declare that he is making a dueling dodge as an immediate action. This grants him a +4 circumstance bonus to his AC and on any Reflex saving throws he must make as a result of the attack. This bonus only applies until the attack that triggered the immediate action is resolved. If the attacker can make more than one such attack, all subsequent attacks are resolved as normal. This immediate action must be declared before the attack is resolved. If the attack does not require an attack roll or a Reflex saving throw, the immediate action is still spent, but with no effect.
Once the attack is resolved, the creature that attempted a dueling dodge takes a –2 penalty to his AC and on all Reflex saving throws until the start of his next turn (even if the duel ends).
Each participant in a duel can take a special action called a dueling parry. This special action allows the duelist to deflect a blow from a melee or ranged attack directed at her. A dueling parry cannot deflect spell or firearm ranged attacks.
Whenever a character participating in a duel is the target of a melee or ranged attack from another participant of the duel, she can declare that she is attempting to parry the attack as an immediate action. She must then make an attack roll with whatever weapon she is currently wielding, using her full base attack bonus but with a –5 penalty. If this attack roll is equal to or greater than the attack roll being made against her, she parries the attack and it is considered a miss. If the duelist attempting the parry is unarmed, she takes a further –2 on the attempt. If the duelist possesses the parry class feature, she can attempt this dueling parry once per round without spending an immediate action if she is using her parry class feature.
This dueling parry only applies to one attack. Other attacks made by the same attacker are resolved normally. If the attack is a hit and a critical threat, but would be parried by the duelist, it is still a hit, but no confirmation roll is made and damage is rolled normally.
Once per duel, a character can use a special action called dueling resolve. This special action allows a duelist to keep on fighting despite a crippling spell or terrible injury.
Whenever a character participating in a duel fails a Fortitude or Will saving throw, or is reduced to fewer than 0 hit points, he can use dueling resolve as an immediate action. If he failed a Fortitude or Will saving throw, he can attempt another saving throw, using the same bonus. If this second saving throw is a success, the spell or effect prompting the saving throw does not take effect until the end of his next turn (even though its duration begins immediately). If he is reduced to fewer than 0 hit points (but not slain), he does not fall unconscious or gain the staggered condition, and can act normally until the end of his next turn, at which point he becomes staggered or unconscious based on his current hit points.
If, by the end of the character’s next turn, the spell or effect ends or he is brought to above 0 hit points, he is fatigued, but otherwise suffers no ill effect. A character can only use this ability once per duel.
To sum up the summation, you get additional immediate action defensive rolls in a duel to make it more interesting than just roll vs. AC.
You may also roll an Intimidate, Bluff, or Sense Motive check in place of your initiative at the start of the fight, representing how you choose to begin combat...with feints, with aggression, or with reading your opponent.
You also get to exercise Performance Combat, as the mood of the crowd watching is a big determining factor in dueling. To make a performance check, roll a D20 + BAB + Charisma. None of you have any of the Perform skills learned, so it'll just be a raw CHA check. You may make one of these checks when these conditions are met:
The following triggers allow a character participating in a performance combat to make a performance combat check as a swift action. A character can always opt not to make a performance combat check that requires a swift action. Some feats, called performance feats, allow a character to perform other actions as part of the performance combat check.
Charge: Whenever a combatant hits with a charge attack, she can make a performance combat check as a swift action.
Combat Maneuvers: Whenever a combatant successfully performs any combat maneuver, she can make a performance combat check as a swift action.
Dealing Maximum Damage: Whenever a combatant deals maximum damage with a damage roll (weapon or spell, but not including sneak attack or other variable precision damage), she can make a performance combat check as a swift action. She gains a penalty or bonus on this check based on the type of weapon or spell she uses. Light weapons take a –4 penalty on the check, one-handed weapons grant neither a bonus or a penalty, and two-handed or exotic weapons grant a +2 circumstance bonus on the check. Spells grant a bonus on the performance combat check equal to half their spell level.
Energy Spells and Effects: Crowds tend to respond to flashy spells and effects. If a combatant casts a spell or produces an effect that deals acid, cold, fire, electricity, force, or sonic damage in a visible way (including weapons with special abilities like flaming burst or shocking burst that deal bursts of energy damage on critical hits), she can make a performance combat check as a swift action.
Feint: If a combatant successfully feints against an enemy, she can make a performance combat check as a swift action.
Knocking Opponent Prone: When a combatant knocks another combatant prone, she can make a performance combat check as a swift action.
Multiple Hits: If a combatant has more than one attack on her turn and hits an opponent with at least two of those attacks, she can make a performance combat check as a swift action. She gains a +2 bonus on this performance combat check for every attack she hits with beyond the second.
These are Free action conditions for making a Performance check:
The following triggers allow a combatant to make a performance combat check as a free action or an immediate action. A combatant may also opt to make any of these performance combat checks as a swift action instead, and gains the benefit of performance feats when he does so. A combatant can always opt to not make a performance combat check that requires a free action or immediate action. A combatant can also spend a victory point to make any one of these performance combat checks as a free action taken when it is not the combatant’s turn, which allows the combatant to make one of these performance combat checks without spending an immediate action.
Critical Hit: When a combatant confirms a critical hit, he can make a performance combat check as a free or immediate action. When he does so, failing by 5 or more does not lower the crowd’s attitude. If the combatant gains a special effect on this critical hit from a critical feat, he gains a +2 bonus on the performance combat check.
First Blood: If the combatant is the first person to damage an enemy during a performance combat (or to hit an opponent in the case of staged combats), he can make a performance combat check as a free or immediate action.
Raging: The first time a combatant enters a Rage in a performance combat, he can make a performance combat check as a free or immediate action. I'm houseruling that shifting into your combat werekin form also provokes this check.
Vanquish Opponent: Whenever a combatant reduces a creature to 0 or fewer hit points, he can make a performance combat check as a free or immediate action.
Finally, it is MANDATORY to make performance checks under THESE conditions:
The following performance combat checks must be attempted whenever possible. These checks don’t improve a crowd’s attitude, and the combatant gains no benefit from performance feats with these checks. Failing them typically has a detrimental effect on a crowd’s attitude. If the crowd cannot see the action that triggered these checks, the combatant who performed it does not need to make the check. Making a performance check for one of these triggers is not an action.
Magical Healing: Crowds tend to dislike the use of magical healing; some crowds even see it as cheating. On a turn when a combatant casts a healing spell or other healing effect, or uses a healing spell trigger, spell completion, or use-activated item (including forcing a potion of cure light wounds or similar potion down the throat of an opponent) she must make a performance combat check. Success yields no change to the attitude of the crowd, but any failure reduces the crowd’s attitude by one step.
Rolling a Natural 1: When a combatant rolls a natural 1 on an attack roll or a saving throw, she must make a performance combat check. A success does not affect the crowd in any way, but any failure reduces the crowd’s attitude by one step.
Withdraw: Whenever a combatant uses the withdraw action, she must make a performance combat check as a free action. She takes a –5 penalty on the check, and success does not shift the crowd’s attitude, but failure shifts it one step lower.
The full rules are in the links I posted. Crowd attitude affects combat ability.
One final thing - traditionally, challenge duels are fought to "first blood", which does NOT mean first blow landed, but rather - whoever is reduced to 50% of full HP first loses. They are bleeding. This is only the traditional method - PCs can declare different win conditions for their own duels if they choose.

Arren Icewalker |

Damn, that's a lot of rules.
Maybe I spoke hastily when I mentioned a lack of using magic or the usage of nonlethal weaponry.
Lysira, would you mind refuting those points in the conditions? Something to the effect of them not being necessary? It seems like it would be more interesting, add more options, if we could do those things.
Fighting to bloodied works just fine for me.

Lysira Silverclaw |

I can do that. Haven't had a chance to post yet. I was fine with those rules but I can suggest otherwise, perhaps one weapon of choice?
It's been a hectic day here at work. I'll post something in gameplay as soon as I can. It may not be till I get home.
I'm excited about those duelling and performance combat rules ^^

Arren Icewalker |

One weapon of choice works just fine for Arren :) I have plans whether it's hand-to-hand or with weaponry that are pretty much the same.

Lysira Silverclaw |

I know it's short, but RL was rough today. I ended up working on a last minute, needed before end of day project that had me working two hours late. Got home in time to eat before getting a work call that said project didn't work correctly and had to fix it. I wanted to at least get something up.

Kenna Icemane |

Trolls are humanoids, so that would be local. Unless there is an exception for giant subtype which I'm not aware of.
Does everyone get to roll perception or only Harthresh?

Moriarti |

really? hah! that's silly, but whatever. i'm better at that anyway.
(i had assumed that trolls were monstrous humanoids without checking, but that doesn't change that i think it's silly that they're a knowledge local check.)

Kenna Icemane |

Excuse me while I mourn the death of Crane Wing and Crane Riposte.
Come again?
<- uses crane style and was going for wing and riposte

Moriarti |

yeah, did you want to elaborate, Harshuk?
<- was also planning to take that feat chain (at least through wing).
edit: decided to stop being lazy and investigate. turns out it was errata'd. now crane wing only gives a +4 dodge bonus to AC against an attack if you're fighting defensively. you must use total defense to completely negate the attack and take advantage of riposte which you still can't do because you're using total defense and can't make attacks of opportunity.

Kenna Icemane |

Oh... good. Frogfoot, are we going to go by this errata? If so I might yet have rethink my build.

Moriarti |

yeah, i might still pick up wing for the +4 against an attack that otherwise would've hit, but even that is looking less and less appealing; and no one should ever get riposte now.
edit: correction, you have to take the +4 before the attack roll is made. crane style, i relegate you to the island of misfit styles!

Moriarti |

oh good because i wasn't looking forward to figuring out how i was going to fix my build. snake style requires an immediate action i'm rarely going to have, and i wasn't exactly going to be rolling over baddies in my "invincible" crane form.

Lysira Silverclaw |

If I land a blow, according to the rules I should roll a performance check? Or do I need to wait to see if Arren dodges/avoids it somehow?

Lysira Silverclaw |

Will we know when we need to apply bonuses or negatives based on the crowd? Or will you handle that aspect of Performance Combat?
I'm really liking the performance combat/dueling rules ^^ I'm glad we get to use them.

DM Frogfoot |

I'll inform you of the modifiers as they change, glad you like the rules, I do too. Harshuk, bards seen uniquely well-suited to performance combat...
-Posted with Wayfinder

Arren Icewalker |

I was suggesting it for the spirit of the not-hurting-each-other variety. I will, however, gladly add the +4 to hit that will come from adopting more aggressive tactics if that's what I should do :D

Lysira Silverclaw |

Which, if Dueling dodge works like it appears to, then Lysira would perform one on each potential hit. There's going to be a lot of dodging going on. But I guess we are putting on quite the show.
Though with her flurrying, she might still hit Arren, since she can attack twice.

Moriarti |

I think (if I'm reading this correctly) that you are supposed to use the dueling dodge as soon as you are targeted (before the roll even). A bit difficult to do in PbP, but I'm sure we can make it work.
edit: Though, yeah, with only one attack per round, there's little reason for Lysira not to dodge every one. Arren on the other hand...

Arren Icewalker |

So, to Lysira and Frogfoot, I think I'm just gonna target your first attack every round with my dueling dodge. My attack bonus isn't high enough to use parry well and we haven't gotten to the point where I need to use resolve, so we'll just go with that.
My AC is 22 against your first attack each round and 16 against your second.