Knockback (Ex): Anyone hit by the barbarian’s melee attacks this round is pushed back 5 feet, if possible. This power is used as a swift action before any attacks are made.
Clarification is needed in the language of this power I think, specifically the last sentence. I was puzzled for some time before I sussed out the intention of the description. I think changing the wording of the last sentence like so would clear things up a bit:
"Activating this power is a swift action. The Barbarian must choose whether to use this power before her first attack is made."
Mighty Swing (Ex): The barbarian automatically confirms a critical hit. This power is used as an immediate action once a critical threat has been determined. A barbarian must be at least 8th level before selecting this power. (8 rage points)
The way this power is worded sounds like the barbarian is forced to use it whenever she threatens a critical. Suggest changing the language to something like:
"The barbarian may choose to automatically confirm a critical hit. Activating this power is an immediate action that occurs once a critical threat has been determined. A barbarian must be at least 8th level before selecting this power. (8 rage points)"
It sounds to me that this Ability can be used against all Foes that the Barbarian Attack that round. If they have 3 attacks, 3 Monsters go flying.
That's what it sounds like to me as well, but I was confused by the last sentence. "this power is used as a swift action before any attacks are made."
any of whose attacks?
What if an enemy attacks on the barbarian's round through a readied action, AoO or immediate action? Can the barbarian still use the power?
Thus the clarification.
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I would say Yes. As long as he spends his Rage Points on the his turn, and still hit someone in that Round.
Example: On Conan's turn, first he spends 5 Rage Points(1 to continue his Rage plus 4 to activate Knockback) then uses his Full attack on 3 yuan-ti halfbloods(who BTW all have readied actions to Attack if he tries hit them). The yuan-ti Attack, Conan is wounded but still standing and makes his attacks. He hits all 3, so they all go flying.
I think what needs clarification is, how long does this Rage Power lasts? Does it last until the end of his current turn, or until the beginnings of hit his next turn? With Combat Reflexes, can Conan send 2 more yuan-ti flying with AoOs?
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16
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Knockback (Ex): Anyone hit by the barbarian’s melee attacks this round is pushed back 5 feet, if possible. This power is used as a swift action before any attacks are made.Clarification is needed in the language of this power I think, specifically the last sentence. I was puzzled for some time before I sussed out the intention of the description. I think changing the wording of the last sentence like so would clear things up a bit:
"Activating this power is a swift action. The Barbarian must choose whether to use this power before her first attack is made."
No the barbarian must declare they are using this power before any single attack roll they make on their turn (as swift actions can only be done on your turn). So if the Bbn is making a full attack against a single enemy he can choose to use this on the last attack. If it's done your way it has to be done on his first attack which is fairly useless.
And as it is a swift action it can only be used ONCE per round against a single enemy, so the Conan example above can't work that way.
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Knockback (Ex): Anyone hit by the barbarian’s melee attacks this round is pushed back 5 feet, if possible. This power is used as a swift action before any attacks are made.
Primemover003, if Knockback, can only be used once/Round as you say, then it can only be done on the first attack. So an Official answer would be great, but until we get one our group well be using the Conan maneuver.
It looks pretty clear from the wording that it applies to each attack made that round (at least against different opponents). "Anyone hit by.. attacks.. this round".
"This round" typically means until the beginning of the characters next turn, so I would say yes on attacks of opportunity. Perhaps that should be changed and clarified for balance - or perhaps not.
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The way I read this, Conan can choose to activate Knockback as a swift action before he makes any attack rolls on his turn. It can then 'trigger' on any successful melee attacks until his initiative comes around again, including AoO's. He cannot choose to activate it later on his turn if he has already made any attacks that turn. If, for some obscure tactical reason Conan is not attacking on his turn while raging, he could not activate Knockback on his first AoO that round because it is a swift action and must be activated on his turn, but he -could- activate it at the end of his turn in anticipation of AoO's (again, assuming he hadn't swung yet).
I would prefer to have the wording be something like "until the start of his next turn, he may choose to push an opponent back five feet. This may be done immediately when he deals damage do the target in melee. This move does not provoke attacks of opportunity."
The barbarian should be able to choose not to do this. This would allow the barbairan to be a little more tactical, choosing one opponent to go at, and sweeping others aside.
-Scott