For your consideration and construction criticism, I present to you a feat of modest proportions.
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Prerequisite: Exotic weapon proficiency with spiked chain, base attack bonus +3
Benefit: Through extended training you have learned new versatility when wielding a spiked chain. By wrapping a portion of the chain around your forearm, you may wield the spiked chain as a one-handed melee weapon. While so positioned, you cannot be disarmed nor are you able to drop the chain if a trip attempt is failed. Alternately, you may wield the weapon in one hand similar to a whip with a 10 foot reach. As with a whip, you provoke attacks of opportunity while wielding the spiked chain in this manner. Switching your grip between the three positions (two-handed, one-handed, whip) takes the same action as if drawing a weapon.
Seems fair, honestly. A 3 feat tax for the (limited) benefits of a 3.5 spiked chain is a great idea to keep those "uber" builds alive, but more difficult to pull off.
I'm not sure about the balance but I like where this is going- love how dynamic this is.
The main problem is the free-action (with quick-draw) adjustment time, which (especially combined with optional reach) can lead to cheese. I might make it a swift action (with or without quickdraw).
I really dislike the one-handed reach weapon. I know, a whip is a one-handed reach weapon, but it also doesn't threaten (you can't make attacks of opportunity) which is an important drawback. This allows a duel-wielder to gain most of the benefits of reach while also making full attacks (they just have to step back before making their chain attacks, presuming that the enemy doesn't have Step Up).
There's no real incentive here to use it two-handed; what you've done is turned a weak two-handed exotic into a really mean one-handed exotic which will get paired with a shield or another weapon. I guess that's not necessarily bad, but my own sensibilities would much prefer a chain master who usually handles the thing with both hands (unless he needs to climb a ladder, cast a spell, or drink a potion, in which case he does the cool arm-wrap thing).
Again, I want to say that this isn't balanced (for two feats), but I'm not really sure. It may be that I just don't like it. Lunge, after all, is only one feat and it grants reach to anyone who wants it (even flurrious monks). On the other hand, this stacks with lunge to grant 15-foot reach.
In any event you've created a weird situation by making a weapon that provokes attacks of opportunity but can also make attacks of opportunity. A cleric casts a spell next to you, you make an attack of opportunity on him for casting a spell, then he makes an attack of opportunity on you for attacking with your spiked chain. If the cleric is also carrying a spiked chain your game table implodes.
Sorry I didn't have much constructive to add last post. That's a thought-provoking idea and it took me a bit to chew it over.
My advice, for what it's worth, would be to say that the "reach" position is two-handed, and that it just grants "reach", as a reach weapon (so you have to switch back to the home position, or the one-handed position, if you want to use it adjacent). That way you don't have to deal with provoking attacks of opportunity.
This really reminds me of Ivy from Soul Calibur, and the way she switches stances going from short range to medium range to long range. The "reach" stance would entail whirling it overhead and all around you, while the "home" stance would mean getting a shorter grip on the thing to use it like a proper weapon.
Thanks for the incite into the mechanics and possible abuse. My thought process behind this was not even about getting the chain back to 3.x usage, but to make it work similar to what I think it should.
With only a 4ft length of chain, it would seem more unwieldy to me to use it in two hands rather than one. In regards to the secondary effect of using a chain like a whip, I meant it to be used just like a whip in most regards except AC providing immunity to damage. Therefore, the wielder would not threaten anyone with it in that grip.
As for shifting the grip costing the same time as drawing a weapon... I think you are right and it should be a swift action. I should have reread Short Haft when I put this together. I misremembered the feat and believed it was a free action. I felt that was too easy and wanted to require a little more time, hence same as drawing a weapon.
How's this for a rewrite?
Prerequisite: Exotic weapon proficiency with spiked chain, base attack bonus +3
Benefit: Through extended training you have learned new versatility when wielding a spiked chain, granting you two new ways to use the weapon.
By wrapping a portion of the chain around your forearm, you may wield the spiked chain as a one-handed melee weapon. While so positioned, you cannot be disarmed nor are you able to drop the chain if a trip attempt is failed. Alternately, you may wield the weapon in one hand similar to a whip with a 10 foot reach. As with a whip, you do not threaten the area into which you can attack and you provoke attacks of opportunity while wielding the spiked chain in this manner just as if you had used a ranged weapon.
Switching your grip between the three positions (two-handed, one-handed, whip) requires a swift action.
4 feet? That's the length of a longsword. I've been picturing the spiked chain from the old 3.0 Player's handbook (which is around 13 feet end-to-end). I'm going off of the SRD, so I don't know what spiked chains in Pathfinder actually look like, but I do know that they're still 2-handed weapons, which makes me think they can't be that small.
That said, if you're bent on making it a 1-handed weapon, this version looks balanced and fun. It doesn't let you control an area the way that the old spiked chain did, but it does make you a very fluid and flexible fighter.
The spiked chain from Pathfinder core rule book is 4 feet now. Intentionally done so people stop trip spamming I assume.
The spiked chain from Pathfinder core rule book is 4 feet now. Intentionally done so people stop trip spamming I assume.
Yep, 4 feet. I'm mostly OK with that, but I do think that such a short chain should be a one-handed martial weapon and not 2-handed exotic. If you fold the chain in half and hold both ends in one hand, you have a basic flail.
Thanks for the read and advice. I submit the altered feat to the DM for approval on our next game night.