This idea came to me while I was trapped at work today and I've been running with it ever since. The television was set to a channel seemingly devoted to playing Westerns and I decided after the fourth shoot-out of the day that there should be a way to replicate the iconic, tense, and deadly staple of both Westerns and Samurai films where life and death are resolved in a single blow.
The idea is to create a unique combat that combines a truly debilitating blow with some strategy to make for a fight that will leave one man lying in the dust and another walking away if he is lucky. So here it is, the Showdown.
This is how a Showdown would progress:
The Challenge: A challenge (not the class feature) is issued by one combatant. If accepted, both combatants place their weapons in a 'ready' position. A ‘ready’ position would be holstered, sheathed or lowered in the case of two-handed weapons, and the Showdown proceeds to...
The Stare Down: Here they proceed in rounds but do not roll initiative. For all intents and purposes, actions are taken simultaneously. There are two actions that can be taken during the Stare Down phase.
Focus: For every round you spend to Focus, you gain a cumulative +1 Focus bonus. You can only gain a Focus bonus up to your character level. This bonus also applies to Sense Motive checks to ascertain when you opponent plans to Aim True or Dodge during the Draw phase and when they to trigger the Draw phase. The Sense Motive check is opposed by a Bluff check. There is no way to actively mislead a foe during the Stare Down.
Dishearten: Instead of Focusing you may make an Intimidate check to weaken your opponent’s resolve. A Will save opposes your check but if your opponent fails their save then they take a -1 penalty to their Focus bonus and they do not gain the benefits of Focusing this round. If you manage to completely sap an opponent’s Focus bonus then you can inflict a penalty equal to your character level to their attack roll during the Draw phase.The Draw: Either combatant may initiate the Draw phase. During the Draw phase, both combatants get to draw their weapon and make a single attack at their highest BAB. The first thing that happens during the Draw phase is that both combatants reveal their Draw phase actions. Initiative is then rolled. Both combatants get their Focus bonus to their initiative bonus. The winner of the initiative has their attack resolved first. The two actions that can be taken during the Draw phase are Aim True and Dodge
Aim True: When you Aim True, your Focus bonus is applied to your attack roll and you roll your damage a number of additional times equal to your Focus bonus and add it together.
Dodge: When you Dodge, your Focus bonus is applied as a dodge bonus to your AC and, if hit, you get a Reflex save to reduce the damage by half. You may also make one attack but only get your normal attack bonus and deal normal weapon damage.After the Draw phase, combat resumes as normal using the initiatives rolled during the Draw.
Misc:
If you take any actions apart from those listed in each phase then your opponent may choose to act as though it were the Draw phase and you had lost initiative. You also forfeit your Focus bonus.You are considered flat-footed to any threat apart from your foe in the Showdown.
Use of a two-handed weapon causes your Initiative bonus during the Draw phase to be cut in half.
If the combatants are using a melee weapon for the Showdown and are starting any distance apart, they are able to move up to their movement speed toward their opponent and may choose to charge.
Comments and ideas highly welcome. Please be patient, this is my first time homebrewing anything.