In hopes of making combats more dynamic and interesting, I was thinking of giving everyone (PCs and NPCs) Combat Expertise and all the Combat Maneuver feats (Improved Trip, Improved Feint, Improved Grab, etc.) for free.
What major pitfalls should I watch out for?
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If you're just hoping to avoid the whole "Provoke an AO if you don't have the right feat" deal, a simple house-rule eliminating that mechanic seems a lot simpler. Overall, the bonuses to CMB and CMD for every type of maneuver means that everyone will break even on this anyways (or at least, I'm assuming you're giving actual monsters these feats too?)
The only major snagging point I can see is that now your PCs have a LOT of prerequisite feats necessary for things like Greater Bull Rush (they get pushed AND provoke AOs), Improved Feint (rogues will like that), Swift Aid, or lots of other options. Not that that's a bad thing, it'll encourage them to go for interesting choices they might not have before-hand.
In hopes of making combats more dynamic and interesting, I was thinking of giving everyone (PCs and NPCs) Combat Expertise and all the Combat Maneuver feats (Improved Trip, Improved Feint, Improved Grab, etc.) for free.
What major pitfalls should I watch out for?
Combat maneuvers tend to be slow to adjudicate and the rules are often rather cumbersome and nonintuitive. (Grapple in particular resulted in my GM banning me from ever playing a druid at his table again.)
Unless everyone at your table has a Ph.D. in pathfinderology, it might make things too complex.
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Well, most of them aren't THAT bad, Orfamay. Disarm, trip, reposition, bull rush, those can be done pretty easily. Sunder requires a bit of math, but nothing any group of PF capable players shouldn't easily be able to handle. But grapple...yeah, grapple has a flowchart involved. Definitely make your players familiarize themselves with those rules beforehand.
Also, apologies but I just noticed it's inclusion in the OP: fallingphoenix, Feint isn't a combat maneuver. It's in the same section of the CRB, which is why it can be confusing, but it doesn't use a PCs combat maneuver bonus at all like the others do. That might influence your decision to provide it for free.
In hopes of making combats more dynamic and interesting, I was thinking of giving everyone (PCs and NPCs) Combat Expertise and all the Combat Maneuver feats (Improved Trip, Improved Feint, Improved Grab, etc.) for free.
What major pitfalls should I watch out for?
You should be fine, for the most part.
I would note that the Trip maneuver is a very powerful maneuver, though, arguably the most powerful. I would suggest houseruling trip such that Greater Trip doesn't exist and that standing up from prone does not provoke an AO.
-Matt
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One of the most popular house rules I know of is this: you only suffer the AoO on a failed maneuver roll.
First, thanks for the advice all!
Combat maneuvers tend to be slow to adjudicate and the rules are often rather cumbersome and nonintuitive. (Grapple in particular resulted in my GM banning me from ever playing a druid at his table again.)
Unless everyone at your table has a Ph.D. in pathfinderology, it might make things too complex.
This particular game is a play by post game, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem to add them in. I will definitely keep that in mind if I get the face to face game going that I hope to in the near future.
fallingphoenix, Feint isn't a combat maneuver. It's in the same section of the CRB, which is why it can be confusing, but it doesn't use a PCs combat maneuver bonus at all like the others do. That might influence your decision to provide it for free.
Thanks for the catch, Cerberus. I will keep that in mind when I talk this over with my group.
I would note that the Trip maneuver is a very powerful maneuver, though, arguably the most powerful. I would suggest houseruling trip such that Greater Trip doesn't exist and that standing up from prone does not provoke an AO.
Good to know. I'll keep that in mind if we decide to do this and pay close attention to any tripping that goes on.
One of the most popular house rules I know of is this: you only suffer the AoO on a failed maneuver roll.
That makes a certain amount of sense when I picture trying out some of these in a combat.
Good to know. I'll keep that in mind if we decide to do this and pay close attention to any tripping that goes on.
Yeah, it has to do with Trip imposing huge penalties (-4 to AC versus melee, -4 to melee attack rolls, unable to move), a nasty penalty suffered in order to recover (spend a move action to stand up and take AOs), while only requiring the tripper to spend an attack instead of a standard action. Compare this to Dirty Trick, where the penalties are not as severe and there is no AO suffered when recovering.
Then add Greater Trip and things get nuts, hehehe.
-Matt
One of the most popular house rules I know of is this: you only suffer the AoO on a failed maneuver roll.
This is what I do, I still don't get a ton of Combat Maneuver use at my (virtual) tables but it shows up on occasion, trip tending to be the main one used since I tend to run lower levels and not a ton of gigantic enemies.
It's my experience that Attacks of Opportunity are overly feared by players, almost as if they need to be avoided at all costs. This fear of the AO would explain what you are experiencing, idilippy.
Point being, if you want to see maneuvers be used more often in combat, it is important to take the threat of the dreaded AO off the table. Why should missing at a maneuver be more punishing than missing with an attack?
If you penalize trying, then players will be reluctant to try.
-Matt
I second the "Only AoO on a faield combat maneuver.
Giving your players +4 on all combat maneuvers and all the bonus effects will invalidate combat, if everyone gets a +4 to trip (+6 with trip weapon), there will be no escape and be no combat, there will be a team of reach weapon characters vs a hapless bunch of enemies who dont stand a chance (literally dont STAND) if ever caught in melee, in which case they will invariably be caught dead unless they are flying. Heck ive seen an old online campain where the the DM did this exact thing, only the sorcerer caught on and went on a tripping rampage, he started combat by casting enlarge person on himself, thereafter he tripped anything that moved during his off-turn and cast spells in his on-turn. Bloodline based natural weapons let him threaten in melee as well, all this he did right from level 1. The campain ended level 3 and the rule was rewoked for their the new (eerily similar) campain.
Right, the +2 for the Improved maneuver feat and the +4 for the Greater ones...
I agree, that is a big boost. Perhaps just saying that maneuvers don't provoke at all is more appropriate.
-Matt