Lets face it, two handed fighting rules the roost in Pathfinder. I was always a fan of the different weapon style proficiencies back in 2E, so here is my attempt to make single weapon style viable in PF.
Single Weapon Style
Benefit: When attacking with a single weapon in your main hand and not using a shield or a second weapon in your off hand, you add a +2 dodge bonus to your AC, as well as increasing the damage die of your weapon by one step. Utilizing any other weapon (including natural attacks or unarmed strikes) other than the single weapon in your main hand will cause you to lose the benefit of this feat.
Improved Single Weapon Style
Requirements: Power Attack, Single Weapon Style
Benefit: While utilizing the Single Weapon Style feat, you count as wielding a 2 handed weapon for the purposes of bonus damage from your strength score and calculating the bonus damage from using the Power Attack feat.
So a 1st level human fighter with an 18 Str using a longsword that had all 3 of these feats would do 1d10+6 damage, or 1d10+9 when using power attack. This is vs a 1st level fighter using a greatsword with just power attack who is doing 2d6+9, our single weapon fighter has a +2 AC over the greatsword fighter, but is still doing less damage per swing and spent 2 feats to do so.
Thoughts?
Sounds fair. Very exploitable with a Bladed Boot, natural attacks or unarmed strikes though.
I would drop the power attack prereq and replace it with a minimum BAB. If anything, this would be an opportune place to add some cool feature to the combat expertise feat.
That new book that just came have a class for this.
Sounds fair. Very exploitable with a Bladed Boot, natural attacks or unarmed strikes though.
I changed the wording to prevent natural attacks or unarmed strikes from being used with it.
That new book that just came have a class for this.
I'm looking to make this a viable style for anyone, not just members of the Swashbuckler class.
That new book that just came have a class for this.I'm looking to make this a viable style for anyone, not just members of the Swashbuckler class.
That being said, members of the Swashbuckler class using this will blow away anyone else using it... well, anyone else really. They'll be using Slashing Grace to replace Strength with Dexterity, then using Single Weapon Style to go 1.5xDexterity. On top of that, they'll also be able to use their Precise Strike deed with two-handed Power Attack. Yikes.
You could try this from another angle - instead of granting bonuses to one-handed as if it was two-handed, make it a "two-handed" thing that lets you act like it was one-handed - but doesn't let a Swashbuckler abuse it.
Single Weapon Style
Benefit: When attacking with a single weapon in your main hand and not using a shield or a second weapon in your off hand, you add a +2 dodge bonus to your AC, as well as increasing the damage die of your weapon by one step. Utilizing any other weapon (including natural attacks or unarmed strikes) other than the single weapon in your main hand will cause you to lose the benefit of this feat.
I would the drop the increase of the damage dice of the weapon by one step OR require that you fight with a light or finessable weapon in your main hand (in that case, you could keep the increase of damage dice by one step).
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assuming equal or near-equal investment, the math should fall like this:
2H: very strong damage, weak AC
TWF: strong damage, average AC
Arch: average damage, average AC
1H: average damage, strong AC
SnB: weak damage, very strong AC
(let it be noted that both 'to hit' and 'damage' bonuses boost total damage)
that said Gambit, I like the idea behind your first feat but don't like your second feat. maybe integrate Combat Expertise a la Furious Focus? like:
Single Weapon Style:
Prerequisites: Combat Expertise
Benefit: While fighting with at least one hand free, your weapon damage is increased by one step, and the dodge bonus granted by using combat expertise is increased by +1 for each successful attack you make this round.
Special: You may only gain the benefits of this feat by attacking with a single weapon.
Improved Single Weapon Style:
Prerequisites: Combat Expertise, Single Weapon Style
Benefit: While fighting with at least one hand free, the first attack you make using combat expertise this round does not suffer the usual penalty to strike. Further, for each iterative attack you omit taking during your turn, you may add a +2 dodge bonus to AC for 1 round.
Special: You may only gain the benefits of this feat by attacking with a single weapon.
The first feat is a bit overpowered considering it requires nothing (not even BAB) and offers an offensive and defensive benefit...
The first feat is a bit overpowered considering it requires nothing (not even BAB) and offers an offensive and defensive benefit...
Using 2 handed fighting as the baseline, show me (with math) how this feat is overpowered.
Though I have been pondering adding 13 Dex and BAB +1 to the first feat, and BAB +3 to the second.
Using 2 handed fighting as the baseline, show me (with math) how this feat is overpowered.Though I have been pondering adding 13 Dex and BAB +1 to the first feat, and BAB +3 to the second.
The baseline should not be 2 handed fighting, but other feats. Thus, your feat, as presented is not balanced.
Using 2 handed fighting as the baseline, show me (with math) how this feat is overpowered.Though I have been pondering adding 13 Dex and BAB +1 to the first feat, and BAB +3 to the second.
The baseline should not be 2 handed fighting, but other feats. Thus, your feat, as presented, is not balanced.
Using something other than math, let me simply say that you're making a very boring feat chain that causes the one-handed style to be a carbon copy of two-handed with a minimal (almost insignficant) damage difference and a bonus to AC (Which is actually infinitely better than what the 2-h offers.)
Why don't you try to make it a -fun- and -unique- combat style, rather than just slapping a number addition onto it. Perhaps base it around lessened penalties from Combat Expertise and Power Attack. Perhaps make them halved, but not increase in the same way as a two-handed weapon would.
Perhaps allow the use of disarm and reposition combat maneuvers at the same time as an attack in your feats, give a bonus on bluff checks. Any number of things that don't include you simply trying to slap on extra numbers onto damage and turning the entire concept into something infinitely one-dimensional.