Application of Branch Pounce

[Saldiven]

Branch Pounce:

When charging a target by jumping down from above (such as when jumping out of a tree), you can soften your own fall with a melee attack. If the attack at the end of your charge hits, the attack deals damage as normal and also adds the appropriate amount of falling damage (1d6 points for a 10-foot fall, 2d6 points for a 20-foot fall, and so on). This falling damage is not multiplied on a critical hit. You land in an unoccupied square of your choosing adjacent to the target, and you take falling damage as if you had fallen 10 fewer feet. You can attempt an Acrobatics check as normal to treat the fall as an additional 10 feet shorter for the purpose of determining the damage you take from the fall and treat the first 1d6 points of damage you take from the fall as nonlethal damage. If your attack misses, you land prone in a random square adjacent to the target and automatically take the full amount of falling damage.

Interested in both RAW and "how I would play it" interpretations of this Feat.

From a RAW standpoint, it would seem that you can only jump/controlled fall down from a distance equal to or less than your charge distance to use this feat.

From a real world physics standpoint, a person could fall 500-odd feet in the six seconds of a combat round.

For those GMs out there, would you opt strictly for the "can't charge-fall greater than your charge movement" usage of the Feat, or would you be more lenient, allowing greater distances? If allowing greater distances, what modifiers would you put in place? I mean, I can't imagine allowing someone to free-fall for 500 feet while attempting to land on top of a specific enemy without some sort of modifier on the to-hit roll...

[Imbicatus]

Your charge movement is limited to the movemement rate of the mode of movement you are using, which when falling is 0 feet horizontally and unlimited vertically. There is no maximum height you can charge with this feat. You could fall thousands of feet down and gain 20d6 bonus damage, if you were willing to take that much damage in turn.

[Saldiven]

That's what Boots of the Cat are for....

[Murdock Mudeater]

Personally, I think the applications of the feat too limited to assign to my characters. I'd use it for NPCs, not players characters. You just won't get enough opportunities to use this in most adventures, as most environments don't have adequate ledges and such to jump down upon your enemies. Feat is very reliant on the GM having mapped the ledges down to the ground level.

That said, if you wanted a very specific thematic build, this could be a fun feat.

As for running it in a session, I'd force perception checks on the PC, as they'd have to identify their target to attempt any sort of 500-ft drop. I'd probably inform the PC that weather affect from that height would penalize their attack for this. But, sure, if their NPC target is standing out in the open, just above a 500ft tower, and doesn't notice them, I'd allow it. If they do notice, they at least won't be flat footed.

Still, definitely a feat to discourage PCs from taking, as it seems much more likely to kill them than to be useful. I mean, they'd definitely need a perception check if the target is a high distance from their starting point for this to be an option. As for how to run it, I think I'd require at least one acrobatics check during the charge. I'm thinking one check to Jump on the NPC, and another to reduce falling damage (unless you don't plan to reduce it).

As for order of things.

1st, Perception check if the target is really far away, I wouldn't require an action for this, but if failed, they can't attempt this until conditions change and they succeed with a new attempt. They just can't see their target well enough to accurately jump on them. They're welcome to jump down anyway, but for the feat, I think they need to be able to see (or otherwise locate) their target reasonably well. (Ignore this step if target is easily visible and under 100ft away.)

2nd, I'd do the distance jumped horizontally (minimum 5ft) as an acrobatics check, so DC 5+. As mentioned, if there are weather affects in play (like strong winds affecting fly checks), I would apply these are modifiers to this acrobatics check if the PC wanted to fall a long distance. (Ignore wind modifiers if target is within 100ft.)

3rd, Attack roll to hit on the charge, as per the feat. No changes here.

4th, (Optional) PC may attempt to reduce falling damage as per acrobatics by trying to land more gracefully (DC15 to reduce fall by 10ft).

5th, apply falling damage to PC, if any.

I will note that the feat does require them to jump off of something, they can't just end a fly spell to use this. I know, silly, but I don't the intention of this feat is to allow the PCs to use it without something to jump off. It also works in rules much better like this.

I will also note that any ability which reduces the falling damage by slowing down the character (like feather fall), or otherwise softening their fall, will reduce the damage dealt to the target of this feat. The acrobatics check is considered exempt, because it isn't softening the fall, just the PC using their training to land more gracefully.

If an NPC is aware of the incoming attack, I think I'd allow them the acrobatics check to reduce the falling damage (by only 1d6), provided they stand their ground against the incoming attack.

So if PC wants to get an d6 here and there by wasting climb or jump movement actions to get on a ledge or up a tree, let them. No different than sniper PCs. If they try the extreme distance stuff, caution them, as that's where this feat get's iffy and I'd make the above very clear ahead of time.

[Murdock Mudeater]

Oh, one more consideration. If the target is aware of the attack and has a reach weapon, while your PC does not have a reach weapon, you will be required to pass through a threatened square above the target while falling on top of them. Definitely an AoO (against a charging opponent, so the normal -2 AC). I'd argue that while falling, you really don't have maneuver options, so I'd say you are flat footed for any attacks dealt to you while performing a falling strike like this.

If an opponent has been aware of your PC on that ledge for some time, it is entirely reasonable that the NPC is actually readying an attack or an action to respond to your PC's actions, especially if they are not in combat already. So, if using this feat, DO NOT attack aware enemies with brace+reach weapons. I don't think I'd apply any further penalties to the PC for damage taken while falling, but obviously, this one fails if they go unconscious during the fall.