A player of mine has created a polearm bodyguard style character for my Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign, but he's frustrated that enemies can get inside his reach, where he has to move to hit or trip them. To that end, he's written a homebrew feat and asked me if he could use it.
I'm generally inclined to support this sort of thing, but he's the sort of player that could take a mile if given an inch in character creation, so I thought I'd bring it here and see what Paizo's top minds had to say.
Prerequisites: Dex 15, Combat Reflexes, Weapon Focus with reach weapon, base attack bonus +5.
Benefit: You threaten adjacent targets with a reach weapon for which you have the Weapon Focus feat. Attacks of opportunity made against adjacent targets while using this feat suffer a -4 penalty.
Additionally, you continue to threaten enemies within your extended reach even after attacking adjacent opponents during your turn.
Normal: Characters wielding reach weapons do not threaten adjacent squares, and if they use another form of attack against adjacent foes, they cease threatening at range until their next turn.
I suggest taking stuff from the Polearm Master fighter archetype is better than inventing new stuff. Typically a simple class feature is the equivalent of a single feat.
Pole Fighting (Ex): At 2nd level, as an immediate action, a polearm master can shorten the grip on his spear or polearm with reach and use it against adjacent targets. This action results in a –4 penalty on attack rolls with that weapon until he spends another immediate action to return to the normal grip. The penalty is reduced by –1 for every four levels beyond 2nd. This ability replaces bravery.
Not sure that one needs any prerequisites as a feat, though later bits of Polearm Master should if he gets excited by those. You could even let him trade out bravery for pole fighting instead of spending a feat, assuming he has the bravery class feature now, or some similar feature he has but doesn't care for.
Oh, and his "Normal" clause is mistaken about not threatening at range if you use another form of attack against adjacent foes. If you have a one-handed reach weapon in one hand and a normal weapon in your other hand, you threaten everything at 5' and 10', period.
Thanks for the input, Fuzzy.
He has levels in fighter, but he's taken the Lore Warden archetype, so he can't replace bravery. His character is VERY finely tuned, so I'm not sure what he'd be willing to replace. Even potentially adding this feat throws off the flowcharts of possible feat paths he's devised.
As far as the prerequisites go, our thought process was that removing the sole weakness of reach weapons was already in the game, the polearm master archetype. They had placed it behind a pretty steep barrier: at least two levels of fighter, so to make it a feat, there needed to be a similar level of investment.
As far as the prerequisites go, our thought process was that removing the sole weakness of reach weapons was already in the game, the polearm master archetype. They had placed it behind a pretty steep barrier: at least two levels of fighter, so to make it a feat, there needed to be a similar level of investment.
Fair enough! Looks like Nimble Grip is strictly less powerful than the archetype ability---assuming I'm correct in reading the feat as saying that you can make AoOs against adjacent targets but not attack them normally---so I don't think there's potential for mile-taking.
Bladed Brush, among other things, lets you change your grip on a reach weapon as a move action, no penalty. Haft Strike (third party) gives you a choice to take -2 to AC while being able to threaten everyone around you as well as the weapon's normal reach.
Like Fuzzy said, class features can equal a feat. Just have the fighter take a single feat to be able to take the -4 to attack rolls to change his grip as an immediate action. Combine it with the Bladed Brush to let him change as a move action without penalty.
Bladed Brush, among other things, lets you change your grip on a reach weapon as a move action, no penalty. Haft Strike (third party) gives you a choice to take -2 to AC while being able to threaten everyone around you as well as the weapon's normal reach.
Like Fuzzy said, class features can equal a feat. Just have the fighter take a single feat to be able to take the -4 to attack rolls to change his grip as an immediate action. Combine it with the Bladed Brush to let him change as a move action without penalty.
Haft Strike is precisely what he wants, Sorry Sleeping. I'll point him in that direction. Thanks!