The frilled heritage for the lizard folk gives you the Threatening Approach activity: 2 actions to Stride "to be adjacent to a foe" which lets you Demoralize the foe, with a success giving it the frightened 2 condition.
My player is using this as a Braggart Swashbuckler, and started his turn adjacent to a foe after using his finisher on a previous turn. He does "Threatening Approach" to walk 10 feet AWAY from the enemy and approaches the enemy again, thus getting an attempt to Demoralize a foe and possibly regaining panache.
I am allowing it, but I want to know if this strikes anyone as possibly overpowered?
Also, I have to say I would like clearer guidelines on what players would need to be doing during Exploration Mode to gain panache at the beginning of combat. Is the expectation that swashbucklers can start most battles with panache? I've been allowing this player to use Threatening Approach after battle starts in order to be able to roll Intimidate for initiative. However, I now notice that the Panache text description says that they gain panache if they roll initiative due to actions they take BEFORE an encounter. So I'm inclined to have him walk around strutting, perhaps with his lizard frills out, picking a fight.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Not overpowered at all. Though I might give him a -2 on the basis that it looks funny.
Honestly it would take a lot for anything in 2e to really come off as overpowered.
Not overpowered at all. Though I might give him a -2 on the basis that it looks funny.
Honestly it would take a lot for anything in 2e to really come off as overpowered.
Thanks. I'm glad to hear this. On the -2 penalty I'm inclined to use it... since the point is to show you're a fearless creature who won't retreat...
I need to rework my goblin backstory for that racial. Lol. Really feel like Dio Brando *oh? You are approaching me?!*
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
If he just stays in place he's kind of giving up half the actions the activity gives. It makes it less powerful, not more, as he's using two actions just to make the demoralize check, while if he did a regular demoralize he could recover panache and attack with a spare third action. He should be able to just stand in place and use it without penalty IMO.
If you read it that Stride is required and he can't just stay in place, then what he's doing by moving in and out is fine by the rules. The move is to get close and surprise them with the frills and a hiss like the jurassic park lizard, not to prove your bravery, and darting around the battlefield is not cowardly either, as he's still staying around to fight. It's definitely not overpowered, and I personally wouldn't nerf his main ability for his character that arbitrarily.
If he just stays in place he's kind of giving up half the actions the activity gives. It makes it less powerful, not more, as he's using two actions just to make the demoralize check, while if he did a regular demoralize he could recover panache and attack with a spare third action. He should be able to just stand in place and use it without penalty IMO.
If you read it that Stride is required and he can't just stay in place, then what he's doing by moving in and out is fine by the rules. The move is to get close and surprise them with the frills and a hiss like the jurassic park lizard, not to prove your bravery, and darting around the battlefield is not cowardly either, as he's still staying around to fight. It's definitely not overpowered, and I personally wouldn't nerf his main ability for his character that arbitrarily.
Approaching.
Instead
Walk ten feet away to turn around and walk back every turn.
You have to admit it would be funny and odd to watch not exactly threatening.
By raw no penalty and really balance wise it doesn't need one.
It's just really gamey and illogical. So my suggestion on the penalty has nothing to do with balance but just a consequence of a modicum of realism.
Yeah, it is a little odd narratively, but not too bad. As a swashbuckler he's already described as a very mobile warrior, so imagining him moving away to dodge an attack followed by darting in and scaring or taunting with frills works for me. YMMV.
It's kinda gamey and illogical any way you look at it, because usually the only time this actually matters is when he fails the first demoralize check and has to try again. So running up and using my frills didn't scare them, maybe I could try... Running up and using my frills? There's lots of things gamey about combat anyways, it is a miniatures game after all, so I wouldn't worry too much about the narrative behind some specific movements and actions.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
I just love that I wasn't the only one who had this idea, I literally built this character as soon as I remembered Threatening Approach exists. :D
Using it adjacent to a creature is definitely a wash, though - compared to just doing regular demoralize, you are basically spending an extra action for +1 to the condition. That's not terrible, but it's certainly not overpowered.
Also... isn't backing up and then false-charging again a thing that IRL frilled lizards do? I'm pretty sure it is, so if anything this is extra in character. :P