Maneuvers, Press, and the Daredevil

[Chris Kenney]

Got a question that might be silly but is definitely really important to know the answer to - do Grapple, Trip, Reposition, and Shove count as attacks? This is really important, since you're obviously meant to, when you're moving towards an enemy, make use of Daring Stunt to compress a move into one of these maneuvers at the end while gaining Adrenaline. This then lets you set up for your Press attacks. But if they don't, it makes getting to use Presses a lot harder.

[Mathmuse]

Force Open, Grapple, Reposition, Shove, Trip, and Disarm are under the Athletics skills and they have the Attack trait, so they are attacks and allow Press actions afterwards. Force Open is intended for inanimate objects; nevertheless, this means that breaking down a door also enables Press actions.

These actions are subject to the Multiple Attack Penalty. However, they use Athletics checks rather than attack rolls. This means that ordinarily the weapons the character holds, including Fist, do not matter for these attacks. However, weapons with the Grapple trait can be used to Grapple, weapons with the Shove trait can be used to Shove, weapons with the Trip or Ranged Trip trait can be used to Trip, and weapons with the Disarm trait can be used to disarm, which adds the weapon's item bonuses and Agile trait to the Athletics check. Finesse trait, unfortunately, applies only to attack rolls.

Escape has the Attack trait, too.

[Castilliano]

Also note that one's skill bonus can easily be higher than one's attack bonus. Expert at 3rd, Master at 7th, Legendary at 15th is superior to all but Fighter/Gunslinger proficiency (much of that with limited weapon choices). And you're targeting Fort or Ref which can vary wildly and range higher or lower than AC. This makes clear comparisons difficult.

That said, if you're targeting a henchman's weakest save, there's a decent chance that Assurance will auto-succeed (and it ignores MAP). That's an option not available with regular attacks. Note the weakest save is typically Will, but when you learn you can auto-succeed on a Press attack, you can spam it every spare action, even at your worst MAP.

So yeah, Daring Stunt functions fine as an opener to set up Press Attacks. Now if we could get some good Press-maneuver options that weren't so situational.

[Purple Dragon Knight]

During a recent playtest it became obvious that the reliance on Acrobatics or Athletics checks meant that some kind of advantage should be given to the daredevil against off-guard targets, so perhaps such a feature should be baked into the Adrenaline feature: Emphasis mine on proposed added text

Adrenaline
As you slip past the deadly blades of your opponents and perform stunts that put life and limb on the line, the thrill of danger washes through your veins. This heightened state is called adrenaline. You gain adrenaline by performing actions that have the risky trait. The GM might determine that a particularly dangerous action, such as leaping a deep chasm or sprinting across hazardous terrain, gains the risky trait. Such stunts typically involve at least one action and either automatically deal damage to you or risk dealing damage as the result of a failed skill check or saving throw. You gain adrenaline at the start of the risky action (before you move or attempt any rolls). The adrenaline lasts until the beginning of your next turn, so you must constantly perform risky actions to keep your adrenaline flowing. Normally, you gain and keep adrenaline only in combat encounters, and when an encounter ends, you lose adrenaline. To help you gain adrenaline, you gain the Daring Stunt action. Other daredevil actions, such as certain class feats, require you to have adrenaline. You gain +2 to Acrobatics or Athletics checks against off-guard targets when performing actions that have the risky trait.