Post
by ChrisDDickey » Mon Aug 03, 2020 8:32 pm
I have some issues with the 5th circle Quickblade ability.
I don't really like the "no matter what your initiative was, I spend 2 strain and suddenly I am better". I would make activating it cost 1 strain for every 2 points the attacker's initiative was higher. So if your attacker was 10 initiative higher, it would cost you 5 strain to activate the ability. If they were 20 higher, it would cost 10 strain, which might be a wound.
Also, the way it is worded, it allows the Sharper to automatically totally avoid the opponents attack, since it allows the sharper to take his entire turn between his opponents movement and his opponents attack. Example: Opponent and Sharper are 10 yards apart. Opponent has initiative 20 higher than the sharper, so would normally get to make an Air Dance extra attack. Opponent spends his move action and most of his movement rate to move next to sharper, and declares an attack. Sharper spends 2 strain to interrupt the attack, raises his initiative 20 points (which means no air dance attack), then makes all of his attacks, then moves 10 yards away from the opponent. Opponent then gets to take the rest of his turn, but has already used his movement action to move to where the sharper used to be, and has no movement rate left in any case, so does not get to make any attacks at all.
The way this ability is worded, for 2 strain a turn, a sharper can't be attacked by a single opponent at all, and that is just wrong.
Better ways. Like I said, raising Init should not be a flat 2 strain, it should be one strain per 2 points or something like that.
The Quickblade ability might be reworded to allow most actions at the new improved initiative, but absolutely no movement of any kind. Any movement the sharper wants to do must be done on his rolled initiative. That way, if the sharper fails to kill his attacker, the sharper is at least forced to still be next to the attacker when the attacker is allowed to complete his attack.
