Advanced Melee Combat Maneuvers, Techniques, and Tactics

[DAT]

So my new DF group has a few combats under their belt using the basic Tactical Combat (Hit Locations, Feints, AoA, AoD, etc.), and I think it is time to add in a few Advanced Combat Maneuvers, Techniques, or Tactics to keep things interesting.

The party is about to be jumped by a group of Assasins, and I thought their leader (or maybe all of them) should pull a suprize maneuver/technique/tactic or two out of his/her hat.

What are peoples suggestions for a couple fun ones to add?

Slam+X combination,
Rapid Strike,
Deceptive Attack,
Spin Attack,
...

-Dan

[mlangsdorf]

Weapon Master + Dual Weapon Strike + Feint + Deceptive Attack.

Telegraphed Dual Weapon Strike on turn 1 to draw out the defender's Block and Parry, followed by Dual Weapon Strike Beat + Beat on turn 2, followed by all of the beater's allies attacking the character (works best if the beater is a really big guy).

Shield Rush/Slam followed by a couple of grapplers who grab the PC who is on the mat.

Spinning Attacks suck, don't use them.

[Agent]

Definitely throw in Deceptive Attack - as skills get higher this is a nice (and straightforward) option for PCs and NPCs to use.

There are several books which suggest a similar mechanic for ranged attacks, if you wanted any bow-users to 'feel the love' as well. It is basically like Deceptive Attack but target's Dodge defenses only. 'Prediction Shot,' if memory serves.

Rapid Strike is great, but generally needs other options, situational bonuses, or quite high skill to be effective - Weapon Master halves the penalty, but isn't exactly common to NPCs in most scenarios, and if no PCs have it, you may not even feature this advantage. Telegraphic Attack out of MA can help. Or if you're using Extra Effort rules for combat, Flurry of Blows halves the penalty.

Spinning Attacks suck, don't use them.

Not if the GM forgets to enforce the defensive penalty. ;)

[lexington]

Definitely add Deceptive Attack but be prepared for fights that get very deadly for people that have been relying on Dodge rather than defenses that are cheaper to raise.

Telegraphic Attack and Rapid Strike are good for people with very low and very high skills respectively.

[mlangsdorf]

In a Dungeon Fantasy environment, almost all the PC warriors of note will have Weapon Master or Trained by a Master. Sure, they're heroes, but the bad guys have champions and what not too. You're going to want enemy Weapon Masters.

My guideline at this point is that any organized group of foes will have about 5% of their warrior population as Weapon Masters, more if they're supposed to be bad-asses. So if the PCs take out 40 orcs in the Caverns of Howling Dread, there will be at least 2 Weapon Masters in the fight. If the PCs are all 350 point death machines, then then Hellfire Gnolls of the Iron Stronghold of Insanity will probably all be Weapon Masters.