Full and Half Actions
Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 3:59 am
Action economy wins the game, as we all know. The problem with that is that Wizards get to rely on Standard Actions to do their winning, while Fighters have to rely on Full-Round Actions. Thus, the easiest way I can see to balance them is change the price of actions and how many everyone gets.
Full Action: Encompasses everything that Standard and Move Actions do combined. You can use one to move your speed, make an attack, etc.
Half Action: Encompasses everything that Swift and Immediate Actions do.
Getting Full Actions: Everyone gets 2 Full Actions and 1 Half Action a round. At every point you would normally get an Iterative Attack, you instead gain 1 Full Action. Thus, at 20th level, the Fighter has 6 Full Actions and 1 Half Action, while the Wizard has 4 Full Actions and 1 Half Action.
Getting Half Actions: It can be a class feature to gain more Half Actions, as shown by the Tome Fighter.
Spellcasting: Depending on how powerful a spell is, it costs more Full Actions to cast. Evocation, being weak, costs 1 Full Action. Win spells like Sleep and Stinking Cloud and the like, cost 2 Full Actions. We can even charge higher level spells more Full Actions, as the Wizard will have more to spend at higher levels.
Attacks: Obviously, the Fighter can now move further than lesser characters on the battlefield at the cost of his attacks. Also, since we've upgraded him to effectively two Standard Actions a round at 1st level, we have every attack after the first made at a -5 penalty.
Effects That Grant Extra Attacks: Things like Haste and Speed no longer grant extra attacks. They instead remove the -5 penalty from one extra attack per round. In return, these effects stack, so if you can get five different such effects, a 20th level Fighter can attack at full bonuses on all six attacks provided he doesn't move.
This has been pretty stream of consciousness typing, so tell me what I've missed.
Full Action: Encompasses everything that Standard and Move Actions do combined. You can use one to move your speed, make an attack, etc.
Half Action: Encompasses everything that Swift and Immediate Actions do.
Getting Full Actions: Everyone gets 2 Full Actions and 1 Half Action a round. At every point you would normally get an Iterative Attack, you instead gain 1 Full Action. Thus, at 20th level, the Fighter has 6 Full Actions and 1 Half Action, while the Wizard has 4 Full Actions and 1 Half Action.
Getting Half Actions: It can be a class feature to gain more Half Actions, as shown by the Tome Fighter.
Spellcasting: Depending on how powerful a spell is, it costs more Full Actions to cast. Evocation, being weak, costs 1 Full Action. Win spells like Sleep and Stinking Cloud and the like, cost 2 Full Actions. We can even charge higher level spells more Full Actions, as the Wizard will have more to spend at higher levels.
Attacks: Obviously, the Fighter can now move further than lesser characters on the battlefield at the cost of his attacks. Also, since we've upgraded him to effectively two Standard Actions a round at 1st level, we have every attack after the first made at a -5 penalty.
Effects That Grant Extra Attacks: Things like Haste and Speed no longer grant extra attacks. They instead remove the -5 penalty from one extra attack per round. In return, these effects stack, so if you can get five different such effects, a 20th level Fighter can attack at full bonuses on all six attacks provided he doesn't move.
This has been pretty stream of consciousness typing, so tell me what I've missed.