Feats of Last Resort
You know what sucks? Being a badass fighter who is more than capable of ending fights in a single round with your awesome melee weapons, and being stuck out of the fight because you’re too slow, or monsters keep grabbing you when you charge them, or because the enemy has ranged weapons. You’re stuck doing nothing or getting eaten by a tyrannosaurus, while the archers and mages struggle to hold down the fort without you. Sure, sometimes encounters like this are necessary—they keep things lively and exciting for the group at large—but double-moving 40 feet or making the third 5-foot step on the approach to that colossal monster make for boring turns. And that’s what gets you: the boredom. You just want to be doing something, and as much fun as taking a total defense action is, I thought I would make some new feats to help avoid these problems.
Careful Study
You can take your time to search your mind for more information and facts, struggling to remember details and bits of lore about creatures.
Prerequisite: Knowledge (any) 1 rank.
Benefit: As a standard action, you may attempt to study a creature in more detail. If you do, you may immediately make a single Knowledge check to identify that target, and you gain a +2 circumstance bonus on this check. You may make this check even if you have already made a Knowledge check to identify the creature in question. If the check is successful, you learn details about the creature as normal.
Cautious Approach
You take the time to scout out the opponent’s moves and learn the best way to avoid them, allowing you to approach cautiously without risking personal injury.
Benefit: You may spend a standard action to study a foe. If you do, select one creature you can see. Until the beginning of your next turn, you do not provoke attacks of opportunity as a result of leaving a square that that creature threatens.
Lay in Wait
You like to wait for the enemy to meet you halfway, at which point you rush forward in a deadly charge.
Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +6.
Benefit: Whenever you use the total defense action, if a character moves at least 10 feet in an area that is within 30 feet of you, if you have not yet made an attack of opportunity since the end of your most recent turn, as an immediate action you may move up to twice your speed and make a single melee attack against that creature. You cannot use this ability if anything would prevent you from charging the target (such as because there are obstacles in the way, or because the terrain does not allow charging, etc.). This movement provokes attacks of opportunity as normal. This attack counts against the number of attacks of opportunity you can normally make in a round.
Sudden Sprint
You are capable of incredible bursts of speed and athleticism, allowing you to close great distances with ease.
Benefit: As long as you are not carrying more than a light load, you may sprint forward at incredible speed. This allows you to move at up to 3 times your movement speed as a standard action, regardless of the type of armor you are wearing (armor may still reduce your speed). At the end of this movement, you become fatigued until the beginning of your next turn, and cannot make attacks of opportunity during this time.