Interception!

Being that today marks the celebration of the Superb Owl, it seems appropriate that this post should touch on the mechanics of interceptions.

What are we talking about, in TNP terms, when we say "interception"?

• you must be 'open'
• as an off-turn action
• when an enemy moves

Let's decompose this further.

Open means that you do not have any enemies adjacent to you.

An off-turn action is an action that can only be done when it is not your turn; you may only do one off-turn action per (other creature's) turn, and usually there is a trigger tied to these types of actions.

Now, if an enemy is moving, they're either trying to engage one of the PCs, or move away from a PC they are engaged with; generally, moving away from a hostile creature you're adjacent to will trigger an opportunity attack, which itself is an off-turn action. So potentially, you could have an enemy move away from you and you would have the option to make an opportunity attack, or to intercept the enemy to stop them -- but not both. Of course, since you need to be 'open' to intercept an enemy, this opportunity to pick from both types of actions only presents itself when the enemy moving away from you is the only enemy you're currently adjacent to.

I can't speak from experience, but I've heard that older (pre-3.x) editions of D&D would allow characters to use their movement speed throughout the round, allowing defenders to mimic these sorts of intercept actions. In the 4e-ish paradigm of "move action" rather than "move speed" you need to have some sort of method for allowing off-turn movement, which is what this mechanic is intended to do. (4e used the mark/punishment method for tanking, but positioning was always they key to being able to dish out opportunity attacks -- this sort of movement should also help with that.)

Cunning Stunts

A related topic that I've been agonizing over, is the 'tumble' mechanic. Now, for those who remember 3.x D&D, a tumble check could be made as part of any movement which would normally provoke an opportunity attack, in order to avoid provoking such an attack.

With 4th Edition, the balance, tumble, and escape artist skills were ostensibly combined into the single 'Acrobatics' skill. I say ostensibly, because the tumble skill completely vanished. This mechanic was replaced with 'shifting' and did not require a check; in 5th Edition, the Acrobatics skill remained, but shifting disappeared (aside from the 'Disengage' action, which is considerably more limited in its application.) I've always wanted TNP to re-introduce the tumble mechanic, largely to make Acrobatics a more relevant skill in combat. So how should we go about this?

Well, we need to add some more context.

TNP uses a "disengaging" mechanic, whereby you cannot be engaged by certain enemies until the end of your next turn; this effectively comes in 2 different flavours:

1. Shift: disengage from the enemies in your current maelstrom
2. Withdraw: disengage from ALL enemies in the encounter
   

Now, the question is, how should the acrobatics/tumble skill factor into using these actions?

Should you have to declare which method you're using, and then make the check -- burning that action if the check is a failure? Or does failing the check only mean you fail to avoid opportunity attacks?

Would a successful check let you 'step down' the action type (i.e. from Standard to Move, or Move to Minor) for whichever disengaging mechanic you're using? Or should this be a benefit only bestowed by class features?

Should the action fire off regardless, with a successful check only giving you something like... a save bonus against enemies you've disengaged from?

These are all options which I'm considering, and I haven't really nailed down or settled on one particular execution.

To bring the topic full-circle, perhaps tumble checks could also be used to avoid attempts at interception(?)

The problem that these sorts of off-turn mechanics can potentially create, is the situation where you have to go around the table and make sure no one "objects" to the action you're taking, before you can continue resolving your turn; this is especially troublesome in game formats like play-by-post. The problem is that 5e (for example) throws the baby out with the bathwater, swinging the pendulum too far in the other direction. So I'm trying to strike the right balance between having enough meaningful, impactful options during play, while not compromising elegance or game flow in the process.

Anyway, hopefully today's post provided an interesting peek behind the curtain.

Check back for the next post around February 22nd.