Counter Combat Style (Combat)

You can better defend yourself against enemies using a particular style of fighting.

Prerequisite: BAB +4.

Benefit: Choose a particular style of attack, such as “two-weapon fighting” or “two-handed weapon fighting.” You can better defend yourself against enemies using this style against you. Possible attack styles for this feat are natural weapons, two-weapon fighting (two weapons, each in opposite hands), one-handed weapon fighting (using a weapon one-handed, with the other hand carrying a shield or otherwise not wielding a weapon), and two-handed weapon fighting (using a weapon two-handed, whether or not it is required for the weapon).

You gain a +2 dodge bonus to Armor Class against attacks from creatures using the selected attack style. This stacks with other dodge bonuses, but not with itself.

You gain the benefits of this feat against all appropriate opponents and can use different defenses against simultaneous attackers with different styles. For example, if you have all four versions of this feat and you are attacked by four creatures, each using a different attack style, you gain the shield bonus against all four of them. Creatures using Multiweapon Fighting count as using a two-weapon fighting attack, as Multiweapon Fighting is the two-weapon fighting style for creatures with more than two weapon-using limbs. A creature using more than one attack type in a round (such as a four-armed creature using two manufactured weapons and two claw attacks) can be considered having different “sets” of attacks, and each “set” counts as the appropriate attack types.

You cannot gain the benefit of this feat when you are unable to identify the combat style of your attacker (your attacker is invisible, you are blinded, etc.), nor when you are incapable of defending yourself (if you are helpless, denied your Dexterity bonus to AC, or flat-footed).

Example: A xill normally uses two short swords and two claws, and its attacks can be classified as two “sets”: one using two-weapon fighting style, one using natural attack style. A character with either Counter Combat Style (two-weapon fighting) or Counter Combat Style (natural weapon fighting) gets the dodge bonus from this feat when fighting the xill.

You can never gain more than a +2 dodge bonus from this feat against any particular creature (so a character with both feats mentioned in the xill example would still only have a +2 dodge bonus to AC).

Note: A two-handed creature using a natural weapon in one hand and a manufactured weapon in the other counts as the two-weapon fighting style and the natural weapon style (either Counter Combat Style feat applies); it does not count as the one-handed weapon style (as that style requires the other hand to not be holding a weapon). A creature holding a weapon in one hand but not using it that round counts as not having a weapon in that hand until its next turn (therefore a character holding a sword and dagger who only attacks with the sword counts as using the one-handed fighting style until its next turn, when it has the option of using the dagger as part of its attack routine).

Unarmed strikes count as natural weapons for the purpose of this feat. A character making off-hand unarmed strikes or monk flurries also counts as using the two-weapon fighting style, as does a character attacking with a spiked shield in its off hand.

Special: You may gain this feat up to four times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new attack style.

Section 15: Copyright Notice – New Argonauts

New Argonauts. Copyright © 2004 Sean K Reynolds. All rights reserved.

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