Arelith

I'm not sure it's possible to make KD less compulsory without neutering KD.

In PnP, it's less omnipotent, largely because it works in a very different and not altogether transferable well. Without the limitations of PNP style rounds, I dunno if changing KD will help. Probably best to instead keep it as un-painful to acquire as possible.

Some aspects of the design from PnP could be put in. For example, making it so that someone resisting your KD puts you at risk of being KDd yourself. That makes it a good deal riskier to spam it.

Alternatively we could straight up prevent spamming with a CD.

Lorkas wrote:Some aspects of the design from PnP could be put in. For example, making it so that someone resisting your KD puts you at risk of being KDd yourself. That makes it a good deal riskier to spam it.

Alternatively we could straight up prevent spamming with a CD.

The former's pretty irrelevant to making, say, a wizard not absolutely need discipline every day. Nor does putting it on a cooldown help with that aspect.

Discipline is needed for:

disarm
called shot


...also.

Without it, you would kept cummulating called shots till the point you cant move/hit opponent.
Without it, you would be getting disarmed until you lost all weapons and got butchered.

Nerfing/changing KD wont save you from taking discipline.


KD balances meleers VS casters.

Making discipline for everyone, or anything of the sort, just means shifting the goal posts - it won't change anything and, everything is frankly designed around this (You'll bump the average CL up, making Bclerics nigh dispel immune - for example.).

You do nothing for people who build poorly. Which, bottom line, is what not taking discipline is.

It also won't increase variety - you might make a couple of new builds viable, but you'll make just as many comparatively bad.

(Additionally, Parry is already good, there's no need to make it a superior version of discipline)

Spamming KD isn't really a problem, it's nearly always not a very good idea to do so. (It's considerably less likely to connect through the combat round)

Edit:

I also don't think well built dex fighters have a problem with discipline (Iron horn is a much bigger problem!).

You effectively receive +5 to discipline, if you're 1 on 1, by virtue of epic dodge.
Add that to an average starting strength (Say, 14) and a potion, (+4 STR score) they're only then 5 points behind.

Add on a lucky artefact, or factor in some nice parrying and you're just as difficult to KD.