Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

Ahoy!

As usual, my love for trivialities and minor details far esceeds the practicality of matters in NWN2, and as I slowly approach my first taste of the infamous Feat known as Expose Weakness, I begin to wonder:

How does the AC reduction work ICly? I can understand the Bleed Damage, even if using fists, but the AC?

Is it through damaging enemy armour?

Is it by "painting" weakspots on enemy armour so you can strike them easier later in the fight? [By making the opponent bleed from here in a specific manner or by scratching the armour, I dunno]

Is it by inflicting pain upon the enemy, lowering their defences through making them unable to properly defend themselves?

Is it by exhausting the enemy temporarily, lowering their defences through making them unable to properly defend themselves?

Or is it all of the above, each applied to the scene that fits? Or is it something completely different?

I want to hear your thoughts.

In short, How does Expose Weakness work In-Character?

How much does the type of weapon affect the application? [Fists, Light, Medium, Large, Slashing/Piercing/Blunt]

How much does the type of wielding affect the application ? [Fists, one handed, two handed, dual-wielding, shield]

What about position of attacker?[Sneak attack position, flanking position, duelling position]

How about character sizes? [Medium character attacking large, attacking small, small attacking medium, attacking large, medium attacking medium, small attacking small and etc.]

And what about character stats [For example, buffed stats of 20 Strength/18 Dex/14 Constitution/16 Intelligence/13 wisdom[10 base!]/20 Charisma, how would such a spread affect the application of EW compared to a dex build or a strength build? Or one with no wisdom? Or one with higher wisdom? Or one with lower intelligence? Etc.]

Hoihe, if i came at you with dagger in hand and managed to thrust that cold steel into your Achilles' heel, that'd be "expose weakness."

This is just my opinion on the matter, seeing as it's not a standard DnD/Forgotten Realms ability, but a homebrew from Obsidian/NWN2 it's difficult to provide any source material to back up my claims..

Hoihe wrote: How does the AC reduction work ICly? I can understand the Bleed Damage, even if using fists, but the AC?

When you Expose someone's Weakness, you deal a blow that temporarily reduces their effectiveness in battle. For instance, if you smack someone upside the head/temple with the flat of your blade, you'll disorientate them for a while and they won't be as effective in defending themselves.

Hoihe wrote:Ahoy!Is it through damaging enemy armour?

I'd say no, in that case it wouldn't be a temporary reduction of AC, but a permanent one. That's what Sunder does.

Hoihe wrote:Ahoy!Is it by "painting" weakspots on enemy armour so you can strike them easier later in the fight? [By making the opponent bleed from here in a specific manner or by scratching the armour, I dunno]

Again, that would be a permanent solution, not a temporary one, in my opinion. But it could work I guess.

Hoihe wrote:Ahoy!Is it by inflicting pain upon the enemy, lowering their defences through making them unable to properly defend themselves?

It could definitely be, yes.

Hoihe wrote:Ahoy!Is it by exhausting the enemy temporarily, lowering their defences through making them unable to properly defend themselves?

I wouldn't say exhausting them. Exhausting them would mean it's their constitution modifier against yours. Who last the longest?

Hoihe wrote:Ahoy!Or is it all of the above, each applied to the scene that fits? Or is it something completely different?

It definetely depends on the type of enemy you fight. If it's a living being, it could be simply hammering them hard across the knee and thus making them unable to effectively defend themselves.

But what about elementals, undead, etc? I guess you'll have to be creative, with the Undead you could emote managing to tangle them in their own cloak, or slamming hard enough on a joint of their armour to make it lock temporarily.

Hoihe wrote:In short, How does Expose Weakness work In-Character?

Hoihe, there's nothing short about all the questions you've just asked!

Hoihe wrote:Ahoy!How much does the type of weapon affect the application? [Fists, Light, Medium, Large, Slashing/Piercing/Blunt]

It doesn't, but it change the emotes you want to write. Even if you're using a sword, you could RP making an elaborate feint, and then pommeling the enemy with the hilt of your blade, to temporarily daze/decrease their defenseive abilities.

Hoihe wrote:Ahoy!How much does the type of wielding affect the application ? [Fists, one handed, two handed, dual-wielding, shield]

See above

Hoihe wrote:Ahoy!What about position of attacker?[Sneak attack position, flanking position, duelling position]

It doesn't matter for the use of the ability, but again, it's pertinent to the emote.

Hoihe wrote:Ahoy!How about character sizes? [Medium character attacking large, attacking small, small attacking medium, attacking large, medium attacking medium, small attacking small and etc.]

It only matters for the emote of what part of your enemy you're going to hit. If you're medium sized and fight a small sized, it's easier to try and hit the head to give them a jarring blow.

If you're fighting a giant, going for the knee (or hamstringing them if you're flanking) would be the better emote.

Hoihe wrote:Ahoy!And what about character stats [For example, buffed stats of 20 Strength/18 Dex/14 Constitution/16 Intelligence/13 wisdom[10 base!]/20 Charisma, how would such a spread affect the application of EW compared to a dex build or a strength build? Or one with no wisdom? Or one with higher wisdom? Or one with lower intelligence? Etc.]

Dex makes Expose Weakness more effective, more bleeding damage, so I think it's safe to rely mainly on that ability for describing how effective you are with Expose Weakness

Thanks for the description. I'll use it unless there's any other take?

I'd say EW's AC decrease effect can assume many different forms. A Thug would stab someone's knee, causing the bleeding and the reduced mobility that could translate into a decreased AC. A Duelist would probably make many small cuts on the enemy, causing the bleeding, while taunting him with witty remarks of how awesome his enemie's mother is in the sack, causing the decreased AC effect by making his opponent lose his cool and become reckless.

i'm pretty sure you can come up with something clever and fitting for you character. it can be anything really. A deep cut on the forehead causes bleeding, the blood flows down into his eyes, obscuring vision... I would even say an arrow to the knee, but unfortunatly EW doesn't work on ranged attacks

Cheers.

I think the 'main' problem is, that Expose Weakness AC reduction works against monsters such as undead and elementals, who doesn't bleed or get hindered by pain.

It alsó works against creatures the character has never seen before or have an obscure anatomy like aberrations. The other issue is that anyone can benefit from it, not just the user(not that it's a problem, just makes it harder to explain.) I suppose that the best approach is indeed through case-by-case basis. I'll figure something out for the elven longsword and occasional offhand dagger/short sword style Hoihe uses. Maybe some play on the SA quality of said dagger or the stealth bonus with short sword. As for two-handing, maybe some mix of tumble perform evasion hide and power-attack.

Considering that it can be used with all kind of weapons, or none at all, you could make emotes along lines that indicated he wasn't using his weapon at all, to inflict the AC decrease?

Against a living creature with legs:
*Hoihe lunges forward with a vicious kick to the knee, trying to unsteady his opponent and leave it temporarily vulnerable to subsequent attacks*

Against a creature without legs:
*Hoihe aims a kick for the centre mass of the creature, trying to knock the wind out of it and leave it temporarily vulnerable to subsequent attacks*

Against an undead foe:
*Hoihe tries to tangle his foe in the tattered garments, to leave it temporarily vulnerable to subsequent attacks*

Against a fire elemental:
*Hoihe uses a fireextinguisher to leave it temporarily vulnerable to subsequent attacks*



And etc. etc. etc.

We might or might not be missing an important aspect: the requirements.

Aka evasion and epic prowess. Evasion would hint at something quick or nimble

seeing as you're keen on your elven blade, I've taken the liberty of re-writing all but the last suggestion for an emote.

Considerate_ wrote: Against a living creature with legs:
*Hoihe lunges forward and tries to strike with the flat of the blade to the knee, trying to unsteady his opponent and leave it temporarily vulnerable to subsequent attacks*

Against a creature without legs:
*Hoihe aims a graceful plunge with the elven blade for the centre mass of the creature, trying to knock the wind out of it and leave it temporarily vulnerable to subsequent attacks if not kill it altogether*

Against an undead foe:
*Hoihe tries to tangle his foe in the tattered garments by using the point of the blade to snag onto loose clothing, to leave it temporarily vulnerable to subsequent attacks*

Against a fire elemental:
*Hoihe uses a fireextinguisher to leave it temporarily vulnerable to subsequent attacks*



And etc. etc. etc.