Combat Advantage: An Opportunistic Approach to Battlecraft

In which Dyo, channeling alternative experiences as a rogue and barbarian, urges you to mark carefully the ways in which to gain advantage--and to deny it to your enemies.

When you are about to go into a situation where blood will surely be shed, do you like to take cover and fire from a safe place? Are you prone to go in, knives out, counting on the element of surprise? However you attack, surely you know that a little strategy can go a long way.

One such little strategy is maneuvering yourself into situations where you can claim Combat Advantage. RISE defines combat advantage as

A situation in which a creature offers an advantage to its enemies, such as when Distracted, Surrounded, or Prone. When a creature grants Combat Advantage, those who attack it gain a benefit.

Johann Heinrich Schoenfield, The Rape of the Sabine Women (circa 1640)

Combat advantage is a condition, or a circumstance that affects a creature during battle. Combat advantage is a shifting proposition, as you may enjoy combat advantage for one round and see your opponent gain it the next round. Not infrequently, neither party has Combat Advantage. But when you do, it’s wise to make use of it! This means that, if you believe you are entitled to it on any given turn, you should alert the GM that you have Combat Advantage (and cite why, if necessary), and claim your benefits accordingly.

Combat Advantage is either granted by a vulnerable creature or gained by a resourceful one. So, you can be granting Combat Advantage, or you can take it. When I am a bard, I typically stumble into it somewhat blindly (I’m somewhat hindered keeping track of my lute). When I am a barbarian, I aggressively pursue combat advantage. When I am a rogue, I have built certain elements of my character so that combat advantage gives rise to a stream of additional advantages. This is the “lend a rogue a shiny penny and he’ll steal all your shiny pennies” approach to character building. More on that later.

All good and well, you say, I’d like to pursue combat advantageously, but how will I know when I have combat advantage? It’s unlikely that the necromancer will prove to be a gentleman and say, “After you, my good sir,” and defer his sinister ministrations! Of course, you’re right. There is one state, and there are several conditions, and a handful of circumstances, that automatically entitle you to combat advantage. If the target creature is Prone (laying down, unable to get up), Dazed, Stunned, Helpless, Surrounded by two or more enemies (i.e. flanked by people in your party), Distracted, Encumbered, or otherwise placed in a situation which might reasonably hamper that creature’s awareness, judgment, balance, or position, you can declare combat advantage. That last part is open to interpretation on purpose: Your GM might fight you, but it’s worth a shot if you think you can make your case. It doesn’t hurt to keep a close eye on the specific state of your enemy to see if you can catch him, her, or it off guard!

You have shouted "I have Combat Advantage!" with such ferocity that your tablemates have paused their own plotting and pizza-eating to stare at you in bewilderment. Huzzah! The GM approves! The situation was straightforward (i.e. the enemy is suffering from the Dazed condition) or you argued your way into a plausible advantage, so now you have Combat Advantage for this round! Now what? Do I just immediately attack? Not before declaring your benefit, a symbolic brass ring rewarding your opportunism.

When you gain combat advantage, you can choose from one of seven benefits:

1. Gain a +2 bonus to all attack rolls against the creature granting combat advantage.

2. Gain a +2 bonus to all defenses against the creature granting combat advantage.

3. Gain a +2 bonus to Hit and Effect damage against the creature granting combat advantage.

4. Gain a +1 bonus to Damage Reduction: All against damage from the creature granting combat advantage.

5. The creature granting combat advantage cannot target you with immediate action powers.

6. You may shift 1 as a free action once while this instance of combat advantage affects the creature.

7. Gain a +2 to Dependable for acumen and competency checks when those checks apply to the creature granting combat advantage.

The selected benefit, and indeed the condition of Combat Advantage, only lasts until the beginning of your next turn unless your character has some extenuating power or ability.

Combat advantage is not stackable, except in select cases. For example, your character who possesses the competency Alertness may choose to invest a point in a Talent called Aggressive Advantage:

This talent allows the character to claim combat advantage at the start of each encounter. And, as you level up (invest points into) Aggressive Advantage, Combat Advantage is paired with additional benefits, helping you get the upper hand swiftly and effectively. (Note that, should your character hit an enemy while operating under Combat Advantage, that enemy will be more vulnerable, with a +1 penalty to Vulnerability: All for the rest of the encounter, effectively granting you and your party an ongoing advantage (little “a”) until the enemy or your entire party is dead. Or until one party runs away. (But in my experience, this doesn't happen, not when you're a battle-hungry dwarf rogue with a crossbow and a horde of undead have come between you and a dragon's treasure!)

Maybe your enemy is experienced enough (or lucky enough) not to grant combat advantage. How can you take it? Short of knocking him Prone or Stunning him, you can avail yourself of the Basic General Utility (that means “open to everyone, free gift with purchase/creation of a character) Power: Opening.

Essentially, Opening allows you to “cut in” and seize Combat Advantage. Opening is an immediate reaction, which means that you don’t need to wait until your turn (because, as every schoolchild knows, battles are conducted based on Initiative order— which means, actually, that to a certain extent both man and monster are behaving gentlemanly enough), but can interrupt action in order to thrust your way into a more advantageous position. This can be especially useful if you have given your character features or talents that are triggered or activated when you possess Combat Advantage. Such features and talents add special or additional effects to existing attacks or powers, allowing you to leverage combat advantage into success of greater magnitude or duration. There is even a theme bonus to Rogue that allows you to claim a number of combat advantage benefits equal to +1 plus your Rogue status. (I’m not paid to pitch the Rogue theme, but if you’re inclined in that direction, consider gaining the Rogue Feature: Opportune Advantage,

in which, having gained Combat Advantage three times (each with separate enemies) in one encounter, you may now use Opening as a free action once per round… and the benefits increase as you invest more points in that Feature.

If you are playing a strategic or impetuous character, Combat Advantage can be —wait for it— a game-changer. For any character, even if you only stumble upon it accidentally, as in the case of an enemy heedlessly stepping into a square between you and your ally, combat advantage can be an encounter-changer.

Have some ideas about features or talents that should be triggered by Combat Advantage? Are you wishing that we would create a non-combat encounter version of Combat Advantage, like Conversational Advantage? (Because we have that, in several flavors: Diplomacy, Etiquette, Integrate, Deception, Intimidation, maybe even Thievery for distraction purposes...). Either way, if you're plotting the upper hand in an encounter, tell me your secrets and if they're good enough, I'll shamelessly poach them for the blog.

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