Feint allows you to “fake” a melee attack normally done with DX or a combat skill or weapon skill. It can be bought up as a technique[1][2]
- Default: Prerequisite skill
- Prerequisite: Any unarmed or melee weapon skill*
- Maximum: Cannot exceed prerequisite skill+4
* Some Style Perks allow one to use a non-combat skill, such as Acrobatics or Dancing.
Like most techniques, Technique Mastery perk would allow an even higher maximum! In this case, Prerequisite Skill+6.
Detection[]
Kromm wrote in May 2007 about Feint being the ONLY maneuver which is not obvious http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?p=403798#post403798
- The only maneuver that shouldn't be obvious is Feint. Everything else is meant to be stated openly. All-Out Attack would be zero-risk if it weren't obvious, and Concentrate over multiple seconds wouldn't be the drawback that the rules for spells and powers assume it is if enemies weren't aware of it. Another way to put it is as follows: The rules assume that everybody on the battlefield knows everybody else's maneuver, save Feint. If you don't play it that way, certain things become unbalanced.
This contradicts the policy on Concentrate in 3e's compendium 2 (page 85) which wrote:
- If one combatant is taking the Concentrate maneuver, his opponent must win a Quick Contest of IQ in order to perceive that his foe is concentrating.
Quick Reference[]
- Movement: Step.
- Active Defense: Any. However, if you Feint and then parry with an unbalanced weapon, you cannot attack on your next turn, making your Feint pointless.
- Roll your Feint (or your weapon skill, which Feint defaults to) to feint.
- If attacking unarmed, you may use an unarmed combat skill, such as Brawling
- Opponent may resist the Feint with their best combat skill[3], including defensive tools like shields and cloaks
- The resister may also use Evaluate to resist a feint!
Roll a Quick Contest of skill. A failure results in the Feint failing. Success means the margin of success subtracts from the defender's next active defense against the attacker.
Readying[]
Note that a regular Feint doesn't count as an attack for the purposes of Readying--that is to say, you may Feint with a mace (or even a maul!) and still have the weapon readied![4] If you're feeling fancy, see A Matter of Inches below!
Weird Situations[]
- You're A Little Far To Be Feinting: You cannot Feint someone unless you could have hit them with a melee attack – that is, your weapon is ready and your foe is within reach.[5]
- I Smelt Something Feint: You also cannot feint against an opponent who cannot observe you--of course, if they can't see you coming, they can't defend anyway![6]
- Lost My Lock-On: If you lose track of a foe (for instance, they become invisible, teleport away, phase through the floor), your foe's defense penalty vanishes
- For A Limited Time Only: A feint is good for one second, and (unless it's a Beat), only applies to your next attack. Of course, if you have lots of attacks ready, you can make them count.
Shield Feint[]
This is a special situation because it requires attacking with it (a Shield Bash or Shield Rush) before being able to feint. Feinting with other weapons does not require this first. This may be due to shields not being perceived as obvious threats.
Acrobatic Feints[]
Some hyper-mobile martial arts styles allow one to improve their feints with feats of agility. Highly acrobatic street-fighters like Sora are likely to use this to their advantage. Although this technique is known in the style of force-swordsmanship, not every swordsman can pull it off.
Beats and Ruses[]
- ST-based feints are Beats, IQ-based feints are Ruses.
- All 3 can be done as a Defensive Feint
- Acrobatic Guard (from Dungeon Fantasy 2) may be an example of a DX-based Defensive Feint, though it fails to specify costing an attack to activate and might be interpreted as a free benefit.
Variant Rule: A Matter of Inches[]
Having a (relatively) light weapon allows faster, more effective feints!
| Variable | Modifier | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Less than required Strength | -1/point | A thin peasant (ST 10) wielding a greatsword (ST 12) |
| Bare Hands | +2 | -- |
| ST 1.5x required | +1 | A ST 20 oni using a tetsubo/maul |
| ST 2x required | +2 | A ST 20 oni using late katanas/broadswords |
| ST 3x required | +3 | A ST 20 oni using juttes/batons |
| Unbalanced "U" weapon | -1 | -- |
If you're trying to bash an enemy's defense with a heavy weapon, use a beat instead!
Meta Notes for GMs[]
From Martial Arts, page 101:
- GM shouldn’t tell the players when an NPC makes a successful feint or Ruse against a PC
- the GM shouldn’t abuse his omniscience and have NPCs flee from successful feints by PCs
- the subject of a feint doesn’t know he’s been had!
This is different from knowing a feint has been ATTEMPTED though.
It's also not clear if it also applies to Beats since they aren't specified.
FAQ[]
http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/faq/FAQ4-3.html#SS3.4.2.9 clarifies you can take bonuses to feint skill from Evaluate or Determined Attack
Maneuvers[]
MA97 similarly mentioned AOA (Detemrined) can give a +4 and also that AOAL can be used to "feint a distant foe"
Quotes from Developers[]
Kromm posts[]
in 2006 re combination with Deceptive Attack at http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?p=302278#post302278
- They do "stack." If you use a sword fake to draw someone's guard and then kick so fast (speed is a valid Deceptive Attack!) that even if his guard were in place, he couldn't easily respond
in 2007 http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.php?p=459134&postcount=8
- the feint rolls against combat skill at no modifiers except those that modify DX or weapon skill in general, such as shock, bad footing, posture, or a crappy weapon
in 2008: http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=36363
- they apply to every attack that foe tries against you next turn.
- The rules use the term "attack roll," singular, simply because the combat system doesn't assume multiple attacks in general.
in 2012 [http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.php?p=1422838&postcount=3 also pertaining to Deceptive Attack
- Deceptive Attack and Feint are always vs. a single target only. They are set up in a way that – based on observing one foe and how he reacts, holds his weapon, stands, moves, and so on – they come in too fast, at too weird an angle, with too unusual a timing, etc. for him to defend properly. Shield-Wall Training doesn't change anything in that regard. And note that covering an ally who has left himself open is one of the benefits of a shield wall . . . tricky fighting is a lot less effective against a row of guys with interlocked shields.
in 2013 http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.php?p=1951942&postcount=11 (per TK posting this was a reply to Luis Colin)
- Multiple feints never stack.
- Only the *most recent* (not *best,* but *most recent* . . . you can screw up a good feint with a bad one) feint counts.
in 2015 http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.php?p=1961337&postcount=8
- Feints are also special and unusual because you must succeed to win and margin of victory is worked out according to rules that don't add your foe's margin of failure to your margin of victory. See p. B365.
in 2018 [http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.php?p=2173994&postcount=3
- Feints affect the person rolling the defense, not the person being defended. Feinting Squishus the Sorcerer won't make it any harder for Sir François de Fender to leap in front of him.
- If you feint Sir François, though, and then go after Squishus, the good knight won't be as able to defend his little spellcasting buddy.
PK posts[]
- can be done during a Dual Weapon Attack, per PK in 2010 http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=68694 with 2 options "Feint as part of your DWA offers you the chance to trade a small defense penalty for a larger one, no change, or no penalty at all, depending on your relative skill and luck."
- the 2nd half of the DWA benefits from the feint (sequenced) INSTEAD of the -1 to defend against DWAs, since it is no longer technically a DWA
- the 2nd half only benefits from the guaranteed -1 (simultaneity) and not from the feint, which only applies to the next maneuver
Others[]
kflux in 2016 at http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.php?p=2054177&postcount=5 suggested appending "Note that this applies to feints as well as attacks." to http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/faq/FAQ4-3.html#SS3.4.2.17 which describes how Trained By A Master stacks with Flurry of Blows. Though vicky_molokh wrote "I'll tell the webmaster", it remained unchanged more than 4 years later. Although evileeyore answered "yes to both questions" about these affecting feints, he's banned.
Private messages[]
http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.php?p=1861720&postcount=12 vicky_molokh says Kromm said:
- On feints and what resists them, it's pretty simple: if the feint is based on a DX-based skill, mostly meaning combat skills, the resistance to that feint must allow a DX-based option, even if the feint moves the initial roll to a different attribute. So feints with things like Acrobatics, Dancing, and Karate can always be resisted by DX-based combat skill, even if the specific feint is, say, an IQ-based Acrobatics or Dancing roll to distract, or a ST-based Karate roll to beat.
- If, however, the feint is based on a non-DX-based skill that normally doesn't run up against the enemy's DX, it's fine to use the attribute that normally resists that skill as the basis for the resistance roll against the feint. So feints with Intimidation and Sex Appeal, since they're usually resisted by Will and not DX to begin with, might well be resisted by a Will-based skill roll.
- You can resist feints using your best Feint level, as always. However, you're limited to using the attribute base that that sort of feint normally allows to resist: DX for standard feints, DX or ST for beats, etc. So in your example, you'd start with Feint-18, but make a DX-based roll: 16 instead of 18.
See also[]
- http://pseudoboo.blogspot.ca/2016/04/combat-maneuver-feint.html
- http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=157684 raises a good question about range and weapon hex occupation
- Stacked Feint