Episode 59: Follow Through

This is Darth GM, sometimes called GM Phil, and welcome to the 59th episode of Fragments from the Rim.

The ability to get off multiple attacks in a round is uncommon in SAGA edition.  When the game first came out, the rules tended to favor a highly mobile character, one who moved around the battlefield and struck out one attack at a time.  It certainly did not favor a chance for someone to use the Double and Triple attack feats, or the Dual Weapon Mastery all too often.  Over the years, new options have emerged to help characters utilize these multi-attack abilities with increased frequency.  Some of them are obvious, like certain talents that allow a character to make a full-attack action as a Standard Action.  Some of them are less apparent until you really think about the ability’s application.  This is the case with the feat Follow Through. 

Follow Through can be found in the Jedi Academy Training Manual on page 23.  With this feat, if you deal enough damage to your opponent with a melee attack to reduce them to 0 hit points, you can immediately move up to your speed.  You can use this ability once per turn.  It also states that if you have the Cleave feat, you can move up to your speed before making the extra melee attack granted by the Cleave feat.

I really like this talent because it helps out the highly mobile melee fighter get around the battlefield as they dispatch their foes.  I also like this because it grants a nice benefit to an old favorite of mine, Cleave.  Cleave seemed really useful when it came out back in D&D 3rd edition, but its usefulness wanes as the characters progresses in levels.  Great for mowing down stormtroopers and battle droids, but when you’re fighting bosses the odds of you being able to drop an opponent to zero and have another opponent within range is low, especially if your GM is following “The List” as presented by GM Chris.  This allows you to drop a character to 0 and move to someone else to get in your cleave attack.

Another point is that it doesn’t require an action to take the move, it simply says “immediately”.  That means that if you’re lucky enough to be granted a bonus attack during their turn and drop the target to 0, you can move up to your speed right then and there.  It doesn’t say it avoids attacks of opportunity, though, so keep that in mind.

But how does this relate to Double Attack and Triple Attack?  While it’s not specifically spelled out, it can be judged that because it says you Immediately move after dropping a target to zero, and doesn’t spell that movement out as costing an action, that you could use this movement in the middle of a declared full attack action.  So if your first shot drops the target, take your move to another target and finish your attacks.  Is this balanced?  I feel it is, because it only works when the target is dropped to zero and the bonus movement is subject to attacks of opportunity.  Plus, this feat is not a bonus feat for any class, so it’s going to eat up one of those coveted “Character Feat” choices that come every 3rd level.

There’s no official errata that spells this out, but that’s how Follow Through works in my games.  But even without this, I still think it’s a nice feat for a melee character to take.

That’s all today, my mobile melee masters. If you have any questions, send them along to d20darth@gmail.com.  Until next time Gamer Nation, 20 side up, 1 side down. 

Originally aired on Order 66 Podcast #113 "Roger Roger Retro"