Errants of Waterdeep [OOC Thread]

[moritheil]

So, the fight is 60' from where we are, right? My radius is only 30, so I can move toward them this round but I can't actually attack since I am hand to hand, correct?

If you have 30' move, you can take a Charge action to move up to 60' (twice your base move) and attack. Your AC drops by 2 for one round but you get a +2 to the attack.

So, in short, you can get a charge in and thereby attack. Note that the swordsmen haven't come up in initiative yet, so they are flat-footed (lose dex bonus to AC, if any.)

Unfortunately, Thalidyrr is the last on the initiative list for this combat, which means he (and Tasan, for what it's worth) is flat-footed against any potential attacks from the swordsmen (who come up first)--right?

Oops. You're right - I forgot to check the list before making that statement, and for some reason I thought he was next. There is some good news: Korey is in front, and is armed, so anyone who attempts to charge past him incurs an attack of opportunity (AOO). Of course, he can only take one per round, but every bit helps.

(He would need a high dex and Combat Reflexes to take more than 1 AOO in a round.)

[Birile]

Yo, the dorf took 9hp damage--I only have 9hp total!!! Who wants to be in front? LOL

On another note: I can't get Invisible Castle to load correctly on my home computer. The front screen only loads the top part of the site that shows "Invisible Castle" and the "Home" "Roll Dice" etc. options underneath--the rest of the page is blank--the ads don't even show up on the right. I'm guessing there is a flash or java issue in the way but my computer skills aren't what they were when I was in my twenties so I have no fugging clue how to fix the problem. I downloaded IE 7.0 a month ago, for what it's worth.

Anyone have any ideas on what I can do to rectify this issue?

[Ragorn]

You can actually do that without the Quick Draw feat, provided that you have a potion belt (from the FR books.)

One of many reasons the FR book is banned in my campaigns ;)

Oh yes, and a fun fact for any rules sticklers out there - if you have a lot of divine ranks, your limit on free actions per round increases dramatically. (If you're in a divine party, though, many of the game's rules and assumptions tend to break down, so it's mostly a RPing exercise anyway.)

Up to 20 free actions a round or higher, if I remember right. And deities get other neat tricks, like creating any magic or mundane item at will as a free action. I've never bothered incorporating deities into my games as standard NPCs, because the deity rules are really excessive and aren't built for any kind of rules-forward combat system.

[moritheil]

Yo, the dorf took 9hp damage--I only have 9hp total!!! Who wants to be in front? LOL

On another note: I can't get Invisible Castle to load correctly on my home computer. The front screen only loads the top part of the site that shows "Invisible Castle" and the "Home" "Roll Dice" etc. options underneath--the rest of the page is blank--the ads don't even show up on the right. I'm guessing there is a flash or java issue in the way but my computer skills aren't what they were when I was in my twenties so I have no fugging clue how to fix the problem. I downloaded IE 7.0 a month ago, for what it's worth.

Anyone have any ideas on what I can do to rectify this issue?

Yeah. I thought I would include that little detail so you guys knew what you were getting into :)

Hmm, regarding Invisible Castle, have you tried using other browsers? (Firefox, maybe?)

[Arilin Nydelahar]

So, do I still need to wait for everyone else, or can I go ahead and post what I need to post and it'll just then be put into order in a DM post?

[Arilin Nydelahar]

Ontop of that, i'm still a relative combat noob. So, I guess I just call who i plan to attack, and if I want to use anything special, such as blows, or stunning?

[Birile]

So, do I still need to wait for everyone else, or can I go ahead and post what I need to post and it'll just then be put into order in a DM post?

You could probably do that. But the problem becomes that if one of the NPCs is beatin' the livin' H out of one of your allies and you already said something like, "I'm gonna attack this other NPC over here" as your action then... your ally's screwed LOL. :lol:

Your second question's a good one--Mori, are you going to make our attack/damage rolls for us, or are we going to do that ourselves?

[Birile]

Someone wake up Mori, it's his turn.

[moritheil]

Your second question's a good one--Mori, are you going to make our attack/damage rolls for us, or are we going to do that ourselves?

I wouldn't deny you the satisfaction of rolling for yourselves. :)

[Gormal]

Walk us through the combat steps in here please. Gimme the retard breakdown (prentend I'm Ryan).

[Ragorn]

1. Everyone rolls initiative. Roll d20 and add your Dex modifier to the roll. If you have the Improved Initiative feat, add +4 to your roll. If two people have the same roll, the player with the highest Dexterity acts first. Acting first is an advantage.

2. Make a list of everyone in the combat in order of initiative. Highest rollers on top, lowballers on the bottom. The DM places the NPCs and monsters on the list in secret.

3. The player with the highest roll acts first. During your turn, you get a move-equivalent action (moving your base movement, drawing a weapon, that kind of thing) and a standard action (attacking, casting a spell, etc).

4. Once everyone has acted in order, you start at the top again.

There are two ways to change your initiative order once combat begins. They are:

- At the start of your turn, if you aren't ready to act, you can "delay" until later in the round. So if you act first, and you want to let the Cleric heal you before you charge in, you can "delay" until after the Cleric. Immediately after the Cleric acts, you may then take your full turn (move + standard). For the rest of the combat, you act after the Cleric on every round. You actually move yourself down the list when you delay.

- If you want to try something tactical, you can "ready an action." Readying an action sets up a contingency... like "If the ogre charges me, I want to attack him as soon as he gets within range." Readying an action counts as a standard action, so you can move and then ready. If the contingency doesn't happen before your next turn, nothing happens and you act normally. However, if the contingency happens before the start of your next turn, you take your readied action immediately. In this case, if the ogre really does get within range, you whack him... and then, just like with delaying, you move yourself down the initiative list, right after the ogre. You cannot change your readied action after you delcare it... so you couldn't decide to trip the ogre instead of attacking, and you couldn't attack a different target. You can, however, choose NOT to use your action even if the contingency does happen.

[Yasden]

Walk us through the combat steps in here please. Gimme the retard breakdown (prentend I'm Ryan).

Ha...says the guy who charged into combat at the front line as a priest. :P

Mori...I did indeed take my move action. I was going to try to help out Dwylt, but he might end up bleeding out before we get a chance to save him, with the way the swordsmen spread out.

[Gormal]

Take a look at the RP thread, Joe. I've got an attack of opportunity. How does rolling for damage, declaring and attack and all of that work?

[Ragorn]

If an opponent draws an attack of opportunity from you, you resolve it immediately, as soon as the opponent completes the action that draws the attack.

AOOs do not count as your normal action. They are completely free attacks. You may only take one AOO per round, unless you have the Combat Reflex feat.

Example. So, say your initiative is a 14. You move and do your thing. On initiative 9, a bugbear moves past you, drawing an attack of opportunity. You take one attack now, before the bugbear's turn is even finished.

On initiatve 5, a second bugbear moves past you. You have already taken your AOO this round, you may not take a second.

During the next round, when the DM gets to initiative 14, you act again as normal.

[Gormal]

How many dice do I roll for attack?

Touch, damage, etc?

[moritheil]

1. Roll to hit.

2. Roll damage. This is generally based on your weapon + str mod + bonuses. Bonuses include things like magical pluses and ranger favored enemy modifications.

Warhammers deal 1d8.

[Ragorn]

To attack, you roll d20. Add your Base Attack Bonus (+0 for a first level Cleric) and add your Strength modifier. That is your attack roll. A natural 20 (rolling a 20 on the die before modifiers) always hits.

If your attack roll exceeds your target's Armor Class, you hit. In that case, the die you use for damage depends on your weapon (here's the list). If you're a Dwarf, you're medium-sized, so you want the Dmg (M) column.

[Gormal]

Edited my post in the RP thread.

[Tasan]

Edited my post in the RP thread.

Why don't you edit it to show who yer actually targetting :p

Pssst... it should be the guy in front of either Khaiden or Tasan(the 2 attacking you aren't provoking an AOO... yet).

My attack has already been rolled and I'm just waiting for Goofus here to figure this out :p.

[Gormal]

Sorry, yeah I figured that I got the AOO because of the guy that went past meand headed to Tasan. So that's who I will hit.

[Birile]

Gormal, don't forget to add +1 to your attack roll and +1 to your damage roll from the Inspire Courage song :) Every extra bit counts!

[Gormal]

oooh nice! (with that crappy roll I need every little bit too).

[moritheil]

First death from definite damage overdose. Bard music is quite mighty with a predominantly melee party.

You don't need to roll anything extra to make an AOO; just roll to-hit and damage. :D

[Arilin Nydelahar]

So where am I in all this mess? Don't really see myself anywhere. Since i'm last on the list wouldn't it be prudent to move in closer and jsut ready an action as nothing much will get done by me out of reach?

[moritheil]

So where am I in all this mess? Don't really see myself anywhere. Since i'm last on the list wouldn't it be prudent to move in closer and jsut ready an action as nothing much will get done by me out of reach?

And here I was just wondering if I had missed anything. You're next to Birile. You can charge someone if you'd like.

[Arilin Nydelahar]

I'm still not overly sure about combat, so posting here before I post it on the thread.


d20 +3/Str+1/Morale

d20 +3/Str+1/Morale (1d20+3+1=17)


Damage roll:

Damage roll: (1d6+3=8)

So, with the +1Morale is that 9 then? and is that right?

[Birile]

I'm still not overly sure about combat, so posting here before I post it on the thread.


d20 +3/Str+1/Morale

d20 +3/Str+1/Morale (1d20+3+1=17)


Damage roll:

Damage roll: (1d6+3=8)

So, with the +1Morale is that 9 then? and is that right?

Yeah, I think that makes your damage roll 9--and nice roll on the to-hit!

1 down, 3 tiny baddies and 1 big baddy to go :)

[moritheil]

That looks right. Looks like another one bites the dust.

Incidentally, monks have the option of dealing nonlethal damage instead of lethal damage*, but if you want to use it, you have to specify it when you make the attack.

*Technically all people have this option, but most people would rather not take the -4 penalty. Monks can do it at no penalty.

[Birile]

Mori, do you have an updated "map" handy? If I'm correct, Tasan and Khaiden have 1 swordsman in front of them (well, two if you count the headless one), and there is a swordsman in front of Koray, Thalidyrr is to Koray's left, having smoted the swordsman that was on Koray's left.

[moritheil]

Mori, do you have an updated "map" handy? If I'm correct, Tasan and Khaiden have 1 swordsman in front of them (well, two if you count the headless one), and there is a swordsman in front of Koray, Thalidyrr is to Koray's left, having smoted the swordsman that was on Koray's left.

I'll make one very soon. :) Essentially, though, you can simply erase two swordsmen and put Thalidyrr to the left of Koray.

Incidentally, you guys have some very high-quality rolls! There is one minor nitpick about your most recent one, but firing into melee is a penalty that the DM often personally applies in practice rather than having players account for it.

Details here.

[Gormal]

Hopefully we can keep this pace up, we need to take out another couple small ones.

[Birile]

Mori, do you have an updated "map" handy? If I'm correct, Tasan and Khaiden have 1 swordsman in front of them (well, two if you count the headless one), and there is a swordsman in front of Koray, Thalidyrr is to Koray's left, having smoted the swordsman that was on Koray's left.

I'll make one very soon. :) Essentially, though, you can simply erase two swordsmen and put Thalidyrr to the left of Koray.

Incidentally, you guys have some very high-quality rolls! There is one minor nitpick about your most recent one, but firing into melee is a penalty that the DM often personally applies in practice rather than having players account for it.

Details here.

I wasn't aware of the firing into melee thing--very handy to know, seeing as how my main weapon right now is a bow!

[Arilin Nydelahar]

So question.

I'm the closest currently, since he seems slightly beefier, I thought i'd try to connect with stunning fists, so. How is that rolled? dc13 or whatever that's listed on my char sheet with it.

Do you do the hit roll, the damage, and then stunning fist, or is stunning fist the damage roll?

[moritheil]

I probably should have mentioned it earlier, but the rules are full of situational modifiers like that. It's worth mentioning that AFAIK spellcasters don't take that penalty with ray attacks from spells, and magic missile needs no to-hit roll, anyway.

Regarding special abilities: You see if you hit, then he rolls a save VS the save DC.

[Gormal]

Hopefully Dwylt heals himself soon. If we get past him I could hit him with one I suppose.

[Ragorn]

It's worth mentioning that AFAIK spellcasters don't take that penalty with ray attacks from spells, and magic missile needs no to-hit roll, anyway.

They do. Warlocks in particular are heartily encouraged to take Point Blank and Precise Shot, two feats which negate these penalties.

There are three common penalties you can take for firing your bow into combat. The first is a general -4 to hit penalty any time you're "firing into melee." This penalty applies any time your archery target threatens or is threatened by a hostile target.

The second penalty is called concealment. Concealment is when your vision of the target is obscured, but nothing is physically preventing you from shooting him. Smoke, darkness, and invisibility are all forms of concealment. If your target has partial concealment (a smoke bomb went off, but you can still kind of see through it), all of your attacks (not just ranged attacks) have a flat 20% chance to miss, regardless of your attack roll. If your target has total concealment (he's invisible, or it's pitch black), all of your attacks have a flat 50% chance to miss, and you can't hit your target at all if you don't have a way of identifying where he is (a successful Listen check, for example).

The third penalty is called cover, which is a hard barrier which obscures your target. If you kick over a table and use it for protection, you have partial cover. Cover is tricky, because creatures engaged in combat can provide cover to each other as well. Say Birile is standing at the end of a long hallway, trying to shoot a zombie. Arilin is standing between Birile and the zombie. Arilin is actually providing the zombie cover against Birile's ranged attacks, and the zombie gets a +4 bonus to AC against Birile.

Common sense: You can't shoot through total cover. "Total Cover" is when your target is completely obscured by a hard object, such as on the other side of a closed door.

Precise Shot negates the -4 penalty for firing into melee.

Improved Precise Shot negates all cover and concealment bonuses your target has against you, provided you can see him (he's not invisible or behind total cover).

[Ragorn]

Do you do the hit roll, the damage, and then stunning fist, or is stunning fist the damage roll?

You declare that you're using Stunning Fist. If you hit, your target must make a Will save or be stunned. You would roll hit and damage normally, the stun effect of your attack would just be something extra.

[moritheil]

It's worth mentioning that AFAIK spellcasters don't take that penalty with ray attacks from spells, and magic missile needs no to-hit roll, anyway.

They do. Warlocks in particular are heartily encouraged to take Point Blank and Precise Shot, two feats which negate these penalties.

Hmm, I must be thinking of 3.0 or something. You're right; that stipulation does not appear in the current SRD. I'm trying to check crystalkeep to see if maybe I got that rule from Tome and Blood (a 3ed splatbook) but the PDFs aren't loading. Thanks for correcting me. :)

Of course, magic missile still needs no roll to hit. If any of the mages are worried about low BAB, that's an option.

[Yasden]

Wasn't completely sure if my +2 Ranged bonus applied to Ranged Touch attacks on that roll. If it doesn't, then the roll is an 11.

I blew my biggest spell on the guy so everyone else could charge whitey.

[Ragorn]

Of course, magic missile still needs no roll to hit. If any of the mages are worried about low BAB, that's an option.

True, and rays are ranged touch attacks, which are significantly easier to hit (in most cases) than regular ranged attacks.

Now, in 3.0 I remember a rule that I can't find in the book lately. The way I remember it, if you were shooting a target with cover, and you missed by less than 4, you hit whatever was covering your target. Am I insane? Wasn't there a rule in 3.0 that said that you could potentially hit your own party members if you missed, "but not by much?"

[Birile]

Wasn't completely sure if my +2 Ranged bonus applied to Ranged Touch attacks on that roll. If it doesn't, then the roll is an 11.

I blew my biggest spell on the guy so everyone else could charge whitey.

Along those lines, does the +1 morale bonus from the song apply to a touch attacks (ranged/nonranged) made by casters? I know it explicitly indicates it applies to weapon damage as opposed to spell damage, but I figured I'd ask about the attack roll part of it :)

[Ragorn]

Yep, all attack rolls.

[moritheil]

Now, in 3.0 I remember a rule that I can't find in the book lately. The way I remember it, if you were shooting a target with cover, and you missed by less than 4, you hit whatever was covering your target. Am I insane? Wasn't there a rule in 3.0 that said that you could potentially hit your own party members if you missed, "but not by much?"

No, I think that rule existed in 3.0 but was omitted in 3.5 (or possibly included under Variant Rules.) Which is to say, you are not insane ;)

Anyhow, I'd like your input on this matter. I'd always considered the bardic music text indicating "weapon damage" to not include spells:

An affected ally receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 morale bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls.

However, it's true that there are numerous instances of rays counting as weapons (in that you can critical with a ray, you can take weapon focus (Ray), etc.)

Now, it is absolutely established that a ray is an "attack" so it definitely benefits from the attack bonus. I'm just curious as to how the "weapon damage" clause gets ruled.

Thoughts?

[Tasan]

After charging can I assume defensive posture and wait for an attack or some such?

[moritheil]

After charging can I assume defensive posture and wait for an attack or some such?

Well, a charge is up to a double move+attack. If you want to move 60' but not attack, you'll have to double move. Of course, there's no problem with colloquially describing rapid movement as a charge, but I just thought I'd point that out to ward off confusion.

Total defense requires a standard action, making it impossible for you to double move. Fighting defensively would require you to attack. I don't think you can assume a defensive posture after you make a double move.

If you just want to get closer, you can take a single move and defend, but you won't be all the way where Dwylt is.

[Ragorn]

Now, it is absolutely established that a ray is an "attack" so it definitely benefits from the attack bonus. I'm just curious as to how the "weapon damage" clause gets ruled.
Thoughts?

A ray is an attack. The damage dealt is not weapon damage. Therefore, rays get the +1 to hit bonus, but not the +1 damage bonus.

[Arilin Nydelahar]

So, is the white haired man to far off to actually reach and attack since i'm up next? I should still be within striking range unless he used his turn to move away?

[moritheil]

Well, any one of you can charge him since you're all within 2 moves. I'm just pointing out that the rules don't allow you to move right next to him and take full defense unless you happen to start from within 1 move of him.

[Tasan]

As I understand it, under the rules of charging, Koray is in my way so I can't actually charge the old man. He did seem to be out of line-of-sight to get to Dwylt though. So what is the actual case? Obviously I would want to charge the old man if that is possible...

Also w/ the map not having grids or whatever, it is hard to know how far 30 or 60 feet technically is...

[Gormal]

It depends which way that guy ran, we need an updated position diagram I'd think. Even if I'm in the way, it would make sense that you could charge him and take some sort of angle past me to get next to him.