Combat Rules

Online 3D Combat Rules

01/16/01

The following rules and guidelines are in force to allow enjoyable player and DM interactions in the limited environment of the online message board game. Suggestions are always appreciated, but should not be made within the game boards. All suggestions for improvements, refinements, and other non-character subjects should be addressed to Jerry at gericko@gmail.com. Your suggestions and comments are always appreciated.

Thanks,

Jerry

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Importance of Posting During Combat

In combat, it is extremely important to post every day. The mage who doesn't answer with the fireball at the proper time or the fighter who doesn't protect the cleric who has fallen can cause the death of a fellow adventurer or even of the whole group. If you know something is going to prevent your posting even for a single day during combat, make arrangements with your DM.

Initiative:

We use alternating group initiative.

There are two scenarios for initiative. The most common one is when one group attacks another. In this case the ones initiating the combat goes first. From this point on, initiative alternates back and forth until combat is over.

The second scenario for initiative is when both groups close and join combat at the same time. In this case, the DM will roll for initiative and announce whether the party or the opponents have won. From this point on initiative alternates back and forth until combat is over.

The DM will note the number of the round as it progresses for purposes of counting the duration of spells, etc. Usually, the DM will post the results of the parties actions and then, with a separate post, proceed with the opponent's initiative. After that, the DM will announce that the party has initiative once again as he concludes his posting.

Note that if the DM ends his post with 3 dots (. . .) it means that he's not done yet and that there will be another DM post entry shortly. You should wait to post until the DM makes that additional post and it ends with a single period.

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Note on AC

The DM will either announce the AC of the monster(s) or, to heighten the mystery and suspense of the encounter, attempt to keep it a mystery for a short time, say until the monster is hit for the first time. If he does the latter, simply state what AC you hit with each attack so the DM can easily determine whether you hit or not without having to look up each player's To hit bonuses on your character sheet.

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Role-playing During Combat

When you write your turn, COMPLETELY cover your actions. State in your post what AC you hit and the number you rolled. Then state how much damage you did. If it is a spell, list the damage from the spell, and list the DC that any victim must save against and the type of saving throw needed. List all the facts needed to resolve the action so that the DM doesn't have to pull out his PHB and character sheets 8 times a round to resolve each player's actions.

Once that is accomplished, get creative with your post. Even though it is combat and that requires that you post the numbers, continue to role-play adding details, descriptions and feelings. Go ahead and say "the man-bear hit with his claw rolling an 18 and hitting AC23 slashing the hairy Orc (#5) across his chest for 5 points of damage. Blood spurts from the wound matting in the man-bear's hide."

But remember, descriptive doesn't mean getting carried away. You are restricted by the rules as to what you can accomplish in one 6 second round.

It is beyond the acceptable realm of creativity to say "Geof flips over the orc, landing on the halfling's table. He then hurls his dagger over his shoulder at the orc. At first it looks as if he hopelessly missed, but then the dagger bounces off the floor (rolled a 18) and flies straight back and sticks right in the orcs chest doing 4 pts of dmg."...

You get the idea. If you stretch your "story" too far, or try to accomplish too much in one round, the DM will likely negate your actions. The one exception to this is in a bar fight or similar occasion when the DM's loosen up. At those times, its much more fun to swing by a chandelier, do a double flip, or walk on the top of a few orc heads than it is to duke it out toe to toe. Your DM will tell you when the combat is a "free for all" encounter.

You are always free to be creative. If something you are doing in your opinion requires an ability check, say at a penalty, apply it to yourself out of honor and try the maneuver.

Remember, it is ALWAYS the DMs right to come back later and apply different penalties and change the difficulty. Consider the following problem:

Gareth calls a shot to the dragons eye and applies a -4 penalty to himself. He rolls a 19 and thinks that he succeeds.

Then Onrad's following post gives himself a +4 to hit the dragon because it is blinded. Now the DM has to come back and explain that the eyes of the Dragon have a specialized type of Stoneskin spell applied to them and that neither Gareth's called shot nor Onrad's stroke did any damage.

These awkward circumstances can and do occasionally occur. Go for what you want to do and the DM will deal with things as he decides best.

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Hitting Your Opponent

If you hit the opponents, you may describe how the hit looks. You can decide where the hit is, knowing that it doesn't matter, only hit points do. You do not have the right to make your opponent shiver with fear or look with scared "eyes" at you. Only the DM can do that. Make sure that you do not assign an emotion or a role-playing response from an opponent in combat. The DM will do this.

For example, you may say:

Onrad:

Onrad strikes out twice with his sword at the nasty goblin hitting once rolling a 15 and a 12. There is the sound of metal upon bone as the sword stabs him in the shoulder and pulls out again doing 7 points of damage.

You may not say:

Onrad:

The goblin falls to his knees in fear and respect before the almighty Onrad as the mighty warrior swings his sword toward him. The goblin shakes knowing death is near as he is hit (Onrad rolls a 15 and a 12 hitting once) in the shoulder for 7 points of damage just missing the goblin's dear old heart that is about to burst from all this activity."

Do not assume that just because your dice rolls appear in the dice field of the posting page that everyone will understand what the roll is for. Go ahead and INCLUDE the roll with the above information in your post to be as clear as possible. Then add the descriptive elements to your post.

One example of a properly written combat action is as follows:

Jus:

"Ouch!" Jus winces seeing the Fireball go off. He shudders for a moment realizing what probably would have happened to him. Jus then quickly pulls out his bow and takes aim across the stream at Orc #2, being extra careful not to hit Tiburon who is closed with him. He rolls an 18 (hitting AC of 20) (-5 to avoid hitting Tiburon) and buries the arrow in the Orc's thigh (3dmg)!

The next pair of examples shows the difference between just listing the information and focusing more on the "story" aspects of the attack:

Bear:

The bear hit Orc #5 with a 16 hitting AC18 for 6 points of damage, missed with his second claw attack (rolled a 3) and hit with his bite (rolled a 19, which hits an AC 19) for 8 points of damage.

Bear:

The bear lets out a roar of frustration and attacks Orc #5 again, tearing the flesh off of the Orc's back (h16/ac18/d6). He swings his other claw at the Orc's face, but can't connect (h3). Determined not to let this meal get away, the bear sinks his teeth into the orcs neck causing the blood to flow (h19/ac19/d8). The bear roars in triumph spinning in the sacred war dance of his ancestors.

If you use abbreviations in your turn (like h for to-hit roll, ac for armor class hit, and d for damage roll in the second example above), make sure your DM understands the terms you are using.

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Other Die Rolls

Roll all spell effects, like points healed from Cure Light Wounds, and damage from your spells just like a fighter does. If you need to know the damage or effects from an item, email the DM.

If you cast a spell, use an item, etc. you must note in your post if the spell requires a save for the opponent. If it includes damage, that must be posted.

Example of a spell with a save and damage:

Jus realizes that his friend Onrad is about to be beset by 4 huge two-headed trolls. He quickly casts Fireball centering it on the centerpoint between the 4 trolls. (Save for half damage) Each one takes 29/15 points of damage! Jus shakes his fist at the crispy trolls and prepares for the next one to close on him by drawing his sword.

Again in all turns be sure to list:

a) the number you rolled,

b) any "unusual" adjustments to that attack roll,

c) the AC hit with the modified roll,

d) your damage if any, and

e) any "unusual" adjustments to your damage roll.

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Unconsciousness and Death

Remember that binding someone's wounds requires a Healing Check with a DC of 15. This skill is an "untrained" one, meaning that you don't have to have ranks in the skill to use it. You should have a Healer's Kit in your equipment to do this.

A PC will survive an extra segment for each hero point that he has.

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Critical Hits and Fumbles

We will use the Pathfinder standard rules for critical hits and fumbles. For attacks and saves, a 1 always misses or fails, and a natural 20 always hits/succeeds, and may crit.

Attacks of Opportunity

This rule can be confusing. I "quote" below from Chris Lindsey, one of our players who was a playtester for 3D. His explanation of this rule is very clear.

"Ah yes... attacks of opportunity, the main thing to remember about attacks of opportunity is they occur under a specified set of circumstances. When we first starting play-testing, we took this rule, and broke it down into its component parts, listing out each plausible circumstance... here you go... "For melee combat, you provoke an attack of opportunity when you move into the threatened area of an opponent, and they are not in your threatened area... this is long hand for saying that their weapon can get to you, while yours cannot get to them. This most frequently occurs when dealing with weapons and monsters who have a reach greater than 5 feet.

"If you take a move, full or otherwise in a round, and you move from a threatened area to a threatened area, you do provoke an attack of opportunity from those who previously threatened you. The assumption being that as you move into a new threatened area, your attention shifts from the previous threat to the new one. ( If a player decides to be tricky and say that they are focusing on the old threat rather than the new... then the new threat gets the attack of opportunity... they may not deal with both at the same time)

"This is why when two creatures are attacking the same PC, one of them gains the flanking bonus... because a PC, and most monsters, can only deal with one threat fully at a time.(But that is neither here nor there)

"If you take a full move in a round (nothing but moving) and you move from a threatened area to a non-threatened area, you do not provoke an attack of opportunity from those who previously threatened you. Your attention can remain focused on those who were previously attacking you, and therefore, you are still defending yourself from those attacks.

"This is the most difficult part of the rule... the other circumstances are pretty cut and dry... They are described on Table 8-1 on page 122 of the PHB... The one thing to keep in mind regarding this table is that it is dealing with two different circumstances at the same time. One is whether or not you can move and perform a specified action, and the other is whether or not a specified action provokes an attack of opportunity.

"I hope that this helps... if not please fire your questions my way, and I'll try and help as best as I can... I usually use a combat map and miniatures when I describe this rule to someone... its not as easy to do that over email.... : )

Chris Lindsay"

Surprise

A term, which has a completely new meaning, is the term "surprise." I quote once again from Chris, who writes these helpful words:

"The other iffy part for me is the surprise round. We keep coming into circumstances where the rules don't seem to apply. Who knows about the other? Who gets those initial attacks before Round 1? That sort of stuff.

Surprise is all a matter of awareness.. when I do surprise... I determine at what point the PCs/NPCs have an opportunity to become aware of one other... whether one or the other are making sounds or marching into view(obstructed or otherwise). If both groups are just tramping along blissfully unaware of each other, then both of them roll a Perception check... whoever makes the check is not surprised... those who fail are... I use the following DCs based on the size of the creatures/PCs involved: (And I usually make these checks on my own behind the screen so as not to alert the players)

DC 20 for Tiny

DC 15 for Small (Halfling and Gnomes)

DC 10 for Medium (Human, Elves, Dwarves, Half Elves, and Half orcs)

DC 5 for Large...

Any bigger, and the PCs are either blind or deaf... : )

If someone is actively attempting to not be heard or seen then it is an opposed roll Perception vs. Stealth... Whoever wins the roll determines the outcome... of who is and who isn't surprised.

Chris Lindsay"

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Quick, Free, Move, Standard, and Full-Round Actions

Become very familiar with these terms. If you're not sure about whether an action is allowed or not, go for it. Your DM can decide during his post as to whether your action(s) succeed.

Hero Points

When a PC performs an action that is heroic according to his class, i.e. something that truly benefits the party, puts herself at risk for them, and is successful; the DM will award a hero point when experience is given out.

A hero point must be used at the character's first opportunity or the situation has passed him/her by.

For more on Hero Points, please refer to Hero Points

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Collecting Missiles after Combat

Arrows, bolts, and bullets, including magical ones, that hit their target are destroyed. Those that miss have a 50% chance to be destroyed or lost. Other thrown weapons such as daggers, nets, clubs, etc. are not destroyed when used in combat.

Poison

The use of poison in itself is not an evil act. It may still be considered dishonourable in some circles (such as paladins) but it can be used by good characters.

Poison can only be obtained in-game or crafted by characters. Poison cannot be bought or sold in the Catacombs.

The Standard Pathfinder rules apply for poison use.

Underwater

Link to standard rules related to underwater combat.