Hot answers tagged combat
56
I'll deal with your first example first: standing on a table in that situation is not particularly an advantage. It's also, therefore, very unlikely behaviour for a martial artist. (Not counting Feng Shui players). Standing slightly up from your opponent, on the other hand, is an advantage for many of the reasons below. It brings your kicks to better ...
26
According to The ever useful d20PFSRD:
In a round of combat, you can do either :
1 Full-round action OR
1 Standard action plus 1 Move action (in any order) OR
2 Move actions (effectively trading your Standard action for a Move action)
Plus a combination of :
1 Swift or Immediate Action AND
Any number of Free Actions
A few special cases
The 5 ft. ...
26
In general, you have a number of options - some need more preplanning however.
Doctor, It Hurts When I Do That
If characters are frequently getting caught in situations where they don't have anything to do, they are not playing the long game very smart. They should consider these times in builds, when purchasing magic items, etc. "Oh I'm a melee guy if ...
23
Sometimes combat is just long and boring. Try a more exciting game system, or house-rule the more long and annoying parts. Some game systems are tuned towards long combat rounds and grind. There's some system specific tips out there for speeding combats, see Speeding Up Combat for 3.5 as an example. Time limits etc., not going to list them all here as ...
18
There are two real world reasons I can see:
To strike something above you, you have gravity working against you.
To strike something below, you have gravity working with you.
Your balance is better when leaning forward than when leaning back.
When striking something above you, chances are you'll lean back and
vice versa.
As for inclusion in a game ...
15
From Pathfinder Core Rulebook, p136 (emphasis mine):
Weapon Focus (Combat): Choose one type of weapon. You can also choose unarmed strike or grapple (or ray, if you are a spellcaster) as your weapon for the purposes of this feat.
1) Rays (not other ranged spells, just rays) count as ranged weapons for the purposes of feats like Weapon Focus and for the ...
15
These are on two different scales. Generally it does not matter where a Player Character is on board a ship in ship to ship combat. Treat each ship as a figure until they are at boarding action, then the exact location matter and change scale. That is, for ship to ship combats have a Sea Map with Ships on it. Once the ships are in contact, change to two ship ...
15
As a general rule, "An opportunity attack is a melee basic attack" (Compendium glossary), so this doesn't come up much.
However, there are special cases: Ninth Legion Student [Lesser Style] lets you use Direct the Strike (ranged 5) "in place of a melee basic attack when making an opportunity attack."
Now, both the Glossary entry for Ranged Attack and the ...
15
Yes, why not!
All Fate games are storytelling games, so all that you can or cannot do depends on whether you can form a coherent story around it that is consistent with what has come before. If you can form a plausible story around shaming a hitman enough to stop trying to kill you, I'd say you can do it.
The hard part is getting there in the first place.
...
14
No, you won't need psionic combat rules in Pathfinder.
Psionic Combat was removed in 3.5. What you have is probably a 3.0 Psionics Handbook. The 3.5 version is called Expanded Psionics Handbook, and is devoid of psionic combat rules; many of the psionic attack and defense modes, like Mind Blast and Tower of Iron Will, were converted to normal powers.
14
The description of the Vampire says you can stake one if its helpless.
The rules are optional, but Ultimate Combat does have rules for Called Shots. According to those rules, hitting the heart is a -10 to an attack. Staking a vamp is specifically listed, and requires either a Crit or damage equal to half the vampire's hit points (min 50...), which forces a ...
13
Theory: This article Injuries From Explosions: Physics, Biophysics, Pathology, and Required Research Focus may have some useful information. The Journal of trauma will definitely have information about it, it's just a matter of looking – possibly from academia otherwise you may need to pay. Conventional Warfare Ballistic, Blast and Burn Injuries, Chapter 7 ...
13
No, for three reasons:
First, Rapier specifically states:
You can’t wield a rapier in two hands in order to apply 1½ times your Strength bonus to damage.
Second, Weapon Finesse allows you to use DEX mod instead of STR mod on attack rolls. Wielding a one handed weapon in two hands allows you to add to your damage rolls. Two completely different cases.
...
13
Check out Pathfinder's rules for Surprise in Combat.
In short, the one shooting his longbow starts "Combat Mode", but he gets a surprise round, in which only he, and anyone who rolled high enough Perception to be aware of the attack, can act. If it's something done completely in stealth, the GM can rule that everyone is surprised.
The attack can then be ...
13
This is not a complete answer at the moment, but should provide some food for thought.
You should use all of your encounter powers every combat if you can. Leaving encounter powers on the table is wasting resources. Most combats are several rounds, so you should have a chance to get off most of your encounters if you've chosen them well.
Figure out your ...
13
Since you are building your system with inspiration from FATE, let's look at how this could be done in FATE as it is written. I'll assume the Dresden Files iteration of the rules as that is what FATE Core is being based on.
(I'm also going to address the general case before dealing with the specifics in your question).
The thing to remember is that ...
13
Initiative comes from D&D's wargaming roots, where initiative was re-rolled every round. Its original purpose was to add unpredictability. For example, the AD&D 2nd edition Dungeon Master's Guide says:
Initiative is not set, but changes from round to round—combat being an uncertain thing, at best. A character never knows for certain if he ...
13
According to the rules, the XP to be given to each player is the sum of the Monsters' XP, divided by the number of players. See the Dungeon Master's Guide page 120, under Earning XP:
Characters earn XP for every encounter they overcome. The XP reward for completing an encounter is the sum of the XP values for each monster, NPC, trap or hazard that makes ...
12
The benefit to you is relatively minimal, since attacks of opportunity are the only way you're likely to be making additional attacks against the target before your next turn. Not the only way, but the most likely way, and not very likely at that. As C. Ross pointed out, while Hero points are few & far between, Greater Feint can really help them hit ...
12
It's up to the GM to direct turns in combat by switching between characters, often by asking "What do you do?"
The easiest question to use is "What do you do?" Whenever you make a move, end with "What do you do?" You don't even have to ask the person you made the move against. Take that chance to shift the focus elsewhere: "Rath's spell is torn apart ...
12
Make the game more narrative!
Even though you have turns, don't forget that in a round of combat all actions are contemporaneous. (In some rule-sets the terms turn and round have their meaning swapped... by the way the idea is the same...)
In a round robin approach you can just collect all players' actions in a turn of combat and just explain what happens ...
12
You do not use actions to make the secondary attack.
The secondary attack happens automatically when you sustain the power:
Sustain Minor: The zone persists until the end of your next turn, and you make the secondary attack.
There's no other way to make the secondary attack (it only happens when you sustain, and you can only sustain once per round).
12
Yes, you can be damaged and Taken Out on any stress track
A conflict in FATE is about opposing desires. While two or more desires are opposed and unfulfilled a conflict will continue. When the desires change so they are no longer opposed or one is fulfilled the conflict ends.
Take the example of Hitman and Target in an open fight in a bar. Hitman's goal ...
11
In the current 5E playtest, there is no flanking. In fact, there are few rules for combat at all, and definitely no rules for grid-based combat and positioning. As stated elsewhere, the playtest doesn't represent the final ruleset, so positioning rules may be added later on, but for now, granting advantage is merely a judgement call.
Personally, I would say ...
11
Higher ground has some general advantages that the bonuses you refer to might take into account:
Elevated ground gives a better view of the combat, even in melee situations. Looking up towards a combatant in general obscures intent more than looking down does, especially since most attacks originate from a higher elevation.
The combatant on the higher ...
11
Basic Attacks were meant to be the simplest form of combat in D&D 4th Edition...
...but ended up being one of the most complex, complicated, and tangled aspects of the game.
I'll try to untangle the mess here in this answer, but the simple answer is that a melee basic attack and a ranged basic attack are attacks every CREATURE can use. In other words, ...
11
No, a full round action does not equal two standard actions. It takes place instead of all actions on your turn (except free actions).
From Actions in Combat on the d20srd:
Full-Round Action
A full-round action consumes all your effort during a round. The only movement you can take during a full-round action is a 5-foot step before, during, or ...
10
Option 1: Reference Speed
This is the quick and dirty approach (and the one I've used most). Effectively, you move the map at the same speed as one of the things on the map. That thing doesn't move, everything else moves around it.
For example, a ship moving north at 30 squares/turn, chasing another ship moving north at 25 squares/turn. The faster ship ...
10
Two weapon penalties are mitigated by use of the two weapon fighting feat and if the weapon is light.
Rapiers are not light weapons, however you can use your dexterity for the attack modifier instead of strength if you have the weapon finesse feat, even though the weapon isn't light.
Two weapon fighting gives you one extra attack per round with your ...
10
There are three basic answers to this, and it's entirely viable to mix and match them as best fits your character. The most important books to own, at least if you want to easily add this kind of feature to any character, are Complete Champion and/or Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords. Without these, you will have to dedicate a lot of resources (read: ...
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