As a DM, do you let PCs precisely "place" areas of effect for spells?
Someone
Adventurer
We play with miniatures and counters. I have a cardboard circle, 4 inches radius, that the wizard player drops from a height of about 8 inches when he casts fireball; whatever is covered by the cardboard, is affected by the fireball. The error margin is about 1 inch (that is, 5 feet)
We find it pretty funny, not so the Dwarf player
We find it pretty funny, not so the Dwarf player
Norfleet
First Post
I go ahead and allow precise placement. Considering that the wizard has several levels of experience behind him by the time he can lob fireballs, it's not unreasonable to say that his experience is comparable with a highly skilled veteran tank gunner, who can hit a target over a hill with only coordinates, without even seeing his target.
The wizard, on the other hand, can clearly see his target, and what not to hit, but doesn't have to contend with the vagaries of mechanical imprecision.
The wizard, on the other hand, can clearly see his target, and what not to hit, but doesn't have to contend with the vagaries of mechanical imprecision.
The Sigil
Mr. 3000 (Words per post)
Yes.
And I do it slightly like "chess" - the player picks the "center" of an area effect or the "center line" of a conic effect and I then lay down the template for the spell shape on top of that point/center line. Once the template is put down, you can't "take it back."
I haven't had to resort to a time limit, but if I did I would probably go with the usual 10 seconds I give a player to start describing their action ("uh... uh... uh..." doesn't count as "starting" to describe an action, but a player who says something like, "I am going to draw my poleaxe, take my 5' step to get next to the door, then ready an attack action with the poleaxe to whack the first thing wearing green that comes through it" doesn't have to try to crunch that all into 10 seconds - if he just get's through "I am going to draw my poleaxe, take my 5-foo... *time*" he's fine finishing his sentence).
--The Sigil
And I do it slightly like "chess" - the player picks the "center" of an area effect or the "center line" of a conic effect and I then lay down the template for the spell shape on top of that point/center line. Once the template is put down, you can't "take it back."
I haven't had to resort to a time limit, but if I did I would probably go with the usual 10 seconds I give a player to start describing their action ("uh... uh... uh..." doesn't count as "starting" to describe an action, but a player who says something like, "I am going to draw my poleaxe, take my 5' step to get next to the door, then ready an attack action with the poleaxe to whack the first thing wearing green that comes through it" doesn't have to try to crunch that all into 10 seconds - if he just get's through "I am going to draw my poleaxe, take my 5-foo... *time*" he's fine finishing his sentence).
--The Sigil
Sure!
IMO, D&D is a "heroic" game, so friendly fire doesn't happen as much as it would "real life". Miniatures, in fact, are an abstract representation of combat. No one's actually standing still attacking and parrying. Everyone's moving about, ducking, dodging, taking steps, that sort of thing.
Cedric.
aka. Washu! ^O^
IMO, D&D is a "heroic" game, so friendly fire doesn't happen as much as it would "real life". Miniatures, in fact, are an abstract representation of combat. No one's actually standing still attacking and parrying. Everyone's moving about, ducking, dodging, taking steps, that sort of thing.
Cedric.
aka. Washu! ^O^
Similar Threads
