firm rulings

[kalani]

I for one do not want a return of the Endless-Errata / Rules that plagued LFR. I prefer AL to be as rules-light as humanly possible, in order for DMs and players to tell a story without worrying about tripping over Errata v1.9 section A.

 

[nswanson27]

I for one do not want a return of the Endless-Errata / Rules that plagued LFR. I prefer AL to be as rules-light as humanly possible, in order for DMs and players to tell a story without worrying about tripping over Errata v1.9 section A.

I totally agree with that concern. I wouldn't want to see AL fall back into that either. However, my observation is the WoTC is on a very different (slower) cadence for releasing new content and errata in 5e. It's been about 1 3/4 years now, and there's been SCAG, and one errata released? I think the potential of this becoming reality again is substantially less than in previous editions if the pendulum swung back a little ways on this. Anyways, I truly do like and appreciate all the work you all do to make AL what it is. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

 

[kalani]

True - while WotC may not fall into the same mistake with 5E, the possibility for AL to fall into that mistake with the OP is still valid (esp if we did start releasing firm rules for general rules issues). That and the fact that it would cause confusion for players who play both 5E and AL if they both have different rulings for general-rules issues.

Since AL rulings would serve ALs needs, sometimes they might differ substantially from the general game and that too is something we would want to avoid. As such, we only make rulings on things we need to (how to rule on specific adventures, and how to rule on character options).

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

I for one do not want a return of the Endless-Errata / Rules that plagued LFR. I prefer AL to be as rules-light as humanly possible, in order for DMs and players to tell a story without worrying about tripping over Errata v1.9 section A.

I also see the need for a "million" official rulings being related to how many players you may have who did Pathfinder Society before trying 5th Edition and Adventurer's League. There is a very large adjustment curve to deal with between the two styles of game.

But anyway, as for Disarming Strike specifically, the text of the maneuver says the weapon drops at the feet of the person who was disarmed. So I would say that both disarmer and disarmed have an equal chance to pick up the weapon, checking first for who has available actions, then comparing initiatives for who can react first. I would be also more likely to allow the disarmer to more easily kick the dropped weapon away, rather than bending over and picking it up and making themselves vulnerable and perhaps being at disadvantage to do it. Of course, I prefer the cinematic disarms where the weapon goes flying off somewhere out of everyone's reach or perhaps the disarmer grabs it before it even hits the ground. But I would only do it that way if the player were roleplaying the maneuver that way to begin with.

 

[Cascade]

I also see the need for a "million" official rulings being related to how many players you may have who did Pathfinder Society before trying 5th Edition and Adventurer's League. There is a very large adjustment curve to deal with between the two styles of game.

But anyway, as for Disarming Strike specifically, the text of the maneuver says the weapon drops at the feet of the person who was disarmed. So I would say that both disarmer and disarmed have an equal chance to pick up the weapon, checking first for who has available actions, then comparing initiatives for who can react first. I would be also more likely to allow the disarmer to more easily kick the dropped weapon away, rather than bending over and picking it up and making themselves vulnerable and perhaps being at disadvantage to do it. Of course, I prefer the cinematic disarms where the weapon goes flying off somewhere out of everyone's reach or perhaps the disarmer grabs it before it even hits the ground. But I would only do it that way if the player were roleplaying the maneuver that way to begin with.

The PFS comment is very true...big adjustment coming from rules strict to rules light.

On disarming; because it would technically be in the square of the disarm-ee, I would say it can be done as part of the one free object interaction. Likewise, the disarmer would have to use half their move (akin to standing up) to retrieve the item in another occupied square. I can certainly see discussions in a variety of ways.

 

[nswanson27]

I also see the need for a "million" official rulings being related to how many players you may have who did Pathfinder Society before trying 5th Edition and Adventurer's League. There is a very large adjustment curve to deal with between the two styles of game.

But anyway, as for Disarming Strike specifically, the text of the maneuver says the weapon drops at the feet of the person who was disarmed. So I would say that both disarmer and disarmed have an equal chance to pick up the weapon, checking first for who has available actions, then comparing initiatives for who can react first. I would be also more likely to allow the disarmer to more easily kick the dropped weapon away, rather than bending over and picking it up and making themselves vulnerable and perhaps being at disadvantage to do it. Of course, I prefer the cinematic disarms where the weapon goes flying off somewhere out of everyone's reach or perhaps the disarmer grabs it before it even hits the ground. But I would only do it that way if the player were roleplaying the maneuver that way to begin with.

That sounds perfectly reasonable to me. Unfortunately, it's a DM that I've maybe have never met before who's ruling is final, and who can only be suggested to follow any line of reasoning or sage advice ruling. Thus, I'm staying away from disarming strike.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

Biggest problem with Disarming strike as I see it is that an NPC with said ability could use it against the PCs and that would be uber annoying. Bad guy disarms your Dawnbringer, picks it up and runs like hell...please deduct the magic item from your character sheet...ohh sorry I am not allowed to give out magic items so theres no more Dawnbringer fornyou to get back...ouch.

I thought of that, but I'm not sure if it would ever actually come up. Are the PCs (in any given adventure) likely to fight against an enemy that specializes in combat maneuvers? I was under the impression that most NPC opponents were just generic stock NPCs that didn't have such complicated powers.