Handling that third dimension

[SnowDog]

Hi all --

As I stated in this thread, I'm in the middle of a campaign where we're finally dealing with non-low-level magic and such. We've got a few weeks off and I'm trying to solidify how we deal with some odd rulings. After (sort of) tackling invisibility + AoOs (heh, go post there if you want to), it's time to move on to something less controversial, I hope. 3D combat.

I've read the rules, and it seems like they've left out a huge aspect of this. They talk about how someone takes up a 5x5 square, but they don't talk about your vertical size at all. As soon as someone takes flight, levitates, or walks along the wall or ceiling, a new world of pain opens up! How do people handle it?

Do you divide the world into 5x5x5 cubes? How do you rule the range you threaten above you, or below you? Does your height factor into this?

Does an Ogre on the ground with 10' reach threaten someone crawling along the 20'-high ceiling with spider climb?

This has come up numerous times in our campaign so far, and each time I've made an off-the-cuff ruling based on what seemed to make sense. I'm just wondering if people do something more formal than that, or if the rules are meant to be this wide-open about it.

 

[Spatula]

The Manual of the Planes addresses this issue very briefly - it simply says that Small and Medium creatures have a 5' x 5' x 5' facing in three dimensions, and can be surrounded from all directions.

You generally have a good idea as to how high a creature is based on its size, so in most cases it should be easy to determine a creature's height. A Large bipedal creature would be about 12' high (MM pg 5), so on a 3D battlemat it would occupy a 5' x 5' x 10' space. Its reach should remain the same regardless of the direction. You could argue that its reach extends from the upper 5' cube of the space it occupies (where its arms begin), so that it couldn't hit something 10' below it, though. But seeing as 3E combat ignores facing, and for simplicity's sake, I wouldn't bother.

 

[SnowDog]

motp

Thanks for the pointer to MOTP. I might have to check that out -- I know one of my players has a copy.

 

[Norfleet]

The ignoring of facing in 3E has some peculiar side effects, such as the illogical conclusion that a human on the ground with a sword has the same ability to hit targets above and below him as he does targets to his sides, particularly as swords are not weapons which are particularly well suited to fighting in "death from above, below, and all sides" scenarios, realistically speaking.

Realistically, most people who are not expecting to attacked in 3D probably have only a very limited awareness of what is immediately above them, and a slightly better awareness of the ground they're on. This is why death-from-above is such an effective tactic: Most people do not expect to be attacked from above and will be utterly unaware of it until it happens. The rules, however, do not adequately cover this.

 

[Spatula]

This is why death-from-above is such an effective tactic: Most people do not expect to be attacked from above and will be utterly unaware of it until it happens. The rules, however, do not adequately cover this.

If a character is caught off-guard, then they would be surprised/flat-footed. The rules don't specifically address being surprised from above (as opposed to being surprised from any other direction), but it's easy enough to handle. Of course, in a universe where flying beasties and spellcasters aren't unheard of, the assumption that most people won't expect an airborne attack isn't a given.