The Rod of Seven Parts: Kauai Team OOC

[CanadienneBacon]

Thanks, it's nice to be back. I like the distraction.

 

[Voadam]

Quick confirmation, darts are not ammunition, correct? Ammunition affects enchantment costs and whether it is recoverable after being used. My understanding is that arrows, bolts, and sling stones are ammunition for projectile weapons while thrown weapons are not considered ammunition.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Rules question for anyone wanting to help me out here. I don't think you can take 20 on Spot. Taking 20 on Spot, particularly if/when there's a penalty for failure would mean that you couldn't do it. I know I've certainly never had a player try before. Lemme know. If someone can come up with a page number reference or SRD quote stating you can do it, I'd benefit from that information. And Mael would too.

Ambrus, I have a time-saver idea for both of us. Why don't you supply me with default actions and a code name for when you want to go sneaking or scouting? An example of what I mean would look like:

Bow in hand and an arrow notched to the string, the Gudwulf peers down the dark flagstone hallway at the pair of stone doors inset into the eastern wall. Certain that enemies lurk, lying in wait behind the series of closed iron-shod doors lining the hall, Maelicent makes a slow forward advance down the length of the corridor.

Scouting .

In the example above, "scouting" would be a signal to me that you're wanting Maelicent to use Hide +37, Move Silently +48, Spot +4, and Listen +19 while slowly advancing.

Just an idea. Feel free to tinker with the format to your liking.

 

[Ambrus]

As far as I understand the distinction (it's a subtle one, mostly governing how quickly each can be drawn in combat) you're correct.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Quick confirmation, darts are not ammunition, correct? Ammunition affects enchantment costs and whether it is recoverable after being used. My understanding is that arrows, bolts, and sling stones are ammunition for projectile weapons while thrown weapons are not considered ammunition.

That is also my take. Darts are weapons in and of themselves and are not ammunition. At least in this game. Ammunition, on a successful hit, is not recoverable. A thrown weapon, however, could be recoverable.

What is the enchantment price difference? I imagine it's somewhat substantial, skewing toward ammo being cheaper.

 

[Ambrus]

Try Again: Yes. You can try to spot something that you failed to see previously at no penalty.

There's no penalty for failing to spot something; at least not unless that something later decides to do something nasty to you, though that's not really relevant to the skill check. As far as I can tell, if you can keep trying again then eventually you can take 20; essentially doing your best to find something that you know for a fact is hiding nearby.

I like your code word idea. I'll think about it and post something in a bit.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Gads, then why aren't more players taking 20 on Spot checks? There's practically no chance of failure when you take 20. About the only thing I can think of is that taking 20 takes longer. If, while you're taking 20, something could conceivably jump up and bite you in the posterior, that's really the only drawback. I confess, it's a concern. If Maelicent only ever has to take 20 to be able to spot things, then will anything ever be a challenge?

 

[Strahd_Von_Zarovich]

As far as I know there are no "Take 20" on Spot and Listen checks

 

[Ambrus]

Gads, then why aren't more players taking 20 on Spot checks?There's practically no chance of failure when you take 20. About the only thing I can think of is that taking 20 takes longer.

You're correct; the only thing possibly keeping someone from taking 20 to spot is time; it does assume that you're spending two minutes to make the attempt. It's like hide-and-go-seek; at a glance the seeker might not see any of the people in hiding (having failed his initial opposed roll) but if he knows they're in the area then it's merely a matter of time before he finds them all. The only exception is people so skilled or lucky at hiding that the seeker will simply never find them no matter how long he seeks them. The challenge comes in finding the hidden people before they act and run back to home base.

In the case of D&D you have to decide whether a hiding creature will trust in its ability to hide (or that the person seeking them will give up before the creature is found) or choose to act before then. If the hiding creature stays put for two full minutes then that's that. If on the other hand the hidden creature gets nervous during the search then it might choose to give up, flee or attack before being found. If it's any of the latter options, then decide when it'll act and simply roll the seeker's spot check every round until then to see if he finds the hidden creature first.

I'd say that the hidden creature that tries not moving gets to keep its original hide check result and that the seeker rerolls his spot check every round until something interrupts him. If the hidden creature tries moving (either to sneak away or attack) then I'd make opposed rolls every round until the hidden creature either attacks, has safely left the area or is discovered.

It's the same with search checks; if you're willing to spend two full minutes to comb a relatively small 25-ft. square are then it's unlikely that you'll miss anything but the most masterfully concealed details. In this instance, Mael has good reason to believe that there's a piercer present so he'll take 2 full minutes to scan, in painstaking effort, every part of the room he can see. If he doesn't find anything then he'll move to a different vantage point and try again until he's covered the whole area.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Excellent analogy.

Can I take 20 on Hide?