Col_Pladoh said:
Well...
I suppose that the Drow ambidexterity would extend to hand-thrown missiles, so you were not off base there. An ambidextrous character can attack twice, yes, but of course that means no shield
Of course! As a matter of fact, I very rarely assigned shields to my characters. I always meant for them to have a sort of a roguish flavor. I mean, if you look at movies like "Krull" and such, NONE of the "good guys" had shields or helmets or even plate mail. Thus, I tried to follow suit whenever possible. Armour heavier/bulkier than normal chain I tended to shun. Plus, there's just so much more you can do shieldless than shield-burdened.
In any event, the Drow in question was (and still is!) a Fighter/Assassin. Stealth is crucial. Can't climb walls, move silently, hide in shadows, etc. shielded.
Col_Pladoh said:
and a penalty on the second attack is usual, eh?
Erm, what? Are you referring to the "off-hand" attack? I took the Drow's ambidexterity to mean they had NO off-hand and, thus, no off-hand penalty.
Col_Pladoh said:
You were well out in left field though claiming speed potions were cumulative. I can't blame you, though, as I have attempted to bulldoze GMs in like manner when i was power gaming
Ah, if only that'd been in the rulebooks, I would have had a better childhood!
Col_Pladoh said:
Realistically, a drow character would care about losing 1% of his lifespan on a regular basis, don't you think?
You mean .01% of his life, surely. There I go again, rules-lawyering like a madman. Actually, I had only meant for this muti-speed thing to be a sort of "secret weapon". Afterall, where was he to get replacements for the spent potions on a regular basis? Hence, it was only ever used once.
FWIW, I had worked the rules that mulit-speed (and/or haste) would equate to quadrupling the years of life lost. Thus:
1 potion = 1 year lost
2 potions = 4 years lost
3 potions = 16 years lost
Etc..............
The bottom line was, if you had the years to spare and/or a healthy supply of potions of longevity/elixirs of life, this was the "secret weapon" for you. Or for me, anyway. The real tricky bit was figuring out how to store 9-score darts on your person!