Specify attack method? How strict

[Dredly]

Last night me (DM) and another player got in a bit of an argument over an attack which he made.

As a thief he performed an attack (Sly flourish) which works for ranged and melee weapons.

On players turn he performed a ranged attack on the mob with Sly Flourish using his hand crossbow.

On the mobs turn I advanced to melee range and attacked him,

on his next attack he said "I'm attacking the one I shot last time" and rolled for hit, I immediately took an opportunity attack as he never announced melee or that he was drawing his sword and he got pissy

Typically I wouldn't be overly strict on this however he is also a "rules" person who constantly attempts to correct me and even argued with me over several actions during the night. I also corrected him on a few occasions before this...

what would you have done? let him slide? hit him with the OA? ask him to specify what he is doing?

 

[Artoomis]

I would have said." Really? You are still wielding your crossbow."

Problem solved with no need for an argument.

 

[Dredly]

I would have said." Really? You are still wielding your crossbow."

Problem solved with no need for an argument.

As a DM is it my responsibility to tell them what weapon they are attacking with? I have to keep track of a bunch of mobs, they have to keep track of 1 player...

 

[babinro]

These instances really depend on the individual to be honest. I know people who are very poor sports, and can let something like this ruin the rest of their game session. When there are only a few players, and one is miserable, it can make hurt the game day quite a bit.

I would have let the PC have their way (which in this case would likely mean shift and attack) and just warned them that in the future more details will be required since as a DM, you are not required to take your PC's assumptions into account, you simply react to what is being said/done.

 

[RangerWickett]

As a DM is it my responsibility to tell them what weapon they are attacking with? I have to keep track of a bunch of mobs, they have to keep track of 1 player...

The DM's role is to facilitate fun, and so for me, whenever one of my players is about to do something hazardous, I make sure to tell him first so he can decide if that's what he actually wants to do, because being caught by a surprise penalty is not fun.

So I would have said, "Are you still using your crossbow? You'll take an OA."

I think that's the best way to handle it; warn first, and be lenient. Simply letting him make the mistake and then punishing him is kinda like when your credit card company increases your interest rate because you didn't maintain a high enough balance on the card. Sure, you probably should have read the fine print to know what you're getting into, but it's still kinda a rude thing for the credit card company to do.

 

[Ryujin]

I would have said." Really? You are still wielding your crossbow."

Problem solved with no need for an argument.

I would have done the same, at which point one of my players would have said, "Oops, you're right" or words to that effect, and it would be over with. A rules lawyer who ignores the rules when it comes to himself can be quite a problem to play. The action economy exists for a reason.

Hell, even our player who tries to squeeze 6 actions into a turn backs off when he's called on it.

 

[Dredly]

The DM's role is to facilitate fun, and so for me, whenever one of my players is about to do something hazardous, I make sure to tell him first so he can decide if that's what he actually wants to do, because being caught by a surprise penalty is not fun.

So I would have said, "Are you still using your crossbow? You'll take an OA."

I think that's the best way to handle it; warn first, and be lenient. Simply letting him make the mistake and then punishing him is kinda like when your credit card company increases your interest rate because you didn't maintain a high enough balance on the card. Sure, you probably should have read the fine print to know what you're getting into, but it's still kinda a rude thing for the credit card company to do.

and 99% of the time that is exactly what I'll do.

My question was more around "is there a rule that says how to handle it"? The person that I did this to was being a rules jerk the whole game, complaining every time the roll of a die didn't go in his favor and trying to use a rule for why he shouldn't have had to do it in the first place or why he didn't get a resit check against an ongoing damage... etc

Drawing a weapon is a minor action, so switching from ranged to melee would be a minor action which the player must declare. I understand the "you can tell him" but based on the ruling, did I follow the "rules" or not?

 

[Piratecat]

My question was more around "is there a rule that says how to handle it"? The person that I did this to was being a rules jerk the whole game, complaining every time the roll of a die didn't go in his favor and trying to use a rule for why he shouldn't have had to do it in the first place or why he didn't get a resit check against an ongoing damage... etc

Drawing a weapon is a minor action, so switching from ranged to melee would be a minor action which the player must declare. I understand the "you can tell him" but based on the ruling, did I follow the "rules" or not?

How this reads to me: You're angry at him for acting like a rules-lawyering jerk, you sort of passive-aggressively do the same to him, and he accuses you of being unfair.

So the answer is "I think you played it by the letter of the rules, but there may have been a better way to handle it, and you'll have more fun if you help him with the rules-lawyering behavior that is bothering you in the first place."

 

[Dredly]

How this reads to me: You're angry at him for acting like a rules-lawyering jerk, you sort of passive-aggressively do the same to him, and he accuses you of being unfair.

So the answer is "I think you played it by the letter of the rules, but there may have been a better way to handle it, and you'll have more fun if you help him with the rules-lawyering behavior that is bothering you in the first place."

Yup that is exactly what I was doing, i just wanted to make sure i was correct with the rule Thanks

 

[Kingreaper]

what would you have done? let him slide? hit him with the OA? ask him to specify what he is doing?

I would generally go "you know that'll provoke an OA right?"

But, you say you've corrected him earlier in the game? What on, OA's he was provoking and suchlike?

And when he's been correcting you, has he been correct?

You are technically in the right in the described case, but that's not really what matters. What matters is; can you play with this guy, and have fun?