3.0 Charge

[sjmiller]

Okay, I will admit to being lazy and a lack of books to look this up, so I am going to ask the general audience. In 3.0 (and I assume 3.5) under Charge it says that you have to move at least 10 feet and the movement must all be in a straight line. Now, a literalist in our group says that would limit the character to charging only along the 8 cardinal points surrounding the character. So that if a target is a little off a direct line they cannot be the victim of Charge. Here, let me illustrate:

X...X...X
.X..X..X.
..X.X.X..
...XXX...
XXXXCXXXX
...XXX...
..X.X.X..
.X..X..X.
X...X...X

The player says that any victim in one of the dot squares (on a gridded map) would be immune to Charge, as you cannot make a straight line from the C to that square. I basically said no, that's not right, but I figured I would ask around to make sure. So, what do you folks say?

 

[Jdvn1]

... I'm not up on my 3.0 rules, but that seems silly. You just move to the closest square, no matter where you start from.

 

[diaglo]

rotate the battle map

edit: the two fixed points are the attacker and his victim. place the squares in line so they are straight.

 

[Ravellion]

That guy is clearly incorrect. It sounds like he is just being argumentative.

Rav

 

[Seeten]

The real world(or fantasy world) doesnt exist in 5x5 squares. While he is literally correct in a 5x5 square world, in reality, get a string. If the character and the opponent can have a string laid out between them, and there are no obstacles, THAT constitutes a real straight line. How far it is in 5x5 squares is a game contrivance and has no bearing on "straight" lines on graph paper or a board with miniatures. We have 3 pieces of string at our table for just this reason.

 

[sjmiller]

The real world(or fantasy world) doesnt exist in 5x5 squares. While he is literally correct in a 5x5 square world, in reality, get a string. If the character and the opponent can have a string laid out between them, and there are no obstacles, THAT constitutes a real straight line. How far it is in 5x5 squares is a game contrivance and has no bearing on "straight" lines on graph paper or a board with miniatures. We have 3 pieces of string at our table for just this reason.

You know, that is pretty much what I said to him at the time, but I did promise that I would ask about it.

So, followup question for everyone. Generally I use the string method for determining LOS and straight lines for movement, etc. At what point would you say that an obstacle to straight line movement occurs? Is it like other games I play (HeroClix for example) where if it crosses any part of the square the object is in it is considered an obstacle, or do you say it only occurs when it falls right under the LOS string, or do you have some other criteria? When can a character NOT make a charge?

 

[Seeten]

I use the warhammer method. Get down on hands and knees, put my eye at miniature level, and if I can see my opponent clearly and unobstructed, he's far game. If there is the slightest hint of obstruction, he's covered.

 

[dcollins]

A "straight line" is not the same thing as "across a cardinal direction". Grab a ruler and demonstrate the straight line you're talking about. Same goes for ranged attacks and spell line-of-effect rules.

 

[Testament]

Easiest way is pick the closest corner of the target's square. If you can make a path from it to every corner of the attacker's square, without the line of charge coming into contact with an obstacle or another character/monster (that is, a square containing it), then the line is clear. Running perfectly along the line of a square doesn't constitute touching it.