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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Justin Bacon" data-source="post: 2739398" data-attributes="member: 3795">Snip nonsense demonstrating how an incompetent DM can ruin the mood of a game session.In a similar vein, let's look at the same DM running 1st Edition:Player 1: I rush across the room and hit the orc with my sword!"DM: Whoa, slow down there, shorty. The orc is 15 inches away. How far can you move?Player 1: The orc is only 15 inches away? Then I just hit him!Player 2: No, wait. I know this one. If the orc is 15 inches away, it means he's actually 150 feet away.DM: No. You're outside now. So the orc is actually 450 feet away because he's 15 inches away.Player 1: Umm... Okay. Then I run over and try to hit the orc.DM: No, you can only move 12 inches in a round, so you can't reach the orc and attack this round. Well, you might be able to if you charge.Player 1: How does that work?DM: Well, when you charge you gain a 33 1/3% bonus to your movement. That would let you move up to 16 inches, so you could reach the orc. Player 2: I thought you doubled your movement when you charged?DM: Only when you're inside. When you're outside, you increase it by a third.Player 2: Oh, OK.Player 1: So, wait, what's going on?DM: You're thinking about charging. But you should be advised that you'll lose your Dexterity bonus to Armor ClassPlayer 1: I have a Dex of 18. That gives me a -4 bonus to my AC, so my AC will be four higher now right?DM: No. See, when you're talking about charging, losing your Dexterity bonus to AC just means that your Armor Class is 1 higher, regardless of what AC you have.Player 1: Ummm... Okay. So I charge the orc. Do I get to attack?DM: Not yet. The orc has a longspear which is longer than your sword, so gets to attack first. [rolls some dice] Okay, he misses. Roll your "to hit" dice. And remember to add a +2 bonus for charging....Yeah. That's a lot simpler.  <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/paranoid.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":uhoh:" title="Paranoid    :uhoh:" data-shortname=":uhoh:" />For 2nd Edition you can get rid of all that indoor/outdoor confusion. Here you just need to work your way through increasing your movement by 50%, adding a +2 bonus to your attack roll; checking to see if your weapon deals double damage on a charge; giving an initiative bonus of -2 to the character BEING charged; subtract your Dexterity bonus AND an additional +1 penalty to your AC as the charger; and resolve the defender's attack if they're wielding a polearm or similar weapon.Yup. Definitely simpler than "you move twice your speed and then attack with a +2 bonus while sufering a -2 penalty to AC; you deal double damage with certain weapons and provoke attacks of opportunity normally (which may also deal double damage if the weapon is set against the charge)".Oh, wait. No it's not.Justin Alexander Bacon<a href="http://www.thealexandrian.net" target="_blank">http://www.thealexandrian.net</a></blockquote>

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