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Attacking defenseless NPCs
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<blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 7625886" data-attributes="member: 97077"><p>There are a few ways to do this that I think all work fine.</p><p></p><p>The DM can rule the outcome of the task as impossible or at least highly unlikely. The ranger simply can't do enough damage in one shot to take out the orc except on a crit and even that's no guarantee. But perhaps the other PCs can add to that damage and take it out. If they can't, they learn a valuable lesson about taking some kind of ranged weapon, even if the character isn't great at it (which is a perfect time to spend Inspiration). The party's going to have to come up with another plan and that's cool in my view. And let's face it - plan B is almost always more interesting.</p><p></p><p>As well, however, this strikes me as an obstacle in an overarching exploration challenge that only <em>looks</em> somewhat like a combat challenge. The task is neither impossible nor trivially easy. You could say there's an uncertain outcome and the meaningful consequence for failure is there - so some kind of roll is appropriate. I think it's fine to resolve it without relying upon the combat rules. Call it a Dexterity check with proficiency at disadvantage against a hard DC to account for range and the difficulty of ensuring a kill shot. Someone throws <em>guidance</em> or <em>enhance ability</em> on the ranger. Maybe he or she spends Inspiration. Go, teamwork.</p><p></p><p>Having said that, standard combat rules would work just fine here, too. The orc is surprised. The PCs make regular attack rolls, probably at disadvantage due to the range. If they take him out, great. If they don't, they've got till the start of the orc's turn in Round 2 to get the job done. To increase the difficulty, say the orc draws attention to itself if it survives till the end of its <em>first</em> turn. That makes it even more important to beat the orc in initiative and possibly encourage the expenditure of more resources like spells or Inspiration.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="iserith, post: 7625886, member: 97077"] There are a few ways to do this that I think all work fine. The DM can rule the outcome of the task as impossible or at least highly unlikely. The ranger simply can't do enough damage in one shot to take out the orc except on a crit and even that's no guarantee. But perhaps the other PCs can add to that damage and take it out. If they can't, they learn a valuable lesson about taking some kind of ranged weapon, even if the character isn't great at it (which is a perfect time to spend Inspiration). The party's going to have to come up with another plan and that's cool in my view. And let's face it - plan B is almost always more interesting. As well, however, this strikes me as an obstacle in an overarching exploration challenge that only [I]looks[/I] somewhat like a combat challenge. The task is neither impossible nor trivially easy. You could say there's an uncertain outcome and the meaningful consequence for failure is there - so some kind of roll is appropriate. I think it's fine to resolve it without relying upon the combat rules. Call it a Dexterity check with proficiency at disadvantage against a hard DC to account for range and the difficulty of ensuring a kill shot. Someone throws [I]guidance[/I] or [I]enhance ability[/I] on the ranger. Maybe he or she spends Inspiration. Go, teamwork. Having said that, standard combat rules would work just fine here, too. The orc is surprised. The PCs make regular attack rolls, probably at disadvantage due to the range. If they take him out, great. If they don't, they've got till the start of the orc's turn in Round 2 to get the job done. To increase the difficulty, say the orc draws attention to itself if it survives till the end of its [I]first[/I] turn. That makes it even more important to beat the orc in initiative and possibly encourage the expenditure of more resources like spells or Inspiration. [/QUOTE]
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