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General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Attacking defenseless NPCs
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<blockquote data-quote="Bawylie" data-source="post: 7626317" data-attributes="member: 6776133"><p>I think my last example of sneaking up on an unwary NPC suggests an answer to that question. </p><p></p><p>If you sneak up on someone who isn’t on guard duty (or perhaps is on guard duty but is otherwise distracted) and approach them such that they are unaware of your presence, a simple Dexterity (Stealth) check may well be sufficient to get you into a knife-at-throat position. </p><p></p><p>How about in-combat? Couldn’t you do the same to an enemy that wasn’t aware of you and had it’s attention on the party fighter? It may well be harder to do, but it’s possible, isn’t it? </p><p></p><p>What if you were the fighter? Might it be possible to overpower an enemy you’ve grabbed such that you can position the knife to the throat? Are we saying that’s totally impossible? I don’t think it is impossible. I think a Strength (athletics) contest versus the defender’s Strength or perhaps Dexterity could resolve the uncertainty. Maybe the defender has advantage on the roll? It isn’t easy, but it’s likewise not impossibly hard. </p><p></p><p>But since you know that the stakes for getting into that position is certain defeat of your enemy, you may have enough incentive to try that instead of sticking to HP attrition. </p><p></p><p>Likewise you might be a little more cautious about swarms of ankle-biters like goblins and kobolds who might try to overwhelm and drag you down. Since they can put you in a bad spot too.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Bawylie, post: 7626317, member: 6776133"] I think my last example of sneaking up on an unwary NPC suggests an answer to that question. If you sneak up on someone who isn’t on guard duty (or perhaps is on guard duty but is otherwise distracted) and approach them such that they are unaware of your presence, a simple Dexterity (Stealth) check may well be sufficient to get you into a knife-at-throat position. How about in-combat? Couldn’t you do the same to an enemy that wasn’t aware of you and had it’s attention on the party fighter? It may well be harder to do, but it’s possible, isn’t it? What if you were the fighter? Might it be possible to overpower an enemy you’ve grabbed such that you can position the knife to the throat? Are we saying that’s totally impossible? I don’t think it is impossible. I think a Strength (athletics) contest versus the defender’s Strength or perhaps Dexterity could resolve the uncertainty. Maybe the defender has advantage on the roll? It isn’t easy, but it’s likewise not impossibly hard. But since you know that the stakes for getting into that position is certain defeat of your enemy, you may have enough incentive to try that instead of sticking to HP attrition. Likewise you might be a little more cautious about swarms of ankle-biters like goblins and kobolds who might try to overwhelm and drag you down. Since they can put you in a bad spot too. [/QUOTE]
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