Comments and questions on 3.5 from a Newbie

[Edena_of_Neith]

I wanted to give my gratitude to you, monboesen, for showing me the proper template (a *crucial* way to remember everything you should about your character, is to have a proper template, IMHO ... and I didn't have one, and wasn't figuring out how to write it out.)
I wanted to thank you for that post. You put a lot of effort into it. Thanks for the spell advice! I see I did not pick Claire's spells correctly, despite trying.
I hope Claire and Narrin are correct, using your template. I modified them back to the original (using the 4d6 concept, not using Point Buy.) I just hope everything adds up.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

Finalized Claire and Narrin (I hope? Correct? (sighs))

Claire
Cute Elven Mage (Wizard 5)

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Medium Humanoid (Elf)
Hit Dice: 5d4+10 (24 hp)
Initiative: +7
Speed: Move 30 feet (6 squares)
Armor Class: 13 (+3 Dex), 13 touch, 10 flat-footed
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+2
Attack: Longsword +2 (1d8 19-20*2), longbow +5 (1d8 20*3, 100 ft), dagger +2 (1-4 19-20*2, 10 ft)
Space/Reach: 5 feet/5 feet
Special Attacks: Spells
Special Qualities: Elf traits, Lowlight vision
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +4
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 17, Con 15, Int 16, Wis 11, Cha 13
Skills: Concentration +13 (8 ranks), Knowledge Arcana +7 (4 ranks), Listen +2, Search +8 (3 ranks), Spellcraft +11 (8 ranks), Spot +5 (3 ranks)
Feats: Skill Focus (Concentration), Improved Initiative, Scribe Scroll, Enlarge Spell.
Alignment: Neutral Good
Diety: Reveres Sehanine Moonbow, other Seldarine deities

120 years of age, 4 feet 6 inches tall, 80 pounds, long raven black hair (let down), blue eyes, milky skin.
Languages: Common, Elven, Draconian, Gnoll, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, and Sylvan

Spell DC modifier: 13 + spell level
Spells per day: 0/4, 1/4, 2/3, 3/2
Spells readied:
0/Light, Acid Splash, Disrupt Undead
1/Mage Armor, Shocking Grasp*2, Magic Missile
2/Protection from Arrows, Melf's Acid Arrow, Scorching Ray
3/Fireball, Hold Person.


Narrin
Human male (Fighter 5)

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Medium Humanoid (Human)
Hit Dice: 5d10+10 (42 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: Move 20 feet (4 squares)
Armor Class: 22 (+2 Dex, +8 Armor, +2 Shield), 12 touch, 20 flat-footed
Base Attack/Grapple: +5/+9
Attack: Heavy pick +11 (1d6+5 20*4), long sword + 9 (1-8+4, 19-20*2), light pick + 9 (1-4 20*4), throwing axe (1-6+4 20*2, 10 ft), or heavy composite bow +9 (1-8+4 19-20*2, 110 feet)
Space/Reach: 5 feet/5 feet
Special Attacks: None
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +3, Will +1
Abilities: Str 18, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 13, Wis 11, Cha 10.

Skills: Climb 4 ranks (Str +4), Jump 4 ranks (Str +4), Swim 8 ranks (Str +4), Spot 4 ranks (8 points spent)
Feats: Improved Unarmed Strike, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (Heavy Pick), Weapon Specialization (Heavy pick), Two Weapon Proficiency, Point Blank Shot
Alignment: Neutral
Diety: Reveres Tempus

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

Having (somehow) seen Claire, Narrin goes down into his bunker and has his squire help him don his plate armor. He readies himself, then sets out through the woods for the glade in which Claire is resting.
His armor is too noisy for him to advance unnoticed, and he is curious as to why this lone girl is out in the wilderness alone.

Claire hears him coming (Listen DC 0, methinks.)
Claire stands up and takes Cover on the edge of the glade, wondering who is approaching. She readies a Shocking Grasp, in case this something approaching is hostile.

Narrin has his bow strung, but not nocked. He advances into the glade, and looks around for Claire (since no Search skill, does an Intelligence check at a penalty of 2 (DM's Friend rule, since she is hiding), rolls a 7, and spots her.

And then ...

 

[painandgreed]

Claire hears him coming (Listen DC 0, methinks.)
Claire stands up and takes Cover on the edge of the glade, wondering who is approaching. She readies a Shocking Grasp, in case this something approaching is hostile.

What's the Listen check to hear somebody casting a spell?

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

I don't know. Probably DC 30, or so. Beyond Narrin's ability.
Claire cast the Shocking Grasp, and has been holding the Charge, for many long minutes.
She cast it while Narrin was still a thousand feet off or so, having heard him clanking in his armor through the woods towards her.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

Remember that every post I make is a question, whether or not it looks like one.
I'm employing the mechanics as well as I know how to do, then hoping you will correct me if I'm wrong (and, hopefully, not resort to banging your head against the wall because of my endless mistakes. )

So far, I've learned an ENORMOUS amount of information from you'all, that I tried to learn on my own and failed to understand, because you were willing to post and correct me. And I appreciate it. Thank you all.

Yours Sincerely
Edena_of_Neith

 

[painandgreed]

I don't know. Probably DC 30, or so. Beyond Narrin's ability.
Claire cast the Shocking Grasp, and has been holding the Charge, for many long minutes.
She cast it while Narrin was still a thousand feet off or so, having heard him clanking in his armor through the woods towards her.

I think saying she heard him 1000 feet away is a bit of a strech. Woods might not block sound as well as sight but they still muffle it as does distance. You can't even hear a car 1000's of feet through the woods.

If casting a spell is the same as a person talking, then that's DC 0 which is the same as hearing somebody walking in heavy armor. They'll have the same distance penaties for equivilent actions so by time she hears him and starts casting, he'll have moved and probably made up the difference in distance that her +2 in Listen gaver her.

The DC is about what you say if wizards can get away with casting while whispering, but even if she made the first possible role witha 20, that's only at 220' as per RAW.

 

[Silveras]

Edena,

Spot vs. Hide and Listen vs. Move Silently are probably complicating your scenario more than you need. If your main focus is on how the fighting goes, just say they start in a 30 ft by 30 ft room, entering from doors on opposing sides simultaneously.

Terrain, like Forests, modifies the base skill checks and encounter distances. You will probably have a whole series of posts trying to clarify it when you get to it. As much as I love to see someone putting some flavor into their combats, you might want to either a) focus on JUST how the encounter starts, leaving the combat for later; or b) simplify the start (as above) and leave the detection for later.

Medium Forest:
Maximum Encounter Distance: 2d8x10 ft. Anything over that, and you are no longer using Spot checks. (3.5 DMG, p.87).

Stealth in a Forest: Undergrowth gives a circumstance bonus to Hide checks. Fallen logs and trees provide cover, also enabling and enhancing Hide. Undergrowth penalizes Move Silently checks, but the background noise of the forest also penalizes Listen checks.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

I think saying she heard him 1000 feet away is a bit of a strech. Woods might not block sound as well as sight but they still muffle it as does distance. You can't even hear a car 1000's of feet through the woods.

A thousand feet is NOTHING in the woods. In a crowded city, the noise would be drowned out by the endless traffic, people, and machinery, but in the woods, a cracking branch, brush raking across leather, a muffled grunt, can carry a long, long, way. Not to mention the clanking of armor.

 

[IcyCool]

Claire stands up and takes Cover on the edge of the glade, wondering who is approaching.

This is a Hide check.

She readies a Shocking Grasp, in case this something approaching is hostile.

As combat rounds have not started, she cannot 'Ready an Action', although she can cast Shocking Grasp and hold the charge. If Shocking Grasp has a verbal component, she must 'speak in a loud, clear voice', thereby alerting Narrin to her presence (he'll most likely be able to hear her, just as she hear him).

He advances into the glade, and looks around for Claire (since no Search skill, does an Intelligence check at a penalty of 2 (DM's Friend rule, since she is hiding), rolls a 7, and spots her.

Nope. Spot is used to find hidden creatures. Search is only ever used to look for traps and the like. Spot to find hidden foes, Search to find traps. In this case, say that Claire got a 10 on her hide check. Narrin would then need a 10 on his spot check to see her.