Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="CleverNickName" data-source="post: 5865334" data-attributes="member: 50987">The section of the 3.5E PHB about "Practically Impossible Tasks" actually made me cringe when I read it, particularly when it gave a Balance DC for not snapping a tree branch:[SBLOCK="Nerd Rage!"]"Sometimes you want to do something that seems practically impossible.  In general, a task considered practically impossible has a DC of 40, 60, or even high (or it carries a modifier of +20 or more to the DC). Practically impossible tasks are hard to delineate ahead of time.  They're the accomplishments that represent incredible, almost logic-defying skill and luck.  Picking a lock by giving it a single, swift kick might entail a +20 modifier to the DC; swimming up a waterfall could require a Swim check against DC 80, and balancing on a fragile tree branch might have a DC of 90. The DM decides what is actually impossible and what is merely practically impossible.  Characters with very high skill modifiers are capable of accomplishing incredible, almost unbelievable tasks, just as characters with very high combat bonuses are." - the 3.5E PHB, page 65Seriously?  Enough training in Balance allows me to defy the laws of gravity and/or material science, so that a twig's elastic modulus can support a 200-lb body?  Or if I learn to pick locks well enough, I can bend physics to turn the force of a single boot impact into multi-directional torques, divide them among the dozens of separate parts of a complicated lock, in the proper order, so that all of the tumblers align all by themselves?  And don't even get me started on how the Swim skill could be used to change the size, shape, and drag coefficient of a human being to equal that of a salmon.Rawr.  Grrrr.  Huff huff huff...whew.  Sorry about that; I just needed to get that off my chest.  I think I've got my nerd rage in check now.[/SBLOCK]The "kitchen sink character" is a trend that I don't really care for.  I think every character class should have an iconic ability that cannot be emulated (or even attempted) by any other classes.  Whether it is fighting with a katana or casting a spell, these things should be beyond the reach of the ordinary population.  A fighter might be able to surprise his foe and catch him off guard, but only a rogue adds sneak attack damage.Otherwise, why bother with classes at all?</blockquote>

Verification