D&D 3E/3.5 D&D 3.5 Rule Oddities

[Dandu]

Since this seems like a good-natured thread, maybe it's not too provoking to point out that the javelin throw in D&D Olympics is a very curious event indeed. I'd like to see it.

A javalin isn't necessarily a javalin.

 

[Tharkon]

Perfectly explained in under the Vitality Points variant UA, p116.
Without taking the entire variant in the game it is perfectly acceptable to think of part of your hitpoints as wound points and the rest as vitality points.

Vitality points are a measure of a character's ability to turn a direct hit into a graze or a glancing blow with no serious consequences. Like hit points in the standard D&D rules, vitality points go up with level, giving high-level characters more ability to shrug off attacks. Most types of damage reduce vitality points.

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

Hoever i think its more than physical/constitution-al hardness. I think there is experience involved somehow. Perhaps not in terms of actual agility... but some measure of knowledge on how to take a hit...

That's a valid explanation, though it's too much micromanagement for me. My all-purpose explanation, for hit points and anything else that apparently doesn't make sense in D&D, is "It's magic!"

It's simple, and it neatly explains even weird situations like "How can my character reliably and fall hundreds of feet?" and "How can my character survive total immersion in lava?"

 

[Jimlock]

That's a valid explanation, though it's too much micromanagement for me. My all-purpose explanation, for hit points and anything else that apparently doesn't make sense in D&D, is "It's magic!"

It's simple, and it neatly explains even weird situations like "How can my character reliably and fall hundreds of feet?" and "How can my character survive total immersion in lava?"

Honestly... i don't understand where you see any "micromanagement" in this...
Its just a way of interpreting the numbers. There are no rules involved.

When i describe a battle scene as a DM, or when i play a character, i like to describe/imagine how a battle wearies on the combatants blow after blow... or how each hit is not necessarily a "hit" but perhaps a swing that merely connected due to the defenders know-how... HPs can provide this sort of information.

I agree that the "It's magic!" rule can be applied on many a circumstances, but i also believe that realism is necessary as well... i look for it, and the more i find the better.

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

Honestly... i don't understand where you see any "micromanagement" in this...
Its just a way of interpreting the numbers. There are no rules involved.

I don't mean micromanagement of bank accounts or anything with numbers. I mean with all the elaborate ways of describing hit points and other weird D&D stuff, I can start to feel like it's work. Like it's creative micromanagement.

All that creative justification for why my character can do crazy heroic stuff can be fun as an occasional mental exercise, but as a general rule I use the "It's magic" explanation for all the bizarre things that happen in D&D. Because honestly, D&D laughs at realism. And then takes its lunch money.

 

[Jimlock]

I don't mean micromanagement of bank accounts or anything with numbers. I mean with all the elaborate ways of describing hit points and other weird D&D stuff, I can start to feel like it's work. Like it's creative micromanagement.

All that creative justification for why my character can do crazy heroic stuff can be fun as an occasional mental exercise, but as a general rule I use the "It's magic" explanation for all the bizarre things that happen in D&D. Because honestly, D&D laughs at realism. And then takes its lunch money.

I get your POV... i'll just continue for the sake of argument...

I, like yourself perhaps, like my game as simple as i can keep it. If something starts to feel like it's work, in a sense that it takes more time than it should... or that it complicates rules more than they already are, i leave it behind.

Personally, interpreting the "reality" of the game, does not fall in such a category..
Sure... D&D is full of unrealistic stuff... or stuff that do not even make sense... Yet for the sake of good story telling, the more you can explain what is going on...the better the story is INHO.

D&D characters, beasts, places and circumstances,... even though far more powerful, bizarre and incomprehensible than real life humans, animals etc... are still somewhat related to some real life counterpart of theirs. So if i want to picture how a dragon flies, i relate it to the flight of a bird...if i want to picture a warrior standing after having taken multiple hits, i relate him to a real life martial artist... etc etc... I admit its not always easy to find the counterpart... but like i said earlier.. I look for realism, and the more i find the better.

just saying...

 

[aboyd]

Drowning rules.

Have you ever noticed there's no way to stop drowning?

Smoke inhalation is similar. Though it's possible to stop the smoke inhalation, once it starts it's very hard to stop it. From the SRD:

Smoke Effects
A character who breathes heavy smoke must make a Fortitude save each round (DC 15, +1 per previous check) or spend that round choking and coughing. A character who chokes for 2 consecutive rounds takes 1d6 points of nonlethal damage.

The problem? Once you fail a save, you are denied an action to move away from the smoke which forces you to have to make another save the next round (because you're still in the smoke) and now the save is +1 harder.

If you ever fail a saving throw while in smoke, odds are good it's a downward spiral that you cannot escape. Your character will be frozen in place, coughing, and failing more & more difficult saving throws each round.

 

[Tharkon]

Smoke inhalation is similar. Though it's possible to stop the smoke inhalation, once it starts it's very hard to stop it. From the SRD:


The problem? Once you fail a save, you are denied an action to move away from the smoke which forces you to have to make another save the next round (because you're still in the smoke) and now the save is +1 harder.

If you ever fail a saving throw while in smoke, odds are good it's a downward spiral that you cannot escape. Your character will be frozen in place, coughing, and failing more & more difficult saving throws each round.

I believe it says somewhere that you can always move 5 ft. per round unless someone specifically says you can't move, or if common sense dictates otherwise (like being bound, or enclosed in walls, etc). Such movement would not be a 5-ft. step per sé though, and is subject to attacks of opportunity. The concealment of the smoke applies to this attack of opportunity though.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

That's "As a full-round action, you can move 5' regardless of encumbrance or difficult terrain."

If you don't have a full-round action to take ...

 

[Tharkon]

That's "As a full-round action, you can move 5' regardless of encumbrance or difficult terrain."

If you don't have a full-round action to take ...

To be honest, it doesn't say that choking and/or coughing costs any actions.

It's all up to interpretation I guess.
Using common sense I'd say it should be at least as bad as being nauseated, but should not prevent movement at all.
Alternatively, there might be some free actions that allow you to stop inhaling smoke. If the smoke isn't near the floor dropping to the floor might work, starting to hold your breath is probably a free action as well. Eventually you're also likely to make a Fortitude save and be able to move twice your speed.
And let's not forget that it is not uncommon for common people (Fort save +0) to suffocate in smoke. So you have to be lucky (roll high) or tougher than average (high Fort save) to get out.