D&D Word Problem Quiz

[Steverooo]

Re: D&D Word Problem Quiz #2

#2. In order to impress the locals, Litefoot wants to do a backward somersault off the bar table and throw his dagger to hit the bull's eye on the dart board 20 feet away...all at the same time.

First, the GM looks at the player and asks: "You're joking, right?" After being assured that (s)he is serious, I would call for an impossible task roll, requiring at least 10 Ranks in Tumbling and +10 BAB, then compute the AC of the target (what was it, 13?) and use the higher of that and the Tumbling check (DC:15), telling the player that they needed to succeed by 20 or more, thus basically DC:35. I would also inform them that, if they waited until they landed before throwing, it would be DC:15 Tumble, followed by a normal attack upon AC 13, and ask them what they wanted to do...

Yeah, those mid-air shots where you can't see your target are tough! YMMV.

 

[Steverooo]

Re: D&D Word Problem Quiz #7

#7. Mac the Knife wants to convince the guard to let him pass and the player roleplays the situation excellently.

No rolls, at all. Period. If the player wants to roleplay it, I would encourage it. I would gauge his/her arguements against the guard's reason(s) for keeping the PC out, and if they RPed "excellent", let them win past. Rolls are for when they run out of ideas.

 

[Steverooo]

Re: D&D Word Problem Quiz #10

#10 Ninjoe tosses 3 shurikens at Sam Urai. Sam attempts to knock them out of the air with his katana before they strike him. (Note, this same sitaution could be applied to Aragon and a thrown Uruk Hai dagger.)

Poor Sam is in deep Kim-Chi! No 3e mechanic exists for this, and even the Deflect Arrows Feat calls for empty hands, not a Katanna!

2e had a parry mechanic... Subtract the PC's level from the opponent's attack roll. The GM could allow Sam to do that, if he liked, but then everyone else would want the same privelege!

Aragorn, of course, could block all three shuriken in one fell swoop, or catch the Uruk-Hai's missile in-flight, return it to him via air-mail, and resheathe it for him (in his throat)! Everyone knows Aragorn can do anything!

 

[Steverooo]

Re: D&D Word Problem Quiz #3

#3. Aragorn wants to do the infamous Toss The Dwarf maneuver to get his buddy Gimli unto the bridge full of orcs 8 feet away. Gimli wants to land swinging, possibly using the force of his flight behind his first attack.

Well, if it's really Aragorn and Gimli, why even bother to roll for success? I roll 1D100 (generating a 95), and they succeed in spectacular fashion, bowling all the orcs over, knocking several off the bridge, Gimli splits two more in the first round, and Bull-Rushes the rest off in the next (where is Legolas, anyway? He should be picking off a few!)

Now if this were PCs, instead, I'd have the Heir of Gorn roll for the "Fastball Special" using the Throwing Heavy Objects rules, using the Gimlet as the object, and doing damage on a hit.

The Gimlet could, upon landing, make his usual attacks, being treated as charging (even if he hadn't covered the full charging distance). He might even use it as an Over-run, if his player wished, although he'd have to continue over (or off) the bridge for the full movement!

 

[FireLance]

This is fun...

1) Like Auraseer said, resolve this with the usual grapple rules. But, like Steveroo said, roll initiative first. If Damselin wins, she can take a double move to move away from the pit.

2) Auraseer's DC 15 tumble check sounds right to me for a backward somersault. If failed, Litefoot falls prone. Normally, prone attackers cannot attack with a ranged weapon apart from a crossbow, but I'd allow a thrown dagger at -4, the same penalty as a prone melee attack. If Litefoot hits, I'd allow a +2 circumstance bonus to any Diplomacy or Intimidate checks he makes.

3) If Aragorn makes a DC 10 Strength check, Gimli gets a +2 circumstance bonus on his Jump check. Alas, even if he jumps onto the bridge, 8 feet of movement is not enough to perform the charge action. Gimli would have to jump 10 feet before I'd allow a charge. Either way, I'd give a +1 bonus to hit for an attacker being on higher ground for Gimli's first attack.

4) Assuming a money pouch is Fine, the AC of an unattended, immobile money pouch is 13 (10 - 5 + 8). Shurshott has -4 penalty for range unless he has feats that offset this.

5) The AC of the money pouch is 10 + Rich Merchant's Dex modifier + 8 + 5 for being held in the hand, plus any deflection bonus to AC that Rich Merchant has. Assuming Rich Merchant is average, the AC would be 23. The range penalty is the same.

6) The AC of the money pouch is 10 + Rich Merchant's Dex modifier + 8 plus any deflection bonus to AC that Rich Merchant has. It no longer gets a +5 AC bonus since it is no longer in Rich Merchant's hand. Assuming Rich Merchant is average, the AC would be 18. The range penalty is the same.

7) If the player has an above-average Charisma or has put enough ranks in Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate to have a positive modifier, I'd let him through. However, if he has a Charisma of 6 and zero ranks in all these skills, the best role-playing in the world would just get him a +2 circumstance bonus.

8) Straight Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate check, player's choice.

9) Depending on how Mac approaches it: Simple persuasion will be an opposed Diplomacy check. Fast-talking will be a Bluff check opposed by the merchant's Sense Motive check. Threatening will be an Intimidate check. In all cases, Mac gets a -2 circumstance penalty because the merchant is suspicious. If Mac wins, he gets the best price, otherwise, the merchant offers a lower price.

10) Sam is out of luck, unless he has the Deflect Arrows feat and a free hand.

 

[LostSoul]

Re: Re: D&D Word Problem Quiz #10

Poor Sam is in deep Kim-Chi! No 3e mechanic exists for this, and even the Deflect Arrows Feat calls for empty hands, not a Katanna!

No, Hit Points cover this. He takes a hit and it does damage, and if Sam isn't dropped to less than zero he successfully knocked the shuriken out of the air. Or maybe he's less successful, based on how many Hit Points he has.

 

[LostSoul]

Re: Re: D&D Word Problem Quiz #2

Yeah, those mid-air shots where you can't see your target are tough! YMMV.

So is falling down 50 feet and not feeling a thing.
"How you doing down there?"
"I'm fine, just a scratch."

I'd have the PC make a Tumble check (DC 15) as his Move action and make an Attack. Maybe I'd give the PC a -2 penalty because he's shooting "in mid air", but I doubt it. If the Player wants his Character to do something heroic, I'm all for it.

 

[AuraSeer]

The AC is 19, isn't it? It's in his hand, so it gets a +5 bonus (page 135, PH). Or does your base 10 already take that into account?

Right, I missed the +5 for being held in the hand. The AC is 19 for a Diminutive pouch, or 23 for FireLance's Fine pouch.

 

[WolverineJon]

#10 Ninjoe tosses 3 shurikens at Sam Urai. Sam attempts to knock them out of the air with his katana before they strike him. (Note, this same sitaution could be applied to Aragon and a thrown Uruk Hai dagger.)

For the example with Aragorn, if we assume that Aragorn won initative and figured that the enemy Uruk Hai would attack with a thrown dagger, would anyone here allow Aragorn to ready an action to "attack the first dagger thrown by the enemy that comes within range"?

Even if this were allowed, I'd assume that an extremely high AC would be assigned to the dagger, due to its velocity and small size.

If Aragorn manages to hit the thrown dagger anyway, the dagger is knocked aside (DM ruling). If Aragorn misses, then the dagger continues in its flight and either hits Aragorn or not, based on the Uruk Hai's attack roll. (Aragorn might lose his DEX bonus to AC, since he was standing his ground and attempting to strike the dagger, instead of trying to dodge out of the way as he normally would?)

 

[Larcen]

These are all great responses guys, thanks! You all get an "A" for effort.

It's really interesting to see how different people can come with different solutions, all using the same set of rules.

Steverooo, I completely agree that some rolls are for when the players run out of ideas. In fact, that recently came up in our current adventure. The DM required us to answer a different riddle before we can enter every building in a large courtyard. Well, after being stumped for a while, one of us suggested "Hey, my wizard has a 19 intelligence, why can't HE solve this damn thing?" Made sense to us, so we all agreed (with the DM's approval of course) that in the future there should be a time period where the players can try to solve a problem by roleplaying first and only when things start to bog down will skill checks come into play. In our case, we had like 15 minutes realtime to solve a given riddle, after that, everyone would make INT rolls, starting with the smartest PC on down, based on a DC dictated by how hard the DM thought the riddle was. Worked for us. I can see the same thing applying to trying to talk your way past a guard for instance.

LostSoul, loved your use of HPs for this situation. HPs always get a bum rap but they sometimes solve things very simply and cleanly. If Ninjoe hit Sam but didn't kill him, then why not? Well, Sam could have knocked the stars aside. And if significant damage was delt, maybe he only knocked them aside enough so that they grazed him. I like it. Much better than saying Sam took all three shurikins square in the face neck and chest and laughed it off.