DC to spot a hiding orc, while fighting

[Lord Thurham]

This is a situation that may come up in the next session for the PCs: There will more than likely be several Orc rogues hiding in several buildings. The windows of those buildings have shutters and for the most part are closed. Orcs don’t like the sunlight. The party will be pre-occupied with another orc / wolverine battle in the courtyard. The rogue orcs will open the shutters a crack or so and shoot from their nice hiding spots. Nice arrow slits eh?

So, in a nut-shell, once a party member is struck from an arrow from a general direction (a sneak-attack most likely), what considerations do I need to do to give the PC a chance of detecting where that arrow came from and whether or not the PC can actually see the orc hiding behind the shutters. I’m well aware of the SPOT vs HIDE checks, I’m more interested in what circumstance modifiers I should include on this and any other input.

Since in 3e, there is no “Forward-face”, there is a chance that PC may see the shot and know where it came from, so that PC returns fire to that spot in the window. There’s bound to be a high cover bonus, not to mention the orc is in “hiding” and does not want to be seen. How would you handle this?

Thanks!



LT

 

[Lord Thurham]

Oops Wrong Forum, I will repost this in the other forum

 

[Drawmack]

As you mentioned there is the spot vs. hide check. This is the correct mechanic to use now it's all up to the modifiers. Here are somethings to consider

1) When a character gets hit they know the general direction the arrow came from. I.E. if the player is hit in the left shoulder blade they can narrow it down to bbeing anywhere from dead left to about middle back. If the detail includes the angle of penetration then they can narrow it down even farther but they should know within a 90 degree area where the arrow came from. (+2 Spot)

2) Any character that is not in melee will see the arrows start raining in and have an fairly easy time discerning where at least some of the arrows are coming from (+4 Spot)

3) Any character involved in melee is probably going to be much more focused on the immediate threat then on the rogues with the bows. (-4 Spot)

4) Only the first round that the Orcs are firing the arrows is a sneak attack. After that the players are aware that snipers are present.

5) The Orcs have about 90% cover. (appropriate modifiers to hide).

6) The shutters that the Orcs are behind will be off set. While empty windows will probably be all the way open or all the way closed the sutters that the Orcs are behind will be open a little. Let's face it Orcs aren't smart enough to cover this up. (+2 Spot)

7) Taking damage effects someone's concentration. (-2 Spot)

8) Refocusing would include attempting to figure out where the hell those arrows are coming from. (+2 Spot)

Hope that helps.