Dead Baaz as an obstruction

[Lord Zardoz]

If the players kill a Baaz draconian, they have the handy trick of turning into a statue, and perhaps disarming the one who killed him.

But if that statue is say, on a 5 foot wide rope bridge, how much of an obstruction will it provide, and how hard would a man sized stone statue be to move?

END COMMUNICATION

 

[Nifft]

But if that statue is say, on a 5 foot wide rope bridge, how much of an obstruction will it provide, and how hard would a man sized stone statue be to move?

How much of an obstruction is a 5 ft. hole in the bridge? Perhaps the bridge will break under its new heavier load?

Cheers, -- N

 

[Lord Zardoz]

A 5 foot obstruction from a hole in the bridge would be a DC 5 Jump check, presuming the ropes are otherwise intact.

The bridge is in good enough condition, and wide enough, that horses can cross it (albeit having to squeeze). If it can have a horse cross it, I do not think a statue ought to snap it. I consider the bridge to actually be about 3.5 to 4 feet wide. A large heavy statue showing up on it will make getting around it difficult if it does not fall off the bridge outright.

What i am looking for specifically:
- An appropriate Str DC to lift / push the statue off of the bridge.
- An appropriate balance DC to get past the obstruction without falling off the bridge

I would ball park the lift / push DC between 16 and 23 (as opening a stuck door). Other than applying the squeezing rules for trying to go around the statue, I am not sure what the DC to avoid falling off the bridge would be. I imagine that the statue will tangle into the ropes of the bridge and cause it to tilt a great deal.

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[Tiberius]

Sadly, not that much. From what I remember, Baaz corpses disintegrate shortly after they are slain. Their weapon-trapping ability is great for a pitched battle, but if you down the last one then you just have to wait a bit.

 

[Lord Zardoz]

Yes, they crumble 1d4 minutes later.

During that 4 minutes, they are going to have a hell of a time getting to the far side of the bridge. Given other factors not relevant to the question at hand, I am pretty sure the players will not want to wait.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[Stalker0]

Just have a few of them on the bridge while others are on the other side firing at you. Those statues will slow down the party while the archers rain arrows.

 

[Lord Zardoz]

Gee Stalker0, thats a good plan. Good thing I thought of it already (It is why the PC's wont want to wait for the statues to crumble).

That is why I wanted rules for dealing with how the statues would obstruct the bridge. The players can squeeze around the bottle neck, but I want doing so to be dangerous. To that end, I want to work the skill / ability checks to work in.

A Str check to push the statue off the bridge, which I am basing off a difficult open door check. They do not need to lift it clear over their heads and toss it, they just need to get the thing to move.

But I also need a balance check since a suspension bridge is a pretty precarious thing to try to stay balanced on while moving very heavy statues about. I figure the bridge will tilt pretty heavily in the area the statues is in.

So what i need:

- Str check to move the statues. I already ball parked it(between 16 and 23), but would not mind suggestions to narrow it down.
- Balance Check DC to avoid falling off when squeezing around a statue.
- Balance check DC to keep your footing when pushing the statue off. If you succeed, the bridge will suddenly push back. Fail, and you simply pushed yourself off the bridge.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[Infiniti2000]

My take is that first of all I would make them "lightweight" stone, i.e. they do not get heavier when dead. I would use the rules for squeezing to get past them, which means medium or small creatures move at half-speed through the one square (with normal squeezing modifiers at the time). The horses, however, would require an escape artist check to pass; which probably means they will not do it easily.

I would not have any other modifiers to fight while in the square with the statue (squeezing is quite enough). Any normal balance checks you have while on the bridge should already apply. Freeing yourself from buried rubble is a DC 25 strength check, so I would use something similar, i.e. at your upper end (so DC 23) to actually lift the statue and toss it over without risking damage to the side. Pushing it over should be relatively easy, say DC 16, and give the rope a DC 20 reflex save to avoid 1d6 damage from tearing (each side has 8 hp and 0 hardness). It's not likely to tear the side because I'm sure the heroes will alternate sides and the draconians will probably not keep dying in the same spot.

Good luck, and have fun!

 

[Infiniti2000]

Oh, as for the balance checks, I would not say they fall off unless the side edge of the bridge is gone. The balance check should be DC 10 near the middle (flattest) and DC 12 at the edges, with a +1 to +2 modifier per fighting combatant on the bridge.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

...if it does not fall off the bridge outright...

Exactly. Just make the statue fall off the bridge and be done with it. No need to make the situation any more complicated than it already is. Especially since the PCs are already facing the potential of having weapons stuck in the statue (although losing the weapons in a fall would be a bummer! ).