Disconnect between stat blocks and some abilities

[MerricB]

One thing that infuriates me about some spell and ability designs is that they refer to things that aren't listed in stat blocks. Most often, I'm talking about armour bonuses.

Here's a good spell: Wraithstrike. (Complete Adventurer). While it is in effect, your melee attacks are treated as melee touch attacks. That's great. No extra info needed, as the current stat blocks have touch ACs.

Here's a bad feat: Deft Strike. (Complete Adventurer). You can make an attack that ignores natural armour bonuses and armour bonuses to AC. That's a problem - they're not listed in the stat block.

I'm sure that some of this is merely due to the change in stat blocks between early 3e and today; specific AC bonuses are no longer called out. It's still annoying.

Cheers!

 

[Azar]

as are you
[edit: rude comments not allowed here! --Pielorinho]

 

[FireLance]

as are you

That was rather rude, and it did not add anything to this thread, so it seemed rather pointless on two counts. I am not a moderator, but you might want to review the rules before posting further.

Back on topic: I make up my own stat blocks for use in my games, so I add the breakdown of AC bonuses in parentheses after the AC. It usually takes up at most one additional line. Some other changes I've made to the stat block are:

1. I add the armor check penalty in parentheses after the skills headling.
2. If a character has cross-class skills, I add the number of cross-class skill points allocated to that skill after the skill modifier.

So, the skills line might look like this:

Skills: [ACP -5] Climb -2, Hide +2, Jump -2, Listen +5 [4 cc], Move Silently +0, Ride +7, Spot +3 [4 cc]

 

[Morrus]

as are you

7 posts and banned already? Well done.

That was totally uncalled for and utterly rude.

 

[MerricB]

I make up my own stat blocks for use in my games, so I add the breakdown of AC bonuses in parentheses after the AC. It usually takes up at most one additional line. Some other changes I've made to the stat block are:

1. I add the armor check penalty in parentheses after the skills headling.
2. If a character has cross-class skills, I add the number of cross-class skill points allocated to that skill after the skill modifier.

So, the skills line might look like this:

Skills: [ACP -5] Climb -2, Hide +2, Jump -2, Listen +5 [4 cc], Move Silently +0, Ride +7, Spot +3 [4 cc]

That's very interesting, FireLance. The ACP entry is especially useful.

Does anyone use abbreviations for AC bonuses? I've been following the Minis game version of AC 18, t13, ff15 (t=touch, ff=flat-footed) on many occasions, but I haven't yet gone to AC 18 (+4ar, +3dx, +1df), t13, ff15 yet.

(ar=armour, dx=dexterity, df=deflection)

Cheers!

 

[shilsen]

Does anyone use abbreviations for AC bonuses? I've been following the Minis game version of AC 18, t13, ff15 (t=touch, ff=flat-footed) on many occasions, but I haven't yet gone to AC 18 (+4ar, +3dx, +1df), t13, ff15 yet.

(ar=armour, dx=dexterity, df=deflection)

I do, except I don't even bother with abbreviations. I'll go with:

AC 18 (+4 armor, +3 Dex, +1 Deflection), touch 14, flatfooted 15

Basically the same as the MM.

 

[FireLance]

Does anyone use abbreviations for AC bonuses? I've been following the Minis game version of AC 18, t13, ff15 (t=touch, ff=flat-footed) on many occasions, but I haven't yet gone to AC 18 (+4ar, +3dx, +1df), t13, ff15 yet.

(ar=armour, dx=dexterity, df=deflection)

I don't, but I might just decide to, for stat blocks that I refer to myself. That will certainly help keep the AC entry to just one line.

 

[GuardianLurker]

And another for using a more detailed armor line my variant looks like this:

AC 23 (+1 dex, -2 size, +6 armor, +2 natural, +2 deflection, +4 haste) [50% miss]

for a hasted invisible creature. Basically its the MM, except I don't bother with touch and flatfoot, and I do include the adjustments from any spells and abilities I expect them to have.

 

[reveal]

That's very interesting, FireLance. The ACP entry is especially useful.

Does anyone use abbreviations for AC bonuses? I've been following the Minis game version of AC 18, t13, ff15 (t=touch, ff=flat-footed) on many occasions, but I haven't yet gone to AC 18 (+4ar, +3dx, +1df), t13, ff15 yet.

(ar=armour, dx=dexterity, df=deflection)

Cheers!

I've been using T and FF to represent Touch and Flatfooted AC's, respectively, for a few years. I didn't know they did it in the Minis game.

 

[Shade]

One thing that infuriates me about some spell and ability designs is that they refer to things that aren't listed in stat blocks. Most often, I'm talking about armour bonuses.

Here's a good spell: Wraithstrike. (Complete Adventurer). While it is in effect, your melee attacks are treated as melee touch attacks. That's great. No extra info needed, as the current stat blocks have touch ACs.

Here's a bad feat: Deft Strike. (Complete Adventurer). You can make an attack that ignores natural armour bonuses and armour bonuses to AC. That's a problem - they're not listed in the stat block.

I'm sure that some of this is merely due to the change in stat blocks between early 3e and today; specific AC bonuses are no longer called out. It's still annoying.

Cheers!

Actually, it is the stat block format that infuriates me for leaving off this information, not the spells or feats for making use of things that are allowed in the rules.

I don't use stat blocks for this very reason. Instead, I use the Monster Manual-style stats that actually list all the crucial information.