DMs: Do you let your players do over the top things?

[Tinker Gnome]

Okay, last game I let my players do some crazy stuff. I let a Dwarven Cleric jump out of the window on the second floor of a tavern and smash the goblin riding worg below, he also smashed the worg. I let the Human Bard jump out of a window latch his whip onto a tree and smash a worgs skull in with his foot. I let a Tierfling Rogue/Fighter jump out of a window tumble and shoot an arrow at a goblin. I also let the Human Barbarian throw his greatsword at a goblin(which gave him a large minus to hit) but he still hit the goblins AC. And i let them do it all with a single attack roll.

Oh, they were also throwing flaming barrels of ale off the second floor of the tavern.

 

[DragonLancer]

I let players do that, but (and you guys may disagree) I make them roll for it. Normal actions are fine but cool moves like you describe need rolls.

Sometimes I feel that its too much (I have one player who loves the tumble skill far too much), but if its fun for the players and it doesn't mess around with the game in any way, then I think its a good thing.

 

[Bendris Noulg]

When you say "single attack roll", do you mean with or without Jump, Tumble, etc.

For instance, the Bard using the whip and the tree probably should have rolled for the (AC10?) tree branch, the Dwarf should have made a Jump check, etc.

Otherwise, the only "over the top" action in your post, in my opinion, is the Tiefling Tumbling and firing his bow at the same time.

Now, make it a 10th floor window, and about the only thing PCs in my game would have done is make a big >splat!< after jumping.

On the other hand, if you are wondering if what you allowed is "good" or "bad" is up to the group. If you're worried about your leniency towards these things being abused by the players, consider using Action Points, as those are the sorts of actions that APs are intended to allow, and then the players know that they can only go "over the top" X number of times, giving them some freedom and saving you a lot of abjudicating sensibility.

 

[dekrass]

Okay, last game I let my players do some crazy stuff. I let a Dwarven Cleric jump out of the window on the second floor of a tavern and smash the goblin riding worg below, he also smashed the worg. I let the Human Bard jump out of a window latch his whip onto a tree and smash a worgs skull in with his foot. I let a Tierfling Rogue/Fighter jump out of a window tumble and shoot an arrow at a goblin. I also let the Human Barbarian throw his greatsword at a goblin(which gave him a large minus to hit) but he still hit the goblins AC. And i let them do it all with a single attack roll.

Oh, they were also throwing flaming barrels of ale off the second floor of the tavern.

I've had many such games, it can be a lot of fun! You just have to rule on the fly.
I generally use more than a simple attack roll, though. For the cleric I would require a jump check, then an attack, and to hit both would require cleave. The bard is tricky, but I would use an attack to hit the tree, then tumble, then an attack on the goblin. The fighter/rogue is pretty straight forward if he isn't moving too far. Finally the barbarian just needs the improvised ranged weapon rules from the PHB, an easy -4 to hit. Sounds like you have a really action packed game! I use more rolls both to make it seem a little more realistic, and to not penalize my less creative players too much.

 

[Crothian]

I don't allow them to do anything...I allow them to attempt anything. Succeeding is a completely different topic

 

[Tinker Gnome]

When you say "single attack roll", do you mean with or without Jump, Tumble, etc.

For instance, the Bard using the whip and the tree probably should have rolled for the (AC10?) tree branch, the Dwarf should have made a Jump check, etc.

Otherwise, the only "over the top" action in your post, in my opinion, is the Tiefling Tumbling and firing his bow at the same time.

Now, make it a 10th floor window, and about the only thing PCs in my game would have done is make a big >splat!< after jumping.

On the other hand, if you are wondering if what you allowed is "good" or "bad" is up to the group. If you're worried about your leniency towards these things being abused by the players, consider using Action Points, as those are the sorts of actions that APs are intended to allow, and then the players know that they can only go "over the top" X number of times, giving them some freedom and saving you a lot of abjudicating sensibility.

I just remembered another thing. I let the Barbarian jump across the tavern and crush a goblin to death with his weight. I know i had him roll a jump check. I think I had the Dwarf roll a jump check, but I am not sure. As for the Bard, yeah I let him do it with one roll. The Tiefling was only jumping out of the first story window, and he fired the bow after he tumbled, but yeah, one roll for that as well.

I find that I enjoy this more than requiring a bunch of rolls and different feats.

 

[The Spectrum Rider]

I let them try. And then I make them roll. Sometimes the DC is very high, but IMC we use open-ended dice rolling, so there's always a chance.

Most over-the-top attempts fail, but the players seem to prefer that to "no, you can't try." And on the occasions they succeed... happy dance time!

Some things, of course, they just can't do.

The Spectrum Rider

 

[Tinker Gnome]

So, most of you make them roll a bunch of rolls. That is cool to.

Oh yeah, and I said the goblin the Tiefling shot flew like fifty feet. Well, I just moved the mini back around fify feet and put him on his back, but I think they got the point.

We never even rolled for inititiave during the fight, we sort of forgot.

 

[RangerWickett]

I think adding extra rolls is unnecessary. Just think, what is this ultimately trying to do? Then depending on how much 'free stuff' they get with their manuever or trick, give them penalties.

If a guy just wants to lash his whip onto a treebranch overhead, swing, and attack, then it's basically a charge, so let him make a charge, with no penalty.

If he wants to whip a tree outside a second story window, swing down, and attack, it's still a charge, but he gets a free jump down one story, so give him, say, a -2 penalty, but it's still a charge.

If a Dwarf wants to jump out of a window and fall on a worg's back to attack the rider, it's effectively, surprise surprise, a charge. Again, make it a charge, but with a -2 penalty that balances out the bonus from the charge attack.

Let's see. . . . The best over the top thing I had happen this past week was let a monk/psion do the following move:

The main party was surrounded on all sides by multiple warriors, and the monk/psion PC was about 50 feet away. With a ring of jumping, speed of thought, the run feat, and mental leap, the psion did a flying kick with a jump of about 30 feet, and because her kick dropped the warrior she hit, I let her use her Cleave feat on the enemy soldier on the opposite side of the crowd. Basically she ran, jumped, landed on one guy's head and crushed his skull, flipped back up into the air, and then took out another soldier with an aerial roundhouse kick.

It was basically a charge, so. . . .

 

[Tonguez]

If he wants to whip a tree outside a second story window, swing down, and attack, it's still a charge, but he gets a free jump down one story, so give him, say, a -2 penalty, but it's still a charge.

If a Dwarf wants to jump out of a window and fall on a worg's back to attack the rider, it's effectively, surprise surprise, a charge. Again, make it a charge, but with a -2 penalty that balances out the bonus from the charge attack.

I agree I let over the top attacks happen (like swing down out of a tree to kick the ogre in the back of the head)

I'd say okay Ogre AC is 16 + 2 for the trick = roll to hit AC 18

For the examples given I'd probably rule thus
I let a Dwarven Cleric jump out of the window on the second floor of a tavern and smash the goblin riding worg below, he also smashed the worg

Its only second storey so no prob there trick AC+2 (worg gets stunned and looses its action this round)

I let the Human Bard jump out of a window latch his whip onto a tree and smash a worgs skull in with his foot. AC +4 (fancy trick)

I let a Tierfling Rogue/Fighter jump out of a window tumble and shoot an arrow at a goblin. AC +2

I also let the Human Barbarian throw his greatsword at a goblin Roll BAb - 4