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

[Hypersmurf]

Finally the barbarian just needs the improvised ranged weapon rules from the PHB, an easy -4 to hit.

And a full round action to throw, not just a ranged attack.

-Hyp.

 

[BrooklynKnight]

Would bluffing two goblins into attacking their gnoll ally count as over the top? .


In the game Keith Baker ran at Winter Fantasy, I used a table, as a stepping stone, to step on a PC's shoulder to jump over him so I can dive bomb directly unto an adversary we were facing. Since there was no way around or through my group to a spot where I could attack, I decided to go OVER them.

Granted I had to roll a jump check, and the attack was obviously at a penalty, but thats what action points are for!

 

[frugal]

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.

My first reaction to "firing his bow" as a player in a group with 3 longbow archers as players is to cringe. The GMs response would be "why do you want to set light to your bow?"

I do not see why falling and shooting is a problem. Move equivalent action to jump out of the window tumbling to avoid damage. Standard action to get a shot off. It would be an issue if the Tiefling tried to get off more than one shot, or if they did not have a bow drawn.

 

[Bendris Noulg]

I do not see why falling and shooting is a problem. Move equivalent action to jump out of the window tumbling to avoid damage. Standard action to get a shot off. It would be an issue if the Tiefling tried to get off more than one shot, or if they did not have a bow drawn.

Actually, it was more the unclarity of the initial post; It starts with the dwarf on the second floor jumping from a window, and then moves on to other characters jumping from a window without specifying that the Tiefling (or anyone else) is only on the 1st floor, which Galeros states in his reply to my post and isn't so bad.

However, this same reply also indicates that the act was 1 roll only (an Attack roll, no Tumble check). If it works for his group, great. But I also have to weigh this up from the position of "If I were a player in the group, what would I think?" To which the answer would be that the GM (Galeros in this instance) is being over-lenient and eliminating what I consider to be half of the challenge.

Dr. Strangemonkey: Glad you like that. I have this unfortunate quality of attempting to put movies and shows into game terms, particularly movies I've seen a few too many times. While the "martyr of luck" idea isn't my standard fair, it does make the role of "hapless hero" more feasible. Not sure if I'm ever going to write it up, but if you do, please send it my way; I'd be interested in seeing it.

 

[diaglo]

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

I'm with Crothian on this one.

they can attempt to set barrels of ale on fire....but it ain't gonna happen.

 

[Henry]

Just last game session I let my players do some of the most over-the-top-outrageous feats ever seen.

Then again, we WERE playing Feng Shui...

I let my players in D&D get away with some strange things from time to time, but in general, I try to keep it at a "moderate physics" level - people can swing from chandeliers and several other swachbucking antics, but "wire-fu" level (walking on willow branches, 30 ft. jump kiks, etc.) without some sort of magic at work is shot down.

 

[Balrog]

The craziest thing I personally ever attempted as a PLAYER was to leap off a cliff onto the back of a fleeing black dragon. The character was a 10th level Dwarven fighter with multiple attacks. This was in a 2nd Edition game, so the DM ruled that to jump onto his back, I had make a separate attack roll against the Dragon's AC. He reduced the difficulty of that slightly, and of course the risk was that missing would result in a fall of about 300 feet. I succeeded at the initial attack roll, landed square on his back, and he allowed me one final attack before the end of the round. I rolled a NAT 20 and nearly dropped him right there. Here was the kicker: I had a a flaming cask of Dwarven spirits on my back which did a little extra damage to the beastie as I landed on his back. Luckily I had a Ring of Fire Resistance which protected me from that.

Of course, in the aftermath, I ended up falling anyway after the dragon died, but the DM ruled that the dragon cushioned softened the fall somewhat. I ended up looking up from the ravine with 1 hit point left, but on the back of a dead dragon.

 

[Balrog]

As a DM, I let a player try anything, but I always let them know the DC ahead of time, just to make them cognizant of the odds. Some hear the odds and wince, but others charge right ahead.

I had a barbarian try to jump DOWN on top of an aquatic ogre(IIRC) in an underground lake. The ogre had just surfaced with his longspear, and the barbarian grabbed his bastard sword in 2 hands and leaped down. THe ogre had reach with his spear, and his AoO was a critical....OUCH, can you say impaled barbarian!! I ruled poorly on the damage, and the barbarian ended up at 0 hps (IIRC he may have been 2nd level, and unwounded before the leap). The player was faced with a dilemna; take his attack and swoon from the exertion, or wait for aid. He decided to gamble, and not wait for the cavalry. He attacked, rolled a critical, and killed the ogre, but then promptly passed out and began drowning. Luckily the party was able to dive in and revive him before he died.

 

[Sir Brennen]

Being a kind-hearted DM, I allowed one PC to get an AoO on another, in order to save the PC from certain doom.

The two PCs, a paladin and a fighter/rogue, were going after the bad guy, running across a five foot wide bridge spanning a very deep chasm (with lots of electricty arcing below them.)

The villian had cast Grease on the bridge, and I let the PCs know that, if they failed their saves, there was a chance of going over the edge. They decided to chance it, and the heavy armored paladin slipped. I required second save to stay on the bridge. No good. I gave him another save to grab the edge and hang on, dangling dangerously over the chasm. He failed again.

The Ftr/Rog happened to have a spiked chain. He asked if he could try and snag the paladin before he fell. Since technically the paladin moved through the other PC's threatened area (albeit the threatened area below the fighter), I declared it an Attack of Opportunity, and let him try. Thankfully, his spiked chain snagged the paladin's leg, and saved him from extreme de-acceleration trauma.

 

[Hypersmurf]

The craziest thing I personally ever attempted as a PLAYER was to leap off a cliff onto the back of a fleeing black dragon. The character was a 10th level Dwarven fighter with multiple attacks. I had a a flaming cask of Dwarven spirits on my back which did a little extra damage to the beastie as I landed on his back. Luckily I had a Ring of Fire Resistance which protected me from that.

Are you sure it was a Ring of Fire Resistance, not a Frost Brand scimitar tucked into your pack?

-Hyp.