Does one attack roll = one attack?

[The Shaman]

Melee attack? No, a melee attack may consist of a series of feints, parries, and strikes in a six-second round, particularly with smaller, lighter weapons.

Ranged attack? Yes, one roll constitutes one attack, as reflected by ammunition expenditure.

 

[kolikeos]

no, i don't think so. but when it comes to ranged attacks its arrow per attack, which does not at all seem possible (15 arrows a round?! who the heck can fire 15 arrows a round?!)

 

[Imperialus]

in 3.x I generally discribe it as one "real" swing. Like Imret said I'll usually discribe it as containing a brief feint a swung fist or a testing jab but that's about it. For example if a traditional sword and board fighter scores a hit on an orc I might say something like:

"you recover after reeling back from his previous swing which knocked a chunk out of your shield, he raises his sword to bring it on your head but you kick his knee hearing a satisfying crunch, as he bellows in pain you swing your sword in a wide arc and see it bite into the chainmail links over his ribs."

I have a list of various brief combat discriptions that I have written up previously with general guidelines on which one to use if someone did a little damage, moderate damage, or a lot of damage. I find it makes the combat a great deal more cinimatic and engaging even if it does slow things down a little.

Also every "hit" doesn't nessesarally mean you hit him with your blade. A lousy damage roll might mean that you locked blades with him and instead punched him in the face with the pommel of your sword, kicked him in the groin, caught him in the jaw with your shield sometimes even drawing another weapon like a dagger and stabbing him with that ect. Melee combat should be messy violent affairs with even the most alturistic of paladins using dirty tricks, headbutts, suckerpunches, improvised weapons and the terrain to try and take advantage of their opponant.

 

[Aaron L]

In eariler editions, no. But now, where a round is 6 seconds, yeah, thats the way I see it. At low levels most of your effort is going into lining up a swing and trying to keep yourself from getting hit, the better you get the more youre able to go on the offensive.

 

[davidschwartznz]

(15 arrows a round?! who the heck can fire 15 arrows a round?!)

Would you believe English longbowmen during the 14th and 15th century? When the king bans other sports so you have more time to practice archery, you get very good at it.

 

[Uder]

Would you believe English longbowmen during the 14th and 15th century? When the king bans other sports so you have more time to practice archery, you get very good at it.

I would love to read a source for this opinion.

 

[frankthedm]

I voted one roll = one swing, mainly because at lower levels it's harder to justify why none of those other swings ever hit

Those extra swings are AoOs that hit.

 

[Vanye]

I would love to read a source for this opinion.

For a 1st/2nd Ed game, its possible, with their 1 minute long rounds:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Longbow

http://www.historicalweapons.com/bowandarrow.html

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/longbow.htm

Plus most texts dealing with the battles of the French and English, particularly with material dealing with Agincourt typically explain that an English/Welsh archer could put between 8-12 arrows into the air per minute, with some documentation of people who could do about twice that (so about 16 or so).

Note, this says nothing as to their accuracy....think an improved rapid shot feat, where you declared your number of attacks per round (say up to your level...) and took a -2 penalty per shot, and had to take them alll...

 

[Uder]

For a 1st/2nd Ed game, its possible, with their 1 minute long rounds:

Excellent reading, and I agree it fits for AD&D. For D&D3.X, I would still love to see a source that suggests firing 150 arrows a minute is possible.

 

[Uder]

Those extra swings are AoOs that hit.

Are we talking about different things solely to disagree? I was talking about how many swings are attendent to a single roll, not how many take place in a combat round. Those AoOs get their own attack roll, and are very definitely "1 roll = 1 hit."