Facing

[Lord Zardoz]

Given the news item and its mention of facing, it seems a worth while topic.

Should 4th edition have facing?

Pros:
Rogue would probably get the sneak attack from behind.
Adds to the tactical movement options, is taking an AoO worth while if you can get to his rear?
With facing, we can probably discard horses taking up 10x10 squares, and other oddities.

Cons:
Makes using random markers as place holders for mini's more difficult
Adds complexity in general (ie, do you get to make AoOs on people approaching from behind)?

What do you think? By the way, if you are the sort that would like to abolish mini's and AoO entirely, please do not derail this thread.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

Facing is one of those Gamist vs. Simulationist things.

Whether you're a genre Simulationist or a 'reality' Simulationist, facing makes no sense; you want to convey fluid and chaotic melee (realisitc) or cinematic movement and action (most genres), and facing doesn't belong.

From a Gamist perspective, though, facing adds tons of interesting tactical considerations. It makes front-line combat movement decisions much more meaningful (and arguably does so in a simpler fashion than AoOs).

I like facing, but I neither expect it nor really think it's good for the game. :\

 

[Henry]

I could be surprised, but I'm going to assume that there's no "facing," and this was Rodney's or his DM's creative license. Facing can be a pain in the rear to figure out, and since I never heard more than a half dozen complaints about facing from anyone on any message board for the past six years, plus Star Wars doesn't use it, I'm going to guess 4E doesn't use it.

 

[Cadfan]

I'm against facing existing for the purposes of combat. Its one more variable to track, and it doesn't add a ton.

I'm for facing existing for the purposes of sneaking and spotting. Facing is essential to that aspect of the game, in my opinion. Its cool for a rogue to sneak past a guard, its even cooler for a rogue to hide behind a statue, wait for a guard to march past, and slip by while the guard's back is turned. Without facing, sneaking becomes awfully one dimensional.

Fortunately that's easy enough to houserule in. Guards only get spot checks if they're looking at what they need to spot. If their back is turned, use Listen only.

Editted to add- I don't think there will be facing in 4e. I think the blog post was just being casual with his terminology. I've been known to describe attacks in 3e as having come from specific facing, since its one more aspect to use when narrating. I think that's probably what was going on.

 

[TerraDave]

I don't love it, and think it fails in both terms of play (gamist), and being realistic (simulationist).

You could do it, using a lesser action (swift or imediate) to change it so it is not to onerous, but still not a fantastic adition to the game.

 

[Henrix]

Facing in combat makes no sense and is awkward - any trained fighter worth his salt turns in a fraction of a second, and proably does so multiple times in six seconds.

Facing in noncombat situations is probably best without hard rules according to DM fiat, IMHO.

 

[Baby Samurai]

I'm positive facing will not be in 4th Ed, and that makes me happy.

Not that it's terrible, just for many of the reason people have already posted.

 

[Darkwolf71]

I like facing. In concept. You simply cannot be seeing all directions at all times. It doesn't matter how fast you are.

I also understand that effectivly recreating this in a tabletop game is difficult at best, and likely next to impossible. It would require counting rounds a single second at a time and allowing for constant moving and repositioning . It would be far to cumbersome.

That leaves no facing, or very simplified facing. Both of which are imperfect.

So, basically 6 vs. half dozen. If it includes facing, great, I'll use it. If it does not, that's fine too, I see no need to houserule or anything.

 

[JVisgaitis]

I really like facing. There's a game I've been prototyping for a long time that uses facing. I finally took it out of that game, because everyone thought it was a major pain. I tend to agree. Cool in concept, but not in D&D.

 

[Jack99]

I like facing, it makes sense and with minis, it isn't hard to track.