Flanking question

[Bastoche]

Ok I get your point. Perfect. Looks like we're gonna have a new house rule .

 

[Tyrrell]

Personally I enjoy all of the five-foot stepping involved with getting three people the flank bonus. Remember that when the opponent gets his or her action he or she will undoubtedly move at least a five step forcing the characters to readjust. I find this sort of maneuvering rewarding. I can see that not everyone might (esp. if you don't use miniatures). But for me, your house rule that allows three people to flank would drain a small bit of the fun from the game.

(not that I don't use the (arguably) relaxed flanking rules from song and silence.)

 

[IceBear]

Yeah, I know about the other person moving 5ft would through that off and I do like the tactical movement (my players don't care for too much tactical maneuvering though - "I want to play a roleplaying game, not a wargame" is what is commonly thrown back at me).

It's just the whole premise as to why someone gets the flanking bonus just gives me a problem when it doesn't apply to the odd man. Yes, I know that the defender can position himself so that the odd man is "facing" him, and the two flankers are to his left and right, but I still think that the odd man can capitalize on the defender trying to keep his eyes on the other two as well.

Edit: Hmmmm, it's been awhile since I read Song and Silence. What is this relaxed rule?

IceBear

 

[Darklone]

That circle of death only works with a nice opponent who does not move... or has already moved. But well... who cares for flanking opponents says Conan the barbarian

As long as you don't use flanking rules a la NWN (everyone flanks except your target), it's scarcely going to be unbalanced.

 

[IceBear]

That circle of death only works with a nice opponent who does not move... or has already moved. But well... who cares for flanking opponents says Conan the barbarian

As long as you don't use flanking rules a la NWN (everyone flanks except your target), it's scarcely going to be unbalanced.

Yeah, I know that the opponent moving will throw it off, but like I said we've NEVER had a rogue so I really haven't seen an impact. My players and I just feel that if you're attention is divided to the point that you're flanked, then you're flanked. Yes, this makes flanking more a state of the defender than that the attacker, but this way doesn't offend their suspension of disbelief, and that's all I care about . If I had a rogue and it was throwing off balance I'd might be more strict on it.

BTW - I did notice that I seem to get more sneak attacks in NWN but I didn't think everyone flanked. Is that true with the 1.27 patch?

IceBear

 

[Drawmack]

What about this

X X
0
X

I would grant all three the flank in this case.

 

[Bastoche]

Or this:

X_X
_O
_X