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<blockquote data-quote="Water Bob" data-source="post: 5861080" data-attributes="member: 92305">One situation that has bugged me for years, through several editions of D&amp;D, is a circumstance where a guard has leveled a crossbow at a prisoner or a thief has snuck up behind a guard and tucked a sharp blade tight up under the guard's chin. I used to call this &quot;getting the drop&quot; on a character. It's a situation that the D&amp;D rules have never handled well.&nbsp;Why?&nbsp;In real life, these situations are dangerous. The crossbow could incapaciate, critically wound, or even kill the target. The thief could slit the neck of the guard before the guard could move.&nbsp;But, in D&amp;D, the weapons do not do enough damage to pose the same risk to all but the lowest level characters.&nbsp;Looking at the Conan RPG rules (and, thus, the d20 3.5 D&amp;D rules), I think I've found a pleasing solution.&nbsp;Using a version of the Helpless Defenders rule, consider the victim to be flatfooted, and if the weapon strike hits, it does maximum damage. If a critical hit is made, then the weapon does maxium critical damage.&nbsp; And, this makes it likely that the Massive Damage rule will be used.&nbsp;I'll call this, the Drop Rule, where one character &quot;has the drop&quot; on another.&nbsp;Notice in The God in the Bowl, Conan has a healthy respect for Arus, the guard who levels the crossbow at him.&nbsp;In game terms, I would say that this is because the Drop Rule is in effect.&nbsp;Thoughts?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Water Bob, post: 5861080, member: 92305"] One situation that has bugged me for years, through several editions of D&D, is a circumstance where a guard has leveled a crossbow at a prisoner or a thief has snuck up behind a guard and tucked a sharp blade tight up under the guard's chin. I used to call this "getting the drop" on a character. It's a situation that the D&D rules have never handled well. Why? In real life, these situations are dangerous. The crossbow could incapaciate, critically wound, or even kill the target. The thief could slit the neck of the guard before the guard could move. But, in D&D, the weapons do not do enough damage to pose the same risk to all but the lowest level characters. Looking at the Conan RPG rules (and, thus, the d20 3.5 D&D rules), I think I've found a pleasing solution. Using a version of the Helpless Defenders rule, consider the victim to be flatfooted, and if the weapon strike hits, it does maximum damage. If a critical hit is made, then the weapon does maxium critical damage. And, this makes it likely that the Massive Damage rule will be used. I'll call this, the [B]Drop Rule[/B], where one character "has the drop" on another. Notice in [B]The God in the Bowl[/B], Conan has a healthy respect for Arus, the guard who levels the crossbow at him. In game terms, I would say that this is because the Drop Rule is in effect. Thoughts? [/QUOTE]

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