Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="AuraSeer" data-source="post: 24901" data-attributes="member: 1331">[Somehow lost nearly all of what I typed. Edited to put the rest back in, as near as I can remember it.]As an aside, the teeny-creature-flanking-big-creature does not only show up against massive monsters. One of my PCs carries a Bag of Tricks for use in every challenging combat; the creatures do very little damage by themselves, but have been tremendously useful in setting up flanking situations for the rogue.Here's a question that might clear things up a little: Can you be flanked by an illusion? We have a PC in melee with a single opponent. An enemy spellcaster casts a Major Image, and a figment of a dire wolf runs slavering up to flank the character.A) Say the PC is Bob the Barbarian, who can't tell a Major Image from a Summon Monster. He has every reason to believe the wolf is real. Is Bob considered flanked?B) Say the PC is Steve the Sorcerer. Steve knows his Spellcraft, and he correctly identified the spell as it was cast. He knows the wolf is just a figment, and cannot possibly harm him. Is Steve considered flanked?C) Say the PC is Mike the Monk. He has no Spellcraft, but he sees and hears the wolf close its jaws on his bare arm, and feels no pain. He decides that it's almost certainly an illusion, and in any case probably can't hurt him. He focuses all his attention on the original opponent, ignoring the wolf entirely. Is Mike considered flanked?If you answer "yes" to any of the above questions, then flanking is a function of distraction, not physical interference. In such a case, it's quite sensible to allow 'ignoring' of one flanker in order to concentrate on the other.IMC, I'd give the ignored attacker a double (+4) flanking bonus to hit, as well as removing the defender's Dex bonus against his attacks. I wouldn't give any bonus to damage; that's what Power Attack is for. Also, the ignored attacker could not draw any AoO from the defender.In effect, the defender would be simply treated as flat-footed with respect to the ignored attacker. This prevents puny creatures from getting killing strikes, while still making sure that it's a bad idea to ignore a reasonably threatening opponent. And since it doesn't refer to invisibility, creatures with blindsight don't complicate anything.</blockquote>

Verification