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<blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 4946340" data-attributes="member: 58197">My problem with this is that it creates a break between the mechanic of &quot;prone&quot; and the in-game concept of &quot;prone.&quot; I don't want to spend my gaming time thinking up clever translations between crunchspeak and fluffspeak. As far as I'm concerned, &quot;prone&quot; means &quot;flat on the ground.&quot; I believe that mechanic should serve concept, not the other way around.A formless cell colony with perfect locomotive and sensory capabilities is fine because it's explicitly a magical creation (or should be).Killing an ooze using nothing but a pointy stick makes no sense, but making oozes immune to piercing damage renders whole categories of character completely useless (archer rangers, dagger rogues, glaive fighters), so most groups tolerate that break with verisimilitude for the sake of gameplay. That said, with a little DM foresight, one could make it work; just make sure every encounter with an ooze also includes other monsters that are not immune to pointy sticks.Knocking an ooze prone also makes no sense, and does not have an overriding gameplay reason why it's necessary. Very few characters are so reliant on the trip mechanic as to be rendered useless if it's not allowed. In fact, I think it helps gameplay to have some monsters be resistant or immune to the PCs' favorite tricks; it forces them to change up their tactics.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dausuul, post: 4946340, member: 58197"] My problem with this is that it creates a break between the mechanic of "prone" and the in-game concept of "prone." I don't want to spend my gaming time thinking up clever translations between crunchspeak and fluffspeak. As far as I'm concerned, "prone" means "flat on the ground." I believe that mechanic should serve concept, not the other way around. A formless cell colony with perfect locomotive and sensory capabilities is fine because it's explicitly a magical creation (or should be). Killing an ooze using nothing but a pointy stick makes no sense, but making oozes immune to piercing damage renders whole categories of character completely useless (archer rangers, dagger rogues, glaive fighters), so most groups tolerate that break with verisimilitude for the sake of gameplay. That said, with a little DM foresight, one could make it work; just make sure every encounter with an ooze also includes other monsters that are [I]not[/I] immune to pointy sticks. Knocking an ooze prone also makes no sense, and does not have an overriding gameplay reason why it's necessary. Very few characters are so reliant on the trip mechanic as to be rendered useless if it's not allowed. In fact, I think it helps gameplay to have some monsters be resistant or immune to the PCs' favorite tricks; it forces them to change up their tactics. [/QUOTE]

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