Knockout on a Ghost?

[Garthanos]

Any being which actively defends itself and has parts more vulnerable than others has what in gambling terminology are called "tells" these are frequently autonomic gesture responses to attacks and feinted attacks ... (a ooze shrinks in places and grows in others) really alien things may have hitpoints just because you have to hunt for the vulnerable spots.. even fighters can hunt for those (sometimes thats what a power attack is... hunting for vulnerable spots).

You dont have to know ahead of time what is vulnerable just have good ideas about how to hunt for them. Combat rules are not necessarily that geared for non-combat use... sneak attacks are an example. I am inclined to let anyone power attack (a door even if they don't have the feat).

If I built the door with hit points I defined it in a way for somebody to bash through.. and they can speed that process by attacking what seem to be vulnerable spots.

Our narrative wont suffer just because they arent engineers... if somebody want's to aide the fighter / rogue getting through the door by using dungeoneering skill... cool

 

[Garthanos]

I thought we were supposed to be avoiding edition-wars?

without banning regicide in whatever incarnation he decides to take.. that isnt happening.
Full on banning is of course useless and the moderators are correct.

 

[Turtlejay]

Wow, you're RIGHT! I'd completely forgotten all about the bar scene where Frodo took out a ghost with a jug of wine, or the time Sam blinding barraged by bouncing his sword off the walls to hit 4 different enemy in one shot, or the time that Boramir got shot full of arrows and lay dying but Aragorn gave a peppy speech and brought him back to full health. Man, what was I thinking? Xena and Lord of the Rings are, like, EXACTLY THE SAME! Wow! *golf clap*

No, I was pointing out that Lord of the Rings may not be the low, gritty fantasy that you remember or imagine.

Tom Bombadil? Bill the Pony? Merry and Pippin as comic relief? Wormtongue throwing a Palantir (a priceless, irreproducible object) as an improvised weapon? The defeat of the Witch King? Giant flying eagles?

A lot of what is in there is lighthearted and whimsical. That amount doubles if you include The Hobbit in your evaluation. Because the fight scenes are not storyboarded in a detailed manner, of course we can't draw direct parallels to D&D. But saying that this edition is like professional wrestling and therefore nothing like classical fantasy is disingenuous.

Jay

 

[Garthanos]

Honestly speaking I thought Boromirs death scene was so dramatically flamboyant high fantasy that pretending that it is somehow not like 4E is hilariously disingenous...
Impromptu feat design available only to those with appropriate regional backgrounds.
Gondorian Pride
reduced to zero or fewer hitpoints or fewer? you may continue fighting for a number of rounds equal to your con mod even if you are technically dead... dead ... dead.

 

[Rechan]

Folks seem to forget that HP does not equal sacks of flesh to be hacked off. A Sneak Attack can represent an intimidating slash that quells the monster, sheer luck, damaging the mental control/magic animating the thing you're attacking, or Sheer Badassary.

You can Sneak Attack a skeleton the same way you Crit a skeleton.

 

[Obryn]

I'm glad Rogues can now sneak attack just about anything.

As I mentioned in another thread, anyone who thinks undead don't have critical spots hasn't watched enough zombie movies.

-O

 

[Garthanos]

Folks seem to forget that HP does not equal sacks of flesh to be hacked off. A Sneak Attack can represent an intimidating slash that quells the monster, sheer luck, damaging the mental control/magic animating the thing you're attacking, or Sheer Badassary.

You can Sneak Attack a skeleton the same way you Crit a skeleton.

It could be fun to allow an arcana check to enhance these things..
Then I might skin it as finding and smudging/smashing the binding rune painted in blood or scratched in to the bones or severing those magical tendrils... etc.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Rogues aren't trained in karate, or engineering or an indeep knowledge of anatomy.

Then what is sneak attack and why can't everybody do it?

 

[Jhaelen]

Then what is sneak attack and why can't everybody do it?

Everybody can do it - assuming they're rogues or take the rogue multiclassing feat.

 

[mvincent]

anyone who thinks undead don't have critical spots hasn't watched enough zombie movies.

Speaking of movies:
The classic Harryhausen skeleton fight from Jason and the Argonauts showed skeletons being stunned and temporarily knocked unconscious throughout the battle.