lightning bolt cover?

[Vaxalon]

Get it right, folks. Know the rules before you post.

Let's also not forget that a tower shield provides absolutely no cover (for anyone) from a fireball, if the person with the tower shield is the one being targeted. I think that is a significant factor in the debate, also.

You can't target a person with a fireball.

The target of a fireball is an area.

 

[kreynolds]

Re: Get it right, folks. Know the rules before you post.

You can't target a person with a fireball.

The target of a fireball is an area.

Hong already caught that, about three minutes after the fireball bit was posted. Ya' gotta keep up, dude!

 

[incognito]

Has anyone though about ajucating lightning bolt like this?

5' wide bolt would give "2" +2 to reflex save, as "1" gave cover

10' wide bolt would not, beause the bolt could "reach around."

I did not see it so I thought I'd ask.

 

[kreynolds]

Honestly, I'm just ruling (and have always played it as such) that you don't get any cover whatsoever from a lightning bolt when someone is standing in front of you. Electricity loves squishy creatures like us, hopping from one to another, jumping to and fro...

Then again, real electricity also takes the quickest path to the ground, so if you're a good 30 feet away from the guy in front of you, you'll never get popped in the first place, as it won't arc to you. Instead, it'll just nail the poor sap in front, travel through his body, and head right into the ground.

OK, fine. So there's an obvious difference between real lightning and D&D lightning. Whatever.

 

[Stalker0]

Sigh, I'm still going to stick with the person doesn't give cover camp. While the rules says cover applies to spread effects, it also says as the DM I determine what is cover and what is not. For instance, a small hole in a wall would be so much cover for a piercing weapon, but probably full cover for a slashing weapon, since poking your longsword through the hole is not how god intended it be used

So I say a body provides so little cover, that in essense there's no cover bonus to reflex saves.

 

[dkilgo]

If you wanted to attempt to use real world physics in this discussion then you would have to take several things into account. First, the lightning would hit the first person, and as kreynolds stated, head straight for ground. Second, we would also have to take into account what kind of possible insulators the person was wearing because this coud inhibit the current from reaching ground. Thirdly, I would like to say that since the lightning would take the quickest path to ground that a person would gain cover from someone between them and the ligthning bolt. The area of effect would have to be determined by how many volts are traveling through the electrical bolt of lightning at the time of impact. High voltage would definitly arc from one person to another with distance being a factor. Medium to low voltage is just going to hit the first person, and head straight to ground. Depending on what possible insulators the person was wearing would determine how much damage the person took before the electrical current left his/her body. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...

Simply, you can not use real world physics for the likes of this spell effect. Mainly because that all current knowledge of how electricity works is nothing but a theory. Yeah, that is right, we are powering our houses, automobiles, computers, and many other things off of a theory. So, please, lets not travel down the path of real world physics. All it will do is give many people a head ache.

Thank you for your time.

EDIT: If you don't belive me about the theory of electricity then ask any certified electrician, and they will tell you the same thing that I have told you.