Little Known Rules of D&D

[RigaMortus2]

Little known rules... Let's see...

Well, these aren't so much rules as they are lack of rules...

(just noticed someone else mentioned this)
If you go without sleep, you eventually become fatigued and exhausted, but at no point is there a rule which makes you go unconcious for lack of sleep. This means, you could technically stay awake for weeks, months, years, etc. and you'll only ever be exhausted.

Also, you can never die of starvation/thirst. You will eventually fall unconcious, and you will take subdual damage, but since subdual damage can't kill you, you will just remain unconcious (and not die) until someone heals/feeds you.

 

[Infiniti2000]

(just noticed someone else mentioned this)
If you go without sleep, you eventually become fatigued and exhausted, but at no point is there a rule which makes you go unconcious for lack of sleep. This means, you could technically stay awake for weeks, months, years, etc. and you'll only ever be exhausted.

As long as you don't walk anywhere.

 

[SlagMortar]

3. Again mentioned but not fully spelled out. Reach weapons can't attack 2 diagonals but creatures with reach can. Thus 10 ft reach you can attack 2 angles away.

This is incorrect.

Reach Weapons

Most creatures of Medium or smaller size have a reach of only 5 feet. This means that they can make melee attacks only against creatures up to 5 feet (1 square) away. However, Small and Medium creatures wielding reach weapons threaten more squares than a typical creature. In addition, most creatures larger than Medium have a natural reach of 10 feet or more.

Note: When determining reach, each square of diagonal distance is measured as 5 feet. This is an exception to the rule that 2 squares of diagonal distance is measured as 15 feet.

 

[Hypersmurf]

This is incorrect.

So is your SRD quote, as it happens.

The SRD on the Wizards site doesn't include the 'Note:' portion. It looks like someone at d20srd.org attempted to summarise the text from the PHB that's left out in the SRD... and got it wrong.

According to the d20srd.org note, someone with 15 feet of reach threatens three diagonal squares, 20 feet 4, and so on, right? Which isn't what the original PHB text states at all.

Reach Weapons

Most creatures of Medium or smaller size have a reach of only 5 feet. This means that they can make melee attacks only against creatures up to 5 feet (1 square) away. However, Small and Medium creatures wielding reach weapons (such as a longspear) threaten more squares than a typical creature. For instance, a longspear-wielding human threatens all squares 10 feet (2 squares) away, even diagonally. (This is an exception to the rule that 2 squares of diagonal distance is measured as 15 feet.) In addition, most creatures larger than Medium have a natural reach of 10 feet or more; see Big and Little Creatures in Combat, p149.

The exception provided in the PHB is that 10 feet of reach = 2 diagonal squares... not that every 5 feet of reach = 1 diagonal square.

Which makes sense - if you don't make this exception, there's a 'hole' in the longspear's coverage, where someone can walk up to you without ever entering a threatened square. This is an artefact of the grid system; obviously, at some point, that person is 10 feet away, but on the grid they go directly from 15 feet to 5 feet without being threatened.

This doesn't happen with, say, a Large creature with a reach weapon; even without fudging the diagonals, nobody can walk right up to them without passing through a threatened square. So the fudge is unnecessary for reach longer than 10 feet.

End result? For the human with the longspear, it's true that he threatens two squares diagonal (and Meeki, as you note, is incorrect). But the Note from your quote is inaccurate in its details. (Now it could, perhaps, be argued that the opposite of Meeki's assertion is true - that the exception applies only to reach weapons, and not to natural 10' reach...)

My feeling is that if d20srd.org are going to host an SRD, they should include the text of the SRD, and not try to add extra bits...

-Hyp.

 

[Asmor]

Wow, that's obvious, but I'd missed that one entirely! Thanks! That also means stuff like Hold Person etc. don't work on Warforged... how do I explain this to a player of mine playing a warforged... he's not going to like it!

Just remind him that stuff like Hold Person doesn't work either.

Anyways, I disagree that it's obvious... I mean, aside from the fact that the spell's called Enlarge Person (after all, there's no Enlarge Monster, but there are Charm, Hold and Dominate Monsters).

 

[AnonymousOne]

Originally Posted by SRD
In addition, most creatures larger than Medium have a natural reach of 10 feet or more; see Big and Little Creatures in Combat, p149.

How does this affect a Goliath with the "Powerful Build" Racial trait? He's counted as a Large Creature whenever it would benefit him. So does that mean that the Goliath with a Greatsword threatens a 10ft ring and a 5ft ring?

 

[Zurai]

How does this affect a Goliath with the "Powerful Build" Racial trait? He's counted as a Large Creature whenever it would benefit him. So does that mean that the Goliath with a Greatsword threatens a 10ft ring and a 5ft ring?

No. 10' reach is not a guaranteed trait of Large sized creatures. There are quite a few that are Large sized that do not have 10' reach.

On top of that, I'm pretty sure (but not positive) that Powerful Build explicitly states what it affects.

 

[pawsplay]

Having an Int of 3 means you understand at least one language... Common, unless otherwise noted.

It doesn't need to be assigned, because there is a default case for when no such assignation is made... as in the case of the Fiendish template.

If the Fiendish template assigned a language, that would override the default case, because it would be 'otherwise noted'.

-Hyp.

I don't see that as a rule that Int 3 creatures must speak Common, if nothing else, rather that all the Int 3 creatures simply do speak common unless noted otherwise. Wolves, however, do not speak Common. Creatures of wolf intelligence do not have a language, and the templates specify their abilities are unchanged, so they do not gain one.

Thus, the specific note in the template appears to trump any generalization.

 

[Hypersmurf]

I don't see that as a rule that Int 3 creatures must speak Common, if nothing else, rather that all the Int 3 creatures simply do speak common unless noted otherwise.

Understand, but otherwise right.

Wolves, however, do not speak Common. Creatures of wolf intelligence do not have a language, and the templates specify their abilities are unchanged, so they do not gain one.

A fiendish wolf is not a creature of wolf intelligence. A fiendish wolf is a creature with 3 Intelligence, and all creatures with an Intelligence of 3 or greater understand at least one language (Common, unless otherwise noted).

Thus, the specific note in the template appears to trump any generalization.

The template changes his Intelligence. Understanding Common is a result of the change the template explicitly imposes.

-Hyp.

 

[Asmor]

If a template gives +2 con, but doesn't say that it gives a commensurate increase in hit points, does that mean you wouldn't give the critter the extra HP?

Same deal with increase in intelligence.