Mounted Combat?

[Hypersmurf]

You miss. Full stop.

So you're in the "essentially" means "vague but inexact analogy" camp?

-Hyp.

 

[youspoonybard]

It depends what part of the Mounted Combat feat you place emphasis on.

"The hit is negated if your Ride check result is greater than the opponent's attack roll."

Well, add up the modifiers, and see what your Ride check is.

"(Essentially, the Ride check result becomes the mount's Armor Class if it's higher than the mount's regular AC.)"

Uh oh. If the Ride check becomes the mount's AC, it would imply the 20 would hit either way.

Then, the word "Essentially" jumps out at me. I think it is this "auto-hit 20" rule that is the rule that defines the "essentially" part. If the attacker rolls a 1~19 on the attack roll, the Ride check is the mount's AC for that attack.

If the attacker rolls a 20, the Ride check is NOT the mount's AC for that attack. It's something better than AC, that allows you to avoid even the 20 auto-hit.

That's my take. Hyp? What do you think?

 

[Hypersmurf]

I agree with you and Saeviomagy.

I also think they should have just left the parenthetic comment out entirely, since it just confuses things without really adding any value

-Hyp.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

If you leave out the parathetical comment, it is unambiguous that Mounted Combat can negate an attack with a natural roll of 20.

Confusion only arises when we start guessing what "essentially" means. I would discount the paranthetical comment as not mechanics.

If we left out "essentially", if the skill check actually becomes the AC, then an natural 20 would hit.

 

[Elvinis75]

I guess that it is terrible that I'm always on the other side as hypersmurf.
The way I see it is that there is no AC that would negate a successful natural 20.

How can you just choice to ignore the part in ()!?!

The word essentially means don't look at the next verbage?
No.

Using the dictionary:
1 : of, relating to, or constituting essence : INHERENT
2 : of the utmost importance : BASIC, INDISPENSABLE, NECESSARY <essential foods> <an essential requirement for admission to college>
3 : IDIOPATHIC <essential disease> <essential hypertension>
- es·sen·tial·ly /-'sench-lE, -'sen-ch&-/ adverb
- es·sen·tial·ness /-'sen-ch&l-n&s/ noun
synonyms ESSENTIAL, FUNDAMENTAL, VITAL, CARDINAL mean so important as to be indispensable. ESSENTIAL implies belonging to the very nature of a thing and therefore being incapable of removal without destroying the thing itself or its character <conflict is essential in drama>. FUNDAMENTAL applies to something that is a foundation without which an entire system or complex whole would collapse <fundamental principles of algebra>. VITAL suggests something that is necessary to a thing's continued existence or operation <cut off from vital supplies>. CARDINAL suggests something on which an outcome turns or depends <a cardinal rule in buying a home>.

I think that word does nothing but support the following sentence. There is no AC that cannot be hit by the 20 thus there is no way the attack can be negated. The way that I rule it then would be considered a house rule. I say that the rider must also roll a natural 20 and have a higher total roll than the attacker.

 

[Avalin]

Then, the word "Essentially" jumps out at me. I think it is this "auto-hit 20" rule that is the rule that defines the "essentially" part. If the attacker rolls a 1~19 on the attack roll, the Ride check is the mount's AC for that attack.

If the attacker rolls a 20, the Ride check is NOT the mount's AC for that attack. It's something better than AC, that allows you to avoid even the 20 auto-hit.

All essentially is doing is modifying the section which follows. You can strike the word from the sentence and still get the full intended meaning, just not its emphasis (which as has already been well defined means that the next section is very important).

Removing the word makes it clear that the check replaces AC. I do think that the first part of the description makes it look like the 'To Hit' roll merely sets the DC of a skill check, and in fact either interpretation yields the same results in every case but a natural 20. A natural 20 being an automatic hit is so fully ingrained into the game throughout its versions that I can not immagine that they intended to change that, and that is why I think that the next sentence was added. It would have been better to just have written it more clearly in the first place.

I am a little confused by the opinion that the 'Essentially' sentence adds nothing, as it rather obviously does. So maby I am missing something about that veiw.