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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Pax" data-source="post: 1582019" data-attributes="member: 6875">The point is, if YOU want to limit the playing field - butnot limit it to CORE only -  then any imbalance which arises is your problem.  Ideally, in a perfect world, yes.  However, it isn't a perfect world, and D&D is not - nor has it ever been, nor will it ever be - an ideal set of mechanics and rules.   There's no need to be directly above; anywhere within throwing distance.  And for a thrown weapon with no aerodynamics - yes, 50' is entirely doable.  And the other half the time, it's [sulu]"target that explosion"[/sulu].  I'll take 50/50 odds of victory, over 100% chance of defeat, any day.   Assuming you were riding double-file (taking up 20' of road width to do so - horses are Large animals and have a 10' face), that's still a line of people 40' long.  And that assumes the horses ride nose-to-tail.  Which horses WON'T do, peacefully, for any real length of time - I've actually ridden (and cared for, including mucking out stables (blecch)), and an extra 5' distance from the back of one horse to the head of another would have been about where the horses would finally have settled down and behaved themselves.  At 15th level?  One wonders why you were riding, especially on horses.  No overland flight?  No Teleportation Circle?  And, for very good reason, modern militaries don't march from point A to point B all bunched up, when in potentially-hostile territory.  U.S.Army standard is 2m seperation; for extra caution, they might even open up to a 5m seperation.  That means there's from two to five meters between one soldier, and the next one in line.  Specifically so that a single explosive, or a single long-burst from a machinegun (etc), doesn't take out the whole group.  At 15th level, you had NO protections?  No means of warning yourselves?  You deserved it.  One fireball?  Teh 15th-level Paladin's mount was toasted by ONE FIREBALL ... ?!?  Okay, now I know you're making this up.  No way in the Nine Hells does 10d6[fire] take out the mount of a Paladin(15) - not even empowered and maximised (which would require an 8th level slot, and an 11th level wizard doesn't GET those).  So we're looking at, presumptively, a 60-point hit from a maximised fireball - whichowuld be the NPC wizard's single best spell for the day (if he was an evoker, he might've had another of hte same, but then that'd be IT for his 6th level spell slots).  Assuming a Light Warhorse as the base, a Paladin(15)'s mount would have Improved Evasion and 11d8 hit dice, with a +3 Constitution modifier, for 11d8+33.  That means it should have had 82hp.  If it FAILED the save, against TWO of those fireballs ... the horse woudl be badly hurt, BUT ALIVE.  Improved Evasion - half damage, save for none.  As for that saving throw, it'd get the Paladin's save - base is +5, and it's safe to assume another (say) +7 between Dexterity, Charisma, Items, Feats, and/or Race.  At 15th level, frankly, having less than +11 just from items and attributes would SHOCK me (+6 item for each of dex and charisma, and a direct +5 resistance bonus - assuming 10 innate scores for both attributes!).  But anyway, that's a +12 save bonus.  A stock human Wiz(15) NPC has an Intelligence of no more than 22 (base 15, +3 from level, +4 from headband) - so the save for that Fireball was only DC (10 + 3 + 6 =) 19.  If he took SF and GSF, that'd boost it to 21.  The horse needed to roll a 9 or above to take NOTHING, or an 8 or below to take 30hp, from each maximised 11-die fireball.  *yawn*  So, tell me again how a fireball toasted the mount?  Not the brightest contingency in the universe.  Wizard deserved what he got.  Actually, the party I played with for over a year (weekly games, mind) had two charactes on our wagon, and the other four in pairs before and behind, specifically leaving 10' gaps between the back of one group, and the front of the other.  We conversed fine; that's conversational range with a mildly-raised voice, no big deal there.  Glitterdust is an area spell, and solves every problem with targetting.  And it's only second level - but it's SO useful, EVERY sorceror I play, will choose it unless it is completely opposed to that character's intended "theme"/feel/etc.  Scrolls are wonderful things, if you have the ranks of UMD to activate them successfully.</blockquote>

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