Raise Shields!

[jaer]

You might get your wish. Races & Classes says this about shields: "Capable of turning away spear-thrust, arrow shaft, and fireball alike, ..."

So your fighter's shield will probably work against the dragon's breath weapon as well.

But what happens when the dragon's breath burns through your shield?

(No, I don't actually want rules on whether dragon's fire will burn through or melt a shield, no matter how much more realistic that makes the game. The last thing I need is my players complaining about all their wrecked magic gear every time a dragon breaths on them!)

 

[Seule]

The rogue was prone, and as already stated, made him easier to hit (loose dex to AC and Ref?) so while he might have typically been missed, the attack did hit him due to the circumstances.

I have a theory, probably completely unfounded, that they are doing away with the denying of specific bonuses against specific attacks. For example, instead of touch attacks denying armor, shield and natural armor bonuses, you just attack the Reflex number rather than the AC. Instead of flat-footed foes being denied Dex and Dodge, presumably you just get Combat Advantage (whatever that means). Currently, if you are flat-footed against an incorporeal attack, what applies? You are denied your Dex, dodge, arnmor, shield and natural armor... except that force effects still work, and there are ways you can make your armor count too with magic. It's a confusing mess.
I strngly suspect that they will completely do away with the need to recalculate your numbers on the fly. We've already heard that stat damage is going away (good!), I don't think it ends there.
Adding flat bonuses and penalties, yes. Changing which bonuses and penalties apply to things on the fly, no.

--Seule

 

[jaer]

Adding flat bonuses and penalties, yes. Changing which bonuses and penalties apply to things on the fly, no.

--Seule

Quite true! That does seem to be the general trend (it's so hard to let go sometimes when looking at the new rules! It seems natural to want to deny a whole stat like dex under certain circumstances!). It is a big mess to try to subtract out dex rather than apply a static -4.

We don't know if this dirt-fling attack was aimed at AC or at Ref, but I could see Ref getting a penatly for prone. It's hard to dodge out of the way of a scattering of rocks if you have been knocked on your butt.