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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Raven Crowking" data-source="post: 5600444" data-attributes="member: 18280">You are also able to Get the Drop by an opposed roll, depending upon circumstances.  So, when Captain Kirk draws his phaser on the Klingon Kang, he is able to (for example) gamble Intimidate vs. Kang's skill or save (probably Reflexes or Willpower in this example).  If Kirk succeeds, Kang stops, and they can negotiate.  The longer Kirk holds the drop on Kang, the easier it is for Kang to escape the drop.  So, after Kirk has held the drop for a bit, Kang can try to Bluff in order to break Kirk's concentration.  Kirk does this all the time, actually.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />In the case of Smaug, the dragon is hardly paying more attention to Bard than to the other archers -- it is clear that he simply doesn't view them as a threat.  Bard is probably gambling Perception (to see the hollow patch) to Get the Drop -- not something that would normally happen, but appropriate to the circumstances.  Smaug then gets a Fly check to see if he would turn before the shot can be taken, but probably has a circumstance penalty because he is so little focused on Bard.Twang!The Captain Kirk and Bard the Bowman examples, BTW, are two specific examples that I examined when working out the Get the Dop mechanic.  If it didn't do a good job of simulating those fictional examples, I tweaked it until it did.  IMHO, anyway!  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />Note that if Kirk was someone else -- a PC, say -- he might just shoot Kang as soon as he had the drop on him.  But, I have discovered, options like this actually make players feel safer talking to villians in the game.  Also, when the reverse happens, waiting until "the opportune moment" to break out of the drop is also the recommended tactic.  And that usually means going along with the villian......or getting him monologuing!  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f60e.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":cool:" title="Cool    :cool:"  data-smilie="6"data-shortname=":cool:" /></blockquote>

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