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Should a characters ability be able to kill him?

Should an ability be able to kill you?

  • Yes

    Votes: 37 84.1%
  • No

    Votes: 3 6.8%
  • Possibly but should give an additional saving throw

    Votes: 4 9.1%

Grishnak

First Post
I've had this happen with 2 characters and at the time was very annoying, now just frustrating as I've had to make another char :) Anyway the abilities that did me in were Frenzy for a Frenzied Berzerker and Increased movement using the bard/skalds music that made me run faster than the party into the mouth of a Green Dragon before they could stop me. This was due to another creatures fear which I failed and fled from.
 

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I answered ys, but in the dragon example the frightful presence of the dragon might have scared you as well, so in that case you would get another saving throw.

frenzy: nobody forced you to take a prestige class which has "danger" written all over it, so that's your own fault IMO.

Rav
 

Yes! It's not the ability which killed the PC, it's the lack of wisdom. "Enough rope to hang yourself", as it were.

Imagine a Flying Wizard who was under a Fear effect -- he's going to be uncatchable, too. Doesn't mean Fly should be nerfed!

-- Nifft
 

The Frenzy was down to too much damage to make the save I've revisied the rules slightly for my campaign to make it a little fairer for pc's
 

But in reply to lack of wisdom is it not wise to use your abilities when you think you are safe or should they just sit and fester like a rotting wound?? I thought I was in relative safety for the movement and 1 failed fear check killed the char, surely there should have been a 2nd for the dragons fear to see if I fled back the way I came or something.

I guess you like my posts Nifft hehe :)
 
Last edited:

Grishnak said:
But in reply to lack of wisdom is it not wise to use your abilities when you think you are safe or should they just sit and fester like a rotting wound?? I thought I was in relative safety for the movement and 1 failed fear check killed the char, surely there should have been a 2nd for the dragons fear to see if I fled back the way I came or something.

I guess you like my posts Nifft hehe :)
Actually, IIRC, latest effect takes precedent, so you certainly should have saved against the Dragonfear, then perhaps even fled right past the being that cast fear on you originally :D

Rav
 

The entire "fear" save thing in 3E is silly.

Doesn't that seem a little odd, that the fighter, the guy who spends most of his career up close and personal with something trying to kill and maim him in particularly gruesome and personal manner is the one most likely to run screaming into the woods at the first sign of something fearsome? Particularly when the fighter type is in a berserk frenzy. Having personally experienced the throes of a berserk frenzy, the concept of fear never crossed my mind in my adrenaline-loaded state. I've seen a berserk man still fighting with his entire ribcage torn off and his organs hanging out in disturbing ways before.

Meanwhile, the wizard, who SHOULD be running away, is utterly unpreturbed by the fearsome monster now about to take all of his hitpoints.
 

The wizard, on the other hand, has wrapped his mind around arcane and alien forces the fighter could never comprehend, and can easily maintain rational thought over mere human emotion.

--Impeesa--
 

Yes! A character's ability should not be killing him.

For example, if a wizard cast a fireball in close-quarter fighting, let say centered right on an opponent two squares away, well, the wizard should become immune to his own fire!

Or, a paladin, meeting a dragon. He's not affected by the fear aura, so the dragon is upset and attack him, well, that should not be.
 

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