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Message: <blockquote data-quote="clark411" data-source="post: 1145244" data-attributes="member: 4768">While I'm rather hard pressed to argue against your experiences in the SCA, as I don't believe they adhere to the d20 system, I'll at least attempt to express my understanding of DND's combat mechanics in a way that can be transposed onto ... "real world" sword fighting.That said... By definition, a spot that is easily defended is not the "best spot" to aim for.  Of course it sounds illogical to go for the soft spot under the shield.  That however, doesn't negate the intention to still find spots that can be hit, does it?  Really, when you're fighting in your SCA sword combat, do you just flail or do you, even subconsciously, pick out spots where you'll hit your opponent?  If you do, you're calling shots.  Oh, his head looks vulnerable... swing.  Oh, he favors his right leg... swing.  His shield is high, time to hit his foot.As your body moves your weapon to hit the next spot, you are doing so with the intent to find a weakness in your opponent's technique, be it a pattern, or simply a point of opportunity, no?  You then decide, in some form, to go for that spot.  In some way, you make the decision, you call the shot.  Your training or experience allows for you to possibly win.Turn that into DND, and it's what combat is, not simply (to a merry tune sung by 7 Dwarves) "Sword up, Sword Down... Sword up, Sword up, Sword Down... this is how we slash all day.. Sword Up, Sword Down..." even if DnD's attack rolls make it seem to be.  Again, I think this is coming down to semantics.  A "Best" shot is simply the best you can do.  Who, beside a raging barbarian, would say that the best shot is one where you're impaled in the process?The mechanics easily support that so long as you aren't getting AOOs or lowering your AC for Attack Bonus, you aren't being reckless.  That is non-issue, even if the tangential manner of discussions such as these may push them to the forefront.  I wouldn't argue otherwise, my stance does not require me to.The issue is that a fighter is swinging to hit things actively in combat, something that will overcome AC and actually do something (HP damage).  I can easily just stand there and "threaten" an opponent by standing next to him while armed, I don't even need to roll an attack to mechanically be bashing at his shield or trying to just hit him without hurting him or penetrating his armor (ie doing anything that would make me win).Anything, however, that will actually make the opponent drop and bleed to death from -1 to -10, is going to be a shot that was caused by getting through the armor.. be it puncturing it with a REALLY nice slash from an Axe, or finding that final weak spot that did the job.  Attack rolls are attempts to do that, whether you "hit" or "miss" is simply a matter of how good your attempt turned out to be.</blockquote>

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