Swarms

[Abraxas]

Do you find it a reasonable ruling that a swarm of bats blocks line of sight?
Just curious.

 

[Dracomeander]

It depends on how tight the swarm is. The swarm would definitely be distracting and provides concealment, but as to how much concealment should be a judgement call based on how much area the swarm is dispersed over.

 

[Bad Paper]

Do you find it a reasonable ruling that a swarm of bats blocks line of sight?
Just curious.

Reasonable. Perhaps grant concealment to targets on the other side of it. I would not say the same for a swarm of crawlies, though they might grant concealment to anyone caught in the swarm.

 

[Abraxas]

I should have been more clear. I'm talking about blocking line of sight as in not able to even target a creature through the swarm of bats. A typical bat swarm occupies a 10x10x10 cube and is made up of 5000 diminutive creatures.

 

[Felix]

I'd say concealment too, and not blocking line of sight, nor line of effect. But if the whatever you're shooting misses due to the concealment, then the attack is resolved on the Swarm.

And yeah, crawlies don't provide concealment to things that arn't in it.

 

[Abraxas]

Thats my impression also. I can see concealment, providing a 50% miss chance for targeted effects that require an attack roll (beyond the adjacent square) but not blocking line of sight for effects that don't require an attack roll (like a magic missile spell).

 

[IronWolf]

I would say the concealment of 50% is probably on the right track.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

I'd say concealment too, and not blocking line of sight, nor line of effect. But if the whatever you're shooting misses due to the concealment, then the attack is resolved on the Swarm.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Bad Paper]

Thats my impression also. I can see concealment, providing a 50% miss chance for targeted effects that require an attack roll (beyond the adjacent square) but not blocking line of sight for effects that don't require an attack roll (like a magic missile spell).

"Concealment" is not "full concealment." 50% is probably too high, since there are slight glimpses through the fray of your target on the other side. If you're not comfortable with 20%, then ratchet it up to 35% or so. How about rolling d6 and calling a 1 or 2 a miss?

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

Game vs IRL

5,000 mice sized critters in a 10X10 area is *alot* of critters. My RL experience with bats involved a 'swarm' of maybe 100 bats in a 10' wide passageway. They definatley provided some concealment to my fellow delvers. I would think, applying logic to game mechanics..I konw , that 50 times that number would obscure vision.

Game mechanics wize, granting the ability to block LOS mean that Bat Swarms have a higher tactical value than a Swarm of another creature.

From a DM point of view, I would be comforatable granting a 20 to 35% concealment with the same chance to block LOS.