Testing the rules...

[Nareau]

Disclaimer: I in no way condone shooting people with real arrows, casting harmful spells, or tresspassing. I also fully understand that D&D is a fantasy game, and was not intended to model reality exactly.

That said, have any of you tried testing the D&D rules in real life? I recently explored some subterranean tunnels. It was interesting to see how far 30' worth of light really is. And to hear how incredibly loud footsteps through water are.

I've also started playing darts, and am realizing that there's no way I can hit the bullseye 1 in 20 times. I figure that darts have a 10' range increment, I have at least a +1 Dex modifier, and the bullseye is Fine. I take a full round to line up a shot, which gives me a +5 to hit. So that means the bullseye has a 10 - 5 (Dex) + 8 (Size) = 13 AC. I'm getting around a +6 to my attack roll--I hit on a 7 or above! So I ought to be hitting it 70% of the time. But I'm actually hitting it 2% of the time.

I'm interested to see if anyone else has done these kinds of (incredibly dorky) tests. Any unexpected results? Any suggestions of other tests that one might try?

More than anything else, it's been interesting to put myself in situations that my characters are in every week. It's given me a new perspective on how spooky, difficult, and messy the lives of adventurers are. And I don't even have to fight monsters.

 

[Vaxalon]

...I take a full round to line up a shot, which gives me a +5 to hit....

Can you quote this rule? I can't find it.

If you take away this bonus, and add in a -4 non-proficiency penalty, then the math works out just fine.

 

[Darklone]

Right

With the nonproficiency, compare to proficient guys (like me), with higher dex (like me) and Point Blank Shot (not like me) and you'll see they hit the bull's eye quite often

 

[Nareau]

Yeah, the reference is...

PHB, page 135, middle of second column,
"If you take a full-round action to line up a shot (as with the coup de grace against a helpless foe), you get an automatic hit with a melee weapon and a +5 attack bonus with a ranged weapon.

Thanks, forgot about the -4 non-proficiency penalty. That makes it a little better. And it occurs to me that I'm throwing from 10' away...which is a full range-increment. Guess I better step forward a few inches. Oh wait, that won't work either, as I have to move in 5' increments. Hrm...maybe I'll just start throwing from 5' away, and see how that goes.

 

[kreynolds]

I tested out 1 rule once. I noticed that if I take a single step, and a cat takes a single step, and an elephant takes a single step, I can assure you that we don't all take a 5-foot step! Go figure.

 

[IceBear]

I tested out 1 rule once. I noticed that if I take a single step, and a cat takes a single step, and an elephant takes a single step, I can assure you that we don't all take a 5-foot step! Go figure.

Hehehe - yeah

The 5ft step is just for balance. Now, if you want to make larger monsters more powerful that's cool with me.

Imagine a fire giant that could take a 15ft step. Fighter charges up and attacks. Fire Giant takes a full attack action and wails on the fighter. He then steps back 15ft. The fighter has to move up 15ft to attack (suffering an AoO for movement, and losing his multiple attacks). Giant takes multiple attacks again and steps back another 15ft.

Like I said, it's logically incorrect, but from a balance point of view it's probably ok (unless you want to increase the CR of larger monsters significantly).

IceBear

 

[Crothian]

I tested out 1 rule once. I noticed that if I take a single step, and a cat takes a single step, and an elephant takes a single step, I can assure you that we don't all take a 5-foot step! Go figure.

I just want to know where you got the elephant........

I have a flail, and I can asure you (at least my ex-roommate who I tested this on can) that if you use it to do a trip attack, you will also damage the person no matter if the trip attack works or not.

Edit: Needed a smiley to show I'm not being serious......

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

So, crothian, you don`t have your own flail, right? It was the one of your ex-roommate. And he didn`t like it when you took it away from him?

 

[Pielorinho]

I've also started playing darts, and am realizing that there's no way I can hit the bullseye 1 in 20 times. I figure that darts have a 10' range increment, I have at least a +1 Dex modifier, and the bullseye is Fine. I take a full round to line up a shot, which gives me a +5 to hit. So that means the bullseye has a 10 - 5 (Dex) + 8 (Size) = 13 AC. I'm getting around a +6 to my attack roll--I hit on a 7 or above! So I ought to be hitting it 70% of the time. But I'm actually hitting it 2% of the time.

Just use different rules, then. You're trying to make a called shot, and D&D doesn't allow those. What you're actually looking doing is aiming at a tiny target (the dart board), with an AC of 10-5+2+1natural (explains why those darts keep bouncing off), for a total AC of 8. You're not proficient in darts, probably, and you're probably using crummy darts that inflict a -1 or greater penalty to hit.

The bullseye, of course, is a confirmed critical hit .

Daniel

 

[twjensen]

BUT...

I tested out 1 rule once. I noticed that if I take a single step, and a cat takes a single step, and an elephant takes a single step, I can assure you that we don't all take a 5-foot step! Go figure.

Small things tend to be more nimble and quick than large things. My cat is very fast compared to me, and its a lot smaller. Of course, with a more fair comparison, I do better, like my speed vs that of a small primate. However, proportionately, the small thing is still faster.

Yes, an equivalent amount of steps for a giant might be 15', but it is quite likely that the giant takes one actual 5' step, and the fighter does a quick shuffle for the same 5' of movement in the same time frame.

So with all of that going into it, it's no wonder that they just said "heck with it" and gave everyone a 1 square step. It's not as unreasonable, illogical or unrealistic as it might appear.