"Ties go to the defender" - Where does this fallacious rules citation come from?

[Aeric]

Well, I know that's how we used to play in oWoD...dunno if it was an official rule or not, though.

 

[Twowolves]

I think in modern warfare that's certainly not true. Initiative and surprise will often win against equal or superior forces.

Well, as any student of Robert E. Lee or Nathen Bedford Forrest can tell you, even 140 years ago it wasn't always true. But then again, in the 10,000 years before that it probably was, and that's a long time to have the idea pounded into general wisdom.

 

[Milkman Dan]

...casting sleep is a full-round action...

Sleep has a casting time of 1 round, much like various summon spells, but that's not a full-round action.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Sleep has a casting time of 1 round, much like various summon spells, but that's not a full-round action.

From the Magic Overview chapter:
"A spell that takes 1 round to cast is a full-round action."

Of course, that is a simplification, and the paragraph goes on to explain "It comes into effect just before the beginning of your turn in the round after you began casting the spell. You then act normally after the spell is completed." Also, the Feats chapter explains that "If the spell’s normal casting time is 1 action, casting a metamagic version is a full-round action for a sorcerer or bard. (This isn’t the same as a 1-round casting time.)"

But we do have a direct quote from the book stating that it "is a full-round action"

-Hyp.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

I think in modern warfare that's certainly not true. Initiative and surprise will often win against equal or superior forces.

It has always been true that small unit skirmishes were often extremely violent and bloody in a way that tended to make most mass battles look like a stroll in the park. If both sides choose to close in earnest rather than just toss a few javelins and flee, of course.

D&D focuses on small unit skirmishes or smaller.

 

[Lopke_Quasath]

To "defend" against something using a saving throw, you only have to tie the DC to beat it.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Although when you're being attacked, the tie explicitly does NOT go to the defender in D&D -- if you roll and exactly equal the defender's AC, you hit.

Other games, yes -- which is somewhat odd given D&D's wargame roots.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

Exactly! And I learned it is sahuagin, not sahaugin, casting sleep is a full-round action, and that you can't take a 5' step in a swamp.

I don't care what they say. I don't care what you heard. I've been mispronouncing a lot of stuff for too long to let anyone tell me different. It's pronounced jew-bil-ex no matter how it's SPELLED, and it's sah-how-gwin or sah-haw-gwin - your choice.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

IIRC correctly, 3E didn't have a mechanism for resolving ties on opposed rolls.

In our game, we house-ruled that the active player was setting the DC, which the defending player than had to meet. (Thus, ties to the defender.)

In other games, folks just ignored the rationale and went with the very common rule of war-games for decades: defender wins ties. That itself was based on the idea that in most conflicts, all else being equal, the defender usually had a "home field advantage."

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

No, the opposed roll mechanism was in the original 3E PHB. I don't have mine handy, but IIRC it was fairly early, where the d20 mechanism was explained (though it might also have been in the combat or skill sections where opposed rolls also come up).