Why you shouldn't use 5 ft corridors

[Hussar]

So, nice defensible choke points are good for our intelligent rogues!



Or are they?

Colour me confused!

Nice defensible choke points are good for lots of people. However, if you would like to follow along, I was pointing out that perhaps, just maybe, as a thought, a class of opponent that functions much, much more effectively with extra breathing room would benefit from having extra space.

However, even a class which benefits from wiggle room still is smart enough to not come out of its nice defensible position just to benefit the invaders just because the invaders taunted them. Of course, if you feel that enemies should always do whatever most benefits the party, then I suppose that mapping isn't an issue.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Nice defensible choke points are good for lots of people. However, if you would like to follow along, I was pointing out that perhaps, just maybe, as a thought, a class of opponent that functions much, much more effectively with extra breathing room would benefit from having extra space.

However, even a class which benefits from wiggle room still is smart enough to not come out of its nice defensible position just to benefit the invaders just because the invaders taunted them. Of course, if you feel that enemies should always do whatever most benefits the party, then I suppose that mapping isn't an issue.

You know I love you, Hussar.

 

[Hussar]

You know I love you, Hussar.

/threadjack Heh, sorry about that. My hard drive just 'sploded on my work computer. Makes me grumpy. /threadjack

Back on topic, looking closer look at that map, an awful lot of that is corridor. Coyote6 made a comment about the 10 foot corridors, but, look at that map, there's about 100 feet or so of just corridor linking rooms. None of them are natural formations. So, why do we have so much corridor?

 

[mmadsen]

Two points:

If the PCs are better fighters than their foes but fewer in number -- not unusual -- then chokepoints should benefit them, not the weak-but-numerous defenders.

Corridors were extremely rare in pre-modern architecture. Rooms off of rooms were the norm, if the structure was big enough.

 

[hong]

Two points:

If the PCs are better fighters than their foes but fewer in number -- not unusual -- then chokepoints should benefit them, not the weak-but-numerous defenders.

Corridors were extremely rare in pre-modern architecture. Rooms off of rooms were the norm, if the structure was big enough.

The issue is not so much whether the chokepoints are tactically beneficial for the PCs. It's whether it's fun to have only 1 or 2 players involved in the fight, leaving the other players idle.

 

[Mortis]

What DOES annoy me is how draconian the game is about how many folk can stand in a single five-foot square at once. It's stupid to think that two humans can't fight back to back in a single five-foot square. Perhaps they'll take some penalties, but it just smacks of "we don't want to encourage miniatures standing in the same square so let's not allow it." Lame.

To digress slightly, this could be a feat, perhaps.

Regards
Mortis

 

[Raven Crowking]

So, why do we have so much corridor?

Have you seen the WLD?

 

[Raven Crowking]

To digress slightly, this could be a feat, perhaps.

Normal Person

Prerequisites: None
Benefit: You are able to perform any action that an average human being could perform.
Normal: Some actions normal people can perform are impossible according to the RAW.



How's that?

(I recommend allowing this as a free feat)

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

When dealing with 5 foot corridors, we used the fact that you can move through an ally's square to set up better. Scout in front is getting hit. He uses a full withdrawal to move to the back of the party. Fighter moves to front. Second fighter sets up behind him, readies an action to step up and attack when the front fighter withdraws to the back to get healed.

Of course we also had the sorcerer decide to hit the opponents with a color spray from the back, not realizing that she would affect the entire party in front of her. That made the fight a lot more interesting.

 

[VirgilCaine]

I'd say there's something wrong with Official D&D, myself.

If I was playing, and we went into a secret thieves' den (which is what this is, right?), and it was big and roomy, with 10 ft-wide corridors, I would probably begin to mock the whole setup. "What is this, the Mall of America? And the locals can't find it? But our first level PCs can? Uh, maybe we should pitch in and buy the locals some scrolls of remove blindness."

If I was 1st level and found (as opposed to being told or shown where it is, etc.) a secret thieve's guild, I'd be shaking my head at the sloppy design. Adventures should make some sense.