Worst Swim check in history

[mmu1]

I feel your pain. The other day I asked the paladin in our group for a balance check for crossing a narrow bridge.

"I don't want to do that," he said.

"Why not?" I asked. "Just take 10. It's an easy check."

He looked pained. "I've got heavy armor, a shield, and some penalties from other stuff. My armor check penalty is something like -11. I take 10, and I'm STILL at -1." We goggled at him for a moment, considering the consequences, then someone asked cautiously what everyone had been thinking.

"Dude," he asked, "how do you even walk down the street? Step step step WHOOPS! Step step step WHOOPS!"

"Shut up," said the paladin. "That narrow bridge? I'll crawl across."

It was a fun game.

Which really highlights a major problem with some aspects of the armor check penalty system. It leads to absurd situations like someone not being able to walk across a narrow bridge, or be able to fight at all on an incline... but put them on bucking horse in the middle of combat, and they're fine, because Ride doesn't have an Armor Check penalty. Feh.

I think Balance, as a skill, is horribly defined, covering within a fairly small range of DCs both the completely mundane and extremely challenging.

 

[Murrdox]

Hydra: "Yummy", after 7 attacks of opportunity dropped the player well below -10.

Skaros

Just because Hydra have 7 heads, does that allow them to make 7 attacks of opportunity?

I don't think so. You should have only been attacked once - but then again there might be some Hydra rule that I'm forgetting about.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Just because Hydra have 7 heads, does that allow them to make 7 attacks of opportunity?

Oh yeah

Hydras have a "special" Combat Reflexes feat that allows them one AoO per head.

Now, it is up to DM interpretation as to whether they can actually make more than one attack per opponent per round, and even more so whether they can make more than one attack per opportunity.

It depends whether you consider each head to behave as a separate creature or not.

Hydras rock.

-Hyp.

 

[Skaros]

Oh yeah

Hydras have a "special" Combat Reflexes feat that allows them one AoO per head.

Now, it is up to DM interpretation as to whether they can actually make more than one attack per opponent per round, and even more so whether they can make more than one attack per opportunity.

It depends whether you consider each head to behave as a separate creature or not.

Hydras rock.

-Hyp.

I didn't even have to face those harder questions.

Surprise round: those who made a fairly easy (dc 12) spot check got to do something, and the hydra moved 20 feet from behind a pile of boulders to toss out 7 attacks on our elven ranger. 6 hit.

elven ranger: status = unconscious.

Round 1: Party continues doing ranged damage to the creature as it charges the party gnome rogue/illusionist. On the way, a head negligently bites into the ranger, killing her. The rest attack the gnome, doing serious damage.

elven ranger: status = dead.
gnome rogue: status = 20 HP left.

Round 2: Party continues doing ranged damage to the hydra. Gnome tumbles back behind the front lines, and fails his tumble check. Party finishes off the hydra.

elven ranger: status = dead.
gnome rogue: status = dead.

Clean, and simple.

Skaros

 

[Fenes 2]

Are Hydra's exempt from the 3.0 rule of "only one AoO per round vs a single target"?

 

[Hypersmurf]

Are Hydra's exempt from the 3.0 rule of "only one AoO per round vs a single target"?

It comes down to how you treat the heads.

If the DM treats them as "separate opponents" for, for example, Cleave or Whirlwind Attack, they should be treated as separate opponents for purpose of making AoOs - and could, for example, all make AoOs for a single provocation.

If he doesn't - if the hydra is considered a single attacker - then no, they can only make one AoO per opponent, up to a limit of N opponents.

-Hyp.

 

[GrassyKnoll]

Going back to the minus rolls, I also have an amazing swin skill, I belive mine is in the region of -21...As for Balance, jesus..this is an exert from one of my Journals

"With the ground still slippery, we shuffle along slowly, until we arrive at a fork in the path, which we take the left most passage until it stops a hundred feet later at some steps. The steps are all slippery, and go downwards at a sharp angle before turning off into the darkness. Of course, as soon as I reach the top, I slip, crashing and clattering all the way down until I reach the bottom of the stairs, which I find to my delight are all in water.

As I peer into the darkness, I see that the corridor slopes downwards into the clear water as far as I can see. I shout up to the others to let them know I am ok, and they start to descend the stairs. This involves clashing and clattering from a few party members, who fall and slide - though not as far as I, until Rallets lays a rope down to help the rest of the party.

The rope is gratefully received by all, especially Snagger, who had seen my quick descent - beard first, arms flailing, and had decided to wait until last, and soon all of us are standing on the stairs peering into the water.

Agador and LotD send their toads into the water to scout, and we find that the corridor continues in a straight line before it divides into a crossroads. Deciding to come back and check this area later, we head back up the stairs. This is quite easy for most of the party, but I manage all of 10 steps before slipping and crashing to the bottom again, and with my second attempt seeing me nearly reach the top, only to fall once more all the way to the bottom and back into the cold water, I start to become angry.

I realise that I am in a far worse condition than I was fighting the Ropers, and ache all over from the battering the stairs have given me, but thankfully Beard flies down to gather me, and so we make the journey upwards together, flying over the cursed stairs.

That is until he drops me just over half way up.

Once I have finished moving downwards, and my head stops ringing, I remove my helmet and wipe the blood from my mouth, and then cast not one, but two spells of powerful healing to remove some of my bruises. LotD is next down to help me, and he passes me the levitation boots as he nimbly runs up the stairs.
"

 

[Henry]

"Shut up," said the paladin. "That narrow bridge? I'll crawl across."

It was a fun game.

If that's the same paladin I'm thinking of, I can't wait to read that one.

Especially if Nolin had something really good to say about it.

 

[Thresher]

Theres a dwarf in our group who has a helm of underwater action since he was about level 6, after a particually nasty accident on a boat one day. 22 levels and 11years later that item is still on his character sheet

The most recent 'nasty' swim check was our half celestial cleric Thomas we lovingly call "Budgie"...
Scene: we're poking around looking for this set of caverns which are somewhere in the Howling Hills north of Doraka, long story, anyway he's following the way with the "Find the path" spell up front. Ankle deep in some particually fetid water, so far it hasnt gotten much deeper and then the DM calls for a reflex save.
Being a cleric, he borks the reflex save as only a cleric can and goes 'blOp!' into the lake.
Breastplate -4
Large metal shield -2
Weapons, 20pds -4
Generic gear 45pds -9
Just to be a bastard the GM adds an extra -8 for waterlogged feathers

Whats your swim skill Thomas?
Umm. What swim skill?
What about Strength?
Umm, 18...
Well, theres a +4 so its not all bad. Actually its worse than bad with the -23 to the roll, lucky he's got a good con...

Pity about the Kraken though...

Other PC's
2 fighters wearing more metal than most MBT's, an aformentioned dwarf cleric wearing as much metal as the fighters and he isnt going in there! One Sorc- elemental savant who will take D6 per gallon of water he's exposed too, and my poor little gimp wizard who is the only one, probably through a fluke who's got anything to help, a necklace of adaption and a few points in Swim skill.
3rds after the Kraken is merrily having its way with Budgie like some nasty animae cartoon, my vain little wizard decides she can go in after him and throws a Hold monster on the Kraken before it was about to flee with its prize and drag Budgie out with a TK.

Was a funny encounter

 

[Chimera]

Last weekend in Shadowrun...

My character, a Physical Adept, was running away from a hopped up (chemically) Troll Physical Adept, at a shot-up gas station.

Gasoline was running from the pumps into a ditch. On one side, the pumps. On the other, two friends who would be easily sliced to ribbons by this thing. In front of me the troll, behind me a ditch filling with gasoline.

I run and try to jump the ditch. Make Athletics check. Roll 4 6-siders.

I rolled four '1's.

Face down in a ditch, covered with gasoline mud...