Related Information to Aericsteele’s D&D 5e Questions & Support

Aericsteele’s D&D 5e Questions & Support - Page 21

The Maker says...

It’s a bit of a balancing act when it comes to this issue. On the one hand, yes a ranger would be more likely to have some knowledge, if not experience in dealing with, certain monsters that make the forest their home. At the same time this does not mean that he has knowledge or experience with every creature in the forest.

I don’t believe Carrick has the Nature skill which generally covers the “ability to recall lore about terrain, plants, and animals, the weather, and natural cycles” but my understanding of 5E is that not being proficient in the skill does not mean that the character is incapable of using the skill. That being the case Carrick can roll an Intelligence (Nature) check to determine if he knows something of the creature even though he would not gain a proficiency bonus to the roll. I generally count this as a free action.

This creature would not be so common as to be readily identified (Like a bear or a wolf), but unlike the Grell there is a possibility that Carrick would recognize it to some degree so the roll can be made to gain further information.

I don’t want to forbid called shots but I think it depends on the intent/purpose of the called shot… what is is being attempted? Shooting an arrow to knock a weapon out of someone's hand could be handled as an attack roll maybe with a DC of 25 because despite what the movies may show, that kind of marksmanship especially in a high stress situations would be difficult even for a seasoned veteran (Add a moving target and it's almost impossible DC 30). Aside from normal damage though the effect would be forcing the person to drop whatever is in their hands.

Shooting something in the eye would be even more difficult (Probably DC 25 or even 30) but doing so would make the creature blind in that eye and probably give a x3 multiplier to damage. We could assign an armor class to various body parts for this such as:

Small target areas/extremities (Arms, legs, head)= AC 21; success could give penalties to dexterity or speed or in the case of the head do x2 damage
Pinpoint target areas (Eyes, hands)= AC 25; success could cause certain conditions (Ie blinded) or penalties to perception, penalties to dexterity or that kind of thing.

I’m not necessarily opposed to doing this, but remember that means enemies can make called shots against your characters as well. I think it would be important though to be specific about your intent to make a called shot; if it is not expressly stated then I am going to assume it is just a standard attack. So, even if you state that you swing your sword at a person's head, I’m not going to consider that a called shot to the head unless you state, perhaps in parenthesis, that it is in fact a called shot.

Of course if a Dungeon Master agrees to called shots then the next question is bonuses for aiming; in that case I think aiming could be a standard action and grants advantage on the attack roll but if done in the midst of a combat situation in which the character is threatened or has recently been attacked then a concentration check would probably be appropriate as well.

I don’t mind this as long as it is within reason and includes only what he is trying to do or intends to do rather than assuming that he accomplishes this. It is within the player's agency to describe what they want the character to do, but it is the Dungeon Master’ task to determine whether the character actually accomplishes what they intended to do.

I think it is a good idea to include the actions are you taking in the post, for example in what you are describing you may describe what Corren’s plan is and then perhaps in an out of character statement announce the actions: Bonus action Hide to bound up into the tree, move action to go from one branch to another and then attack action to drop down and strike

Well within fifteen feet or so, you would not need to take a Dash action to reach it before you attack.

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The Scout of the Deep Wilds says...

Ok, cool. I totally understand that Carrick would not "Know" all animals in forests, after all, his "Favored enemy" is beasts so that's where his expertise would most likely dwell being a trapper and all. And yes, as you pointed out, nature, even though he's a dwarf ranger who loves the forests, is not "Proficient" in it. (I did find it weird that it landed under Intelligence instead of Wisdom, but that's another topic all together, (Laugh)).
Thanks for the input. And as for now, I think I'll just continue this encounter as normal until everyone has weighed in on the called shot thing, though I am very intrigued by the possibility of enemies also being able to do it as well! That could lead to some very interesting role playing!

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Personally, I am indifferent to called shots. If everyone wants to do that, along with the Dungeon Master (Who gets exponentially more work due to having to adjudicate it all), then I am good with, though we'd need a comprehensive list of the called shots, their risks and rewards and so forth.

And now that the beast (What the heck was that thing anyway?) is out of the way, of course Corren would like to run to Zinna, but as a player I want the other PCs to post actions and remarks first. Corren got the kill-shot, so let some of the others get some limelight, too.

Page 21 Support and Questions e Dragons and Dungeons Aericsteeles

Oh aye, if called shots are to be a thing at all, we'd have some details to work out, or at least some details for Aeric to work out depending on what he'd want in terms of player input. As for me, I'm fine either way. I find called shots an interesting addition to play, but it does add a fair bit of extra adjudication.

As for that creature, don't mind sharing my suspicion now that its dead. I'm 95% certain it is an Ankheg. Nasty insectlike monstrosity with an acid spray attack. Poor Zinna saved us a fair amount of pain there, had it turned and sprayed the main line instead of going for her in particular, it could've hosed nearly everyone but the scouts in the stuff.

Edited: daishain on 29th Oct, 2016 - 3:15am

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I really don't care either way about the called shots. I have never played with called shots before. It doesn't affect her since she isn't much of a melee character and is not USUALLY in combat. Whatever the consensus of the group is fine. I'm a little concerned about this adventure. Aeric is definitely upping the difficulty. The first encounter did much more damage than any of the encounters in the first adventure. I really thought Zinna might die there. Thanks everyone!

Edited: Kyrroeth on 29th Oct, 2016 - 10:41am

Aericsteele’s D&D 5e Questions & Support

Don't forget we also downed the creature in turn in less than one round, in spite of most of the attacks directed at it missing, which gave us plenty of time to stabilize Zinna before she had any chance of dying.

A single large creature is often more dangerous to the individual it targets, especially when, as in this case, it bypasses the front line. Zinna got a bit unlucky there, but this encounter was not something we couldn't handle.

Aericsteele’s D&D 5e Questions & Support - Page 21

I just wanted to let Brandon and KNToran know that in the inter-character exchange thread Corren and Zinna are having dinner at the Drunken logger. We invited the two of you as well. Corren wants to let Mradoric and Carrick know about him and Zinna being involved romantically and to see if they had any issues with it as regarding the group. Daishain and Delgar, your characters haven't arrived in Clear Creek at the point in time of the dinner. I'm not trying to leave you two out. You are more than welcome to read the thread along with us.

Edited: Kyrroeth on 29th Oct, 2016 - 8:00pm

Aericsteele’s D&D 5e Questions & Support D&D / Pathfinder Archive - Page 21

I will take a look at it later and respond I did not read it as I was not part of the two of you. Now that I know Mradoric was invited he will show up to the dinner.