"Too Precise" Spell Effects

[apsuman]

If I recall, a square is counted "in" the radius of a fireball (or other AOE spell) if more than half of the square is covered by the spell's effects. So if the troll is on the very northermost edge of his 5' square when that southbound fireball 'splodes it is entirely possible that he could realisticly be outside the radius but in game terms his square is what counts, and if it is in then so is he.

Saying that if a sorcerer in three back in marching order when they find the troll. In order to get the troll but not the fighter in front of him, all the sorcerer has to do is include 51% of the troll's square. Basically he has a 5' square window behind the troll to "drop" the center of the fireball. Given that all he has to do is get the center inside a 5' squre behind our troll, I would say don't bother with spell craft (or wis or dex) checks. Just give it to the caster.

g!

 

[Hejdun]

Don't forget that if people are blocking the way, you have to roll to 'hit' the area you are aiming at. For instance, if Bob the girly tap dancer is 10 feet in front of Susie the playground sorceress bully, and Bob gets in the way, she needs to make an attack roll so that her fireball doesn't hit Bob on the way towards the bad guys.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

It doesn't matter how you resolve things, just pick a system which is fast.

We usually play the "draw a dot on the map where the center is" method.

No matter what system you use the players will adapt and learn to take advantage. The DM just can't spend the same amount of planning and eyeballing.

So just use any system that keeps the game moving. It is six of one, half dozen of the other.

 

[mikebr99]

Seems like this has been discussed...

Yup...
http://test.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13683

As someone suggested within this tread, base it on a spellcraft check. the DC is based on the radius for a burst spell and 1/2 range for a cone.

So fireball (for a precise strike) would be DC20.
And a Colour Spray (6th level caster) would be DC20.

If you make it, fine... if you miss the check, every point below counts as a 1ft. deviation from the target point... in a random direction.

So, you could fail to hit the target, and miss the monster's front line completely also, or you could get their's and your front line...

A 5th level mage with 18 INT could have +12 in spellcraft... that translates into a 40% chance of failure for a surgical Fireball strike.

And higher level Wizards are only goingto have a 1 in 20 failure rate... which would only translate in a 1ft. difference anyway.

 

[IceBear]

Just a reminder - there is no auto fail on a natural 1 with a skill check.

IceBear

 

[Umbran]

Your opinions would be appreciated.

My opinion is that it's just as irritating when the enemy spellcaster blasts the PCs, while leaving his own allies intact.

Remember, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. There's no real issue here if the critters and NPCs use the same precision. In the long run, it shouldn't matter.

 

[mikebr99]

Just a reminder - there is no auto fail on a natural 1 with a skill check.

IceBear

Oops...my bad...

 

[Gromm]

Personally I just make them pick an intersection and go with it. If they've calculated it all out before hand, good for them for paying attention. What I don't allow anymore is a 5-10 minute graphing section where they seek to maximize the effect of the spell to hit as many opponents as possible and no allies. It stops combat and makes me suspend disbelief too much (though I don't like the infamous fireball right up to an ally thing much either).
I figure mages are really good at judging distances since its all they do all day anyway, so I give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

[frankthedm]

in the group I play in we place a d4 on the table anf then the area is mesured from there.

rolling a d 10 for feet &subtracting wisdom mod may work fro scatter [use the tip of the d 10 as a direction arrow.