Two halfspears...

[Zaruthustran]

Makes sense

Why not? Because one thing leads to another and pretty soon you have a case of power inflation that you can't stop.

I guess it depends on the group and campaign style. My group's play style is very fast and loose. Lots of rules-on-the-fly for unusual actions and situations.

At least, that was the play style. Lately I've found myself contridicting the DM with things like "Actually, that would provoke an AoO" or "A partial action wouldn't let you do all that.."

It's getting so that I'm treating DnD as a wargame instead of as a fantasy role playing game... a change that I don't particularly enjoy.

Example: last game, the party came upon the final room of the adventure. We opened the door and there, 30' away, was the object of our quest: a baby princess. Her kidnappers (vampires) were gathered 'round her cradle.

The barbarian won initiative, and the player said "I run forward, snatch the baby, and run back". He had a move of 40 and the baby was only 20 feet away. Technically, he would only be able to move and grab. But the DM smiled and said "Okay, before the stunned vampires can react you run up, scoop the baby into your arms, and leap back toward your friends."

Everyone was smiling, congratulating the guy on his daring move. I bit my tongue. How lame would it be to say (insert Comic Book Guy voice) "Um, actually, that's a move plus an action plus a move. He can't do that." Saying such words would kill the players' fun, frustrate the DM, and wipe the smiles right off the other players' faces.

Sure, this is a rules discussion board and the thus the appropriate place for discussing rules arcana. But I just wanted to point out that sometimes, the rules need to be bent for the sake of fun.

 

[Artoomis]

Certainly, Zaruthustran. But of course, a good DM knows how to make special exceptions without creating precedents that come back to bite you in the rear-end later.

And in the example you just said, I think it would have been much more heroic to grab the child, get beat up good and proper, and then run, escaping with barely a hit point left. Sacrificing yourself, and all-that!

By the way - the same result could have happened within the rules, if the barabrian got a surprise round (move in) and then had initiative (grab and move out). And a clever DM could have allowed that to happen with no die roills, if he wanted.

 

[Jack Haggerty]

As an alternative, if a player tries this, let him set the first spear with no problem. Then, let him roll a Reflex save (DC = 10 + charging guys initiative), if he makes it, he can set the second spear. If not, he gets clobbered.

 

[Zaruthustran]

Certainly, Zaruthustran. But of course, a good DM knows how to make special exceptions without creating precedents that come back to bite you in the rear end later

Right. My rant is not at rules themselves, but rather at unbending gameplay.

After re-reading my previous posts, I think I was more than a little harsh. My apologies. Bit of a stressful day (just found out the costs to repair my car, recently recovered from the thieves that stole it).

 

[Tony Vargas]

If my player came up with that idea, and could show how he could brace/set two spears at once, I'd let him do it. Why not reward creativity?

Because it's only creative the first time...

 

[green slime]

Right. My rant is not at rules themselves, but rather at unbending gameplay.

After re-reading my previous posts, I think I was more than a little harsh. My apologies. Bit of a stressful day (just found out the costs to repair my car, recently recovered from the thieves that stole it).

Hay, Zarathustran!

That's perfectly OK! I didn't think you were too harsh. I agree with the fun bit. It's just that this was a question about the rules, and I was trying to answer it in a rulesy way. I guess I came over as walking around with a stick up my rectum.

The problem is when players deliberately start to abuse your generosity and you end up with a game where the challenges are diminished, to the detriment of all playing the game.

Hope your car stays unstolen. I really know what a pain it is, the same has happened to me, with all our holiday stuff in the vehicle.

 

[Jack Haggerty]

Hey Slime,

That's exactly why I post questions like this. It's hard to think up a reasonable answer to a question like this on a moments notice when it happens in game.

So, we try to come up with a solution that both follows the rules (or a reasonable facsimile thereof, so the game stays challenging), and also doesn't discourage a player from coming up with wonderfully creative ways to handle a problem in-game.

I always hate resorting to the inevitable "No, you can't do that. It's not in the rules," whenever a player comes up with something new, and the GM can't find a way to handle it.