|
Post by chrisfitz71 on Feb 23, 2013 19:00:56 GMT -5
In gridless play, when you judge who is affected by a radius spell effect, do partials count as affected or unaffected? Or, do you base it on more or less than 50%? Here's a pic with both the grid-style bursts and a true circles, and 'figures' positioned on the edge. The left is a 20-ft radius, the right is a 30-ft radius. Attachments:
|
|
|
Post by dm1scotty on Feb 23, 2013 21:06:53 GMT -5
I say anyone the circular burst touches can be hit. PCs tend to like that because it works out better than the crazy grid method. I also tend to be very lenient in measurement. In fairness I also use these guidelines for monster bursts.
|
|
|
Post by unclebilly on Feb 23, 2013 21:26:47 GMT -5
With the 20' burst I would not let X be hit it is just touching the base even W would be a close call.
|
|
|
Post by danielc on Feb 23, 2013 22:51:48 GMT -5
I use the 50% of the base call.
To be honest I hated the grid "burst" grid just because of the odd misses such as V&Y in the 20ft. Blast. Going gridless makes the burst seem closer to what I imagine a real spell burst would be. Of course that is just my opinion. :-)
|
|
|
Post by onethatwas on Feb 23, 2013 23:02:50 GMT -5
In this case I would vote for DM adjudication. The DM may give W and X in the first situation a +2 bonus to their save to avoid, while the C and F ones may get a +1 bonus. OR you could just go with "at least 50%", which is a fair and common ruling in situations like this. In that case, W and X don't get hit, while C and F do get hit. Both ways of handling it can be seen as fair.
The rest are pretty clear instances of getting hit. Also, I agree with Danielc: the circular template makes much more sense than a gridded one, because it actually represents a radius, instead of a poor facsimile of one.
|
|
slurpy
Room Planner
Posts: 283
|
Post by slurpy on Feb 24, 2013 2:03:44 GMT -5
I would go with anyone touched. And if there's a question about it, it counts. Applies for baddy spells and good guy spells. Minimizes the arguing with the DM then.
|
|
|
Post by danielc on Feb 24, 2013 2:40:33 GMT -5
After playing War Games for years using clear templates and selecting what is hit etc, I really do not understand why this is any different. It might allow a few more figures to be hit but in the end, it should not be a sorce of a lot of issues.
|
|
|
Post by chrisfitz71 on Feb 24, 2013 4:57:05 GMT -5
With the 20' burst I would not let X be hit it is just touching the base even W would be a close call. Yes, a close call, that's the idea. And you're the DM at the moment, UncleBilly, so it's your call. So, UB, what is your call? [And, more interestingly, how do you decide?]
|
|
|
Post by chrisfitz71 on Feb 24, 2013 4:58:23 GMT -5
...The DM may give W and X in the first situation a +2 bonus to their save to avoid, while the C and F ones may get a +1 bonus... That's an interesting approach.
|
|
|
Post by unclebilly on Feb 24, 2013 8:54:41 GMT -5
With the 20' burst I would not let X be hit it is just touching the base even W would be a close call. Yes, a close call, that's the idea. And you're the DM at the moment, UncleBilly, so it's your call. So, UB, what is your call? [And, more interestingly, how do you decide?] I would use the 50% coverd idea then no W would not be hit also. But I do like onethatwas idea of a + to save on some of them. I will bring it up to my players and see what they think also. I like to let them deside on these thing also. Then once the rule is set it works the same for both sides. Then they can't argue when they are getting hit also
|
|
|
Post by chrisfitz71 on Feb 24, 2013 10:54:35 GMT -5
I will bring it up to my players and see what they think also. That's a great approach. I like to have buy-in for rules, too. Not for at-the-moment judgement calls, but for rules laid down and ongoing.
|
|
|
Post by danielc on Feb 24, 2013 11:28:58 GMT -5
Yes, once the whole table agrees to the rule going forward it helps curb arguments later.
I also think that if the GM is consistant in how they handle a rule, it helps keep table arguments to a minimum.
|
|
|
Post by madladdesigns on Feb 24, 2013 15:32:26 GMT -5
In the 20-ft radius I'd say X & W have escaped the worst and took minor damage if at all. In the 30-ft I'd say ALL of them took full damage. That's how I would play it.
|
|
griffonwing
Tool Gatherer
Suave swabby, savvy?
Posts: 97
|
Post by griffonwing on Feb 24, 2013 15:58:54 GMT -5
I think the burst squared should have 1 more on each side of thr NEWS (north, east, west, south) points. Basically, it should be hexagon shaped. For example, B, G, Y and V should all be in the gridded range
As for elemental bursts, be it fire, ice, etc..
If you look at a burning flame or fire (camptfire, match), there are peaks and valleys of the flame that shift continually. In a fireball burst, there are also going to be peaks and valleys throughout the radius, however, they will not shift as there is no fuel, and it will dissipate immedately.
That being said, anything that is on the rim, touching any part halfway or more (this would include all figures except W and X for gridless, and W, X, C, F for gridded) get a bonus to saving throws. This takes into consideration the leaping randomness of the flaming burst.
Either a bous to save, or a 50% chance to ignore all damage completely, if you fail, you roll saves as normal.
|
|
zonto
Cardboard Collector
Posts: 21
|
Post by zonto on Feb 25, 2013 10:13:40 GMT -5
I'd go with the 50% ruling, and if it's close, err on the side of "hit."
|
|
blackknight
Cardboard Collector
Vorpal Bunnies FTW!
Posts: 14
|
Post by blackknight on Feb 27, 2013 12:53:29 GMT -5
Hi All, this is my First post, so bear with me...
I went gridless a while back (decades now). and in my last interation I made rings with thin Coathanger wire scaled out to the proper sizes for the AoE spells. I put some crossing wires for stability and to mark the "center" of the effect. I've always gone with if you have to move your piece for me to put the ring on the map, then your in the area of affect. If you think about it, if you stand with 1/2 or less of your body in a wall of flame, will you get burned??
Also, I modified all spells so they had a circilar effect, so for the "effect a square 6x6 kind of spells, they became a circle in a 4in radius (which translates to near about the same area.
Bob
|
|
|
Post by chrisfitz71 on Mar 1, 2013 14:19:42 GMT -5
...if you have to move your piece for me to put the ring on the map, then your in the area of affect. That's a very practical approach, Bob. Thanks for sharing that. [Also, your first post shows great promise.]
|
|