|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I've had a monster attack a paralyzed foe for example, but never do a full CDG, just enough to scare the hell out of players, like: "We better help our paralyzed buddy pronto!" Usually, though, it's a fairly stupid monster. If it was an evil intelligent NPC, and the PC had been a persistent threat, I MIGHT CDG the PC, but then I would give the PCs a heads up... "You realize by the look in the evil cleric's eyes that he means business, and intends to slay the paladin. What do you do?" Etc...
Another option I've used in place of a CdG is having a monster drag the unconscious PC away. Works best in pack fights, especially in cases like ghouls and such. It wastes the monster's attack in a plausible manner without immediately killing the down PC, and has the added bonus of a worrisome air of desperation to save the comrade.
Of the few times I've run Halls of the Flesh Eaters, my favorite memory is a literal tug of war over the unconscious body of a fallen pathfinder.
|
Remember though you better be at half hit points or above to try delaying.
You can't ready a coup de grace (because readying is a standard action) and the party's going to go
I ready to blast him
I ready to shoot him
I ready to bullrush my ally away
Screw this.. CHARGE!
Which gets resolved as charge, and then all the other stuff, then the aoo for the coup de grace, then the coup de grace.
|
|
Except that a Full-Round Action can also be performed as 2 Standard Actions.
So you could begin the CdG in turn 1, then ready an action to complete the CdG in turn 2.
Thats rules iffy at best, and a coup shouldn't be done on a gray area.
The "start full-round action" standard action lets you start undertaking a full-round action, which you can complete in the following round by using another standard action. You can't use this action to start or complete a full attack, charge, run, or withdraw.
Whether you do read rounds as "round 1 round 2 round 3" or "everyone's turn there, you have to finish the full round action within 1 turn. If you Start the action then ready, more than one round as past and you're no longer completing the action you started in the same round. If you're counting rounds, then the same thing happens but at the start f the turn order rather than immediately after your turn.
Even if it works, You'd really need full hit points then. You'd have to begin a coup de grace, which would be pretty obvious, and would draw aoo's , then a full round of regular attacks, and then (by headache inducing LIFO ready rules) i'm pretty sure you get mostly the same thing above except you go before the charge, since readied actions happen before their trigger if the big bad readies to finish the CDG half the party can ready in response to the CDG before the other guy sets it off. You get to go before the charge but still get blasted by everyone that readied.
Venture-Lieutenant, Florida—Melbourne
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
The NPC succeeds verses the PC's Bluff check (in a rule specific way).If the PC takes no action, how does the NPC notice that the PC is conscious?On the flip side, I've seen several times where players won't heal one of their own due to the fact that the opponent is right there and would down them again (with a possible kill). It's metagaming or practical and it happens (I've had character's almost die because of it, I just stayed quiet).How is that meta-gaming? If a prone and unconscious character goes above 0 hp, the NPC can certainly see that and now it's going to have a legitimate reason to attack a prone PC close to death.
This is known as Fainting in Combat. Not to be confused with Feinting in Combat.
|
Venture-Lieutenant, Florida—Melbourne
|
I've had a monster attack a paralyzed foe for example, but never do a full CDG, just enough to scare the hell out of players, like: "We better help our paralyzed buddy pronto!" Usually, though, it's a fairly stupid monster. If it was an evil intelligent NPC, and the PC had been a persistent threat, I MIGHT CDG the PC, but then I would give the PCs a heads up... "You realize by the look in the evil cleric's eyes that he means business, and intends to slay the paladin. What do you do?" Etc...
Another option I've used in place of a CdG is having a monster drag the unconscious PC away. Works best in pack fights, especially in cases like ghouls and such. It wastes the monster's attack in a plausible manner without immediately killing the down PC, and has the added bonus of a worrisome air of desperation to save the comrade.
Of the few times I've run Halls of the Flesh Eaters, my favorite memory is a literal tug of war over the unconscious body of a fallen pathfinder.
Reminds me of a time I was running a particular desert adventure. The party witch got paralyzed from Strength Damage from a Giant Scorpion. All the scorpion wanted to do was eat its paralyzed meal in peace, but the party kept attacking it, so it ran behind a large rock and started chowing down. The party followed it, however, and this resulted in a long running battle as the party chased the scorpion with their paralyzed witch across the desert. Poor thing never did get to finish its meal.
Venture-Captain, Ireland—Belfast
|
I have always seen an attack that causes lethal damage as an attempt to kill. Experience shows that if a decision is made to kill a helpless opponent rather than deal with an alternative, active threat and if nothing is threatening the attackers square: a CdG is the choice most player characters go for.
So while I very rarely choose the CdG option my players know that it is very much in the repertoire of bad guys and to take precautions!
|
On the flip side, I've seen several times where players won't heal one of their own due to the fact that the opponent is right there and would down them again (with a possible kill). It's metagaming or practical and it happens (I've had character's almost die because of it, I just stayed quiet).How is that meta-gaming? If a prone and unconscious character goes above 0 hp, the NPC can certainly see that and now it's going to have a legitimate reason to attack a prone PC close to death.
Oh wait... You're saying the PC's wouldn't know how close to death the fellow PC is. Yes, there is some argument for meta-gaming there, but in truth, if you were actually witnessing someone get attacked, you'd have a sense for how vicious the blow was that took them down.
Unfortunately, neither 3.5 nor Pathfinder have a robust way for handling creature health checks. It's odd there is no specific mechanic for checking someone's health status. I know some old school AD&D GMs who wouldn't even let the PC know his own character's health.
I do wish this type of stuff had been addressed in PF.
There are two spells for clerics and oracles:
deathwatch at level 1, which works on those you can see, andstatus at level 2, which works on your allies if you have set it up.
Both are excellent spells for knowing what is going on. Deathwatch will let you identify if something is dead or undead, and is good for those situations where the enemy might play possum. Status is just something that really helps in keeping track of your party's situation.
