RoseyNZ's page

Hi Fellow Pathfinders! GMs, Players, Everyone else who's here.

I realize there are lots of other threads, but I can't find the exact same scenario.

[TL;DR] - Mounted Ranger wants to do 3 charge attacks in 1 round.

I have a player, he's pretty good, generally, but likes to power game in a specific way. He likes to pick a theme and plow headlong into it. So I'm going to give a breakdown of his main character points and my concerns and then hopefully, someone will post a link, or a quote, or something that will put this to bed.

Character: Level 15 Gnome, Ranger, Cat Companion, Always mounted, strapped in, +4 Holy Keen Called Lance, +3 Rhino Hide.

Important Feats: Spirited Charge (3x Lance Damage on Charge), Mounted Skirmisher (if Mount moves, you can still take a Full Attack Action), Hammer The Gap (During a Full Attack Action, extra damage per attack)

Ranger starts combat with a charge, with mounted skirmisher, he's claiming he can charge on his mount, then take a full attack action, which is currently 3 attacks, and at 3x damage on lance when charging. It's possible to do 18Dmg x3 for charge (54), +18 dmg for the Rhino hide (3d6), 72 Damage, x3 attacks = 216 dmg, then Hammer the gap could add 3 points, assuming they all hit. So in a single round, he could do a 218points. It's rough maths, but that's single shotting a lot of big bads.

Now, I'm a pretty chill GM, I like my players take on their characters, and I generally say "it's on you to know what your characters can & can't do, but there may be times that I'll question it." which is what happened last night. I failed to learn proper Charge combat rules, which, in every part of the "charge" & "mounted charge" rules, indicates that at the end of the charge, the character can attack once. EXCEPT! Mounted Skirmisher, if your mount moves more than 5ft, you can take a Full Attack Action.

His interpretation - Charging is moving, there for after the mount charges, he can take a full attack action, of 3 attacks using charge damage, x3 Lance attacks, 3 Attacks. ((1d8+10)x3, +3d6)x3 attacks)

My Interpretation - Charging is a full round attack, after the charge, he can either: take a full attack action, 3 attacks, at normal lance damage, 1d8+10, or he can take 1 attack as a charge (1d8+10)x3, +3d6.

He has ride-by, which means he can do several charges over the combat, but he feels that theres no point taking hammer the gap, instead taking vital strike instead. Of which I agree, taking a single strike, compounding that damage on a single strike.

Now, being the "good guy gm" I feel bad that what his interpretation of it is, conflicts with mine, but being able to do ~200 damage in a single charge seems OP, when the likes of the Huge Frozen Worm they fought last night, the CR17 Wendigo they'll fight next week, and the undead ghosts that they'll end up fighting, all have sub 200 hps.

The Rest of the Party is a Wizard, Witch, Paladin & Barbarian, so their damage output is quite substantial, Far from glass canons though. I'm happy to increase the difficulty of some encounters, but if a Ranger can kill a huge entity in 1 round, why would anyone else need to be there?

Hi, short time reader, first time poster! (this might come across as a rant though)

I've played Pathfinder for a while, but due to a friend moving to Aus, I've stepped up for the first time to GM. We use MapTools for roleplaying, as it makes it easier, plus we can use PDF's & d20pfsrd.com rather than flicking through books.

I have a Spell caster PC that has & uses Mage Armor, but never states when they cast it. So when mousing over the character token, I see he has 18AC for example. When I roll my attacks I know I hit, but then he says "oh no, I have mage armor, I'll just put that on now" - this irritates the hell out of me!! It's a cost of a spell slot, it counts for his daily allotment, whatever.

What do you guys do in this instance? Should I tell him, tough luck, you take the hit this round, you can cast it next round & follow the concentration check rules etc? OR do you let it slide?

Mage Armor is 1h/level, so in theory, he could cast it well before any type of combat, but if they don't know whats going to happen, would they use the spell? (He's level 4, so having it active all day will cost a few casts) - It's not a cantrip, so not like he can cast it for free.

I have a summoner who also uses Mage Armor, but he is new to the group & advises when he casts it, so I don't have a problem with that. Once he said that he wakes up from sleep & cast it straight away, but that was due to being in a rough area and he wanted to be prepared. I'm thinking that I need to instigate a rule where at the start of the 'day' people must advise if they cast any spells & start keeping a time/clock of what's happening. The problem is, that's another step in my setup/process, rather than letting the PC's look after their own spells & processes.

Any suggestions would be helpful :)