The Arbiter's page

I feel like such an evil man, playing with all of your emotions as I receive data on optimal low-level combat techniques. For what it's worth, Eben, I'm sending in a zero-casting goblin. We'll see how that goes.

Hope this isn't stepping on your toes Pit Boss :O

In terms of rolling things, I'll go ahead and say that all rolls must be rolled, even those that you're sure you will succeed on (this seems a better option both for completeness's sake as well as for those corner-cases when someone has sneakily modified your nonsense and you didn't notice).

Yeah, crits are a somewhat unfortunate part o' the game when it's not player vs. environment :|

Assuming Gyllir is war-trained and knows the attack trick, and Johnny has been actively attempting to harm his master, I believe it would make sense for the horse to go tramplin' on Johnny. If he didn't it would be a "who's best at not bleeding out" fight.

Yes, a ranged attack from G09 to J08 will not have cover. If Gin was prone he did get a +4 bonus to AC vs. ranged attacks, however.

Would you like me to make this one official, or just have a pick up game? :P

I'm not totally sure what the deal with rerolling initiatives was, as the page Choon linked to seemed to clearly say highest mod goes first, in which case Bruno would have been up first.

If two or more combatants have the same initiative check result, the combatants who are tied act in order of total initiative modifier (highest first). If there is still a tie, the tied characters should roll to determine which one of them goes before the other.

Taking the -4 and then negating your bonus effectively gives you only the more severe penalty, not both. If you have 5-15 dex, you'll lose 2 points from your AC. If you have higher than that, you lose more while pinned, but wont end up with a negative dex modifier. The penalties would apply in the same way to your CMD, yes, which makes a certain amount of sense. It doesn't matter all that much how nimble an opponent is if you have their arms and legs locked— at that point you're down to mostly brute strength.

Reading through the linked thread as well as the grappled/pinned conditions again, it appears that at some point the 'flat-footed' text was errata'd to 'denied dex bonus'. I was getting the former from this site, which seems out of date (I hadn't been there before either, it just came up first on google). So, we know the official text is 'denied dex bonus', but I'm not positive about the intention. Looking into some of the points raised in the thread Rolg posted, it does seem rather silly to have one's pinned dex bonus be lower than that of someone grappled. I think I'll rescind my earlier ruling, however, and say that pinned does deny you all dexterity bonus (it makes a certain amount of sense, really). This happens after and on top of the -4 penalty from being grappled (which you also are, to my knowledge), so if you had only 12 dex to begin with, you'll end up with a penalty. This does make escape-artisting more difficult once pinned, but I believe that also makes sense, being pinned means you're rather past the point of wiggling away easily.

First of all, both of you, goddamn excellent sportsmanship.

Secondly, the rules seem to be wildly inconsistent on the matter of pinning and dexterity bonuses.

A pinned creature is tightly bound and can take few actions. A pinned creature cannot move and is denied its Dexterity bonus. A pinned character also takes an additional –4 penalty to his Armor Class. A pinned creature is limited in the actions that it can take. A pinned creature can always attempt to free itself, usually through a combat maneuver check or Escape Artist check. A pinned creature can take verbal and mental actions, but cannot cast any spells that require a somatic or material component. A pinned character who attempts to cast a spell or use a spell-like ability must make a concentration check (DC 10 + grappler's CMB + spell level) or lose the spell. Pinned is a more severe version of grappled, and their effects do not stack.

A pinned creature is tightly bound and can take few actions. A pinned creature cannot move and is flat-footed. A pinned character also takes an additional –4 penalty to his Armor Class. A pinned creature is limited in the actions that it can take. A pinned creature can always attempt to free itself, usually through a combat maneuver check or Escape Artist check. A pinned creature can take verbal and mental actions, but cannot cast any spells that require a somatic or material component. A pinned character who attempts to cast a spell must make a concentration check (DC 10 + grappler's CMB + spell level) or lose the spell. Pinned is a more severe version of grappled, and their effects do not stack.

See the weirdness? Due to the wording in the following sentence, specifically the word 'additional', I believe the intent was to have the loss of dexterity only apply to AC.

To the best of my knowledge, each of the combatants provoke an attack of opportunity for leaving Gin's threat range. Since Gin specified that he would swing at Vatale if possible (and it was possible), he takes the AoO on Vatale. I'm curious about how combat reflexes would work with this, whether it's possible to take two AoOs against a fleeing opponent and his mount. Will research.

The starting squares are A11 in the north, L10 in the south.

The official ruling as of now is that jumping is valid movement can have an attack on the end of it (before falling back down). AoOs are triggered normally for leaving threatened squares on the way up or the way down. I will look into this question further.

To the best of my knowledge, a character's illegal movement isn't 'resolved' until the end of their turn. If someone can link me to the page on this, I would appreciate it, as I was having trouble finding the exact rules on illegal movement. Either way though, there being literally no way to jump and attack an opponent seems quite dumb, no matter how RAW we're attempting to stay.

Woah woah woah, if Bruno is totally dead then the fight is over, but if he's merely unconscious Esmeralda certainly is still going to get in the way of that coup de grace. Also, there is (as far as I know) no special provision against hitting a charging opponent with an attack of opportunity. If someone can point me to one, that'd work, but otherwise Bruno gets an attack against BASHA from the charge.

There was a lot of stuff going on here, though it seems you've mostly played through it, so please highlight anything that needs a definitive ruling!

It does appear to be a common technique, and I haven't much questioned it thus far, but honestly I am having difficulty finding anywhere it says that it's allowed to threaten one area with two hands and another using one of the same two hands. It seems as though at the end of Rolg's turn he would need to make the decision to take one hand off of his hammer (opening up his gauntlet to threaten his immediate area). Taking a hand off of a weapon's haft is a free action, but free actions are not allowed during an opponent's turn (in order to adjust the weapons to threaten them). It does appear that Rolg needs to choose between the 5-10 ft. threaten and the 10-15 ft. threaten for each of his opponent's turns (on his own turn, however, Rolg could change his handedness as part of any other action, allowing him to essentially threaten both areas). All of this said, literally the exact effect Rolg has been trying for with the gauntlets would work with armor spikes, and it is my assumption that if Rolg hadn't thus far been allowed to use his gauntlets, he would certainly be using spikes. If Rolg is alright with it, we can play out this battle using the hand-swapping rule, but in Rolg's defense he has used the gauntlet in every bout so far, and the exact effect is replicable with a very minor equipment change, so I can see the reasons for proceeding as though he has armor spikes instead of the gauntlet.

Also, in regards to the Roc discussion, Rolg actually often takes up at 10 ft. cube.

I'm not positive about B14 being cover, since technically a line from the bottom-right corner of E11 to the top-left of B14 does not pass through a barrier (it just touches a corner). I'll look somewhat into it.

EDIT: Based off of the chart here, and the explanation of why the rogue does not have cover from the ogre, I believe that B14 gives no cover from rolg in DE1011.

All of that rolling seems to be in order, good game.

For all fights, characters begin left of center (their left, not the map's left). Companions start to the right.

The sword is a nodachi of masterwork quality.

Vironus begins in the south (L10, not L11), Trihedron begins at A11.
This means Vironus stepped to K09 instead of K12.

You can't see Gin, but make a perception check if you wish, Vatale.

Aye, you may not use a quick runner's shirt in addition to a 5-ft. step (or vice versa), but I think it's game either way.

It's been a good 48 hours since Gin last posted, so I'm going to call this one if it's okay with you Vatale. If Gin comes back before you respond, we'll continue on.

Doesn't matter here, but a good rule to note: You may never make an AoO against an opponent with full concealment, even if you know exactly where they are and what they're doing.

I believe that a dirty trick would qualify for the readied action. Before the dirty trick goes off, Gnasher stands, provoking an attack from Shigeharu. Shigeharu takes this attack, and then immediately afterwards the dirty trick happens.

Fun stuff so far :D

I'll look into more stuff regarding how long 1 round really lasts, but to the best of my knowledge it disappears just before your next attack connects (having lasted 1 full round back around to your 'attack phase').

The pillars are frictionless and unable to be used for mid-air maneuvering.

Zouh actually only was hit for 37 cold damage. Criticals retain their original damage rolls and simply add the extra dice onto that, as opposed to re-rolling all dice.

I don't believe Elinora is detectable as evil in any way, and also I don't think Zouh has pouncing abilities.

I think there may be some confusion about who started where (likely because Zouh's profile name begins with an A). The name of the gladiator themselves determines starting location, so Elinora began in A11. Eli, I'm assuming any actions you took that referenced the other side to be mirrored.

Total Defense

You can defend yourself as a standard action. You get a +4 dodge bonus to your AC for 1 round. Your AC improves at the start of this action. You can't combine total defense with fighting defensively or with the benefit of the Combat Expertise feat. You can't make attacks of opportunity while using total defense.

Falcon, potentially awkward question, but... do you have arms?

The critical dealt 12 damage. Extra dice are always rolled for critical modifiers, as opposed to simply multiplying final damage.

The AoO was on a movement that did not actually take place as per the official ruling, so we're ignoring it.

So far, Vironus has hit BASHA 5 times (one of them a critical), for a total of 35 damage.

Since you threw it yourself, we'll suppose that you pay enough attention to not impale yourself. The pilum lands in... 1d4 ⇒ 2 C19.

>.<;; Yes, I do mean gnasher.

And I do believe it should, to promote things moving along as efficiently as possible and discourage people from jumping into the pits if they don't have the time to finish the fights. The nice thing about the rules being in the campaign tab is that they can be changed around in a single location, and anyone can read it for the latest rulings. I think I'll add a section on arena freeze. For now, let's say that if he hasn't posted by midnight tonight he misses the turn, at noon tomorrow he forfeits.

Official Arbiter version of what just happened, because there were some edits and mind changes and things got confusing.

BASHA started in A11, then moved forward to E11 (directly in front of Vironus), while getting angry and drawing a sword.

Vironus, feel free to edit or re-post based on these actions. You must keep your attack and damage rolls if attack and damage are rolled.

It's been the opening weekend, so we'll give Shigeharu a bit more time to jump in. Sorry for the delay.

Vironus actually begins in L10, combatants begin on their left side of the middle lane.

Moving to L11 is fine, though.

You're up!

But he was not, not even a little.

Guys, I actually clapped out loud. That was an awesome one, well played both of you.

In regards to the loss of a spell slot, since the casting of the spell is what triggered the readied action, the slot is definitely lost.

Well fought, you two :D

I should probably point out that nobody can leave the arena itself until one of them is straight up dead, so I'm going to assume this polite conversation occurs after combat is over.

Since there are variables (due to various class or item choices) that can affect a match even after unconsciousness, a fatality is required (though for this fight I'll just assume it happened, and politely :P).

Vironus, you do technically have a chance of surviving that, so please roll fortitude.

For simplicity's sake, yes this sounds good. Bruno, feel free to roll 1d2 for each pilum to see if it is potentially retrievable.

I'm pretty sure he took extra rolls for badass points :D

Vironus, Elinora is first alphabetically, and as such begins in A11. Vironus began in L10. Also, when he is hit by the arrow he promptly drops unconscious.

Trihedron, the harshness of a trip AoO on movement completely using up the movement action has been noted, I will search around and see if I can find more concrete rulings on the expenditure of actions when interrupted (especially if there remains a potential way for the action to occur in some capacity, in this case by crawling).

I should point out that if you (Trihedron) did use up your move action (but failed to move), this would not activate the 'has moved in some way' clause that prevents 5-ft. steps, so if Trihedron used an action to stand, he would still have a 5-ft. step remaining as a possible option. Not much less harsh, but good to note.

In this case, I ruled that the AoO occured in I16, since you could conceivably have moved in some way other than a straight line (though at the time Trihedron did not know that his enemy was right next to him, so it's doubtful that he would have). It is my assumption that if a character does not give explicit directions to their target square, they are moving in a straight line.