| questions |
"Panicked: A panicked creature must drop anything it holds and flee at top speed from the source of its fear, as well as any other dangers it encounters, along a random path. It can't take any other actions. In addition, the creature takes a –2 penalty on all saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks. If cornered, a panicked creature cowers and does not attack, typically using the total defense action in combat. A panicked creature can use special abilities, including spells, to flee; indeed, the creature must use such means if they are the only way to escape.
Panicked is a more extreme state of fear than shaken or frightened."
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Recently I was playing in a game and the question of what a player can do while he is panicked arose. The scenario played out as thus,
The rogue and I were scouting ahead to look for possible dangers that we might encounter, bad idea, but we did it anyways. Anyway the Rogue and I slowly peeked into the room to get a good head count of the enemies we would be face and to inform the rest of the group. One of the enemies , a Keth Hound, spots us, the rogue rolled a higher initiative than the enemy so he closed the door and started down the hallway back to the group. The enemy that spotted us charged at me now as the door is only slightly cracked open and uses an ability that gives me and the rogue the Panicked condition. On my turn I tell the DM that I am going to slam the door and run as fast as a I can away from the bad guy because that is what your supposed to do. He tells me that I can't do that, because the panicked condition specifically states that the only thing I can do is run away, so I can't slam the door that is probably only an inch open because I am too scared to do that.
I keep arguing that the door is only an inch open and that my character peeked into the room with the intention of closing the door if he was caught like he was and that the panicked condition only enforces the idea that I would close the door because whatever is in that room has scared my character too the point that all he wants to do is run away. It even says in the panicked conditions description that "A panicked creature can use special abilities, including spells, to flee; indeed, the creature must use such means if they are the only way to escape." to which I interpreted would mean that as a panicked character I would not only close the door if panicked but do anything and everything I could to get away from that keth hound going after me. To which he interpreted that the only thing I or any other afflicted member of the party could do is physically run away, no hiding behind doors, no throwing chairs in their way so slow them down, only running away and getting picked off slowly because they have a fly speed of 60 feet.
Either way he TPKed the group because everyone was panicked and he got 7 rounds of free hits on everyone because the only action we could take is running away.
Am I wrong for thinking that I could close the door and effectively lock the hounds in the room (they would be locked in the room because hounds can't physically open doors, to my knowledge) or is panicked so magically terrifying that you cannot take even the most basic actions while you are afflicted.
What can you do specifically while you are Panicked and what can you not do while you are panicked?