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I was just thinking about it, and what type of AC are you trying to hit when you fire off a spell at a flatfooted enemy?
If it normally targets touch AC, which is primarily 10 + DEX, but the enemy is flat-footed, and as such are denied their DEX bonus to AC, are you just targeting an AC +/- Size modifiers?
Flat-footed AC does not include Dexterity bonus. A touch spell uses Dex bonus, deflection bonus, insight bonus, etc. So if you manage to get a touch spell to go off against a flat-footed foe, then you use deflection bonus, insight bonus, etc. For most foes, that's just going to be base 10 AC then.
The rules text for Flat-footed should just directly say it applies to Touch AC and CMD.
("You can't use your Dexterity bonus to AC, Touch AC, and CMD (if any) while flat-footed.")
But it really should just be emphasized that AC and CMD are derivatives of Touch AC. Touch AC is really the fundamenal basic stat, "Normal" AC only applies if you HAVE an Armor/Shield/NatArmor Bonus (vs. non-Touch Attacks). And then there wouldn't be the question "is not listing Luck Bonus under CMD an error, or is Luck really not supposed to apply for some reason?".
The standard character sheet could just list a 3x2 matrix like:
..AC.. TouchAC ...CMD...
[......] [.........] [.......]
[......] [.........] [.......] Flat Footed
I've never understood why the Flat-footed "Normal" AC is called out, but not for Touch AC (and now CMD). It doesn't take much space for three little boxes like that, and it seems like it would be much more intuitive for newcomers to the game if it were presented this way (as evidenced by the question behind this thread).
As is, I have no idea why CMD isn't put together with the other two Attack Bonus target #'s/DC's. Having attack info displayed distinctly from defense info seems the clearest approach. Obviously, CMD is partially derived from BAB + STR, but otherwise it uses the same BONUSES as Touch AC, not the attack bonuses that apply to CMB and normal attacks... /shrug
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The standard character sheet could just list a 3x2 matrix like:
..AC.. TouchAC ..CMD..
[......] [.........] [.......] Normal
[......] [.........] [.......] No Dex / Flat-footed
Hmm, interesting point. I'm rewriting the 3.5E Profiler for use with PF Final (including as many of the game rules as I can implement and still leave open to "GM interpretation"). I think I'm going to incorporate your 3x2 matrix. Although I may tweak it as shown by the bold text in your quote since that makes it obvious about how to handle invisibility.
Thanks for that idea. :)
No problem :-) (and 2x3 of course works as well, depending what layout you need to fit)
If you like, you might try another idea:
Listing a "Maneuver Size Mod" = double the normal CMB Size Mod
('cancelling out' normal Attack/AC mods already factored into normal attack numbers and AC)
which you just add onto normal attack numbers (Grapple, Trip Weapon, etc)
as well as CMD = Touch AC + "MSM" + BAB + STR, and that's it.
CMB/CMD are really just a minor variant of the normal attack/TouchAC system - this is just a different 'presentation' of the normal set-up, it isn't any different mechanically. But it helps if you want to use some secondary or Iterative Attacks for a CMB Maneuver (no deriving Secondary/Iterative CMB numbers, just the straight Maneuver Size Mod (zero if Medium) to normal attack numbers), as well making the Touch AC -> CMD derivation quick and straight forward (if your Size / STR + DEX tend to change b/c of spells, etc).
This might be something that would best be part of the official rules and char sheets, given it could be confusing since it isn't DIRECTLY described this way in the core rules (even though it works out the exact same).