I don't understand how reach is supposed to work in squares. Let's say an eidolon has the reach ability and can reach five feet further with its attacks. How does it deal with the squares in diagonals? Basically, a normal fighter threatens all the squares around him, but when he gains a five foot reach increase, he can threaten one square further. That means he can hit an enemy that is two squares further, but what about the diagonals?
If the diagonals are threatened, you just can't approach such creatures without triggering attacks of opportunity. It sounds a bit powerful.
If the diagonals are not threatened, then you can just run at the creature without triggering an attack of opportunity by approaching it from a diagonal. However, this makes absolutely no sense : the creature should reach for you before you reach for it because its arms are five feet long, even if you come at it from a diagonal. No?
Any page in the Core Rulebook that explains how reach works? I only found something on reach weapons and it's a bit irritating.
And another question about the witch : is there a limit to Cackle that I just missed? If a witch casts Misfortune on a target and then starts cackling, the duration is extended for one round. One round later, the witch cackles twice and the duration is extended for two rounds. Basically, the witch can make it go on forever as long as she cackles? Can she really cackle twice per round, or is there a rule I missed?
Diagonal spaces only follow the 5-10-5 rule for movement. Reach is not affected and threatens 2 squares (or more) out in all directions (diagonals included). Though this is goofy (since a 10 foot pole reaches ten feet in front of you but 15 feet if held at a 45 degree angle) the way to fix it is to switch to a hex grid instead of squares. I remember James Jacobs commenting on a thread about this at one point.
Edit:Here is the thread I was referring to and it does not really help clear things up as James admits he may have ruled incorrectly. If you want a simple solution without switching to a hex grid you can always say that they threaten the corners but take a -2 penalty to hit because the opponent is partially out of their area, though this still does not make any sense. Or you can just drop the 5-10-5 rule.
What exactly is the 5-10-5 rule? Is it the one that makes you cross five feet on the first square and ten feet on the next one, making two diagonal squares equal to three squares in a straight line?
The witch can cackle as long as she has move actions. But if thats all she is doing.. then she is either moving very little or just standing there.
The witch can cackle as long as she has move actions. But if thats all she is doing.. then she is either moving very little or just standing there.
So basically she can just hex a very strong monster and have the whole party hit it while she stands in the back laughing for the whole fight and making it roll every attack roll twice while taking the most sucky of both rolls? That does sound like a very strange class role and it sounds strangely efficient.
Right but no worse than any other 'i zap the single bad guy' and the party beats it down. The problem there isnt Cackle so much as having only one oponent to fight.
The problem there isnt Cackle so much as having only one oponent to fight.
Bingo. Without modifying the system or engaging in ridiculous optimization exercises, a single foe isn't viable against a party. The foe cannot easily overcome the action deficit while keeping that foe's stats (AC, attack bonus, damage, et cetera) within parameters that maintain something approaching a balanced encounter. It is important to keep in mind that it was never the intention of the CR system that an average challenge for four 5th-level PCs (for example) should be single CR 5 foe.
For more, I kindly direct you to this article.
Mark L. Chance | Spes Magna Games
What exactly is the 5-10-5 rule? Is it the one that makes you cross five feet on the first square and ten feet on the next one, making two diagonal squares equal to three squares in a straight line?
That is exactly the 5-10-5 rule. first diagonal square is 5 feet, second is 10, third is 5.
Diagonal spaces only follow the 5-10-5 rule for movement. Reach is not affected
False. Every distance is measured using the 5-10-5 rule. The lone exception is 10' reach, which adds the corners so that there isn't a false blind spot in their reach. If only movement used 5-10-5, we'd have square fireballs just like 4th edition.
False. Every distance is measured using the 5-10-5 rule. The lone exception is 10' reach, which adds the corners so that there isn't a false blind spot in their reach. If only movement used 5-10-5, we'd have square fireballs just like 4th edition.
The only section I have seen this rule mentioned is in movement, then spells specifically say they act like movement. So I said movement only.
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The witch can cackle as long as she has move actions. But if thats all she is doing.. then she is either moving very little or just standing there.So basically she can just hex a very strong monster and have the whole party hit it while she stands in the back laughing for the whole fight and making it roll every attack roll twice while taking the most sucky of both rolls? That does sound like a very strange class role and it sounds strangely efficient.
I played in a short-lived game with a Witch during its beta, and while he was effective, and quite a bit helpful, when you step back and look at the fight, it does look a bit strange.
The majority of what he did in many fights was stare at people and then laugh... Very strange indeed...
I mean, repeating the same ability over and over again to extend the duration of another ability sounds like something you'd do in 4th Edition.