Hi-
So I GM'd my first mini session last night with a single player. It was more of a tech check to make sure MapTool and Skype were setup properly. However setup went so quickly we had time for a quick little romp through a thrown together dungeon. A couple of questions came out of it.
1. I realized after the game that I handled some of the acrobatics checks wrong. The player was a monk fighting 3 simple zombies. He was attempting to use acrobatics to avoid AoO and maintain control of the field. Where I believe I made the mistake was when he had 3 zombies side by side in front of him, and he wanted to break through the line to get behind them.
I had him roll an Acrobatics check 3 times, one for each zombie. However re-reading the rules it looks like it was only suppose to be 1 check? The zombies CMD + 5 (because of moving directly through the space) +4 (+2 for each of the other two zombies). Giving him a DC of 23? Is that right?
If he had failed it what would have been the result? Doe he pass through the square but take an AoO from all 3? Or does he not move and take an AoO from all 3?
2. He survived the zombies, but was pretty beaten up. Walking down a long hallway, he failed a perception check to notice the pit trap. He also failed the Reflex save and fell 20 feet and broke his neck. An unfortunate end to the monk.
Just so I'm sure, was their anything else he could have done to avoid falling damage? Its not like he intentionally jumped or anything, but I just wanted to be sure that after failing that reflex save (only by 1), he had no other recourse.
Thanks for the help! For my first game it was lots of fun.
1. To tumble past the line zombies, the monk would indeed need to make three acrobatics checks. First to tumble through an zombie occupied square he would need to make a CMD+5 check DC 19 in this case. He is also moving through squares threatened by the other two zombies. This is normally against the zombies CMD, but every additional check in a round causes the DC to increase by two. So, the monk would need to make a DC 16 check and a DC 18 check to avoid the other two zombies. Failing any of these checks results in that zombie getting an attack of opportunity.
And for the second question, if he was 4th level or higher I'd probably have allowed him to use his Slow Fall ability. Moreover, I'm a bit confused as to how a 20ft. fall instantly killed him. Assuming a CON of at least 10 and at least 1HP, you'd have needed to roll a 12 on 2d6 to instakill him. A CON of 11 or 2HP and he at least has a chance to stabilize.
And for the second question, if he was 4th level or higher I'd probably have allowed him to use his Slow Fall ability. Moreover, I'm a bit confused as to how a 20ft. fall instantly killed him. Assuming a CON of at least 10 and at least 1HP, you'd have needed to roll a 12 on 2d6 to instakill him. A CON of 11 or 2HP and he at least has a chance to stabilize.
Sorry, I should have been more clear. The fall wasn't enough to insta kill him. However since he was alone, and we were just doing kind of a mock adventure. I just called him "dead", as nobody was there to hear him scream and he was so badly wounded after the zombies, that he died.
But thanks much for keeping me honest!
Couple new questions have come to mind now that I think of it.
1. This is a combination of fluff and mechanic. The monk wanted to essentially throw one zombie on top of another, trying to knock them down the stairs. I improvised this by having him make a grapple check on the first zombie. Then on his next turn, he made a 2nd grapple check to succeed the "throw". Then I basically just made both zombies prone.
While I don't think there is a specific mechanic for this type of thing, I'm wondering how more experienced players would have handled this type of action.
2. The Stunning Fist of the monk. I see that it allows a save to resist the stun. What is this calculated from? I could find where it said how to calculate the DC of the fist, nor what type of save it allows for.
Thanks again for reading!
1. This is a combination of fluff and mechanic. The monk wanted to essentially throw one zombie on top of another, trying to knock them down the stairs. I improvised this by having him make a grapple check on the first zombie. Then on his next turn, he made a 2nd grapple check to succeed the "throw". Then I basically just made both zombies prone.
While I don't think there is a specific mechanic for this type of thing, I'm wondering how more experienced players would have handled this type of action.
You've already past the first GM test, by allowing something to happen even if there isn't a specific mechanic to handle it because it made the game 'better.' But I digress.
What you did works. I probably would have made him grapple check to 'move' and opponent then given the zombie a reflex save to avoid the other zombie.
I could also see it as a bull rush or overrun if the player described it as such. Heck, even trip with an improvised weapon. All in all with the new rules it would be a combat maneuver of some sort.
2. The Stunning Fist of the monk. I see that it allows a save to resist the stun. What is this calculated from? I could find where it said how to calculate the DC of the fist, nor what type of save it allows for.
It's in the Feats section. Fortitude save (DC10 + 1/2 character level + Wis modifier).