mob damage

[Master_Crafter]

I am considering using mobs to represent semi-organized troops and am wondering how to adjudicate damage for special attacks the creatures may be able to make. These attacks include everything from ranged archery to spells, which is why I'm asking.

It seems from the entry I'm basing this off of that a mob of humans (assumingly equipped with basic clubs {or maybe using an improvised slam?}) deals 5d6 dmg, roughly equal to being hit 5 times with the weapon in question, but requiring no attack roll against creatures in their area.

That said, my questions are as follows:

1 - Could the same mob equipped with, say, longbows target a similarly shaped area, or just a single target?
2 - Would they have to target a single creature in that area, each creature in that area separately, just the area itself, or would it be an auto-hit?
3 - If they have to target the creature(s), would they target normal AC, flatfooted AC, or touch AC?
4 - Would the damage change to 5d8, as though the target(s) had just been hit by 5 longbows, or would it remain 5d6, just altering the damage type to piercing?
5 - If the mob consisted of trained 1st lvl spellcasters, using say, ear-piercing scream, could they do any of the above, substituting with damage equal to 5x the spells effect (in this case totaling 5d6 sonic with possibly an increased save DC to halve dmg & negate the dazed effect)?

[Kimera757]

1) AoE.
2) Target the area, AC 5 or 10. (Honestly, don't even bother. The mob can't miss that.) Victims make a Reflex save for half damage, save DC base on mob HD and ability scores.
3) They don't.
4) The latter. 5d6. The damage is based on the Hit Dice on the mob. Getting 5 times the base damage is just coincidence.
5) No. Spellcaster mobs don't even make sense. They'd act like a "magic item" that you add to an already existing mob of troops (if they're clerics or other buffers, kind of like a "hat of healing") or just add a few casters into the mob as separate creatures. (Mobs can share spaces with allies, and even enemies.)

Of course, creatures could have varying special attacks, of the racial variety, or maybe a mob of paladins (rare, but plausible on a battlefield) all with Smite Evil. In such a case, I would make those special abilities an "item". Not all the paladins are smiting or even attacking each round, not all the half-dragons are using their breath weapons each round, etc, but some of them are using their abilities each round, so the "item" is giving them some sort of benefit each round. (Every round, a few paladins smite, a few half-dragons breathe fire, etc.) The save DC would be based on the mob's Hit Dice and creature ability scores (since whatever is getting hit is likely getting hit by multiple overlapping effects).

For the half-dragon example, I'd just make the breath weapon represented by an extra aura of damage, probably pretty low, say, 5 fire damage, but each turn, rather than dealing with weird cones and potentially very high damage every once in a while.

[Master_Crafter]

Ok thanks for the reply, but just trying to play devil's advocate here, so bear with me please.

If the entire mob is acting like a coordinated squad (think flank of archers or phalanx of spears) and are all using the same weapon, wand, special attack, etc, why would the damage type change but not the dice?

I make this argument because a mob, as the source I am using defines it, is essentially an uncoordinated angry group of people, most likely wielding whatever they can get their hands on. Once they start acting in unison, say at the behest of a squad captain (such that most of the troops are performing the same actions at the same time), I would think these changes to their attacks to be reasonable.

I get the HD reasoning, but an angry mob of uncoordinated lvl 1 commoners is a far cry from a coordinated squad of lvl1 archers or wizards, or even rogues with wands. I know this is verging on house rules, but I would greatly appreciate a couple of opinions.

[Master_Crafter]

There is precedence for changing the damage dice and type, even in pathfinder, if you look at the various swarms (a mob essentially being a swarm of small or larger creatures).

Just look at the primate swarm which has an ability called "coordinated swarm", which increases the die step of the dmg they deal. Also, amoeba swarms deal acid damage instead of physical.

So, if an entire troup could be equipped with an appropriate weapon (or spell) and act in a coordinated way, why could these factors not change when adjudicating mob damage?