I had an Awesome encounter in my last game that left me slack jawed shaking my head, but not sure how to rule on it. To set up the encounter I had a gauntlet the party had to get through consisting of a long hallway with several archers on a second floor balcony. The gunslinger who has shot on the run wished to charge into the room dropping prone and slide across the floor taking a shot at one of the archers as he slid by. I allowed it as it was GREAT roll-play and added all round excitement around the table, but what would be the RAW ruling? Is there any mechanic I am not aware of that would allow you to slide across on your backside as we see in countless movies?
To clarify I allowed him to make a double move and drop prone after 10' of movement and slide 15' to a place of cover in the middle of the hall...a column. Dropping prone gave him a bonus to AC vs ranged attacks.
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There's no mechanic allow what the player described.
A charge only allows a melee attack.
If you run it's a full round action.
If you move, your limited to your normal movement speed.
You can drop prone for free at the end of your movement.
Shot on the Run is its own full round action that has its own specific rules (move up to your normal move distance and take a shot anywhere in that movement)
The closest your player could get by the rules in using shot on the run, moving up to their normal movement speed and taking a single shot during that movement. Wherever they ended their turn, they drop prone as a free action.
As long as no one readied any action to attack him though, hes prone at the end of his turn and has the AC bonus against ranged attacks so it basically resolves the same for how things turned out, except you basically gave him an extra move action.
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Just a little nitpicking on the wordage here - to be clear, you allowed the gunslinger to use shot on the run (because they had the feat) and not charge, as they entered the room? And by rule of cool allowed them to slide partway as they take their shot?
First off, dropping prone is a free action, so him ending up prone at the end of it all is certainly allowed.
And to be fair, I see no reason, other than MAYBE a failed acrobatics check (maybe DC 15?) to not be able to drop prone while moving and slide. I know there is the Sliding Dash feat but that's for a specific case.
I appreciate when players try to invoke the Rule of Cool so I'd certainly allow it even if there aren't specific rules (that I know of) but I'd probably make them do a DC 15 acrobatics check, and allow them to slide 5ft, +5ft for every 5 they beat the DC, to a maximum of their movement speed. And I'd probably decrease/increase the DC if the ground they're on is rough or smooth or something (smooth, worked stone or wood floors is 15, wet or polished surface is 10, rough dirt is 20, overgrowth is 25 or maybe just impossible)
I'd do pretty much what Syries suggested above. I love letting my players attempt the unusual or nigh impossible for the sake of making the games exciting and fun. I use the Rule of Cool a lot.
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Thank you for the replies. I like the acrobatics check, I wish I had thought of it....now seams a no brainer, oh well.
I think I'd allow an acrobatics check or for them to spend a grit point, similar to the Gunslinger's Dodge deed.
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Thank you for the replies. I like the acrobatics check, I wish I had thought of it....now seams a no brainer, oh well.
I wouldn't worry about it. You allowed a player to pull off something that was very exciting and cinematic and fun. That's the most important thing!
I wouldn't worry about it. You allowed a player to pull off something that was very exciting and cinematic and fun. That's the most important thing!
Absolutely