bombs and targeting spaces

[Ed Reppert]

Can I throw a bomb and target the space an enemy is in? If so, what's the DC of the attack, and where is this in the CRB?

[HammerJack]

There are no rules to support that, so no DC is defined for it on any page. The rules of Splash weapons are set up so that you need to at least not critically miss against a creature's AC.

[Baarogue]

Targeting a space is mentioned in the conditions appendix under Undetected, CR p.623, but I don't know if it's mentioned anywhere else and is not a normal rule for bombs or any other type of weapon afaik. Allowing it against a visible target would be at the GM's discretion

It works like attacking a hidden creature except the DC 11 flat check AND the attack roll are both secret rolls performed by the GM. I would not make the rolls secret if a player asked to attack a hidden or higher visibility target's square. But since this question has big "attempting to avoid no splash damage on crit fail" energy, I would still require the DC 11 flat check and subsequent attack roll, with a failure on the flat check being the same as "misses entirely" as if they crit failed the attack roll, described on CR p.544 under Splash Trait

[Gortle]

I have allowed it in games.

AC? I went with, as a close equivalent the wall spells which have Each 5-foot-by-5-foot section of the wall has AC 10

[Ed Reppert]

Hm. What started this in my head was a comment I saw on a YouTube video that implied that you could toss a bomb into a square as a ranged attack against DC5, and if successful, any critter in the square takes the same damage it would have taken had you targeted the critter. Which made me wonder why anyone would ever target the critter directly. Where the DC5 came from I dunno. Anyway, I can see tossing the bomb into the square resulting in normal splash damage on a success, but full damage? That doesn't seem right. Maybe half damage, I dunno.

[Squiggit]

Even ignoring the other issues that doesn't make sense. There's no mechanism by which to make something other than your target take full bomb damage.

[HammerJack]

Ed Reppert wrote:

Hm. What started this in my head was a comment I saw on a YouTube video that implied that you could toss a bomb into a square as a ranged attack against DC5, and if successful, any critter in the square takes the same damage it would have taken had you targeted the critter. Which made me wonder why anyone would ever target the critter directly. Where the DC5 came from I dunno. Anyway, I can see tossing the bomb into the square resulting in normal splash damage on a success, but full damage? That doesn't seem right. Maybe half damage, I dunno.

This sounds like you just saw a comment from someone who made incorrect extrapolations from a rule from another system.

The AC 5 could easily have come from 1E or Starfinder. Full damage, though... I have no idea where they would get that idea.

[Ed Reppert]

Me either.

[Gortle]

Gortle wrote:

I have allowed it in games.

AC? I went with, as a close equivalent the wall spells which have Each 5-foot-by-5-foot section of the wall has AC 10

I'm only talking about targetting a square for the purposes of splash damage to that square and adjacent squares here.

It makes sense if a creature has a ridiculous AC, but say a weakness to fire damage. You don't want to run the risk of a critical failure, so you just target the much easier square to near guarantee the splash damage and trigger the weakness.

It works for splashing undetected creatures if you can get the squares right.

If you are targetting hidden or undetected creatures in a square to hit them directly there are other rules for that.

[Errenor]

Have anyone seen the variant when 'targeting' Large or larger creature's square is used to avoid having splash damage in all squares around such creatures? So actual targeting and effects are like the base rules, but splash damage occurs only in one strictly 5ft emanation around one selected square of the Large or larger creature space. This makes some sense because it's strange when same bombs make splash damage in 8 squares for Medium creature, 12 squares for Large, 16 for Huge and even more for Gargantuan. And definitely convenient when you want to avoid hitting allies.