So, I was running an encounter and the "boss" of that fight, having taken enough damage, Noped right out of the scene. He [1a] interacted to open a window, [1a] interacted to loop a leather strap around a rope and [1a] "fell" through the window riding the zipline down.
Now, one of my players, playing a swaggering dude with little care for self-preservation, decided to pursue the fleeing villain and described his intended activity to be, "I wanna release my grip [from his two-handed long-hammer], run across the room, dive out the window, and at the last second, flip the shaft of my hammer over the rope and grab the other end with my free hand to ride the zipline down..."
[Aside He earned a hero point... and I even awarded him Panache even though he's not a Swashbuckler.]
I adjudicated the turn to be 1+ rounds: [free-action] release, [1a] Stride, [1a] Athletics check to Leap, [reaction] to Grab an Edge to successfully clear the rope with the shaft of the hammer, [1a] grab the hammer with his free hand, and from there it was a "controlled" fall. The beginning of his following round was a [free-action] release his hammer with one hand and [1a] Acrobatics check to "dismount" from the rope. Ultimately he failed the dismount, stumbled forward ten feet and fell prone, necessitating [1a] Stand and [1a] regrip his Hammer.
I'm second-guessing my call, a little bit. Should I have required an action to catch the rope instead of using the Grab an Edge reaction?
(Either way, it is a scene that will live long in the memories of that gaming group...)
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Honestly, that is exactly the sort of scene-specific thing where making an ad hoc ruling on it as an Activity not listed in a book instead of looking for the most RAW combination of Basic Actions would be called for. But if the way you ruled it worked for the flow of the scene (it sounds like it did), take the W.
Grab an Edge works in that case I'd think, but that doesn't connect well with using the hammer simultaneously or afterward IMO. If allowed, I'd give the PC some distance leaped before grabbing.
It'd also be reasonable to have the leap+grab simply be a flashy way to describe the action of beginning one's climb/zipping (since he really doesn't need to leap out the window, only move-action out via the rope).
If he wants to use the hammer, I'd simply have that all be an action, much like the villain strapping onto the zipline. I think there's an action- imbalance here in favor of the villain who doesn't seem to have pulled out the strap nor to have needed to leap out the window.
So for the PC; Stride, Interact w/ hammer over rope (or release/grab), "fall", and still have one action left seems on par with what the villain was doing. I wouldn't make it easy for a low-level PC to use the hammer this way, but viable for an Expert+ (maybe w/ option of either in Acrobatics or Athletics since it's balance + climbing kinda). And given the way the PC described it, I might put that spare action into some sort of move action down the rope (from momentum if one needs a reason). I don't know what movement rate I'd use for that though (nor the particulars of this zipline).
No notes on the dismount due to lack of context; seems fine.
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I second Hammerjack: Combat rules are not meant to be used for out of combat actions (which this whole sequence of action very much embodies in my opinion). Another solution would have been to drop out of combat and move to a more freeform way of running it (like the chase rules).
I would have been like "mounting the zip line is going to be two actions; carry on with your plan." Easy peasy.
I would have been like "mounting the zip line is going to be two actions; carry on with your plan." Easy peasy.
Why two when it took the villain one?
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I would have been like "mounting the zip line is going to be two actions; carry on with your plan." Easy peasy.Why two when it took the villain one?
The OP clearly described the villain using two actions for the zipline: one to tie himself off, and another to zipline down.
For the player it would be two actions as well.
[1a] to Stride up to the open window, [1a] to loop the weapon around the rope and [1a] to launch out the window and down the zipline.
That's the same number of actions as the villain, except the villain started by the window and had to spend their first action opening it, whereas the PC started farther away and so needed to Stride to it, but didn't need to open the window.
[1a] to Stride up to the open window, [1a] to loop the weapon around the rope and [1a] to launch out the window and down the zipline.
That's exactly how I would run it.
Thanks for the great feedback!!
I would have been like "mounting the zip line is going to be two actions; carry on with your plan." Easy peasy.Why two when it took the villain one?The OP clearly described the villain using two actions for the zipline: one to tie himself off, and another to zipline down.
For the player it would be two actions as well.
[1a] to Stride up to the open window, [1a] to loop the weapon around the rope and [1a] to launch out the window and down the zipline.
That's the same number of actions as the villain, except the villain started by the window and had to spend their first action opening it, whereas the PC started farther away and so needed to Stride to it, but didn't need to open the window.
Yes, but you'd stated mounting the zip line would be two actions, with no mention of the movement (before or after mounting) until your retelling (which in turn agrees with my adjudication).
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It didn't sound like the player was doing what the villain did though, walk up, hook onto and fall out window.
It sounded more like move/leap out window, reaction try to grab onto the line and survive the trip. So might have an action left for being crazy, but I might have made a check for catching the line to make it dramatic, likely ending the same way you played it. So overall I would say very well done.
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The anticipation for the encounter was that the boss would flee, leaving henchmen to slow the party long enough to make the escape. There was no prior consideration for how long it would take to ride a zipline. I fully expected the entire party to spend three or four rounds dealing with the mooks and the boss' escape would have simply been narrative, but... lesson learned :)
For extra clarification:
That is why there was no [1a] interact by the boss to draw the strap.
On the fly, I couldn't think of a good way to split the scene into two -- one with 4 players + 3 henchmen still in encounter mode and another with 1 player + boss in a chase -- and keep everyone engaged.
I treated the ride on the zipline as a fall with the rope determining the direction of the fall and the strap/hammer reducing momentum.
Had the player declared that he would Stride to the window + Interact to hook his hammer on the line + Move out the window to slide down the line, I think I would have simply asked for an Athletics check to successfully hang on, with the Acrobatics check for a controlled landing at the bottom. But, he was intent on taking a running header out the window. The Leap, in part, determined how far he travelled laterally before he caught the line.
In the end, everyone was happy with how it played out. I was just curious if there was a cleaner way I could have handled it. I appreciate the conversation and various ideas!
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I'm second-guessing my call, a little bit. Should I have required an action to catch the rope instead of using the Grab an Edge reaction?
In any situation as a GM where I second guess a "make up a ruling on the fly" situation I was in, I ask myself two things:
1. Did this set a bad precedent that I'm going to have to deal with later? (eg: I remember a situation where the players wanted to do several days of crafting before a major fight while they were on a timer, and tried to use Alter Reality to do it. While I wanted that to at least somewhat work, I didn't want it to create the expectation that they can just ignore any time pressure ever again.)2. Did the players enjoy the scene?
In your case, I'd say #1 is a clear no, there's no problem. So we go onto #2:
(Either way, it is a scene that will live long in the memories of that gaming group...)
That says it all, doesn't it? Don't second guess yourself, you did great! :)