some d&d stuff I dont understand

[freonsmurf]

ok, from what I see the AC penalty is better when the number is more negative, -7 is better than -2
I dont understand how the ac penalty works and is used when something is attacking you.

another thing, like lets say a flail is 1d8 but the crit damage is 20/x2

So if its rolling a 1d8, how does it get the 20 roll for a crit to be succesfull?

have some other questions to but answers to these should clear those up
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[Nymm]

Everything in 3rd edition is rolled on D20 pretty much. if a weapon is 1d8 damage 20/x2 crit, that means if you hit it does 1d8 damage. The critical hit THREAT is a natural 20 on the die, the critical hit is 2 times damage.

For all critical hits, if you hit the THREAT on your first roll, you roll a second time and if the second roll hits then you get a crit.

So a rapier (1d6 crit 18-20/x2) if you need a 14 on a D20 to hit and roll and 18, then follow that with a 15 you successfully crit and do 2x damage. - Nymm
Prexus, Assassin, 1 ea.

[EZ_Aelodyn]

I've been playing D&D for 15 years. I'll give this one a go

First off, understand that AC is additive, and the higher the better. Your AC score is the DC ("Difficulty Class") that your opponent needs to roll on 1d20 to hit you. AC can be situationally modified a thousand ways. Here's what the Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook has to say about AC:

Quote: Armor Class: A number representing a creature's ability to avoid being hit in combat. An opponent's attack roll must equal or exceed the target creature's Armor Class to hit it. AC = 10 + all modifieres that apply (typically armor bonus, shield bonus, Dexterity modifier, and size modifier.)

The only AC penalties in NWN occur when you are flat-footed or perhaps have a spell effect on you that lowers your AC. All characters except rogues and barbarians are flat-footed in the first round of combat until their turn.

NWN uses 3rd edition D&D's d20 system to resolve combat, saving throws, and skill checks. All rolls in NWN except for weapon damage rolls and spell damage/effect rolls are on a 1d20.

A threat range of 20/x2 means that if you roll a natural 20 on your attack, you've rolled a critical threat. The computer then rolls a second 1d20 and adds your attack bonuses. If you hit again, you've critted your foe. x2 means that on a crit, the computer rolls double damage for you - in the case of a flail, 2d8 + double any modifiers such as for Strength and magic weapons. No matter what, a 20 is a hit, even if you don't follow through on a critical. The threat range and crit damage of weapons vary. Longswords are 1d8 damage and 19-20/x2. Scimitars, on the other hand, are 1d6 damage and 18-20/x2. A greataxe is 1d12 damage and 20/x3 (triple damage on a crit, or 3d12 damage....nasty). Generally speaking, martial weapons do more damage and have a better threat range and/or crit multiplier than simple weapons.

[EZ_CreepyPete]

I LIVED the 2nd edition stuff way back when and it's been awhile (as in I'd scare you kids if I told you just HOW long) , so feel free to correct me.

Combat used to go like this:

1)Figure out the AC of the mob you want to hit.

Lower is always better and AC ranges from 10 all the way down to -10. AC10 is an unarmored human with average Dex.
AC2 is a guy in Plate. Anything much lower than that and you're using some kind of magic (armor, buff, extraplanar being, etc) to get that low.

2) Figure out what modifiers you have to hit the mob. Are you trying to hand to hand that guy in plate? Well, that's gonna get you a big negative as fist vs Plate sorta favors the armored guy. Using a spear versus a guy in leather? You'll get a plus. Strength, magic, weapon proficiency and certain situational and positional mods also figure into this number.

3) Roll a 20 sided dice and add or subtract whatever modifiers you may have due to strength, magic, etc and match this number against a table of armor classes indexed by your class and level. (10th level mage hits a lot worse than a 10th level fighter, etc) a 1 is an automatic miss (and maybe a fumble if using house rules) and a 20 is an automatic hit (and maybe a crit, etc, etc)

So 1st figure out if you get any modifiers to hit, attack with your flail, roll a d20. If you got a 20 and like you said above a 20 was 2x damage, usually your damage is modified like this:

Assuming a +2 dmg modifier due to Str for this example:

Roll 1d8 for flail damage: You get a 6

6x2=12 + 2 dmg modifier for Str gets you a 14 point crit.

Hope that helps a little. 3rd edition I've looked over, but only a little, but this basically is how it USED to work.

-Creepy

[freonsmurf]

so the ac penalty only applies in certain cases?

So lets say a tunic 5 ac, ac penalty -2
vs tunic 5 ac, ac penalty -8

for the most part they will preform the same until a certain situation arises where the ac penalty is looked at, is it only flat flooted or can it happen with spell fx and etc?

[Nymm]

First thing, NWN is 3rd edition, so throw out anything you know about 2nd edition. Second thing, AC penalty on armor in game is what that armor assess against you in a situation that requires armor penalty checks. Also, some feats can reduce armor penalties.

So armor that is AC5 with a -2 penalty means a rogue who's wearing it is at -2 on all hide/sneak rolls but his ac is +5.

The flat footed penalty is determined by removed any Dexterity based AC bonuses. So if your AC is 16 and 2 is that is from dex, then when flat footed your ac is 14.

If I'm wrong on this, someone please correct me, but been playing 3rd edition for a while and looking at the game for 4 hours last night it seemed to be a straight translation of these rules. - Nymm
Prexus, Assassin, 1 ea.

[EZ_Aelodyn]

Creepy, THAC0 and negative AC scores went the way of the dodo bird in 3rd edition. Everything is additive now. A (-10) AC in 2E is equivalent to a (20) AC in 3E.

Freon, I have to admit you've stumped me. I'm pretty well versed in 3rd edition game mehcanics and I have no idea what you're referring to when you say "ac penalty." Are you talking about penalties to skill checks while wearing certain types of armor?

EDIT: helping Freon Edited by: Aelodyn at: 6/21/02 8:16:35 pm

[freonsmurf]

ac penalty, the number on armor is that I mean

[Kezzek]

Wix, in this case the "AC" is referring to "Armor Check Penalty".

From the Player's Handbook, pg 104:

"Armor Check Penalty

Anything heavier than leather hurts your ability to use some of your skills. Some characters don't much care, but others do. The barbarian, in particular, faces a trade-off between heavier armor and better skill checks.

Skills: The armor check penalty number is the armor check penalty you apply against certain skill checks. If you're wearing any armor heavier than leather, you can't climb, sneak, or tumble as well as you would if you weren't wearing such heavy armor. This penalty applies to Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pockets, and Tumble checks. Swim checks face a similar penalty based on the weight of the gear you are carrying and wearing.

Shields: If you are wearing armor and using a shield, both armor check penalties apply.

Nonproficient with Armor Worn: If you wear armor with which you are not proficient, you suffer the armor's armor check penalty on attack rolls and on all skill rolls that involve moving, including Ride.

Sleeping in Armor: If you sleep in a suit of armor with an armor check penalty of -5 or worse, you are automatically fatigued the next day. You suffer a -2 penalty on Strength and Dexterity, and you can't charge or run."


Hope that clears it up.

[freonsmurf]

cool, got a link to that while playerbook?

[EZ_Vaclav Romanov]

It looks like it's something they overlooked adding to the manual Freon...

But yes, it's a negative to appropriate skill rules when in heavy armor(for example: Rogue skills, swimming, etc.)