Okay, that may be on the verge of insulting to some people.
The Pathfinder RPG is certainly much more than a hack and slash dungeon crawl.
However, in reality, it evolved from that very thing. The Dungeons &
Dragons rules have always kept their tactical combat rule set up front and
center, which is fine. That’s the root of it in many cases. Even if you can get
XP without going into combat, not having rules for that combat would almost be
sacrilege. So, I begin my trek through the Combat chapter in the Pathfinder
Core Book.
3x had a number of issues that slowed down combat. They
brought in attacks of opportunity, five foot steps, grapple, etc. The addition
of feats providing characters so many options, a round of combat could all but
paralyze the gaming table as people sorted through their options and made
decisions. I’ve been told more than once that Pathfinder cleaned up some of
these rules and really streamlined combat. I am skeptical as to how much and
there is no better way to tell than to dive right in.
Combat works in rounds where everyone rolls initiative and
acts based on that initiative unless they are flat-footed or surprised. They
may have to wait until the next round to act. Attack rolls and armor class are
indistinguishable from Dungeons and Dragons 3x as far as I can tell. Damage is
pretty much the same. I am still under the impression that earlier versions of
the rule literally had us multiplying damage rather than rolling multiple times
as I mentioned in a previous post. I really should go look that up. Meanwhile,
I definitely prefer multiple rolls to a single roll multiplied.
I remember death being at -10 HP before. Now, I see it as a
negative number equal to the character’s constitution score. I definitely
prefer it this way, whoever came up with the idea first.
Aaaaand…next page takes us on to Attack of Opportunity.
Okay, here’s the thing. They make sense in a realistic manner. Ruling them
always gave me some issues, though. Who gets them how often and how often can
someone be hit by one and etc. and so on? Argh. Let’s see if Pathfinder
explains it in a bit more clear and concise manner.
So, let me get this right: moving out of a threatened square
or taking actions that distract you from battle while in a threatened square
are when someone can make an attack of opportunity against you. That’s a lot
better than moving out of and into as I’ve heard it explained some times, makes
it dangerous just to attack someone, more dangerous than it should be in an RPG
anyhow. Okay so those two things open you up for an AoO. Got it. Typically,
characters can make up to one attack of opportunity per a round, but they do
not have to take this attack. The attack is at full attack bonus. They may take
special abilities that give them more attacks of opportunity each round,
meaning they can take them against multiple targets each round not that one
attack of opportunity leads into three simultaneous attacks. These abilities
would be Combat Reflexes, a feat, or something like it. Think I got it, but
that does seem like a lot for my little brain to remember.
The picture on the next page…imported here for ease of
reference….does help me understand it a bit better. Maybe it wasn’t entering
the threatened square that I am remembering, but entering and then leaving the
threatened square, or passing through it. That makes more sense.
I find it kind of interesting that they started talking
about speed and move actions before breaking down the different types of
actions. But, that’s okay. Seems about the same from what I can tell so far.
It comes right after this that we talk about the standard
action, move action, full round action, swift action, immediate action, as well
as the consideration of not an action and restricted activity. That seems like
a lot. The book explains it as well as anyone can, I suppose:
“In a normal round, you can perform a standard action and a
move action, or you can perform a full-round action. You can also perform one
swift action and one or more free actions. You can always take a move action in
place of a standard action.”
So, free actions can only be used in conjunction with a
swift action? I think this list is a little bit over simplified even for all
its complexity.
I like the charts that indicate what type of action it is
and whether or not it would provoke and attack of opportunity. I suppose after
you’ve played for awhile, these sorts of things start to sink in…like THAC0. I’m
out of practice, though, so if I were to run a game, I would definitely need to
start out with a cheat sheet.
After about five pages of further describing the different
kinds of actions…wait a second. If they need that much explanation, isn’t it a
little bit much. I’d like to believe some things should be self-explanatory,
but what do I know?
Next up is injury and death. This and healing seem to be the
same old rules I always played 3x with, so nothing new to familiarize myself
with.
I never had a problem with movement and tactical speed. I
know I have read this all before. I am trying to figure out why it takes us so
much space to explain it. It is probably because we throw in more terrain rules
along with rules for advantageous positions, flanking, squeezing, kneeling,
etc. These are all things I know make since, but to get it right, I would need
a cheat sheet for, at least for a little while.
When we start talking about size and how it matters in
combat, I believe I have a flashback that reminds me why I like fighting and
pitting my players against mostly humanoid threats. One, I know nothing more
devious than a human. Two, oh my goodness, the extra numbers to consider.
I’m going to take a break and come back to Special Attacks,
or what I consider combat maneuvers,
a little later on.
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