Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Tomasina 05-17-05, 06:38 PM	I have a question regarding basic combat. Let me use an example from our last gaming session to host my question: A 15th level cleric stands his ground against a 20 foot tall bear of massive proportions. He casts a spell at the bear and a second later gets slammed by the bears right paw. The question is what happens to the cleric? Although he deffinately takes the damage from the hit, in reality you would expect the cleric to go sprawling across the ground as a result of the hit... but I can find nothing in the game rules to explain this behavior. Is there anything which discusses being knocked back by a hit and includes info like distance, damage, etc? Thanks, Tomasina
Jaid 05-17-05, 07:11 PM	normally, there is no knockback or anything like that. yeah, it's not very realistic i suppose... but it is abstracted to keep the game from getting too complicated. if you want, i suppose you could allow the attack to automatically "bull rush" or "trip" to represent knocking the person back or knocking them to the ground... of course, this should apply to all, including players, if you are just handing it out for free. also, the snatch mechanic for dragons (at least, i've only seen it on dragons... then again, i just may have never noticed it elsewhere) might represent this also.
Tomasina 05-18-05, 06:45 PM	Thanks... this is not something that normally happens... it is just when something that big hits you it seems wierd to have nothing happen. Not doing so would be like having a boulder hit a standing person and the person just stands there without moving. Anyway, thanks for the idea... I will look more into the bull rush.
CryoSilver 05-18-05, 09:37 PM	There's always Awesome Blow from the MM as well, which lets a creature of Large or larger size take -4 to hit for the chance to knock back a creature hit 10ft (Fort save DC=damage dealt IIRC and negates)
Thelon Fairblade 05-19-05, 10:22 AM	The DM is always allowed to break the rules, although generally encouraged to do so only sparingly. If I were the DM in the "boulder strike" situation for example, I might indeed have the character knocked back. But, within the rules, you just need to accept "HP damage does not equal physical strike to the body". The bear scored a "hit" for "damage", but that strike might have instead represented the cleric dodging at the last minute, taking a bruising strike to his shield arm, stumbling to one knee, then regaining his feet before the bear could take advantage.... all a lessening of his ability to continue fighting, all represented by losing HP. Having said all that, IMC I added knockback/knockdown rules, but only to Threats and Critical Hits. I reckoned that *these* attacks actually represent physical contact with your body, and might interfere with your stance. The defender gets a save against the damage inflicted. If he chooses Fortitude, and fails, he is knocked down in his square; if he chooses Reflex, he is knocked backwards 5', with a failure indicating being prone after the knockback and not getting to pick which direction he was knocked. The save for a threat is pretty easy, while a crit is much harder. These rules also allow combatants that can't pierce DR to have an effect in the combat - they might not inflict HP damage on the foe, but a strong blow (or a weak one at the right moment) can still knock the creature around!