Post/Author/DateTime	Post
TheRealOrion 08-27-07, 01:32 AM	Let's say I have a spellcaster who I don't want to cast spells, and I have a whip. Whips make a lot of noise and they get all up in your face. Let's further say that instead of doing damage, I just want to distract this spellcaster enough to disrupt his spell. So I Ready an attack for 'when he starts casing,' and then... what? The rules say that he has to roll a Concentration check against the damage I do, but they don't seem to say anything about how distracting, for example, getting Tripped is, or fending off a Grapple attempt. So let's say, I basically snap the whip around his leg and, instead of actually trying to Trip him, I just give his leg a good yank. Wouldn't that be distracting? Thoughts?
Tedronai 08-27-07, 01:36 AM	Go for the actual trip. I'm pretty sure that would qualify as violent motion and thus provoke a rather decent concentration check (probably more than you'd be able to get from damage on a whip in most cases)
Devlonir 08-27-07, 09:45 AM	Readied actions happen right BEFORE the action that provokes it. So, when you trip the spellcaster the moment he casts a spell, he falls prone. Although the rules dont state a caster can cast prone, they dont say you cant either. So, tripping wont really help, unless you houserule a bit. I think treating the trip like a spell is the fairest way to do it. This is what the rules have to say about concentration when being hit by a spell: Spell If you are affected by a spell while attempting to cast a spell of your own, you must make a Concentration check or lose the spell you are casting. If the spell affecting you deals damage, the DC is 10 + points of damage + the level of the spell you’re casting. If the spell interferes with you or distracts you in some other way, the DC is the spell’s saving throw DC + the level of the spell you’re casting. For a spell with no saving throw, it’s the DC that the spell’s saving throw would have if a save were allowed Im actually looking at the second part here. Say you win the trip, id make the concentration check DC equal to the trip attempt roll you made, including modifiers. For example, you trip him, you roll your D20 and roll a 15, add your Str mod, say 4 and any other modifiers, say a +4 for improved trip. So the concentration DC is 19. Only problem with this is, that the DC is never really that high and always beatable. So its nothing compared to a good smack over the head with a greatsword.
tarkin 08-27-07, 11:14 AM	While readied action do normally act before the trigger, you are WRONG about the trip not interfering with spellcasting. It is very very clear in the PHB that you can ready an action to disrupt a spell by doing damage to them. Distracting Spellcasters You can ready an attack against a spellcaster with the trigger "if she starts casting a spell." If you damage the spellcaster, she may lose the spell she was trying to cast (as determined by her Concentration check result). By your logic, the damage would happen 'before' the casting so it would not apply either. Instead the rule is clearly that readying, while it does happens 'before' the casting, it is close enough to the casting to interefer, unlike simply doing damage on your init which happens before the spellcaster. Your whip guy SHOULD get 'violent motion' Concentration check if he uses the Ready Action to trip a person while that person is casting. P.S. Using modified font size is a rather annoying way of quoting things. The tag [quote] and the end quote tag are your friends. Use them.
Devlonir 08-27-07, 11:54 AM	I agree with your ruling of the violent motion. I recon that is the best way to handle being tripped. And about the change of font to quote things from SRD. I like to use it because often it are long lines of text and i do not want to make a post really long with rules text, as some readers do really know the rules well enough to know how it is written down. It's just a matter of style tarkin. I reserve my Quote /Quote for actual quotes from other posters.