Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Outla 10-02-05, 03:29 PM	Suppose you're in a combat on a grid like this (assume it's outdoors on a wide flat plain): OOXX OOXX XXXF XXFH H = our hero F = our hero's two friends O = an ogre (large size so it takes four spaces) Suppose our hero casts a fireball directly over the ogre's head. If it's just right over the ogre, 10 feet from the ground, our hero takes fireball damage. If it's way over the ogre, 20 feet from the ground, our hero does not take fireball damage. But what if he puts it 5 feet over the ogre, 15 feet from the ground? Does he or does he not? It depends on how you measure diagonal distances. By the way, I chose this particular setup because of how the geometry works out. The hero and the two friends are in the same boat: if the hero gets hit the two friends do too, if he doesn't they don't either. In trying to answer this, I discovered that the flying rules allow creatures to fly upward at an angle of 45 degrees without slowing down at all. Not only do they not slow down, they actually speed up in the sense that the diagonal distance across a cube is longer than the distance straight across. Seems like that ought to reduce your movement much the same way that moving diagonal does: every second step at a 45 degree angle counts double. But it doesn't actually say that in the rules. Is there any other rule that helps answer this question?
Outla 10-02-05, 03:33 PM	The basic idea is this: the shape of a fireball up to 5 feet off the ground is like so: XXXFFXXX XFFFFFFX XFFFFFFX FFFFFFFF FFFFFFFF XFFFFFFX XFFFFFFX XXXFFXXX At 10 feet it probably looks like a six-by-six square, although the corners are debatable: FFFFFF FFFFFF FFFFFF FFFFFF FFFFFF FFFFFF At 20 feet, it would be FF FF At 25 feet it wouldn't hit anything on the ground because it's only a 20 foot radius. It's the 15 foot level I wonder about. By the rules it could be the same six-by-six square as 10 feet up, but I think it should be more of a diamond shape: XXFFXX XFFFFX FFFFFF FFFFFF XFFFFX XXFFXX