Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Damon_Tor Nov 17, 2009 11:37:32	Two houserules I'm working with right now in my game.  Let me know if you can think of any problems these would cause. 1.  Movement through neutral NPCs; you can move through a neutral NPC as if it were difficult terrain.  An NPC who you believe to be neutral but is not can be moved through in this way, but can make an opportunity attack with combat advantage. 2.  Up to one half of the squares of a creature that occupies more than one square can be occupied by its allies.  For example, two medeum or small creatures could occupy squares occupied by a large ally.  Two large creatures can stand in such a way that they both occupy two common squares. The first rule: a particular enemy type can "blend" with crowds, using bluff instead of stealth to hide.  A PC might have to wade through cityfolk making insight spot checks to find him. The second: cavalry is an important aspect of an enemy faction.  Battles were getting very crowded.
#2 sfurtwangler Nov 17, 2009 11:50:42	The first rule seems fine. The rules handle movement through ally and enemy spaces easily enough - but don't really cover how you should handle "neutrals" particularly those that are not really payign attention to the heroes. I might even add that if the "neutral" NPC turns out to be a willing ally, they can "make way" for the hero and allow him to pass without penalty (just like any otehr allied creature), and that if the NPC turns out to be an enemy - not only does the PC provoke the attack of opportunity, but they cannot move into that space (and can probably re-route around the NPC at no additional cost). Be SURE to give your PCs a fair-shake at passive-insight vs passive-bluff, though. They will get peeved if they think their skills are up to snuff, but this trick becomes common enough to necessitate a special rule. For the second rule, riders of mounts already occupy the same squares as their mounts. If you're talking about having additional soldiers marching underneith the feet of a horse, it seems a little dangerous to me - but seems reasonable for larger creatuers. I would consider adding a stipulation that the "covering" creatures must be at least two sizes larger than the "hiding" creature. I would also be very conscious of the fact that the more you overlap your enemies, the more susceptable you are making them to AoE attacks. My wizard would just love if it he could drop a small AoE at-will and hit twice as many targets because every mount and rider also has two more soldiers on foot occupying the same space. Space is not really a constraint for the DM, so I would just use the usual rules and encourage your enemies to be a little spread out.
#3 Damon_Tor Nov 17, 2009 12:01:15	The first rule seems fine. The rules handle movement through ally and enemy spaces easily enough - but don't really cover how you should handle "neutrals" particularly those that are not really payign attention to the heroes. I might even add that if the "neutral" NPC turns out to be a willing ally, they can "make way" for the hero and allow him to pass without penalty (just like any otehr allied creature), and that if the NPC turns out to be an enemy - not only does the PC provoke the attack of opportunity, but they cannot move into that space (and can probably re-route around the NPC at no additional cost). Be SURE to give your PCs a fair-shake at passive-insight vs passive-bluff, though. They will get peeved if they think their skills are up to snuff, but this trick becomes common enough to necessitate a special rule. For the second rule, riders of mounts already occupy the same squares as their mounts. If you're talking about having additional soldiers marching underneith the feet of a horse, it seems a little dangerous to me - but seems reasonable for larger creatuers. I would consider adding a stipulation that the "covering" creatures must be at least two sizes larger than the "hiding" creature. I would also be very conscious of the fact that the more you overlap your enemies, the more susceptable you are making them to AoE attacks. My wizard would just love if it he could drop a small AoE at-will and hit twice as many targets because every mount and rider also has two more soldiers on foot occupying the same space. Space is not really a constraint for the DM, so I would just use the usual rules and encourage your enemies to be a little spread out. It's more for a force of all cavalry than cavalry+infantry.  I mean, there's no reason two horses can't both occupy a 10X15 foot space.  With as many minion-cavalry as this campaign is going to see, there needs to be a rule for compacting them some.