Fantasy Craft Q&A Thread!

[Desertpuma]

Sneak Attack is also gained by the condition of someone being flat-footed or flanked but you can take feats that grant additional dice for Sneak Attack. Actually saw a kukri attack with 7 Sneak Attack dice & it was way nasty.

[Crafty_Alex]

A question about Sneak Attack.

Does a character get the sneak attack ability when they pick something that grants sneak attack dice?

As an example, if a Character takes Knife Basics at level 1, are they able to Sneak attack then since the feat grants sneak attack dice.

Sneak attack damage is condition by its very nature. If you want to get very technical, a character who gains an ability which grants sneak attack damage always inflicts it - HOWEVER, a target is only affected by sneak attack damage if they meet certain conditions (IE flanked, flat footed, etc.) AND the attacker meets certain conditions (can reach the target's vitals, etc.). Thus, the character with Knife Basics can inflict sneak attack damage, but his target only suffers that damage if he meets the conditions where it applies.

[VisualStatic]

A question about Sneak Attack.

Does a character get the sneak attack ability when they pick something that grants sneak attack dice?

As an example, if a Character takes Knife Basics at level 1, are they able to Sneak attack then since the feat grants sneak attack dice.

Sneak attack damage is condition by its very nature. If you want to get very technical, a character who gains an ability which grants sneak attack damage always inflicts it - HOWEVER, a target is only affected by sneak attack damage if they meet certain conditions (IE flanked, flat footed, etc.) AND the attacker meets certain conditions (can reach the target's vitals, etc.). Thus, the character with Knife Basics can inflict sneak attack damage, but his target only suffers that damage if he meets the conditions where it applies.

Cool, thanks Alex

[Gilbetron]

I did some searching, but haven't found the answer to this quite yet. 

On pg 113, in the Distance section it talks about the Spellcasting result being the attack result for spells with "attack" in the distance description.  Does that mean you have to succeed in a Spellcasting roll *and* beat the defense of the target?  And does area spells ignore that part?  And if they do, can they still crit?

So let's look at some spells:  Magic Missile, Lightning Bolt, Ray of Enfeeblement, and Scorching Ray.

We'll ignore Spell Defense for this.

Magic Missile hits the target if the spellcasting roll beats the needed DC.
Lightning Bolt hits anyone in the area of effect, if the spellcasting roll beats the needed DC, but they get a Reflex Save for half.  If the Spellcasting roll crits, the damage goes to wounds for all targets.
Ray of Enfeeblement hits the target if the spellcasting roll beats the needed DC and the same roll beats the target's defense.  This doesn't do damage, so it can't crit. 
Scorching Ray hits the target(s) if the spellcasting roll beats the needed DC and the same roll beats the targets' defense.  This can crit causing direct wound damage.

Is this all correct?  If not, what am I getting wrong.

Thanks!

[dorward]

On pg 113, in the Distance section it talks about the Spellcasting result being the attack result for spells with "attack" in the distance description.  Does that mean you have to succeed in a Spellcasting roll *and* beat the defense of the target?

Yes. It is a case of "Roll once, you have to score more then the defence or the spellcasting target, whichever is higher".

  And does area spells ignore that part?  And if they do, can they still crit?

That's a more interesting question then you might think…

(But if it isn't an attack spell, then yes. They ignore that part. As far as criticals go, remember that skill checks can be critical as well as attack rolls in FC. The spell caster gets their spell points back.)

…since I've just found Fireball I which has a distance of "Medium range attack" but is an area of effect spell.

What happens there? Does the spellcaster target a square? Under normal circumstances I believe it is impossible to roll less then the target number to hit a square if you pass a spellcraft roll. Is this only relevant for things like trying to cast spells while blindfold?

[Tensers Floating Disk]

I can buy two or three guard complements for a holding (p.193) to get more guards. Can I get fewer guards than a full complement by paying a fraction of the XP value?

[Crafty_Pat]

I can buy two or three guard complements for a holding (p.193) to get more guards. Can I get fewer guards than a full complement by paying a fraction of the XP value?

That's entirely up to your GM. I wouldn't go there at my table, if only because I always seek to keep calculations simple.

[Gilbetron]

I did some searching, but haven't found the answer to this quite yet. 

On pg 113, in the Distance section it talks about the Spellcasting result being the attack result for spells with "attack" in the distance description.  Does that mean you have to succeed in a Spellcasting roll *and* beat the defense of the target?  And does area spells ignore that part?  And if they do, can they still crit?

So let's look at some spells:  Magic Missile, Lightning Bolt, Ray of Enfeeblement, and Scorching Ray.

We'll ignore Spell Defense for this.

Magic Missile hits the target if the spellcasting roll beats the needed DC.
Lightning Bolt hits anyone in the area of effect, if the spellcasting roll beats the needed DC, but they get a Reflex Save for half.  If the Spellcasting roll crits, the damage goes to wounds for all targets.
Ray of Enfeeblement hits the target if the spellcasting roll beats the needed DC and the same roll beats the target's defense.  This doesn't do damage, so it can't crit. 
Scorching Ray hits the target(s) if the spellcasting roll beats the needed DC and the same roll beats the targets' defense.  This can crit causing direct wound damage.

Is this all correct?  If not, what am I getting wrong.

Thanks!

To follow up to my own questions, how do Attack Spells work for Divine Casters?  Do they have to roll an attack roll because they aren't rolling Spellcasting?  What bonus do they get?

[Crafty_Alex]

I did some searching, but haven't found the answer to this quite yet. 

On pg 113, in the Distance section it talks about the Spellcasting result being the attack result for spells with "attack" in the distance description.  Does that mean you have to succeed in a Spellcasting roll *and* beat the defense of the target?

Yes.

\
And does area spells ignore that part? 

No. You still have to roll to hit the target.

Remember when you crit with a Spellcasting check, you spend no spell points on that check! In the case of an attack spell, this will sometimes lead to a double-whammy.

So let's look at some spells:  Magic Missile, Lightning Bolt, Ray of Enfeeblement, and Scorching Ray.

We'll ignore Spell Defense for this.

Magic Missile hits the target if the spellcasting roll beats the needed DC.

Yes.

Lightning Bolt hits anyone in the area of effect, if the spellcasting roll beats the needed DC, but they get a Reflex Save for half.  If the Spellcasting roll crits, the damage goes to wounds for all targets.

At my table, I would say you need to crit *each* target in order to make that work, as I personally beleive spending 1 AD to crit 2+ people is pretty damn powerful. Because this situation is pretty rare in FC, however, this is not specifically clarified.

Ray of Enfeeblement hits the target if the spellcasting roll beats the needed DC and the same roll beats the target's defense.  This doesn't do damage, so it can't crit. 

You can still crit. That will just save you spell points. It will NOT cause wounds damage on a crit, however.

Scorching Ray hits the target(s) if the spellcasting roll beats the needed DC and the same roll beats the targets' defense.  This can crit causing direct wound damage.

Yes.

[Crafty_Alex]

To follow up to my own questions, how do Attack Spells work for Divine Casters?  Do they have to roll an attack roll because they aren't rolling Spellcasting?  What bonus do they get?

Divine casters never roll for spells - it automatically succeeds. Our previous ruling, found in this thread and others, is that the divine caster produces the lowest possible value to succeed - in the case of an attack spell, that means either the Spellcasting DC or the target's Defense, whichever is higher. This also means they can never crit and Spell Defense will sometimes be hard to break for them when casting low level spells. However, this is balanced by the fact they also do not have to invest in a skill for spellcasting, never spend spell points, don't have to use a kit, can apply a trick for free, and never face the chance of spell failure or error from a bad roll.

[Tensers Floating Disk]

This is sort of a two part question: a keen weapon adds its bonus to determine a critical injury. When rolling on the Table Of Ouch, is this modified total applied, or just the actual damage rolled without the keen bonus? What happens if a standard character takes 25+ damage (with or without keenness) - does he, she or it roll on the Table of Ouch or are they just out of it?

[Sletchman]

This is sort of a two part question: a keen weapon adds its bonus to determine a critical injury. When rolling on the Table Of Ouch, is this modified total applied, or just the actual damage rolled without the keen bonus? What happens if a standard character takes 25+ damage (with or without keenness) - does he, she or it roll on the Table of Ouch or are they just out of it?

I'm pretty sure you add the keen to the roll.  Example:

Player using a weapon with keen 10, does 15 damage no an npc who has no DR.  He survives the blow, and fails the fort save.  You roll 1d20 and add 25 to that to determine the critical injury.

Standard NPCs may suffer critical injuries as well as special NPCs.  This is one of the many reasons I'm starting to love the Sword chain.

[aegis]

Well, I'm not that sure. The phrasing seems to suggest that you add the keen quality only to determine whether the character must roll on the Table of Ouch. It doesn't say that it might affect the severity of the injury by adding to the damage result when you roll. This to be said, I use it the same way you do and consider keen is full extra damage when considering critical injuries.

And I agree about the Standard Character question as well.

[Tensers Floating Disk]

Standard NPCs may suffer critical injuries as well as special NPCs.  This is one of the many reasons I'm starting to love the Sword chain.

Now I know, that's convinced me not to follow the Sword chain beyond the first one. Knowing that the injuries on Goblin Sentry #257 are going to take twice as long to heal isn't worth using up a feat.

[Sletchman]

Standard NPCs may suffer critical injuries as well as special NPCs.  This is one of the many reasons I'm starting to love the Sword chain.

Now I know, that's convinced me not to follow the Sword chain beyond the first one. Knowing that the injuries on Goblin Sentry #257 are going to take twice as long to heal isn't worth using up a feat.

Sword Supremacy rocks hardcore.  I'm routinely outdamaging my fellow team mates, who all have multiple supremacies.  Think Ahead is fantastic, especially with the other part of Supremacy [the damage bonus].  I usually use bury the blade on bigger threat's then "random mook #104".  I've managed to in a single round - greatly reduce the enemies speed, reduce its attacking ability, and the force a massive damage save [with is save vs death or die].  You don't use it on mooks, you use it on threats.