[3.5] Need some info on opposed rolls

[Squidfist]

Hey guys, I've been unable to find a definitive source for how opposed rolls work for the purposes of defining a "DC". There are a couple reasons why this is important.

Does trip, for example, work like:

Succeed touch attack > Roll your STR > Opponent must now beat that DC with their DEX or STR.

Succeed touch attack > Roll your STR > That's your result for the DC your opponent now sets with DEX or STR.

Or, is it that opposed rolls are their own thing, which is why they don't explain this to me and I have to harass strangers?

The reason I'm asking, is because I'd like to be able to make trip attempts without a huge penalty as a small character, and would like to apply Ability Focus to the DC set by my opposed STR, which I realize is probably unlikely.

IMP trip counters the penalty, but then your bonus isn't reliable enough that tripping is a good idea. Is there a feat that allows small creatures to use their low center of gravity to their advantage?

[Keld Denar]

Opposed rolls are their own thing. They don't have a DC. It's your roll vs the opponents roll. Thus, ability focus wouldn't work in this case. There are very very few things that apply to trip checks, sadly enough, so its tough to optimize them hard enough the you can reliably win. As far as your size dilemma, I'm pretty sure that a number of Setting Sun disciple maneuvers in ToB allow you to use your Dex when making trips, and to negate any size advantage your for might have. Levels in Swordsage would get you access to these fine fun features.

[Squidfist]

Opposed rolls are their own thing. They don't have a DC. It's your roll vs the opponents roll. Thus, ability focus wouldn't work in this case. There are very very few things that apply to trip checks, sadly enough, so its tough to optimize them hard enough the you can reliably win. As far as your size dilemma, I'm pretty sure that a number of Setting Sun disciple maneuvers in ToB allow you to use your Dex when making trips, and to negate any size advantage your for might have. Levels in Swordsage would get you access to these fine fun features.Thanks Keld, I'll definitely check out some ToB.

[Greenish]

As far as your size dilemma, I'm pretty sure that a number of Setting Sun disciple maneuvers in ToB allow you to use your Dex when making trips, and to negate any size advantage your for might have.Sadly, Setting Sun does nothing for size bonuses on trip.

[Squidfist]

Sadly, Setting Sun does nothing for size bonuses on trip.

That's unfortunate. Maybe I can convince my DM to homebrew a feat that let's me utilize my small stature for the purpose of tripping.

Although, that's arguably very powerful, due to size penalties being part of what makes a small character balanced.

[Greenish]

Confound the Big Folk from RotW allows a limited version of that.

[Squidfist]

Confound the Big Folk from RotW allows a limited version of that.

Hmm, that's a little too specialized for me to burn feats to meat the pre-reqs for. It's quite neat in it's own right though, thanks again!