Can ranged characters reserve action to disrupt spellcasters?

[gellerche]

Right now, the Order has three characters that can do ranged attacks (Haley, Belkar, Vaarsuvius) and Tarquin has two spellcasters. Can the OOTs ranged characters reserve their action/wait until Tarquin's spellcasters start to cast, and then use a ranged attack to disrupt that spell? Not saying this would be the best strategy, but it would reduce the damage a somewhat knocked around OOTs team would take from a pretty fresh Tarquin team.

[RMS Oceanic]

Readying an Action
You can ready a standard action, a move action, or a free action. To do so, specify the action you will take and the conditions under which you will take it. Then, any time before your next action, you may take the readied action in response to that condition. The action occurs just before the action that triggers it. If the triggered action is part of another character’s activities, you interrupt the other character. Assuming he is still capable of doing so, he continues his actions once you complete your readied action. Your initiative result changes. For the rest of the encounter, your initiative result is the count on which you took the readied action, and you act immediately ahead of the character whose action triggered your readied action.

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).

Looks like a legit plan.

[Xelbiuj]

V can counter spell Laurin right?
Lock her down while Haley finishes Miron, that dude is almost dead and possibly ko'd.

[Trillium]

"Who's white and, uhm, white, and has three pieces of steel where her Ioun stones have been?"

[Tyrrell]

V can counter spell Laurin right? No, to counterspell with no chance for error one must have the same spell as the one being cast available, Laurin is a psion, V is a wizard. V can not counterspell her in this way. V can use dispel magic to counterspell another spellcaster but this comes down to a caster level check that is capped at +1 for dispel magic and +20 for greater dispel magic, the odds aren't in V's favor.

Additionally there is the issue that Laurin is a psion. There are fairly commonly used optional rules wher psionics and magic don't interact. Also I'm not certain that psionic powers can even be counter-spelled in the same way that spells can.

[AKA_Bait]

V can counter spell Laurin right?
Lock her down while Haley finishes Miron, that dude is almost dead and possibly ko'd.

V can only counter spell (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicOverview/castingSpells.htm) if s/he knows the spell being cast (and has it or its counter prepared) or with dispel magic. This puts a severe limitation on how much of Laurin's firepower V could neutralize that way.

Edit: Swordsaged

[Spoomeister]

Right now, the Order has three characters that can do ranged attacks (Haley, Belkar, Vaarsuvius) and Tarquin has two spellcasters. Can the OOTs ranged characters reserve their action/wait until Tarquin's spellcasters start to cast, and then use a ranged attack to disrupt that spell? Not saying this would be the best strategy, but it would reduce the damage a somewhat knocked around OOTs team would take from a pretty fresh Tarquin team.

That's pretty damned spiffy, actually. And even with the hubbub of everything that's been happening story-wise, it's perfectly reasonable to think Our Heroes have the time to pause a second and think tactically. Especially with the dinos taken off the board.

- Haley plinks Miron, disrupting his casting.
- V plinks Lauren, disrupting her psionicism.
- Belkar stays back as he's one good hit from dead.
- Elan probably won't fight his dad and can continue to annoy Tarquin by doing support role stuff. Possibly defending Haley from Tarquin unless her flight continues for a while longer.
- Durkula mixes it up in melee since he's out of magic as of #917, which is good, because as of right now he's the closest the party has to a tank, since...
- Roy is left to pair off against Tarquin but Roy's gotta be pretty much on the ropes and Tarquin is untouched.

I'm not saying in the least that if it doesn't go this way the characters aren't thinking tactically, or that they aren't "doing it right" somehow. Not intending to contribute to another thread on why the characters aren't behaving like we would if we were role-playing them in a game. :smallsmile: Just saying that you have a viable plan there.

Of course, it's entirely possible any one of the bad guys has some magic item or other. Or that Laurin and Miron decide that this is the limit of their loyalty to Tarquin and no deal is worth getting TPK'd by these guys.

[Spoomeister]

No, to counterspell with no chance for error one must have the same spell as the one being cast available, Laurin is a psion, V is a wizard. V can not counterspell her in this way. V can use dispel magic to counterspell another spellcaster but this comes down to a caster level check that is capped at +1 for dispel magic and +20 for greater dispel magic, the odds aren't in V's favor.

Additionally there is the issue that Laurin is a psion. There are fairly commonly used optional rules wher psionics and magic don't interact. Also I'm not certain that psionic powers can even be counter-spelled in the same way that spells can.

Is it a matter of counterspelling only, though? Couldn't V be forcing concentration checks even with fairly low to mid level spells? Granted, someone doesn't get to Laurin's level without being able to pass concentration checks at a high level themselves... but still, it's not like it's counterspell-or-nothin'.

[Finwe]

Is it a matter of counterspelling only, though? Couldn't V be forcing concentration checks even with fairly low to mid level spells? Granted, someone doesn't get to Laurin's level without being able to pass concentration checks at a high level themselves... but still, it's not like it's counterspell-or-nothin'.

Even a low-level nuke like fireball will force quite a hefty concentration check. 10d6 = 35 damage on average, which means a DC 45+power level concentration check. That's difficult even for a near-epic caster with maxed ranks in concentration.

[hagnat]

those who have read the Origin of the Pcs surely remember how effective they were while Readying actions...
it was like an well oiled machine

[gellerche]

That's pretty damned spiffy, actually. And even with the hubbub of everything that's been happening story-wise, it's perfectly reasonable to think Our Heroes have the time to pause a second and think tactically. Especially with the dinos taken off the board.

- Haley plinks Miron, disrupting his casting.
- V plinks Lauren, disrupting her psionicism.
- Belkar stays back as he's one good hit from dead.
- Elan probably won't fight his dad and can continue to annoy Tarquin by doing support role stuff. Possibly defending Haley from Tarquin unless her flight continues for a while longer.
- Durkula mixes it up in melee since he's out of magic as of #917, which is good, because as of right now he's the closest the party has to a tank, since...
- Roy is left to pair off against Tarquin but Roy's gotta be pretty much on the ropes and Tarquin is untouched.

I'm not saying in the least that if it doesn't go this way the characters aren't thinking tactically, or that they aren't "doing it right" somehow. Not intending to contribute to another thread on why the characters aren't behaving like we would if we were role-playing them in a game. :smallsmile: Just saying that you have a viable plan there.

Of course, it's entirely possible any one of the bad guys has some magic item or other. Or that Laurin and Miron decide that this is the limit of their loyalty to Tarquin and no deal is worth getting TPK'd by these guys.

Thank you! All my years of watching Dungeons and Dragons back in the 80s are paying off!

[SavageWombat]

Remember that damaging a caster during casting is not an automatic interrupt - it forces a Concentration check based on the amount of damage dealt and the spell level.

Somebody with more free time can figure out how likely it is that a given caster has enough of a Concentration skill roll to beat Haley's damage.

[Orm-Embar]

That's pretty damned spiffy, actually. And even with the hubbub of everything that's been happening story-wise, it's perfectly reasonable to think Our Heroes have the time to pause a second and think tactically. Especially with the dinos taken off the board.

- Haley plinks Miron, disrupting his casting.
- V plinks Lauren, disrupting her psionicism.
- Belkar stays back as he's one good hit from dead.
- Elan probably won't fight his dad and can continue to annoy Tarquin by doing support role stuff. Possibly defending Haley from Tarquin unless her flight continues for a while longer.
- Durkula mixes it up in melee since he's out of magic as of #917, which is good, because as of right now he's the closest the party has to a tank, since...
- Roy is left to pair off against Tarquin but Roy's gotta be pretty much on the ropes and Tarquin is untouched.

I'm not saying in the least that if it doesn't go this way the characters aren't thinking tactically, or that they aren't "doing it right" somehow. Not intending to contribute to another thread on why the characters aren't behaving like we would if we were role-playing them in a game. :smallsmile: Just saying that you have a viable plan there.

Of course, it's entirely possible any one of the bad guys has some magic item or other. Or that Laurin and Miron decide that this is the limit of their loyalty to Tarquin and no deal is worth getting TPK'd by these guys.

I like it. Also Elan can melee Lauren or Miron, while Belkar throws rocks... OK, handfuls of sand... and Roy fights defensively against Tarquin until the other two are down. Dog pile!

[Spoomeister]

I like it. Also Elan can melee Lauren or Miron, while Belkar throws rocks... OK, handfuls of sand... and Roy fights defensively against Tarquin until the other two are down. Dog pile!

The more I think on it, the more I could envision this being one of those montage sorts of comics, a one-pager with Elan singing some variant of "deny, deny, deny my dad his story" in the center, with all the aforementioned character pairs squaring off and Team Tarquin being... well... thoroughly denied, in little scenes and vignettes all around the center art.

With more quips and visual jokes and flair than I can provide here, and likely a fairly epic song on a par with "O Buddy Roy", of course.

928: Not Just A River In Egypt

[JSSheridan]

V and Laurin try to disintegrate each other. Their beams hit each other and explode.

"Don't cross the streams!"

Of course, if Tarquin throws his dagger at someone, Protection from Arrows would protect Belkar unless the dagger is magic. And Stoneskin would almost certainly make V immune.

[Porthos]

those who have read the Origin of the Pcs surely remember how effective they were while Readying actions...
it was like an well oiled machine

That was a long time ago, though. I think they are slightly more competent now. :smalltongue:

[Tiiba]

That was a long time ago, though. I think they are slightly more competent now. :smalltongue:

Besides, they got a 9 this time.

[Evandar]

The thing is, that triceratops wound on Roy looked horrendously lethal. The only other hit that reminds me of it was Nale stabbing Elan in the back way earlier in the comic, and it dropped him straight into the negatives.

I think Roy and Belkar should stay waaaay the hell back unless they have some healing potions on them.

[eilandesq]

The thing is, that triceratops wound on Roy looked horrendously lethal. The only other hit that reminds me of it was Nale stabbing Elan in the back way earlier in the comic, and it dropped him straight into the negatives.

I think Roy and Belkar should stay waaaay the hell back unless they have some healing potions on them.

Or Roy showing post-fall Miko just what he could do to her with a +5 Starmetal Greatsword. ["SHPLURTCH!"] She was still well-off enough to run at Belkar and overwhelm Hinjo before Roy bull-rushed her into unconsciousness and got off some well-deserved snark at Hinjo.

[nogall]

those who have read the Origin of the Pcs surely remember how effective they were while Readying actions...
it was like an well oiled machine

This page was the funniest one by far on that book, and one of the funniest so far for me... :smallbiggrin::smallbiggrin::smallbiggrin: