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Dhavaer
2007-08-20, 02:18 AM
What's the Listen DC to hear a door opening?

Miraqariftsky
2007-08-20, 02:22 AM
Don't sleeping characters get a -10 to all rolls?

broderickdruce
2007-08-20, 02:25 AM
A sleeping character may make Listen checks at a -10 penalty. A successful check awakens the sleeper

As for the DC of hearing the door itself it would depend on the door, if it's a creaky door I would put it around 0 or 5 ( DC to hear an armored person trying to be quiet/tiptoeing), a well oiled one may be up to 10 (DC of an unarmored person trying to be quiet/tiptoeing).

Dhavaer
2007-08-20, 02:27 AM
Don't sleeping characters get a -10 to all rolls?

-10 to Listen checks. Most rolls they don't make at all.

Miraqariftsky
2007-08-20, 02:32 AM
Methinks I agree with Broderickdruce there. It would depend on what sort of door is being opened.

KillianHawkeye
2007-08-20, 04:19 AM
Don't sleeping characters get a -10 to all rolls?

I'm not sure what the official ruling on this is, but a neat rule I picked up from The Wheel of Time RPG that I really liked was that a sleeping character only got their skill bonus on Listen checks (effectively taking '0' on their roll). Thus, a character without a lot of ranks in Listen would have a decent chance of not hearing a duel occuring down the hallway past a couple closed doors.

Skjaldbakka
2007-08-20, 04:53 AM
I'd rule it would be Listen vs. Move Silently. With a penalty for a creaky door.

Falrin
2007-08-20, 05:17 AM
I've always wondered how that 20th LvL Ranger with +40 Listen ever gets any rest. That's +40 (Nearly impossible) on average with the -10 for sleeping. A mouse running through your room should wake you up.

Ashtar
2007-08-20, 05:31 AM
It's that our near Epic ranger (23 skill ranks, +7 wisdom bonus, Alterness(+2), skill focus (+3)) at +35 listen (I can't get him higher...) identifies and categorises noises as he sleeps. His brain will wake him for any uncommon noise.

I sleep with my window ajar over a busy street, even an ambulance going by will not wake me; but I will instantly wake if I hear the key turning in the lock of my flat when my roommate returns.

Peregrine
2007-08-20, 06:06 AM
-10 to Listen checks. Most rolls they don't make at all.

Thankfully. I mean, Bluff in your sleep? Diplomacy? :smalltongue: "I could win this crowd over in my sleep..."


I'm not sure what the official ruling on this is, but a neat rule I picked up from The Wheel of Time RPG that I really liked was that a sleeping character only got their skill bonus on Listen checks (effectively taking '0' on their roll). Thus, a character without a lot of ranks in Listen would have a decent chance of not hearing a duel occuring down the hallway past a couple closed doors.

Which, conveniently, works out exactly the same as taking 10 on the Listen check with the -10 penalty for sleeping. :smallsmile:

Dhavaer
2007-08-20, 07:37 AM
Thankfully. I mean, Bluff in your sleep? Diplomacy? :smalltongue: "I could win this crowd over in my sleep..."

I was actually thinking of attack rolls. Although you could have a really violent sleepwalker... :smallamused:

Citizen Joe
2007-08-20, 08:15 AM
I did a load out of spells for a 20th level ranger that was designed around not being bothered while you sleep and not being noticed while you travel. I think the thread was called Ranger's Top 4 or something.

Ikkitosen
2007-08-20, 08:20 AM
There is a feat, probably called "Light Sleeper" or something, that I've read that eliminates the -10 to listen checks for being asleep.

And, as we all know from the short-running comic "Five Foot Steps" there's no out-and-out RAW reference to many skills being impossible while sleeping so forget listen and just roll Spot at no minus :smallbiggrin:

Person_Man
2007-08-20, 08:46 AM
It doesn't matter if you pass the Listen check, because your group is smart enough to sleep in the extradimensional space of a Rope Trick (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/ropeTrick.htm). Alternatively, you automatically pass the Listen check, because you cast Alarm on the door before you went to sleep.

Also, I grew up in NY. I can sleep through the sound of cars, buses, trains, loud random yelling, gunshots, or a Mr. Frosty ice cream truck (with the world's most annoying music being blasted on loudspeakers at midnight - who buys ice cream at midnight!) But the sound of someone opening my bedroom door or the chirping of a single cricket still wakes me up. So really, your Listen check isn't just the sensitivity of your hearing, its your ability to sort through the constant noise of the world and notice the important sounds.

Citizen Joe
2007-08-20, 08:56 AM
So really, your Listen check isn't just the sensitivity of your hearing, its your ability to sort through the constant noise of the world and notice the important sounds.
I suppose that is why it is wisdom based and not intelligence. Same with spot. Everyone SEES the same stuff, but the wise person can pick out the things that don't belong.

Thanatos 51-50
2007-08-20, 08:57 AM
What's the Listen DC to hear a door opening?

Short answer: It depends on the door, charecter's distance from the door, and any objects between you and the door. Listen checks while asleep are subject to a -10 penalty.

Simple solution: Post a watchstander or two, depending on your party size. Yelling "Wake up!" really really loud from right next to your allies will almost certainly wake them up. Think of it like a (demi) human alarm clock.

Morty
2007-08-20, 09:57 AM
It doesn't matter if you pass the Listen check, because your group is smart enough to sleep in the extradimensional space of a Rope Trick.

And both you DM and whole group don't have enough common sense to ban this spell from existence.

Drider
2007-08-20, 10:06 AM
[QUOTE=Person_Man;3063301]Mr. Frosty ice cream truck (with the world's most annoying music being blasted on loudspeakers at midnight - who buys ice cream at midnight!)QUOTE]

where do you live, if i was a cop i would be suspicious of that, after curfew, an ice-cream truck(who 90% of who buys their stuff is 4-10) would be pulled over like no tomorrow
Edit:re-read your post

Person_Man
2007-08-20, 10:44 AM
[QUOTE=Person_Man;3063301]Mr. Frosty ice cream truck (with the world's most annoying music being blasted on loudspeakers at midnight - who buys ice cream at midnight!)QUOTE]

where do you live, if i was a cop i would be suspicious of that, after curfew, an ice-cream truck(who 90% of who buys their stuff is 4-10) would be pulled over like no tomorrow
Edit:re-read your post

I'm pretty sure that Mr. Frosty was selling drugs, which was quite common. But in our neighborhood, gunshots sometimes went unreported, because you didn't want to make trouble (i.e., the people with guns lived there, and so did their gang/friends/family). So no one is really going to complain about some petty midnight ice cream truck. Ironically, no one in my family was ever a victim of any crime of any sort until I moved to DC, where there's law enforcement literally everywhere, and I was promptly mugged within twenty minutes of getting off the Metro for the first time. Go figure.

Curmudgeon
2007-08-20, 12:00 PM
<SNIP>

I'm originally from Maine, where there's a shotgun in practically every house. Nobody gets mugged there.

I incorporated "weapon control" in a game I ran once. Everybody was searched coming into the city, and all weapons bigger than a pocketknife were confiscated (and the offenders fined on the spot). Crime was rampant, with Monks running organized extortion and "protection" rackets. My non-casting adventurers were pretty much useless baggage, reduced to improvising any club-like object nearby as a weapon when needed. And, of course, I had the Wizard get kidnapped straight away. There were no other pure spellcasters in the party, but there was a Paladin, a Bard (the party's designated healer), and a Ranger. Suddenly the Ranger's ability to cast Magic Fang became critically important to the Fighter who had Improved Unarmed Strike, and the Paladin's Magic Weapon spell was used on their belt knives. That first night the Fighter stayed on watch constantly so the spellcasters could get a full night's rest, because their spells suddenly became the party's most important asset. Almost all of the Ranger's and Paladin's prepared spells got swapped for something better suited to the changed circumstances.

That was a fun game to run, but my players really hated me for it. :smallamused:

Citizen Joe
2007-08-20, 12:11 PM
I'm playing in a game right now where my fighter uses farm implements, scythe, sickle and flail for just such a reason. This restriction on weapons is exactly what started the whole karate/kung fu thing as well as many exotic weapons which started out as either impromptu weapons or farm implements.

RAGE KING!
2007-08-20, 12:12 PM
wear light armour when you sleep, or take endurance and wear heavier armour.
cast alarm around yourself, and max listen.

Aquillion
2007-08-20, 12:28 PM
Alarm is level 1, and the mental version never fails to wake the caster. Just have someone cast it and you're golden.

tainsouvra
2007-08-20, 12:37 PM
As for the DC of hearing the door itself it would depend on the door, if it's a creaky door I would put it around 0 or 5 ( DC to hear an armored person trying to be quiet/tiptoeing), a well oiled one may be up to 10 (DC of an unarmored person trying to be quiet/tiptoeing). This is a good way of going about it. It should be simple enough that the average person, if awake, would generally hear it. A DC over 10 would need to be a pretty special door.
Ironically, no one in my family was ever a victim of any crime of any sort until I moved to DC, where there's law enforcement literally everywhere, and I was promptly mugged within twenty minutes of getting off the Metro for the first time. Go figure. There is a bit of irony there, but I wouldn't play it up too much...I've walked through neighborhoods like you mentioned a time or three, and it doesn't overly concern me, perhaps because of where I grew up...but I wouldn't dare walk through a lot of DC alone. The crime rate there is absurdly high, the parks there manage to be more dangerous than the most run-down, graffitied-up, drugged-out alley I've strolled though. They have cops everywhere because they need that many to keep the body count low.

This might say something about our country, but I probably shouldn't go there, hehe.

comicshorse
2007-08-20, 12:46 PM
Have a War-Forged in the party. They never sleep.
Even then you should probably do watches with him as he can't look in all directions at once. Animal companions are great for this kind of thing as they have sharp sesnses and scent.

Quietus
2007-08-20, 01:14 PM
Have a War-Forged in the party. They never sleep.
Even then you should probably do watches with him as he can't look in all directions at once. Animal companions are great for this kind of thing as they have sharp sesnses and scent.

This is very true; I've got a animal-training ranger who has a pet dog and hawk, and between Scent and +16 spot, and both animals knowing the Guard and Seek tricks, it's REALLY tough to sneak up on him.

Matthew
2007-08-21, 11:01 AM
What's the Listen DC to hear a door opening?

Whatever the DM says it is.

goat
2007-08-21, 02:12 PM
Surely it depends on whether or not they're supposed to hear the door open? Narrativium is strong stuff.

iamkoolerthanu
2007-08-21, 02:24 PM
That is very true. As a DM, I fudge rolls soemtimes when they are important to the plot line.

Machete
2007-08-21, 03:23 PM
I was actually thinking of attack rolls. Although you could have a really violent sleepwalker... :smallamused:

I've done this. A relative came into my room once and in my mostly asleep state(90%) I kicked her across the room with the first kick(where she bounced off of a closet door and landed in a storage tote), almost busted a chair they hid behind with a subsequent furry of blows from my foot, and broke my big toe before I was awake.

Make it a homebrew feat that requires Awareness as a prerequisite. "Anyone that touches this character while asleep without making a Sleight of Hand check equal to the character's level + Wisdom bonus is subject to a full attack reguardless of being friend or foe."