"He had such good aim, he once hit 3 targets with only 2 arrows!" (ridiculous skills)

[enderlord99]

This thread is for the invention and discussion of absurd accomplishments that require some sort of loophole to manage even in fiction, and would be impossible IRL (and impressive in any story) even with that loophole. Please put spoiler tags around the details, but not around the basic description. "Basic description" refers to things like the quote in the thread title, whereas "details" refers to things like the spoiler in this post (which applies to the basic description)

He used two special arrows, one of which had the end of the shaft sharpened, but no actual arrowhead, and the other of which had a unique wedge-shaped steel arrowhead. He fired the first arrow at a target, then fired the second arrow at the first arrow, splitting it so that half hit another target to the left and half hit another target to the right. The second arrow continued on and hit the target he was originally aiming at. All three were bulls-eyes.

List fictional achievements like that, and be sure to make them over-the-top awesome.

[enderlord99]

This should probably be in a different subforum, shouldn't it?

[Keltest]

This should probably be in a different subforum, shouldn't it?

I think theres certainly room for a "how did your DM fluff some improbable and amazing feat?" thread.

On the humorous side of things, we were playing a game a few weeks ago where a Dwarf Assassin was sneaking around and came upon a sleeping frost giant. Being an assassin and a dwarf, he decided that this giant needed to die, and he successfully made all the rolls to assassinate the giant without waking him up.

However, even sitting or lying down, dwarves are not well proportioned to reach the vital parts of a giant. The rules didn't cover this though, and he legitimately succeeded at the checks he needed to, so we joked that he made a big towering pile of loosely stacked debris without waking up the giant or attracting any attention, and then just pulled out a big sword and decapitated the giant.

[Anymage]

Physically impossible, or just wildly improbable for a normal human? Because when you mentioned hitting three people with one arrow, all I could think was when Deadpool got a triple-kill off one shot (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q59HU_HdWrY).

Because when the numbers get high enough, I'm okay going into the fantasies of being hyper skilled. If anything, I'd be okay going further into the genre. Your assassin has a sort of dark acupuncture training where they can kill you with a couple of well placed needles in your foot, and can scale that training up to a giant or a dragon? Your detective or your diplomat can read someone's personal secrets as surely and clearly as Sherlock Holmes? Those skill levels are the sort of things high numbers justify.

[Guizonde]

how about shooting through the fourth wall?

farren was your average crack-shot sniper. during one boss fight, he rolled a 003 which translated to 8 degrees of success, which is a friggin' lot including the difficulty of the shot. the damage crit, he confirmed it, and killed the boss outright. the boss' npc sheet got picked up by a gust of wind and fell to the floor.
the dm screamed: "farren shot through the fourth wall!" and everyone hid under the table. we felt a bit silly for doing that by reflex, but either it was the biggest coincidence, or an imaginary pc shot through the barrier between reality and make-believe.

[Manga Shoggoth]

As a matter of fact, the Giant produced a character class (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=9623050&postcount=6) doing something very like this...

[enderlord99]

how about shooting through the fourth wall?

farren was your average crack-shot sniper. during one boss fight, he rolled a 003 which translated to 8 degrees of success, which is a friggin' lot including the difficulty of the shot. the damage crit, he confirmed it, and killed the boss outright. the boss' npc sheet got picked up by a gust of wind and fell to the floor.
the dm screamed: "farren shot through the fourth wall!" and everyone hid under the table. we felt a bit silly for doing that by reflex, but either it was the biggest coincidence, or an imaginary pc shot through the barrier between reality and make-believe.


That's certainly cool enough for this thread. :smallsmile:

[WindStruck]

I don't have anything all that cool or unique to tell you guys, but I don't think I'll ever forget the ridiculous epic skill checks for balance. 90 is the DC to walk on water, 120 is the DC to "balance" on a cloud.

It's utterly, completely physically impossible! But on the other hand, so is getting a large enough modifier to pass those checks... :smallconfused:

[gkathellar]

how about shooting through the fourth wall?

farren was your average crack-shot sniper. during one boss fight, he rolled a 003 which translated to 8 degrees of success, which is a friggin' lot including the difficulty of the shot. the damage crit, he confirmed it, and killed the boss outright. the boss' npc sheet got picked up by a gust of wind and fell to the floor.
the dm screamed: "farren shot through the fourth wall!" and everyone hid under the table. we felt a bit silly for doing that by reflex, but either it was the biggest coincidence, or an imaginary pc shot through the barrier between reality and make-believe.


Not quite as good, but with an Aspect 8 miracle in Nobilis, you can punch a character in a movie. Aspect in general is just kind of about doing this kind of nonsense.

[Bad Wolf]

I don't have anything all that cool or unique to tell you guys, but I don't think I'll ever forget the ridiculous epic skill checks for balance. 90 is the DC to walk on water, 120 is the DC to "balance" on a cloud.

It's utterly, completely physically impossible! But on the other hand, so is getting a large enough modifier to pass those checks... :smallconfused:

Imagine a level 60 ninja starving to death on a deserted island.

[Tohron]

How about being so good at disguise that you have an outfit that looks different at different angles, which you use to leave different people in the same area each thinking you're a different person, at the same time?

[Deophaun]

Hey, I can hit five targets with only 1 arrow. I just need to be allowed to retrieve it after each go.

[enderlord99]

How about being so good at disguise that you have an outfit that looks different at different angles, which you use to leave different people in the same area each thinking you're a different person, at the same time?
That's a great one! :smallbiggrin:

Hey, I can hit five targets with only 1 arrow. I just need to be allowed to retrieve it after each go.
You're not wrong...

[Cespenar]

Hiding in plain sight with no cover and no "bluff":

-Using your enemy's swinging arm as a "cover" (actually seen in a Drizzt book).

-Figuring out the pattern of eye movements of your enemy to end up on their "blind side".

-In a more than 2 combatant situation, managing to seem so unassuming that everyone mentally just ignores you.

-Hypnotizing your enemy momentarily with repeating bodily movements.

-Wearing such a perfect camouflage that you're just a ripple through the air.

-Moving so fast/intuitively that you can always remain on an enemy's rear/flanks.

[Lord Torath]

Physically impossible, or just wildly improbable for a normal human? Because when you mentioned hitting three people with one arrow, all I could think was when Deadpool got a triple-kill off one shot (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q59HU_HdWrY).Indy did it first (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tGDSAs_uU4) (at 3:35)! Okay, I don't know about first, but certainly before Deadpool did it. In other news, "Get off my lawn, ya dang whippersnapper!"

[John Campbell]

This actually wasn't fictional, but the thread title reminded me:

One time a friend and I were shooting bottles with a BB gun, and I bet him that it'd take me fewer shots to knock the bottles down than it would him. So we set the bottles up, and my friend took the gun and shot the three bottles down with three shots, then turned to me like, whatcha gonna do now?

So we set the bottles back up, and I took the gun, and shot the middle bottle well over on its right-side curve, so that instead of falling straight back, it spun to the left and knocked the bottle next to it down as well. Then I shot the right-hand bottle, and so knocked all three targets down with only two shots.

Incidentally, when you shoot a plastic two-liter bottle at a shallow angle with a BB gun, the BB doesn't come back out the other side, but just whirls around and around the inside curve of the bottle, making a cool whizzing noise.


On a similar note, one time at an archery event, one of the other archers was showing off his famed "two arrows, one shot" trick, and generally screwing it up. So finally I went, "No, this is how you do it," nocked two arrows, drew, and shot, and put both arrows into the kill zone of the target (one of those 3D foam deer targets they make for bowhunting practice). I may have to chalk it up to beginner's luck... it was the first time I'd ever even attempted it, and my subsequent attempts have been less successful. It was really cool in the moment, though.

(Note that, whatever Oliver Queen or the Manyshot feat might have led you to believe, this is not really a useful technique in real life. Not because you can't shoot two arrows at once, but because two arrows is twice the mass, and it doesn't increase the force the bow can apply. The arrows move much more slowly, which significantly reduces range and accuracy and drastically reduces impact energy (half the speed is not just half the energy; it's a quarter the energy), and so penetration and damage. I put both arrows into the target, but they barely stuck in, and with the same bow at longer range I'd been burying single arrows deep into it.)

[Tohron]

Here's a few more:

* Hearing so good you can use it as echolocation (like Daredevil)
* Alchemy/Chemistry skills so good, you can make powerful concoctions out of random plants and/or household items
* Seduction so good, you can romance inanimate objects (what exactly this amounts to is open for discussion)
* Bluff so good, you can convince the king of a major nation that he is actually a sandwich (an old classic)
* Sense motive so good, you can deduce someone's entire personal history just from the tone of their voice

[BlizzardSucks80]

Being so good at Stealth and Sleight of Hand that you can sneak up on a fully-conscious, standing person on high alert and "pick pocket" his/her underwear off without them noticing.

I think you can do something akin to this in Skyrim with the "Perfect Touch" perk, which requires a 100 in the Pick Pocket skill. I remember doing that in the game and everyone was walking around town in their undies :smallbiggrin:

[Cespenar]

Oh, also IRL, though both in very carefully constructed scenarios, of course:

-There was a guy who could catch arrows.
-There was a guy who could slice through a bullet with a katana.

[JoeJ]

In the mythology of my world there is a certain Talonpoika the Rogue, noted for being so stealthy he could hide in his own shadow. He's also the reason wizards exist; he stole the spellbook from the goddess of magic and made copies. All spellbooks in the world are partial copies of that original.

[Guizonde]

In the mythology of my world there is a certain Talonpoika the Rogue, noted for being so stealthy he could hide in his own shadow.

dude, that's chuck norris levels of stealthy right there. remind to try and get a sneaky enough build to pull off, iirc there's the shadowdancer prc that can do that by level 9 (according to fluff, anyways). also, that's really in the spirit of the thread i think.

[Wardog12356]

That looks like something.

[Cluedrew]

I don't have anything all that cool or unique to tell you guys, but I don't think I'll ever forget the ridiculous epic skill checks for balance. 90 is the DC to walk on water, 120 is the DC to "balance" on a cloud.

It's utterly, completely physically impossible! But on the other hand, so is getting a large enough modifier to pass those checks... :smallconfused:The last part is the only thing I have issue with. Seriously when people talk about high level play, better then the best and killing gods with a single blow... well this is what I think you need. Big magic spells don't do it for me or not by themselves.


I one saw him choke someone out, they didn't even manage to find his hands before the passed out. So no cutting someone's back open with a knife will not give away his position.
"Yoink," the Thief said, and stole the sun.

[JoeJ]

I don't have anything all that cool or unique to tell you guys, but I don't think I'll ever forget the ridiculous epic skill checks for balance. 90 is the DC to walk on water, 120 is the DC to "balance" on a cloud.

That doesn't strike me as impressive, just silly. It's like setting a Balance DC to fix a flat tire, or compose a symphony. Those things are completely orthogonal to what Balance does.

[Cluedrew]

To JoeJ: OK then... which skill would you role for walking on water or clouds? I can't think of a better one.

[gooddragon1]

3 targets adjacent to one another. The archer fires one arrow and then another at much faster travel speed. The faster arrow splits the other arrow in two. The two half arrows hit the left and right targets. The faster arrow hits the middle target.

[Deophaun]

3 targets adjacent to one another. The archer fires one arrow and then another at much faster travel speed. The faster arrow splits the other arrow in two. The two half arrows hit the left and right targets. The faster arrow hits the middle target.
Because they're at two different speeds, they're going to be moving in different arcs, which means your second arrow could hit the first but it's not going to be splitting it in half.

Also, there's the problem of splitting an arrow in half even under ideal conditions, let alone when it's slithering its way through the air (contrary to the popular adage, arrows do not fly straight).

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have some cat girl bodies to hide in the garden.

[enderlord99]

3 targets adjacent to one another. The archer fires one arrow and then another at much faster travel speed. The faster arrow splits the other arrow in two. The two half arrows hit the left and right targets. The faster arrow hits the middle target.
Yes, that was the example I gave in the OP. Thank you for saying it more clearly than I could. :smallsmile:

Because they're at two different speeds, they're going to be moving in different arcs, which means your second arrow could hit the first but it's not going to be splitting it in half.

Also, there's the problem of splitting an arrow in half even under ideal conditions, let alone when it's slithering its way through the air (contrary to the popular adage, arrows do not fly straight).

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have some cat girl bodies to hide in the garden.
I said they should be impossible IRL. You just confirmed that the original example fits that description.

[JoeJ]

To JoeJ: OK then... which skill would you role for walking on water or clouds? I can't think of a better one.

Flying skill would let you do that.

[King of Nowhere]

Use a high spot check to flip through the pages of an entire library and find all references of a few specific keywords.
I tried to justify this one with my DM, who answered "you can't use spot for everything". To which I replied, "when all you have is a hammer..."

use a high spot check to track an enemy's eye movements to figure out where he's intending to strike next and get an AC bonus.
this is a more ludicrous use I may put forth if he complains my attempts at spot are too crazy, just to show I could go crazyer.

[enderlord99]

Flying skill would let you do that.

That doesn't exist in 3.5, which is the edition I had assumed you were bothall talking about.

[JoeJ]

That doesn't exist in 3.5, which is the edition I had assumed you were bothall talking about.

I wasn't talking about any game in particular, just that levitation is not an example of superlative balance any more than composing symphonies is.

[Cluedrew]

To JoeJ: Balance could also be seen as the ability to adjust your stance and center of gravity to stay upright and onto of things. So if you want a skill that scales form something pretty standard to something kind of like flying, I can't think of a better one. I might split into, say, gymnastics and flying if I wanted to cover those things with normal skills. Unless that impossible but sometimes thematically appropriate scaling is what I was going for.

Of course I came into this thread thinking "hey, it looks like this might cover endgame/ridiculous power levels for non-magic users that I was thinking about making" so I might be biased.

[Deophaun]

I said they should be impossible IRL. You just confirmed that the original example fits that description.
Yes. That was the point.

[Knaight]

Getting so good at sailing to allow effective jumping with a boat would be one of these - hopping right over sandbars, reefs, booms, whatever with a massive galleon, and doing so reliably. Other advanced to the point of ridiculous sailing techniques would be quickly spinning in place, diving under obstacles (e.g. low cave mouths for large underground caves), and tipping the entire boat sideways to 'slide' through small spaces.

The latter of these also works for riding. There's a semi-famous scene in a Bollywood action movie where someone basically does a bunch of the ridiculous action-movie motorcycle tricks, but on a horse, including sliding under a moving semi at some point. The inclusion of the semi is probably inappropriate; everything done on that horse is totally fair game.

[gkathellar]

use a high spot check to track an enemy's eye movements to figure out where he's intending to strike next and get an AC bonus.

This isn't even unrealistic. Watching your opponent's body language includes watching their eyes.

[Knaight]

This isn't even unrealistic. Watching your opponent's body language includes watching their eyes.

To the point where it's such a basic thing that it should probably show up less as a skill perk and more as AC just sort of going up with level.

[Guizonde]

Getting so good at sailing to allow effective jumping with a boat would be one of these - hopping right over sandbars, reefs, booms, whatever with a massive galleon, and doing so reliably. Other advanced to the point of ridiculous sailing techniques would be quickly spinning in place, diving under obstacles (e.g. low cave mouths for large underground caves), and tipping the entire boat sideways to 'slide' through small spaces.

The latter of these also works for riding. There's a semi-famous scene in a Bollywood action movie where someone basically does a bunch of the ridiculous action-movie motorcycle tricks, but on a horse, including sliding under a moving semi at some point. The inclusion of the semi is probably inappropriate; everything done on that horse is totally fair game.

i'll be really impressed when i see somebody do a kickflip with a viking longship. he shall be named bjorn "tony hawk" sickbro, son of hapjulf "dude" half-pipe. famous line of trick-sailors, capable of getting speeding tickets on a highway. while rowing.

[Knaight]

i'll be really impressed when i see somebody do a kickflip with a viking longship. he shall be named bjorn "tony hawk" sickbro, son of hapjulf "dude" half-pipe. famous line of trick-sailors, capable of getting speeding tickets on a highway. while rowing.

So, jump, spin the boat under you in the air, land*. This sounds entirely reasonable. On the other hand, a wave is basically just a halfpipe made out of water that moves forward**, and it feels like a waste not to take advantage of that. Basically, it's a three part plan:

1. Terraform*** a portion of the elemental plane of water to make a massively oversized skatepark where the concrete is replaced with water. Preferably this is done with the Craft(Landscape Architecture) skill.
2. Sail to the elemental plane of water, and then to that terraformed*** part, in a viking longship.
3. Go full Tony Hawk on it.


*According to my research. I don't know skateboard tricks.
**For certain definitions of the word "basically".
***Hydroform?

[Guizonde]

So, jump, spin the boat under you in the air, land*. This sounds entirely reasonable. On the other hand, a wave is basically just a halfpipe made out of water that moves forward**, and it feels like a waste not to take advantage of that. Basically, it's a three part plan:

1. Terraform*** a portion of the elemental plane of water to make a massively oversized skatepark where the concrete is replaced with water. Preferably this is done with the Craft(Landscape Architecture) skill.
2. Sail to the elemental plane of water, and then to that terraformed*** part, in a viking longship.
3. Go full Tony Hawk on it.


*According to my research. I don't know skateboard tricks.
**For certain definitions of the word "basically".
***Hydroform?

indeed, that's right. now, i don't know about "entirely reasonable", since people can barely do that with a surfboard, let alone with a full-sized boat. then again i'm not a sailor.

[John Campbell]

use a high spot check to track an enemy's eye movements to figure out where he's intending to strike next and get an AC bonus.
Problem is, eyes can and do lie. I frequently use eye-fakes, where I'll deliberately look at one part of a opponent and hit them somewhere else entirely. Or even hit a completely different opponent.

Correctly reading that sort of thing is Sense Motive, not a plain Spot. And in fact there are rules for resisting feints with Sense Motive.

One of the local fighters, I've been training and fighting with for years, and he's gotten pretty good, and has fought me so often that he knows my style inside out. But he's recently started biting on all of my eye-fakes like a newbie. The reason? He just got glasses that he can wear under his helm. Fighting without glasses, he was completely immune to eye-fakes, because he couldn't see what my eyes were doing. Now he can, and his experience with interpreting them doesn't match up with his overall experience. Basically, he got better at Spot, and it made him worse at figuring out where I'm intending to strike next.

[Bubzors]

This whole thread just reminds me of Sir Bearington

https://m.imgur.com/r/gametales/tAV3wHl

[Resileaf]

This whole thread just reminds me of Sir Bearington

https://m.imgur.com/r/gametales/tAV3wHl

I will never not enjoy the Sir Bearington story.