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Killersquid
2008-06-11, 01:06 PM
Ok, in the DM manual it states Inhaled Poison fills a cube of 10 ft. So thats a 1 square (5 ft) at 2 ft high right? Because if it is, that doesn't seem very large, which raises another question, how do I measure volume and 3rd dimensions? I mean, fly and swimming, how exactly would you keep track of that?

marjan
2008-06-11, 01:12 PM
Ok, in the DM manual it states Inhaled Poison fills a cube of 10 ft. So thats a 1 square (5 ft) at 2 ft high right? Because if it is, that doesn't seem very large, which raises another question, how do I measure volume and 3rd dimensions? I mean, fly and swimming, how exactly would you keep track of that?

10ft cube means cube with 10ft long sides, not the 10 square foot cube.

valadil
2008-06-11, 01:15 PM
Most players gloss over dealing with volume. It takes a lot of time to calculate and doesn't add enough to the game to justify spending that much time.

Are you sure the volume of the cube is 10 ft? I don't have my books in front of me, but usually a 10 foot cube is a cube whose edges are 10 feet long. And a 10 ft sphere has a 10 foot radius.

My groups handle flying and swimming by placing a die next to the character. It tells you how many squares or 10s of feet you are from the ground. Sometimes you can get away with just using a token to indicate flight and not even worry about the height off the ground, but it becomes necessary if you are concerned about ranged attacks or certain areas of effect. The groups I've played with usually allow for free vertical movement and use fly speed for squares on the map. Yes, a character with a fly speed of 60 could move left 60 and up 60 to go 60 * sqrt(2) in one round, but we don't care enough to do the math.

Logalmier
2008-06-11, 01:16 PM
10ft cube means cube with 10ft long sides, not the 10 square foot cube.

I think what he's asking is how do you show the 3rd dimension on a battle grid.

Killersquid
2008-06-11, 01:16 PM
Yea, 3 dimensional movement now, Valadil and marjan answered my questions very helpfully :smallsmile:

marjan
2008-06-11, 01:33 PM
Yea, 3 dimensional movement now, Valadil and marjan answered my questions very helpfully :smallsmile:

I'm afraid that I can't help you there. The best solution I have for you is imagination, but it isn't very helpful.

Killersquid
2008-06-11, 01:39 PM
Well thanks for trying, but one last question, whats the best way to deal with spot and search, by which I mean when something they normally wouldn't know was around, how would they spot, and an elf's senses, should the DM Roll those in secret so no one knows there's a secret door?

marjan
2008-06-11, 02:06 PM
Well thanks for trying, but one last question, whats the best way to deal with spot and search, by which I mean when something they normally wouldn't know was around, how would they spot, and an elf's senses, should the DM Roll those in secret so no one knows there's a secret door?

That largely depends on your players.
- If they don't like rolling dice for things like that, roll them yourself.
- If they like rolling dice and don't metagame then let them roll. Metagaming can be discouraged by your DMG (just smack them with it :smallamused:)
- If they like rolling rolling dice, but also tend to metagame, you roll them yourself (this might be good idea even if they don't like metagaming since it allows them to make it easier)

Alternative to you rolling checks is to write-down their passive skill - 10+ skill modifier.

Killersquid
2008-06-11, 03:32 PM
Thanks for that advice, I have my trusty DMG always loaded.

marjan
2008-06-11, 03:44 PM
Thanks for that advice, I have my trusty DMG always loaded.

Remember the -1 rule of DMing: "Never buy rulebooks as pdf". :smallbiggrin: