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Explanation of terms please?

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Arianwen
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Explanation of terms please?

Post by Arianwen »

Hi all

I am pretty new to NWN and D&D. Can anybody please explain the following:-

How do critical attacks work? Why do some weapons sat 19-20/x2 and others say x3?

Which traps should be used when eg which beasties are vulnerable to frost, and what does sonic/ negative do?

What is base attack bonus and do any feats increase it?

Thanks in advance

Arianwen
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Zlarm
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Post by Zlarm »

How do critical attacks work? Why do some weapons sat 19-20/x2 and others say x3?

When you score a critical hit, the number that it is multiplied by (i.e. x2,x3) is how many times the amount of damage it does.

the numbers in front reflect what attack role (using a 20 sided dice) you will need to roll in order to score a critical hit

Which traps should be used when eg which beasties are vulnerable to frost, and what does sonic/ negative do?

varies greatly. dont use negative or cold vs. undead though. and some stuff is just logic, like dont use fire against red dragons.


What is base attack bonus and do any feats increase it?

weapon focus and epic weapon focus will inscrease it with the chosen weapon. it will also increase as you gain levels. enchanted weapons also give a bonus.

attack bonus is the amount you add to your attack role to see if you can get pass your enemies armour.

i.e. your enemy has an AC of 17, and you roll a 6 on your attack role, but have a attack bonus of 14, so 6 + 14 = 20, so you hit your enemy,
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Post by Xandax »

Base Attack Bonus (BAB) is the attack bonus you have before adding strength modifier, weapon bonus etc.
It can't be increased by anything other then leveling.
There are tables in the manual (NwN and HotU) for the progress of BAB - for instance fighter-types increase their BAB by 1 per level.

Your attack bonus is then your BAB + all the other bonus you have; attributes scores, feats, weapon enchantment bonus etc.
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Arianwen
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Post by Arianwen »

Thanks both

That's really helpful!

Could you advise why some weapons don't have the 19-20 part of the critical attack?

Arianwen
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blackbow
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Post by blackbow »

no entry in the damage chart means that it only does a crititcal hit on a natural 20. no entry in the crit chart means that it only does x1 damage, IIRC.
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Post by Arianwen »

That's brilliant, thanks, I finally understand! =P
Ari
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Post by Fat Puck »

Also remember that the "keen" property increases the range for critical hits. In HotU you can make a weapon keen by asking to a magical smith.

F.
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Post by Noober »

[QUOTE=Zlarm]When you score a critical hit, the number that it is multiplied by (i.e. x2,x3) is how many times the amount of damage it does.
[/QUOTE]

Just a technicality: When a critical occurs damage is rolled a number of times equal to the critical modifier. For example when a x2 critical weapon achieves a critical, the damage is actually rolled twice, as opposed to a single roll being doubled.

[QUOTE=Zlarm]the numbers in front reflect what attack role (using a 20 sided dice) you will need to roll in order to score a critical hit[/QUOTE]

Not quite correct. Your attack roll falls within the critical threat range, a critical threat is attained. You must roll again to see if you hit before additional damage is added. If on the second roll you fail to hit the target, then you merely get a normal hit (assuming the original attack roll was a 20).
E.g. if I have a 1/20 chance of hitting an enemy (i.e. only on a natural 20 which is always a hit), I will have a 1/400 chance of a critical.

[QUOTE=Arianwen]Which traps should be used when eg which beasties are vulnerable to frost, and what does sonic/ negative do?[/QUOTE]

When you meet an enemy, right click the enemy and select 'examine'. If the enemy in question is vulnerable to an element, it will appear on the small window that pops up.

[QUOTE=blackbow]...no entry in the crit chart means that it only does x1 damage...[/QUOTE]

No entry actually means x2.
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Post by Arianwen »

Thanks
This is all incredibly helpful. I got into d&g games when my then bf and his nephew asked me to play with them. Now I am finding the games more complicated and involved than I imagined and it's great - but confusing! Could I take advantage of your helpfulness yet again and ask for a proper description of initiative please? And exactly what is included in reflex saves eg I know it helps against traps....Cheers!
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Post by Noober »

Initiative
The check is 1d20 + DEX mod ((DEX -10) / 2) + misc modifiers (e.g. superior initiative).

Taken once before starting a battle to decide who gets the first action.
Both players/enemies take the check.
Whoever has higher initiative makes the first action.

Reflex Saves
Reflex checks are calculated: Base Class save (see manual) + DEX mod + misc mods (e.g. +to reflex save from feats, items etc.)

This check is made against the difficulty class (DC) of whatever is opposing your check (i.e. a trap or spell). If your check result equals or exceeds that of the Difficulty Class, you have successfully saved.

Evasion (a feat) allows reflex saves that would normally result in half damage from a successful save allows that damage to be instead negated.

In general a successful reflex save against traps results in half damage. Specific traps may have different consequences.
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Post by Arianwen »

That seems simple enough...
Thanks guys!
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