zaphod@mit-eddie.UUCP (Chris Ross) (07/26/85)
[-<O>-]
The DM guide says, "an unconscious opponent can be trussed or slain in
one round." This would seem to make the command word to "Die" rather
powerful. But consider this:
- In a pitched battle, with missiles and guts flying everywhere,
you'll probably have a great deal of trouble waltzing up to the
victim of the spell and remaining undisturbed while you insert
your toadsticker (or the equivalent) through his throat (or the
equivalent). If someone bumps into you or comes at you, which
is highly likely, you won't be able to pull it off.
- Speaking of toadstickers, suppose you don't have a weapon good
enough to slay the guy in one round? Even if you, a
mace-wielding cleric, should happen to get lucky enough to knock
over that dragon (or similarly well-armored creature) with a
Command to "Die", there's no way you'll do anything significant
to it while it's down. And if the creature is actually wearing
metal armor, you'll have real probs getting the helmet and
gorget (sp?) off *and* slaying him inside of one round.
A good ruling to use for an attacker whose opponent is in a less than
advantageous situation like this is to allow an automatic hit for
maximum damage, plus a chance to stun, which will take effect when he
tries to get up next round.
But for those who still want to horribly maim the guy while he's down,
try getting your ref to allow this: break a finger or two (if he has
any). If the opponent is a spellcaster, he's scrod if he tries to cast
anything with a somatic component. And if he's a fighter, wielding a
weapon in that hand will be next to impossible.
One last note for all you perverts (sorry, Aahz) who use "Masturbate" as
a command: ever have it used on you? I have, and I missed the saving
throw. However, I convinced the DM that I only needed one hand to do
that, so I proceeded use the other (which was still grasping my trusty
flail) to convert my opponent's cranium to easily disposed-of porridge.
--
----------
You are in a maze of twisty little uucp passages, all different...
Christopher Ross
...! { genrad | whuxle | ihnp4 } !mit-eddie!zaphod
Zaphod@MIT-EECS