Set against a charge

[jdizzy001]

I never understood why one would set against a charge due to initiative. The logistics of it never worked out in my mind. However, i was reading the initiative rules in the phb and found out that if you are using a polearm you get to attack someone for free when they move in on you. To me, this means that if I set my weapon to charge and am then moved against, i can strike the attack with my polearm before he can attack me.

[Arduin]

I handle touch attacks the same way. If you try a touch attack against someone with a medium sized weapon, you'll get "attacked" before you can get close enough to "touch".

Always ignore "init" stuff if it stops something that obviously does occur in combat. That is my hard and fast rule.

[jdizzy001]

Interesting. Do you apply the same "penalty" to a monk for punching someone or is a touch attack "different" than a punch?

[Captain_K]

A monk's hands, feet, knee, head, etc are for game purposes "melee" weapons. To penalize the monk with "reach" for open hand effectively guts the class. Some may not agree, but the PH I think is pretty clear the monk is so good his body is for game purposes a weapon. Keep in mind this is fantasy where magic, divine spells, and thieves climb walls like geckos.. so the Monk body is affectively a weapon.

Against a weapon or creature with "reach", really long weapons, they get to "attack first".. this is usually only the first round to "charge" exchange the blows in order of reach then they drop the long stuff or really choke up and go into melee combat rules and initiative returns.. its usually so temporary aka the first round only in combat (with creatures and characters above first level) that if you skip the rules and just go with initiative it will likely not make that much difference that often.. its a detail, one for tactical skills and detail.. bigger silliness occurs in every combat...

[Arduin]

Interesting. Do you apply the same "penalty" to a monk for punching someone or is a touch attack "different" than a punch?

I handle monk's hand/feet attacks, as opposed to unarmed attacks, as they've handled since the beginning of FRPGs. "Touch attacks" were munchkined by 3.x. I don't use that insanity in my C&C games.

[slimykuotoan]

...However, i was reading the initiative rules in the phb and found out that if you are using a polearm you get to attack someone for free when they move in on you.

It's funny jdizzy001, all these years o' playing C&C and I didn't know this rule, or at the very least had forgotten it.

Thanks for bringing it up, and the group o' players in Kayolan's old school C&C game thank you.

[alcyone]

I never understood why one would set against a charge due to initiative. The logistics of it never worked out in my mind. However, i was reading the initiative rules in the phb and found out that if you are using a polearm you get to attack someone for free when they move in on you. To me, this means that if I set my weapon to charge and am then moved against, i can strike the attack with my polearm before he can attack me.

That is how I think it should work, and if you have a pike or long spear it's double damage. The PHB rules for 10'+ weapons hitting first is in the first round of combat only (though I'd say any time both sides close to melee), and it's not clear what happens in subsequent rounds or if both weapons are the same size. Initiative I guess.

I would only allow setting a spear vs. something like a mounted charge or maybe a mass infantry charge where you must commit and inertia or inability to move any other way keeps you from just sidestepping the spear, and not the common jog/run foot charge.

Now, like you say, you could do this with any 10' or longer weapon, against any type of attack in the first round only. Most weapons aren't 10', even most pole arms, but the pike and long spear usually are.

The CKG repeats the rule, but makes it a little more general; any pointed spear or pole arm will work and do double damage vs. a charge.

If you predeclare all actions, a set vs. charge will work in any case, but if you don't a little common sense should probably override the initiative sequence. This won't come up much; who walks around with a 10' pole arm all the time hoping to get charged?

[alcyone]

An interesting idea is that in the first round only, most ranged weapons have a longer than 10' reach, so should be allowed to shoot if ready vs. an oncoming charge. 'Reach' is not rigidly defined, and also, see under charge:

"When charging, the attacker suffers a -4 penalty to armor class
for the combat round. The penalty applies even if the charge
attack is not successful. The penalty also applies if the defender
attacks first due to size or weapon length, or by ranged attack."

I'd be inclined to let readied bows fly first in the first round vs. those closing to melee with them, beating even pikes and longspears.

[Arduin]

I'd be inclined to let readied bows fly first in the first round vs. those closing to melee with them, beating even pikes and longspears.

Logical. That's how I do it. But like you said, on round 1 only.

[serleran]

I'd be inclined to let readied bows fly first in the first round vs. those closing to melee with them, beating even pikes and longspears.

Pretty sure that's the rule anyway.

[alcyone]

I'd be inclined to let readied bows fly first in the first round vs. those closing to melee with them, beating even pikes and longspears.

Pretty sure that's the rule anyway.

That's what I bring to these boards. Translating English to other English.