Melee Touch Attacks: Str or Dex

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.dnd (More info?)

Does it seem absurd to anyone else here that a while delivering a melee
touch attack a wizard should have his roll adjusted by his Str modifier
(quite likely a penalty), rather than, say, his Dex? Consider a wizard
with Str 8 and Dex 14.

Applying the Str mod for an attack (with a weapon) in hopes of slicing
through armour makes perfect sense, but to merely touch someone (who's
presumably flinching away from my character's ensorcelled finger --
hence not provoking an AoO) would seem to be more of an agility-based
action than a brute-force one.

I might make the same argument for attempting to trip (where,
interestingly enough, the defender gets the better of his Str or Dex
mods on the opposed roll of the ensuing Strength check).

I was hoping to find some hint or suggestion about this in the RAW, but
came up empty.


--

Argentium Helm

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.dnd (More info?)

Argentium Helm <argentiumhelm@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>Does it seem absurd to anyone else here that a while delivering a melee
>touch attack a wizard should have his roll adjusted by his Str modifier
>(quite likely a penalty), rather than, say, his Dex? Consider a wizard
>with Str 8 and Dex 14.

If he doesn't have Weapon Finesse, tough luck. -2.

I'm disappointed that you didn't give credit to the poster who brought
up this oddness last week (I'll give you a hint: it came up in the
context of Flame Blade and Power Attack...)


Donald

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.dnd (More info?)

In a dizzying speach from his throne, Donald Tsang
<tsang@soda.csua.berkeley.edu> imparted this wisdom:
>I'm disappointed that you didn't give credit to the poster who brought
>up this oddness last week (I'll give you a hint: it came up in the
>context of Flame Blade and Power Attack...)

Damn, I was hoping I wasn't wasting bandwidth by posting a rerun.
Haven't had time lately to read through all the threads. Thanks for
the tip; I'll look into it.


--

Argentium Helm

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.dnd (More info?)

"Argentium Helm" <argentiumhelm@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:MPG.1d65e636703aa63a98969a@news.telus.net...
> Applying the Str mod for an attack (with a weapon) in hopes of slicing
> through armour makes perfect sense, but to merely touch someone (who's
> presumably flinching away from my character's ensorcelled finger --

Your assumption that a melee touch attack is *merely* touching someone
is a flaw in your assumptions. Flip through some of the mechanics that rely
on melee touch attacks in the combat section, these are actaully pretty
respectable interactions.

In D&D, Str bonuses to hit also reflect more than just powering through
armor - after all, a strength bonus makes you more likely to hit someone who
has no armor bonus, too. A strong person's attacks have more speed and are
harder to deflect or parry.

A system with more fidelity than D&D would account for these issues in
separate ways, but then we wouldn't have the "abstracted combat system" that
plays so quickly.

-Michael

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.dnd (More info?)

Michael Scott Brown <mistermichael@earthlink.net> wrote:
> A system with more fidelity than D&D would account for these issues in
>separate ways, but then we wouldn't have the "abstracted combat system" that
>plays so quickly.

Yeah. Can anyone say "Rolemaster"?

Donald