Combat: Difference between revisions

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==Coup-de-Grace==
==Coup-de-Grace==
When you have a foe completely at your mercy, you can choose to show it the cruelest mercy of all, namely, by killing it.
When you have a foe completely at your mercy, you can choose to show it the cruelest mercy of all, namely, by killing it. A coup-de-grace can only be performed against creatures that are [[Helpless]] against you. Note that several other status conditions include the [[Helpless]] condition.


A Coup De grace can only be performed against creatures that are helpless against you, ie, they can't even wiggle.  There is a specific condition called helpless, but to complicate matters, lots of other conditions also include the helpless condition. Even more importantly, lots of GM's find the coup de grace action to be distasteful, and may disallow it completely, or rule by fiat in a case-by-case basis that no, you can't coup de grace the baby kobolds sleeping in their nests.  Ick.  
To perform a coup de grace, you must spend a full round action, and declare your intent to perform a coup-de-grace upon a [[Helpless]] victim within your reach. If these conditions are met, the attack automatically hits and is resolved as a confirmed critical hit. Resolve your damage for the critical normally, and then the victim must make a Fortitude save with the DC equal to the damage you just rolled.  If they fail, they are slain.  


Note that generous use of the coup de grace action can shorten fights tremendously, but is also likely to have impacts on your alignment and reputation if you get seen doing it.  Note that all these impacts may not be toward evil!  Performing a coup de grace on the evil tyrant king you just overthrew in a public square is likely to move you toward goodness, for example, not to mention making you really popular with the tyrant king's former victims.
It is possible that the simple damage alone will kill them. But even in such a case, the victim must still make a Fortitude save.  Why?  Because the murderous intent of the coup-de-grace makes it more difficult to raise a coup-de-grace'd foe back to life.  The exact details of such things are left to the GM, but it certainly makes for great plot hooks, and explains why, in a magical world, public executions of terrible people are meaningful.


To perform a coup de grace, you must have a helpless victim within your reach. If you take a full round action to aim your deadly blow carefully, you automatically confim a critical hit against your foe.  Roll your damage for the critical normally, and then the foe must make a Fortitude Save with the DC set by the damage you just rolled.  If they fail, they die.
Generous use of the coup-de-grace action can shorten fights tremendously, but has the potential to impact your alignment and reputation.  This impact may not be toward evil, however.  Performing a coup-de-grace on the evil tyrant king you just overthrew in a public square is likely a 'good' act, for example, not to mention making you really popular with the tyrant king's former victims.
 
Note: It is possible that the simple damage alone will kill them, in which case, they still must make a Fortitude save.  Why?  Because the murderous intent of the coup de grace makes it more difficult to raise a coup-de grace'd foe back to life.  The exact details of such things are left to the GM, but it certainly makes for great plot hooks, and explains why, in a magical world, public executions of terrible people gain importance.


==Cover==
==Cover==

Revision as of 16:55, 6 May 2017

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