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Old 06-16-2019, 10:43 AM   #3
Curmudgeon
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Default Re: Combat at different height and Active Defense modifiers

Quote:
Originally Posted by Exallted View Post
Combat at different levels (B402) states that bonuses/penalties to active defenses (AD) apply when melee fighting occurs at different levels.

For instance, at 4 feet of vertical difference, the higher fighter has +2 to AD, and the lower fighter -2.

When accounting for weapon reach (Effects of Reach, B403) are these modifiers to AD based on the lowest reach between fighters or on each weapon individually?

So, at 4 feet of vertical difference, with the lower fighter using a Reach 2 weapon and the higher fighter a Reach 1 weapon:
  • If the former, both fighters get no bonuses or penalties to AD?

  • If the latter, the lower fighter defends with no penalty, but the higher fighter defends at +2?
Weapon reach directly affects the vertical distance between fighters. As such, it only has an indirect effect on active defenses, i.e., penalties and bonuses to active defenses only result from the change in effective vertical distance.

For example, the initial vertical difference is nine feet making combat impossible without the fighters adopting some strange positions. However, one fighter gets a Reach 2 weapon and the other fighter gets a Reach 3 weapon.

If the upper fighter has the Reach 3 weapon, he reduces the vertical distance by 6 feet for the extra 2 yards of reach his weapon gives him and fights as if the vertical distance were only three feet, giving him a +1 to his active defenses. The lower fighter reduces the vertical distance by three feet for the extra yard of reach his Reach 2 weapon gives him and fights as if the vertical distance was six feet, giving him a -3 to defend.

If the lower fighter has the Reach 3 weapon, he fights with the vertical distance reduced to three feet and defends at -1 to his active defenses. The upper fighter with the Reach 2 weapon, fights as if the vertical distance was six feet and gets +3 to his active defenses.
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