Attacks Frame

(Go back to Main Window ) This help topic is Open Game Content, and is licensed for public use under the terms of the Open Gaming License v1.0a .

This frame displays a list of the creature's available attacks, and, for the selected attack, the damage and attack bonuses for that attack.

List of Attacks

This holds the list of all types of attacks available to the creature. The humanoid races (humans, elves, orcs, etc.) typically have a list of weapons available to them: swords, bows, unarmed, etc. These creatures can usually only attack with one kind of weapon on a particular round, except when they are fighting with a weapon in each hand. Monsters and animals typically have a list of natural attacks: claws, bite, slam, etc. These creatures can typically use all their types of attacks in a single round. For example, a dragon might have a bite attack and two claw attacks, which means he has 3 attacks per round.

Separate alternative of attacks with an “or” to signify that not all the attacks can be done in the same round. For example, a human could have “Shortsword” and “or Crossbow”, meaning he can use either of the weapons but not both in one round. A dragon, on the other hand, could have “Bite”, “Claws” and “Wings”, three types of attacks that can all be made in the same round.

List of Attacks Right-Click Menu

Right-click the list of attacks to pop up a menu. Menu options are applied on the currently selected attack. The Move Up, Move Down, Move to Top and Move to Bottom menus allow you to move the attack along in the list.

Use the Hide Attack to temporarily remove the selected attack from the list. The attack won't show up in the stat block or the character sheet. Afterwards, use Unhide All Attacks to show all hidden attacks.

Description of the Elements in the Frame

-          Remove: Deletes the currently selected attack.
-          Add New: Opens the Standard Weapons Editor , which will allow you to add a new attack to this PC.

-          Weapon/Type: The name of the weapon or natural attack

-          Main Dmg: (Main Damage) A string indicating how many dice of what value are rolled, and what is added to the roll to get the total. The format is “2d6 + 4 and notes”. The amount added to the roll “+ 4” is the sum of the Strength modifier, temporary modifiers to damage, and the weapons' damage bonus. You can add notes such as “and paralysis” as reminders of the creature's special attacks or qualities.

-          Secondary: Some weapons deal two dice of damage, for example, a flaming longsword is 1d8 (regular longsword) + 1d6 (fire damage). Enter the second dice in this text box and check the checkbox to roll it when making an attack. For example, you would uncheck the box when fighting a monster that's immune to fire damage. Another good use of this box is for sneak attack damage – check the box when a sneak attack is possible.

-          Type of damage: Each dice can have it's own type of damage. This is displayed as a note in the combat log when attacking. When Damage Reduction is automatically handled in a future version the damage type will be used to determine whether or not it applies. Secondary damage is not multiplied in critical hits, unless you enter "CRIT" in the damage type.

-          Extra Atk bonus: This is the sum of bonuses to attack rolls coming from: magic weapons, masterwork weapons, feats such as weapon focus, and other bonuses that apply to this weapon only.

-          [Extra] Dmg bonus: This is the sum of bonuses to damage rolls coming from: magic weapons, feats such as weapon specialization, and other bonuses that apply to this weapon only.

-          Critical: This string describes the range of critical threat and the effect of a successful critical hit. For example, “19-20/x2” means that a 19 or 20 is a critical threat, and that damage is doubled. “20/x3” means that only 20 is a critical threat, but damage is tripled.

Attack Type

-          Melee/Ranged: The type of attack this weapon makes. Melee attacks add the Strength bonus to attack and damage; ranged attacks add the Dexterity bonus to attack.

-          Touch: Check this box for a touch attack. These attacks ignore any AC contribution from armor.

-          Nonlethal: If checked, then this weapons deal nonlethal (temporary) damage.

-          Nonlethal Instead : When checked, the creature voluntarily tries to inflict nonlethal damage instead of normal damage. This incurs a –4 penalty to attack rolls. Dealing normal damage with a nonlethal weapon also incurs a –4 penalty.

-          Size: The size of the weapon. This determines whether a character can use it one-handed, and affects disarm rolls. This also affects penalties when fighting with two weapons.

-          Cat (Category): Whether the weapon is designed to be a light, one-handed or two-handed weapon. Starting in version 2.11, the size of the weapon (relative to the wielder) along with this setting determines what hand(s) can be used with it. For example, a Medium, Light weapon in the hands of a Medium PC cannot be used two-handed. A Huge, Light weapon in the hands of a Medium PC MUST be used two-handed, and also incurs a –4 penalty to attacks due to having two sizes of difference.

-          Category (continued): Other choices are Unarmed, Ranged, and N/A. Note that if your weapon is set to N/A, the size of the weapon will be used to determine if it is light, for the purposes of calculating attack bonuses in two-weapon fighting. This corresponds to how the system was implemented in the 3.0 rules. No size mis-match penalties are applied in that case (e.g. a medium PC with a small weapon does not get a –2 penalty if the Category is N/A)

Range Calculator

-          Increment: For ranged weapons, the range increment in feet. For melee weapons, this is the range increment when thrown. Each full range increment in the distance between attacker and target gives a cumulative –2 penalty.

-          Distance: The distance between the attacker and target for this attack (in feet).

-          Penalty: The penalty to the attack roll, if any, for being one full increment or further away. This is not automatically included in the final attack bonus, but is presented for the user's information.

-          Apply: Check this box to apply the range penalty. Note that no penalty is applied when the weapon is used as a melee weapon.

Natural Attacks

-          Is Natural Attack: When checked, all attacks are performed using the full Base Attack Bonus – that is, the base attack bonus for the first attack the creature has. This is normally used for creatures with several natural attacks, like an 8-headed hydra making 8 bite attacks, all at the same bonus.

-          Number of Attacks: The number of natural attacks performed. This only applies if the 'Is Natural Attack' box is checked. All attacks will be made using the full BAB.

Hand Used

-          Primary: The weapon is used normally, in the character's most dexterous hand. This is the only selection that should be used for ranged attacks.

-          Off-hand : If checked, then the weapon is used in the characters “off” hand (left if he is right-handed, right if he is left-handed). Penalties apply, but can be reduced with feats. For melee attacks, the character's strength modifier bonus to damage is reduced by half (rounded down, negative strength modifiers are unchanged). This rule applies even with feats such as ambidexterity (see the WotC FAQ).

-          Pri. hand w/2 weapons: (Primary hand with Two weapons) If checked, then the weapon is used in the character's primary hand, but he is using another weapon in his other hand. Penalties apply, but can be reduced with feats or automatically if the off-hand weapon is light (one or more size categories smaller than the creature).

-          Two Hands: The character grasps the weapons in both hands. The damage bonus is 1 1/2 times the character's strength bonus (rounded down, negative strength modifiers are unchanged).

-          O-H Alone: Off-hand alone, primary hand is free.

Applying Feats/Proficiency

-          Not Proficient: Check this box if the PC is using a weapon for which he does not have the required Weapon Proficiency feat, such as Simple Weapon Proficiency. This applies the -4 penalty to attacks.

The next three checkboxes/text boxes are only visible if your PC has the feat in question.

-          Power Attack: The weapons' attack bonus is decreased by the amount entered while the damage bonus is increased by the same amount, as by the feat. The maximum adjustment is equal to the creature's full base attack bonus.

-          Expertise: The weapons' attack bonus is decreased by the amount entered while the player's AC is increased by the same amount, as by the feat. The maximum adjustment possible is +5. The bonus to AC is set in the form of a condition (e.g. “Expertise +2”) that is removed when the checkbox is set to 0. Set the box to 0 before switching to another weapon, or the condition will remain.

-          Weapon Finesse: The creature has the feat weapon finesse and uses it with this weapon. Instead of the Strength modifier being applied to attack rolls, the Dexterity modifier is used.

Attack Buttons

-          1:+12, 2:+7, etc.: These buttons allow you to make a single attack. The first number is the number of the attack. After the colon is displayed the total bonus to attack rolls for that attack. When you click on one of these buttons, the AC hit and damage is displayed in the combat log: see When a creature makes an attack . If a button is disabled, this means that the creature does not have that attack. To add/remove multiple attacks, see Base Attack Bonuses , in the Statistics Frame. If you are dealing with multiple natural attacks (all attacks are to be made at the same Base Attack Bonus), check the Is Natural Attack box and set the number of attacks.

-          Charge: This makes a charge with the first attack of the selected weapon. The creature must run at least 10 feet in a straight line, and gets a +2 bonus to a single attack (at full BAB). For the next round, the creature loses 2 from its AC (in the form of the “Charging” condition).

Auto Attack

-          Current Target: The name of the creature you wish to attack. You can edit this manually, but when you use the "Auto Damage" menu of the Creature List Popup Menu it is automatically set.

-          Auto-Attack: When checked, you will be prompted whether or not you want to attack the 'Current Target' again. If you select yes, "Auto Damage" will be automatically applied to the target – which means that the target will only lose hp if it's AC is low enough.





Documentation for DM Genie and Player Genie, page Attacks_Frame. Copyright © Mad Scientist Studios, 2006.
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