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What Would Legolas Do?

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by

Eric Mains

in

Originally published on my other blog, Evil Six String.

You know that scene in Fellowship? Balin’s tomb. Cave troll, yeah? Leggy ducks like three attacks from the cave troll, and then the big gray fucker rolls a nat 1 and tangles its chain up in the columns. On Leggy’s turn, the archer rushes across the chain and then headshots the troll while standing on its back.

In my ideal D&D-like game, here’s how I want the rules to behave:

  1. Troll is taking its turn attacking Leggy, and the PC knows that in this game, initiative goes PC-Monster-PC, and so on. When the troll rolls a Nat 1 on its last attack, the DM decides that means the chain gets tangled up in the scenery.
  2. Leggy’s player jumps on that opportunity to do something cool. “I’m scampering across the chain like only an Elf of Mirkwood can, and getting on that troll’s back”
    1. Player is giving a nod to the character’s Background, an Elf of Mirkwood, and that’s cool. He also rolls d20 checks that invoke his background with advantage.
    2. The player’s is focused on the in-game action, not the game terminology. “I’m scampering across the chain” sounds a hell of a lot more interesting than “My character will use the Elf of Mirkwood feature.”
  3. DM says “Risky move, but cool. DC 15 Dexterity to tightrope-sprint a chain, and if you fail, that troll is going to use you like a meaty club.”
    1. DM is letting the player know what the consequences are and the odds of success.
    2. A risky move doesn’t raise the DC! That might scare a player off trying. No trying, no failure, no fun.
    3. A risky move does open the way for bigger and nastier consequences for failure, in this case being used like a meaty club.
  4. Leggy’s player rolls d20 with a +4 from Dexterity, and with advantage from Elf of Mirkwood. The dice show 3 and 11, take the 11, just barely enough with the ability bonus. Leggy’s player: “Alright, scamper, scamper, here’s my action. I’m standing on the back of this troll’s shoulders, like one foot on each side of its warty head, and I’m drawing my bow all the way back, like the bow tips are almost touching my shooting arm, and just BURYING the arrow in the back of the troll’s skull.”
  5. DM: “AC 15; attack with disadvantage because ranged weapons in melee. Win, lose, or draw you gotta get off its back and end your turn. Are you pulling a stunt for more  damage?”
    1. Again, the DM is giving odds and consequences. Also, a troll’s back isn’t a place to linger, a fact the DM is acknowledging that without negating the player’s success on the Dexterity check.
    2. The DM is also asking if the player’s description is meant to explain the use of additional game rules that allow a player to crank up damage.
  6. Leggy’s player: “No, showing my Elven Archery in action. Gets rid of the disadvantage to attack.” The player rolls another 11 which again just barely hits with modifiers. “Cold dice tonight. Spending a spotlight to turn a hit into a critical hit.”
    1. Elven Archery is a feature. Features can eliminate disadvantage to narrowly defined actions, like “shooting a bow.”
    2. A spotlight is analogous to a D&D 5e spell slot. Leggy’s player could have also spent the spotlight to turn a miss into a hit because no one likes missing at point-blank range.
    3. Critical damage is 1d8 plus 1d8 extra damage, minimum 9. Leggy’s player rolls the dice…and gets a 5 and 2, so he takes the minimum damage of 9 instead. Does anyone like rolling less than the max result of a single die on a critical?
  7. Leggy’s player: “KA-THWAP. All the way to the fletching! And I’m gonna do a neat little jump off the back of this guy here.”
  8. The DM, updating troll’s hit points: “Yeah, the creature flails its meaty paws over its head, trying to dislodge you, but in vain. Samwise, you ready?”
  9. Sam’s player: “I’ve got a pan and a plan…”

This an attempt to guide my own work, and is influenced by a lot of games–Apocalypse World by D. Vincent and Meguey Baker, Whitehack by Christian Mehrstam, ICRPG and Crown and Skull by Runehammer Games, Glitch by Jenna Moran, Synthetic Dream Machine by Luka Rejec. There’s a long list of YouTubes that helped brew this stew, too. Professor Dungeon Master, Bob World Builder, Treantmonk’s Temple, Ginny Di, the Dungeon Dudes, and many more, plus bloggers beyond counting.

The real question here, though, is what would your character do?

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