Pathfinder card game combat rules

With the exception of mislabeled skill games such as poker, a gambling game is by its very definition based on seeing what lucks brings you.

You cannot bring your own luck, unless you cheat. And since the house always has an edge, you cannot make money gambling against the house. There is, however, the Profession gambler skill. Like all Profession skills, this Wisdom-based skill is about making money over the course of a week, not about winning a particular spin of a roulette wheel.

A character with high ranks in this skill is playing a lot, minimizing his losses, and probably using many other skills. However, it need not be the only skill a player could use. Bluff, Intimidate, Sense Motive, and for cheating Sleight of Hand can all be used to win a single hand of cards. These rolls, along with some roleplaying, can make a card showdown into an interesting encounter. In games of pure chance, luck should rule the day. Neither the player nor the house is in control—the dice are, and no ranks in Profession gambler will help a character win.

But this is as it should be. Of course, cheating is the only way to change your luck in a game of chance. If someone at the table wants to cheat, Sleight of Hand is the most useful skill, but Disable Device might also be allowed. In addition, magic can be quite useful for cheating.

Spells like mage hand, silent image, and modify memory can turn bad results into good results. Getting caught, however, can turn these good results into much, much worse outcomes. A gambling game has five distinct elements: the house, the equipment, the mechanic, the odds, and the payout.

The standard deviation of loss or gain is higher if the house is loose. As long as the house has an advantage in all games, the other important number the house must care about is its exposure, which is how much it can lose if everyone suddenly wins at once. Equipment : This is what you need to play the game. You should also determine how many people are necessary to run the game.

Mechanic : The mechanic is how the game is played. A mechanic should be simple and easy to grasp: place a chip on the board and roll a pair of dice, choose a number and spin a wheel, use some of your hole cards and some of the ones on the table. However, the variation of results can be much less simple; the sheer number of possible places to put your money on a craps table is dazzling. Odds : The odds are the percentage chances that a player will win money.

Anything that helps speed up combat means everyone gets more done and has more opportunities for fun. This can also be a useful place to record PC Perception checks and saves, so that you can make secret checks without asking players for their statistics.

Another method is using a larger surface like a cork board, marker board, or dry-erase board to track PC and monster initiative and status. If positioned so the players can see it as well, this also lets them know when their turns are coming up so they can plan ahead. While it fulfills the same function as a pad of paper, the creature magnets make it easy to adjust initiative order for readied and delayed actions, and saves the GM the time and effort of rewriting all the PC names for every combat.

This section summarizes the statistics that determine success in combat, then details how to use them. An attack roll represents your attempt to strike your opponent on your turn in a round.

When you make an attack roll , you roll a d20 and add your attack bonus. Other modifiers may also apply to this roll. A natural 1 the d20 comes up 1 on an attack roll is always a miss. A natural 20 the d20 comes up 20 is always a hit. A natural 20 is also a threat—a possible critical hit see the attack action. Source : d20srd. Base attack bonuses increase at different rates for different character classes and creature types.

Base attack bonuses gained from different sources, such as when a character is a multiclass character, stack. Your Armor Class AC represents how hard it is for opponents to land a solid, damaging blow on you. Enhancement bonuses apply to your armor to increase the armor bonus it provides. Magical deflection effects ward off attacks and improve your AC.

Dodge bonuses represent actively avoiding blows. Any situation that denies you your Dexterity bonus also denies you dodge bonuses. Wearing armor , however, does not limit these bonuses the way it limits a Dexterity bonus to AC.

Unlike most sorts of bonuses, dodge bonuses stack with each other. You receive a bonus or penalty to your AC based on your size. See Table: Size Modifiers. Some attacks completely disregard armor , including shields and natural armor —the aggressor need only touch a foe for such an attack to take full effect.

In these cases, the attacker makes a touch attack roll either ranged or melee. All other modifiers, such as your size modifier, Dexterity modifier, and deflection bonus if any apply normally. Some creatures have the ability to make incorporeal touch attacks. These attacks bypass solid objects, such as armor and shields, by passing through them. Incorporeal touch attacks work similarly to normal touch attacks except that they also ignore cover bonuses.

Incorporeal touch attacks do not ignore armor bonuses granted by force effects, such as mage armor and bracers of armor. If your attack succeeds, you deal damage. The type of weapon used determines the amount of damage you deal. If penalties reduce the damage result to less than 1, a hit still deals 1 point of nonlethal damage. When you hit with a melee or thrown weapon, including a sling, add your Strength modifier to the damage result. A Strength penalty, but not a bonus, applies on damage rolls made with a bow that is not a composite bow.

If you have a Strength penalty, the entire penalty applies. What kind of action is it to remove your hand from a two-handed weapon or re-grab it with both hands? Both are free actions. For example, a wizard wielding a quarterstaff can let go of the weapon with one hand as a free action, cast a spell as a standard action, and grasp the weapon again with that hand as a free action; this means the wizard is still able to make attacks of opportunity with the weapon which requires using two hands.

As with any free action, the GM may decide a reasonable limit to how many times per round you can release and re-grasp the weapon one release and re-grasp per round is fair. Sometimes you multiply damage by some factor, such as on a critical hit.

Roll the damage with all modifiers multiple times and total the results. Note : When you multiply damage more than once, each multiplier works off the original, unmultiplied damage. So if you are asked to double the damage twice, the end result is three times the normal damage.

Certain creatures and magical effects can cause temporary or permanent ability damage a reduction to an ability score. See Injury and Death, for more information. Sometimes a combatant in a melee lets her guard down or takes a reckless action. In this case, combatants near her can take advantage of her lapse in defense to attack her for free. These free attacks are called attacks of opportunity. See the Attacks of Opportunity diagram for an example of how they work.

You threaten all squares into which you can make a melee attack, even when it is not your turn. Generally, that means everything in all squares adjacent to your space including diagonally.

An enemy that takes certain actions while in a threatened square provokes an attack of opportunity from you. Most creatures of Medium or smaller size have a reach of only 5 feet. This means that they can make melee attacks only against creatures up to 5 feet 1 square away. However, Small and Medium creatures wielding reach weapons threaten more squares than a typical creature.

In addition, most creatures larger than Medium have a natural reach of 10 feet or more. Two kinds of actions can provoke attacks of opportunity : moving out of a threatened square and performing certain actions within a threatened square. Moving out of a threatened square usually provokes attacks of opportunity from threatening opponents.

There are two common methods of avoiding such an attack—the 5-foot step and the withdraw action. Some actions, when performed in a threatened square, provoke attacks of opportunity as you divert your attention from the battle.

Table: Actions in Combat notes many of the actions that provoke attacks of opportunity. Remember that even actions that normally provoke attacks of opportunity may have exceptions to this rule. An attack of opportunity is a single melee attack, and most characters can only make one per round. If you have the Combat Reflexes feat, you can add your Dexterity modifier to the number of attacks of opportunity you can make in a round.

This feat does not let you make more than one attack for a given opportunity, but if the same opponent provokes two attacks of opportunity from you, you could make two separate attacks of opportunity since each one represents a different opportunity. All these attacks are at your full normal attack bonus. Image created by Marcus Lake and used with permission. No commercial reproductions of this image are permitted. In this combat, the fighter and the sorcerer fight an ogre and his goblin buddy.

The first square she leaves is not threatened as a result, and she can thus move away from the goblin safely, but when she leaves the second square, she provokes an attack of opportunity from the ogre who has 10 feet of reach. She could instead limit her movement to a 5-foot step, as a free action , and not provoke any attacks of opportunity.

Your speed tells you how far you can move in a round and still do something, such as attack or cast a spell. Your speed depends mostly on your size and your armor. Dwarves , gnomes , and halflings have a speed of 20 feet 4 squares , or 15 feet 3 squares when wearing medium or heavy armor except for dwarves , who move 20 feet in any armor.

Humans , elves , half-elves , half-orcs , and most humanoid monsters have a speed of 30 feet 6 squares , or 20 feet 4 squares in medium or heavy armor. If you spend the entire round running, you can move up to quadruple your speed or triple if you are in heavy armor. Generally, when you are subject to an unusual or magical attack, you get a saving throw to avoid or reduce the effect. Like an attack roll , a saving throw is a d20 roll plus a bonus based on your class and level see Classes , and an associated ability score.

These saves measure your ability to stand up to physical punishment or attacks against your vitality and health.

Apply your Constitution modifier to your Fortitude saving throws. These saves test your ability to dodge area attacks and unexpected situations. Apply your Dexterity modifier to your Reflex saving throws. These saves reflect your resistance to mental influence as well as many magical effects. Apply your Wisdom modifier to your Will saving throws. The DC for a save is determined by the attack itself.

A natural 1 the d20 comes up 1 on a saving throw is always a failure and may cause damage to exposed items; see Items Surviving after a Saving Throw. A natural 20 the d20 comes up 20 is always a success. During one turn, there are a wide variety of actions that your character can perform, from swinging a sword to casting a spell. Can you pick up or manipulate an object in a square within your reach?

Does this provoke an AoO? Does it provoke even if the foe can reach the object, but not your space? The rules are a little hazy here, but to put it simply, you can affect objects and creatures within your reach. When picking up or manipulating objects, you generally provoke an attack of opportunity, but only against foes that can reach your space.

You do not provoke attacks of opportunity from foes that cannot reach you, no matter what action you are taking, even if it includes reaching into a threatened space.

Although it might seem realistic to allow an attack in such a case, it would make the game far too complicated.

Many attacks are basic combat options or combat maneuvers any character can attempt, while others are available only through attack-oriented feats. Different combat options require different types of actions. The action type defines which options can be used together. There are several combat maneuvers dirty trick , disarm , drag , grapple , overrun , reposition , steal , sunder , and trip.

Each feat defines the circumstances in which it can be used. In a normal round, you can perform a standard action and a move action , or you can perform a full-round action. You can also perform one swift action and one or more free actions. You can always take a move action in place of a standard action. In some situations such as in a surprise round , you may be limited to taking only a single move action or standard action. A standard action allows you to do something, most commonly to make an attack or cast a spell.

See Table: Actions in Combat for other standard actions. Source : PZO Attack Action : An attack action is a type of standard action. Some combat options can modify only this specific sort of action. When taking an attack action, you can apply all appropriate options that modify an attack action. Thus, you can apply both Greater Weapon of the Chosen and Vital Strike to the same attack, as both modify your attack action. Some combat options such as the disarm and sunder combat maneuvers can be used anytime you make a melee attack, including attacks of opportunity.

Some options that take or modify melee attacks have limitations—for example, Stunning Fist can be used only once per round. This column indicates whether the action itself, not moving, provokes an attack of opportunity.

If you have the Two-Weapon Fighting feat, you can draw two light or one-handed weapons in the time it would normally take you to draw one. As melee attacks, they can be used once in an attack or charge action, one or more times in a full-attack action, or even as an attack of opportunity. Others are used as a separate action. Source PZO A move action allows you to move up to your speed or perform an action that takes a similar amount of time.

See Table: Actions in Combat for other move actions. You can take a move action in place of a standard action.

If you move no actual distance in a round commonly because you have swapped your move action for one or more equivalent actions , you can take one 5-foot step either before, during, or after the action.

A full-round action consumes all your effort during a round. The only movement you can take during a full-round action is a 5-foot step before, during, or after the action.

You can also perform free actions and swift actions see below. See Table: Actions in Combat for a list of full-round actions. Some full-round actions can be taken as standard actions, but only in situations when you are limited to performing only a standard action during your round. The descriptions of specific actions detail which actions allow this option.

A few combat options are full-round actions such as Spring Attack and the full-attack action or modify specific full-round actions such as the extra attack from the haste spell. Free actions consume a very small amount of time and effort. You can perform one or more free actions while taking another action normally. However, there are reasonable limits on what you can really do for free, as decided by the GM. Some combat options are free actions meant to be combined with an attack.

Often, these are feats with specific limitations defined within the feat—for example, Cleaving Finish gives you an extra melee attack, but only after you make an attack that drops a foe. A swift action consumes a very small amount of time, but represents a larger expenditure of effort and energy than a free action.

You can perform only a single swift action per turn. Several combat options are swift actions that modify one or more attacks you take after that swift action.

For example, Channel Smite and Weapon of the Chosen each take a swift action to activate , which then applies to the next attack you make regardless of what type of attack action you perform.

Arcane Strike and Improved Weapon of the Chosen are activated in much the same way, but they apply to all appropriate attacks made for 1 round after activation. Some activities are so minor that they are not even considered free actions.

In such cases, you are restricted to taking only a single standard action or a single move action plus free and swift actions as normal. Most of the common actions characters take, aside from movement, fall into the realm of standard actions.

With a normal melee weapon, you can strike any opponent within 5 feet. Opponents within 5 feet are considered adjacent to you. Some melee weapons have reach, as indicated in their descriptions. Striking for damage with punches, kicks, and head butts is much like attacking with a melee weapon, except for the following:.

Attacks of Opportunity : Attacking unarmed provokes an attack of opportunity from the character you attack, provided she is armed. The attack of opportunity comes before your attack. An unarmed attack does not provoke attacks of opportunity from other foes, nor does it provoke an attack of opportunity from an unarmed foe. A monk , a character with the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, a spellcaster delivering a touch attack spell, and a creature with natural physical weapons all count as being armed see natural attacks.

Note that being armed counts for both offense and defense the character can make attacks of opportunity. Unarmed Strike Damage : An unarmed strike from a Medium character deals 1d3 points of bludgeoning damage plus your Strength modifier, as normal. All damage from unarmed strikes is nonlethal damage. Unarmed strikes count as light weapons for purposes of two-weapon attack penalties and so on. Dealing Lethal Damage : You can specify that your unarmed strike will deal lethal damage before you make your attack roll , but you take a —4 penalty on your attack roll.

If you have the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, you can deal lethal damage with an unarmed strike without taking a penalty on the attack roll. The maximum range for a thrown weapon is five range increments. For projectile weapons, it is 10 range increments. Some ranged weapons have shorter maximum ranges, as specified in their descriptions.

If you shoot or throw a ranged weapon at a target engaged in melee with a friendly character, you take a —4 penalty on your attack roll. Two characters are engaged in melee if they are enemies of each other and either threatens the other. An unconscious or otherwise immobilized character is not considered engaged unless he is actually being attacked. If your target is two size categories larger than the friendly characters it is engaged with, this penalty is reduced to —2.

There is no penalty for firing at a creature that is three size categories larger than the friendly characters it is engaged with. Attacks made with natural weapons , such as claws and bites, are melee attacks that can be made against any creature within your reach usually 5 feet.

These attacks are made using your full attack bonus and deal an amount of damage that depends on their type plus your Strength modifier, as normal. You do not receive additional natural attacks for a high base attack bonus. Instead, you receive additional attack rolls for multiple limb and body parts capable of making the attack as noted by the race or ability that grants the attacks. Some natural attacks are denoted as secondary natural attacks , such as tails and wings. Attacks with secondary natural attacks are made using your base attack bonus minus 5.

These attacks deal an amount of damage depending on their type, but you only add half your Strength modifier on damage rolls. You can make attacks with natural weapons in combination with attacks made with a melee weapon and unarmed strikes, so long as a different limb is used for each attack. For example, you cannot make a claw attack and also use that hand to make attacks with a longsword. Feats such as Two-Weapon Fighting and Multiattack can reduce these penalties. A character who can make more than one attack per round must use the full-attack action see Full-Round Actions in order to get more than one attack.

You can choose to fight defensively when attacking. No, they mean the same thing. If the confirmation roll is a miss, then your hit is just a regular hit. A critical hit means that you roll your damage more than once, with all your usual bonuses, and add the rolls together. Sometimes your threat range is greater than That is, you can score a threat on a lower number. In such cases, a roll of lower than 20 is not an automatic hit. For example:.

Some weapons deal better than double damage on a critical hit see also, Equipment. The other head deals quadruple damage on a critical hit. A spell that requires an attack roll can score a critical hit. A spell attack that requires no attack roll cannot score a critical hit. If a spell causes ability damage or drain see Special Abilities , the damage or drain is doubled on a critical hit.

Certain magic items, however, do need to be activated, especially potions , scrolls , wands , rods , and staves. Unless otherwise noted, activating a magic item is a standard action.

Activating a spell completion item is the equivalent of casting a spell. It requires concentration and provokes attacks of opportunity. You lose the spell if your concentration is broken, and you can attempt to activate the item while on the defensive, as with casting a spell. Activating any of these kinds of items does not require concentration and does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Most spells require 1 standard action to cast. You can cast such a spell either before or after you take a move action. Note : You retain your Dexterity bonus to AC while casting.

To cast a spell with a verbal V component, your character must speak in a firm voice. To cast a spell with a somatic S component, you must gesture freely with at least one hand. To cast a spell with a material M , focus F , or divine focus DF component, you have to have the proper materials, as described by the spell.

Unless these components are elaborate, preparing them is a free action. For material components and focuses whose costs are not listed in the spell description, you can assume that you have them if you have your spell component pouch. You must concentrate to cast a spell. If you start casting a spell but something interferes with your concentration , you must make a concentration check or lose the spell.

If you fail, the spell fizzles with no effect. If you prepare spells, it is lost from preparation. If you cast at will, it counts against your daily limit of spells even though you did not cast it successfully. Concentrating to Maintain a Spell : Some spells require continued concentration to keep them going. Anything that could break your concentration when casting a spell can keep you from concentrating to maintain a spell. If your concentration breaks, the spell ends. Most spells have a casting time of 1 standard action.

A spell cast in this manner immediately takes effect. Generally, if you cast a spell, you provoke attacks of opportunity from threatening enemies. Casting a spell while on the defensive does not provoke an attack of opportunity.

Failure means that you lose the spell. Many spells have a range of touch. To use these spells, you cast the spell and then touch the subject. In the same round that you cast the spell, you may also touch or attempt to touch as a free action.

You may take your move before casting the spell, after touching the target, or between casting the spell and touching the target. You can automatically touch one friend or use the spell on yourself, but to touch an opponent, you must succeed on an attack roll. Touch Attacks : Touching an opponent with a touch spell is considered to be an armed attack and therefore does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

The act of casting a spell, however, does provoke an attack of opportunity. Touch attacks come in two types: melee touch attacks and ranged touch attacks. You can score critical hits with either type of attack as long as the spell deals damage. His size modifier, Dexterity modifier, and deflection bonus if any all apply normally.

Sign up or log in Sign up using Google. Sign up using Facebook. Sign up using Email and Password. Post as a guest Name. Email Required, but never shown. Featured on Meta. New post summary designs on greatest hits now, everywhere else eventually. Related 3. Hot Network Questions. Question feed. Accept all cookies Customize settings. The following are among the most common. These scores represent a creature's most basic attributes. The higher the score, the more raw potential and talent your character possesses.

Action : An action is a discrete measurement of time during a round of combat. Using abilities, casting spells, and making attacks all require actions to perform. There are a number of different kinds of actions, such as a standard action, move action, swift action, free action, and full-round action see Combat.

Alignment : Alignment represents a creature's basic moral and ethical attitude. Alignment has two components: one describing whether a creature is lawful, neutral, or chaotic, followed by another that describes whether a character is good, neutral, or evil.

Alignments are usually abbreviated using the first letter of each alignment component, such as LN for lawful neutral or CE for chaotic evil. Creatures that are neutral in both components are denoted by a single "N. This score represents how hard it is to hit a creature in combat. As with other scores, higher is better. As a character gains levels or Hit Dice, his base attack bonus improves.

Bonus : Bonuses are numerical values that are added to checks and statistical scores. Most bonuses have a type, and as a general rule, bonuses of the same type are not cumulative do not "stack" —only the greater bonus granted applies. Caster Level CL : Caster level represents a creature's power and ability when casting spells. When a creature casts a spell, it often contains a number of variables, such as range or damage, that are based on the caster's level.

Class : Classes represent chosen professions taken by characters and some other creatures. Classes give a host of bonuses and allow characters to take actions that they otherwise could not, such as casting spells or changing shape.

As a creature gains levels in a given class, it gains new, more powerful abilities. Most PCs gain levels in the core classes or prestige classes , since these are the most powerful. Check : A check is a d20 roll which may or may not be modified by another value. The most common types are attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and saving throws.

Combat Maneuver : This is an action taken in combat that does not directly cause harm to your opponent, such as attempting to trip him, disarm him, or grapple with him see Combat. When attempting to perform a combat maneuver, this value is added to the character's d20 roll. Combat Maneuver Defense CMD : This score represents how hard it is to perform a combat maneuver against this creature. A creature's CMD is used as the difficulty class when performing a maneuver against that creature.

Concentration Check : When a creature is casting a spell, but is disrupted during the casting, he must make a concentration check or fail to cast the spell see Magic.

Creature : A creature is an active participant in the story or world. Damage Reduction DR : Creatures that are resistant to harm typically have damage reduction.

This amount is subtracted from any damage dealt to them from a physical source. Most types of DR can be bypassed by certain types of weapons. Such DR is denoted by the "—" symbol. See Special Abilities for more information. Difficulty Class DC : Whenever a creature attempts to perform an action whose success is not guaranteed, he must make some sort of check usually a skill check. The result of that check must meet or exceed the Difficulty Class of the action that the creature is attempting to perform in order for the action to be successful.

Extraordinary Abilities Ex : Extraordinary abilities are unusual abilities that do not rely on magic to function. Experience Points XP : As a character overcomes challenges, defeats monsters, and completes quests, he gains experience points. These points accumulate over time, and when they reach or surpass a specific value, the character gains a level.

Feat : A feat is an ability a creature has mastered. Feats often allow creatures to circumvent rules or restrictions.

Creatures receive a number of feats based off their Hit Dice, but some classes and other abilities grant bonus feats. Game Master GM : A Game Master is the person who adjudicates the rules and controls all of the elements of the story and world that the players explore. A GM's duty is to provide a fair and fun game. As a creature gains levels, it gains additional Hit Dice.

Monsters, on the other hand, gain racial Hit Dice, which represent the monster's general prowess and ability. Hit Dice are represented by the number the creature possesses followed by a type of die, such as "3d8. In this example, the creature has 3 Hit Dice. When rolling for this creature's hit points, you would roll a d8 three times and add the results together, along with other modifiers.

Hit Points hp : Hit points are an abstraction signifying how robust and healthy a creature is at the current moment. To determine a creature's hit points, roll the dice indicated by its Hit Dice. A creature gains maximum hit points if its first Hit Die roll is for a character class level. Wounds subtract hit points, while healing both natural and magical restores hit points. Some abilities and spells grant temporary hit points that disappear after a specific duration.

When a creature's hit points drop below 0, it becomes unconscious. When a creature's hit points reach a negative total equal to its Constitution score, it dies. Initiative : Whenever combat begins, all creatures involved in the battle must make an initiative check to determine the order in which creatures act during combat. The higher the result of the check, the earlier a creature gets to act. Level : A character's level represents his overall ability and power.