Monsters Actions

[JCartaxo]

Hi,

New to the game and I have a question regarding monster actions, namely the Agnar.

As far as my understanding goes, when a monster action says something like Attack-X, then a roll must be made by the GM. However, the Attack-Flying Leap action of the Agnar seems to indicate that no roll is necessary and that ultimate effort is directly applied (in the Savages of Kath video, Runehammer does this).

I’m a little confused on this one, can anyone help?

Thanks

[Alex]

Are you talking about the moment below at about 1:38:40? If so, you are correct that Hank does not make the Agnar roll before applying damage pursuant to the Flying Leap Attack.

That being said, the rules do not specify an exact manner to handle this attack, and so the choice is ultimately up to you. You could:

1. Allow the Agnar to leap and do damage without rolling to attack just like Hank. You might choose this method to highlight the raw power of the Agnar; or
2. Because it is a leaping attack, roll the Agnar’s Str or Dex against the nearest player’s Armor to see if it is successful in this attack (or maybe you just roll against the room target to see if the Angar lands where it intended); or
3. You give the player a last chance to roll Dex to avoid the damage as the Agnar lands.

I would probably use method 3 for that type of attack (having the players make saves against powerful monster attacks is a favorite prized pony of mine — I like trotting that one out), but ICRPG doesn’t force a hard and fast rule here. Instead, it allows you as the DM to choose the tool you need to generate the desired effect in that moment of the fiction.

I think you’ll agree that Hank’s choice, waiting on the players to get close enough, then just applying the damage with no roll, is utterly terrifying if you are a player.

In short, do what feels right for you and your players in the moment.

[JCartaxo]

Thanks for the reply Alex!

[Alex]

Hey, any time. It’s why Hank pays me the medium bucks.