Classifying DX Adjustments as General or Targeting
Some DX adjustments only affect DX at certain times, but do not affect DX at others. For example, a distance adjustment of -1 DX for a target of a missile weapon/spell that is 3 MH away does not mean that the figure firing the weapon will attack at a later DX slot in that turn.
The problem with these rules in TFT is that it's not obvious about how all of the DX adjustments should be handled, and the rules may even contain some contradictions. A good example of an ambiguous case is a blurred target. According to the combat example on p. 28 of Advanced Melee (TURN 5), the troll's attack is delayed because it is attacking a blurred figure. It stands to reason that since a target is blurred, it is a similar case of range adjustment. These kinds of DX adjustments can be considered as belonging to the chosen target. It seems strange to think that any figure deciding to attack a blurred figure would be slowed, but perhaps the difficulty in seeing the target means that the attacker has to take more time to attack. However, the DX adjustment would then again occur during the roll for the attack, so it seems that the blur spell in this case is too powerful.
My intent here is to clear up these DX adjustments, by separating the adjustments into two classes:
- General: affects the DX of the figure for all purposes (attacking order, to-hit rolls, to-miss rolls, saving throws).
- Targeting: only affects DX of figure when it attempts to hit/miss a target.
Here are the DX adjustments from the TFT Fantasy Masters' Screen.
| Source of adjustment | DX adj fighter (wizard) | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Armor: | ||
| cloth | -1 (-1) | general |
| leather | -2 (-2) | general |
| chainmail/iron | -3 (-7) | general |
| half plate | -5 (-9) | general |
| full plate | -6 (-10) | general |
| fine plate | -4 (-8) | general |
| chainmail/silver | (-3) | general |
| half plate | (-5) | general |
| full plate | (-6) | general |
| fine plate | (-4) | general |
| Shield: | ||
| small | -0 | general |
| spike | -0 | general |
| large | -1 | general |
| tower | -2 | general |
| Attacker's status: | ||
| striking with two weapons w/o Two Weapons Talent | -6 | targeting |
| striking with two weapons | -4 | targeting |
| striking with cestus-fists(2) | -3 | targeting |
| using main-gauche as shield | -1 | targeting |
| affected by dazzle spell | -3 | targeting |
| doesn't have appropriate talent | -4 | targeting |
| took 5 or more hits since last action | -2 | general |
| affected by rope spell | -2, -1/turn | general |
| affected by clumsiness spell | -2/ST of spell | general |
| Attacker's environment: | ||
| in shadow hex | -6 | targeting |
| in fire hex | -2 | targeting |
| in water over knees | -6 | general |
| Attacker vs aerial target: | ||
| thrown/creation spells | -0 | |
| either flying | -4 | targeting |
| both flying | -4 [not -8] | targeting |
| Intermediate environment: | ||
| each shadow hex | -6 | targeting |
| Target's environment: | ||
| Invisible | -6 | targeting |
| Blurred | -4 | targeting |
| Snake | -3 | targeting |
| Multihex (missile/thrown) | +4 maximum | targeting |
| Add'l clear hexes | +1/hex | targeting |
| Addition w/roll to miss | +½/hex | targeting |
| HTH Combat Bonuses: | ||
| Automatic | +4 | targeting |
| Casting spell | -6 | targeting |
| Normal Combat Bonuses: | ||
| striking from behind [not missiles] | +4 | targeting |
| striking from side [not missiles] | +2 | targeting |
| pole weapon set vs charge [chargee didn't move] | +2 | targeting |
| attacking upward | -2 | targeting |
| attacking downward | +2 | targeting |
| (two hex) jab combat bonuses: | ||
| pike | -2 | targeting |
| Thrown Combat Bonuses: | ||
| range | -1/hex | targeting |
| hobbit attacker | +2 | targeting |
| striking from behind | +4 | targeting |
| striking from side | +2 | targeting |
| precise throw (Dagger Marksmanship) | -6 | targeting |
| Sha-ken | various | targeting |
| Missile Combat Bonuses: | ||
| range | -1/each full 6 hexes | targeting |
| hobbit attacker | +3 | targeting |
| attacker half hidden | -2 | targeting |
| target half hidden/prone/kneeling behind body | -4 | targeting |
| target has only head/shoulders | -6 | targeting |
| crossbow on support | +2 | targeting |
| crossbow prone | +1 | targeting |
| 5 megahexes/1 mega-megahex | -1 | targeting |
| each additional | -1 | targeting |
Is this line of reasoning headed in the right direction?
See some of the other discussions of this topic in the mailing list: (TFT) Main gauche (two weapon) attacks and adjDX, or a Google search of TFT list archives for adjDex OR adjDX