My players will soon have the chance to dive into a murky pond to retrieve some items and I want to make the seaweed attempt to grab and hold them underwater. The seaweed won't attack in any other way. Do I as the DM have to make an attack roll to attempt the grapple on the player or can I just have them make a dex save with a set DC? Sorry if this seems like a straight forward answer, im still fairly new to DMing and would like this to go as smoothly as possible on my end.
I'd consider the weed a danger of the environment, in other words a trap. A DEX save to avoid entanglement, then each round they can use an action to attempt to disentangle themselves, making a STR or DEX check (Athletics or Acrobatics might apply). Failure keeps them restrained and grappled, costing them air.
When in doubt, make the players roll against a DC rather than rolling behind the screen for something to happen to the players.
How it feels like from the player's side:
- If the player rolls, they get to see how well they did and feel in control. They get to use their bonuses, possibly help each other out somehow. Either way, they feel accomplished if they succeed, and know to blame the dice if they fail.
- If you roll behind the screen, and the player wins, the players don't see any result at all - they might not even realize that they won a mini-contest. If the player loses, on the other hand, it feels arbitrary because they don't see the roll.
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My players will soon have the chance to dive into a murky pond to retrieve some items and I want to make the seaweed attempt to grab and hold them underwater. The seaweed won't attack in any other way. Do I as the DM have to make an attack roll to attempt the grapple on the player or can I just have them make a dex save with a set DC? Sorry if this seems like a straight forward answer, im still fairly new to DMing and would like this to go as smoothly as possible on my end.
Thanks!
I'd consider the weed a danger of the environment, in other words a trap. A DEX save to avoid entanglement, then each round they can use an action to attempt to disentangle themselves, making a STR or DEX check (Athletics or Acrobatics might apply). Failure keeps them restrained and grappled, costing them air.
When in doubt, make the players roll against a DC rather than rolling behind the screen for something to happen to the players.
How it feels like from the player's side:
- If the player rolls, they get to see how well they did and feel in control. They get to use their bonuses, possibly help each other out somehow. Either way, they feel accomplished if they succeed, and know to blame the dice if they fail.
- If you roll behind the screen, and the player wins, the players don't see any result at all - they might not even realize that they won a mini-contest. If the player loses, on the other hand, it feels arbitrary because they don't see the roll.