An Example of Indirect Bombardment

A group of five dwarves led by a 6th/6th-level fighter/cleric has located a fortified goblin village. They hunker down in an ancient ruin about 300 yards from the village walls to discuss plans. Unfortunately for the dwarves, an alert sentry has spotted them and the goblins ready their medium catapult for a shot at the intruders. The dwarves have taken cover behind an old stone wall 12 feet high; they sit with their backs to the wall while they talk. Because the dwarves are within 8 feet of the wall, the catapult cannot target them. Even if the dwarves were in the open, the catapult could only target their area because they are Man-sized creatures.

The goblins decide to fire at the top of the wall and hope for the best. The wall is stationary and several hundred feet long. However, the goblins are aiming at one specific section, so the DM decides there is no attack bonus. Because the dwarves are the true target of the attack, the DM decides to impose the standard –4 penalty for 90% concealment (it might be a fairly easy task to hit the wall, but it’s a bit more difficult to strike the section of wall directly above the dwarves’ heads). The goblins have the catapult loaded with a mass of small stones, which gives them an extra die of damage against creatures (4d10 points of damage in this case). The attack roll is a 12, a miss. (A medium catapult’s THAC0 is 15, so the goblins needed to roll a 19 or better to hit.) The goblins roll 1d8 for scatter and get a 3, indicating an overshot to the right. The goblins now roll 2d6 for distance and the result is a 7, so stone shot impacts 7 squares away from the aiming point, too far away to score any incidental hits on the dwarves (see diagram 14).

When they see the catapult stones dropping beyond them, the dwarves decide to leave, intending to exit through the far side of the ruins and return home. The medium catapult is reloading and cannot fire again before the dwarves get away. Unfortunately, the goblins also have two light catapults, and the sentry alerts their crews to the dwarves’ flight.

Because the dwarves’ movement takes them more than 8 feet away from the wall, the light catapults can hit them. The goblins must fire at the area where the dwarves are. Their attacks receive a –3 penalty for targets moving faster than 3 but slower than 12. The crews have an adjusted THAC0 of 17 for these shots. The first crew rolls a 6, a miss, but the second crew gets a 20, a hit. The scatter and direction dice place the miss too far away to hurt the dwarves. Because the catapult that hit was firing at an area containing small targets, the hit also scatters. The goblins roll a 2, indicating a straight overshot. Because the shot was a hit, the goblins roll 1d4 for distance and get a 1, so the shot lands right in front of the dwarves. The leader and two dwarves are within the area of effect. The two dwarves are one-Hit-Die creatures and they have no cover, so they are not allowed a saving throw. The damage roll is a 16, which kills both dwarves. The leader is allowed a saving throw vs. petrification to avoid the damage and the roll is successful. The leader takes no damage and beats a hasty retreat with his three surviving followers.

Later that day, a monstrous 20' umber hulk (a true mutant — it is considered size Huge for the purposes of this example) bursts from the ground and attacks a goblin patrol about 200 yards from the village. If the umber hulk were much closer, it would be within the minimum range for the catapults (150 yards). Most of the patrol flees, leaving one unfortunate comrade trapped in the umber hulk’s mandibles. The medium catapult cannot target on Huge creatures, so it must fire at the area containing the umber hulk. The crew selects a square next to the umber hulk as the intended impact square (they hope to score a lucky direct hit by rolling the right combination of scatter and distance dice). The umber hulk remains in place while crushing its goblin meal, but part of its body remains hidden below ground, so the DM applies a –1 penalty to the shot for 25% concealment, giving the medium catapult an adjusted THAC0 of 16. The goblins roll an 11, a miss. The scatter die is a 7, short and to the left; the roll for distance is a 6, and the shot lands too far away from the umber hulk to do any damage. Unfortunately, two of the fleeing goblins are in the shot’s area of effect and are killed (see diagram 16).

The two light catapults can fire at Huge creatures. With the –1 modifier for concealment, the light catapults have adjusted THAC0s of 15. The attack rolls are 15 and 6. The first shot hits the umber hulk, and because of the direct hit, the umber hulk gets no saving throw and suffers 3d10 points of damage from it (the goblins are still using masses of small stones). The miss scatters, using the square containing the umber hulk’s head as the intended impact square. The roll is a 2, a straight overshot. The distance roll also is a 2, which places the umber hulk within the shot’s area of effect in spite of the miss. The umber hulk has 8+8 Hit Dice and gets a saving throw vs. petrification to avoid damage; it rolls a 19, easily succeeding. Nevertheless, the direct hit convinces it to retreat below ground with its prize.

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