Core:Mobs
More actions
When there are many similar creatures in the same combat, the GM may elect to run those creatures collectively as a mob. All members of a mob share their turn and their actions, but not their reactions. On their turn, all members of a mob use the same ability at once, although the typically resolve them independently (the main exception is listed below). Any members of the mob that are unable to use the chosen ability do not get to substitute it with a different ability.
Mob Attacks
Any members of a mob that make an attack against the same creature share the same attack roll, although their attacks still resolve separately. This is referred to as a mob attack. For each additional member of the mob participating in the attack, add +1 to the value of the initial roll. Each subsequent resolution of that roll has a -2 added to the rolled value in determining if it hits. If the original roll would go critical, then all attacks sharing the roll do as well. If any member of mob participating in the shared roll would have advantage or disadvantage then they all do. This applies to both active maneuvers such as Basic Attack and reactive maneuvers such as Opportunity Attack.
If multiple members of the same mob attack would have different bonuses to hit or attack penalties, select one value and apply that to all the rolls. The attack penalty is changed by the same amount for all participants in the attack. In practice, this is best handled by selecting just one member of the mob to make all the attacks in a single action and continuing to use their values for further attacks afterwards as well.
At GM discretion, these collective roll rules may be applied to shared feat saves, resistance saves, tradecraft checks, or other rolls.
| Mob Size | 1st Attack | 2nd Attack | 3rd Attack | 4th Attack | 5th Attack | 6th Attack | 7th Attack | 8th Attack | ⋯ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| 2 | +1 | −1 | |||||||
| 3 | +2 | 0 | −2 | ||||||
| 4 | +3 | +1 | −1 | −3 | |||||
| 5 | +4 | +2 | 0 | −2 | −4 | ||||
| 6 | +5 | +3 | +1 | −1 | −3 | −5 | |||
| 7 | +6 | +4 | +2 | 0 | −2 | −4 | −6 | ||
| 8 | +7 | +5 | +3 | +1 | −1 | −3 | −5 | −7 | |
| ⋮ | ⋮ | ⋮ | ⋮ | ⋮ | ⋮ | ⋮ | ⋮ | ⋮ | ⋱ |
Where possible, any damage rolls or similar rolls made as a result of a mob attack are only made once and all hits share the same value.
Mob Abilities
The GM may elect to give a mob additional abilities that they can use collectively even if the individual creatures in it wouldn't have it on their own. For instance, a mob of merfolk may be able swim together in such a way as to cause a Whirlpool Aura. Or perhaps a mob of big spiders can collective use a Web Capture. Any of these mob abilities can be used once per round and take one less action than or reaction than they would otherwise. Mob abilities are often predicated on the mob having enough members in order to fulfill it, as determined by the GM. There is no standard list of mob abilities that different creature types have access to, but they are typically large, splashy, and unconventional.