Invisible Random Targets

In yesterday’s post about attacking invisible creatures, I suggested that I might rule out any attacks against invisible creatures at all unless players thought of some other way to decide where to aim. For example, if the ground is covered with dried leaves and twigs, players could say “Listen for crunching leaves or breaking twigs and aim there!” Or, if they have a bag of flour, they could empty it in the air and watch for swirls in the dust… or strew it on the floor and look for footprints.

But what if players say “I attack in random directions!” or something like that?

Turns out I wouldn’t be so harsh as I suggested. I’d use a variant of the same random target rule I talked about in the ranged attacks post and the post on random spell targets.

Roll 8d6, with one die being a different color. If the unique-colored die is the highest result or ties with the highest result, the attack is in the right direction. If not, the character swings at empty space.

Multiple characters attacking random empty space use the same procedure, which means more chances of scoring a lucky hit. If they are standing back to back, two characters each roll 4 dice + 1 different-colored die, three characters each roll 2 dice + 1 different-colored die, and four characters roll two dice of different colors.

If the creature is hit, then just like Chicagowiz’s example, everyone can make normal attacks without the random target roll until there’s a round where no one successfully hit the invisible opponent. After that round, attacks revert to the original random procedure.

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