A few questions on game mechanics

[ripforareason]

- How exactly does player perma-haste work? Does it apply to both attacks and movement, or is it just like having Sprinting on at all times?

- I'm a little confused about how Concentrate works, or, in particular, what breaks concentration. If I have ZoC or have Rage active, but attack the same enemy each turn, will I still build up a concentration bonus? What about flanking - does it count as an attack for the purposes of concentration? What about targetting an enemy with an arrow and missing? It would be nice to have a status counter that showed what's going on with this ability.

- I know Finesse reduces the base number needed for a critical hit from 7 + weight to 6+ weight. The description of subtlety says it reduces the base number by 2. Does this mean the critical hit number is now 4 + weapon weight, or is the "base" still treated as 7 (in which case it would be 5 + weight)?

[debo]

- How exactly does player perma-haste work? Does it apply to both attacks and movement, or is it just like having Sprinting on at all times?

It applies to attacks and movement. "Fast" is 1.5x normal speed, not 2x.

- I'm a little confused about how Concentrate works, or, in particular, what breaks concentration. If I have ZoC or have Rage active, but attack the same enemy each turn, will I still build up a concentration bonus? What about flanking - does it count as an attack for the purposes of concentration? What about targetting an enemy with an arrow and missing? It would be nice to have a status counter that showed what's going on with this ability.

Sil separates attacks into something like "directed" and "reactive". Directed attacks happen when you explicitly take an action by moving or bumping (e.g. hitting something, flanking something.) Reactive attacks happen as a side-effect of a directed action from player or monster (e.g. initial bump causes a rage whirlwind on adjacent monsters, monster movement triggers ZoC or opportunist.)

IIRC, directed attacks build and break concentration, the others do not. You can confirm this for yourself by turning on the combat rolls window and watching what's happening.

Specifically re: your shooting question, missing an opponent doesn't kill concentration, but it will kill it if you accidentally hit a different target (e.g. arrow flies over your target and hits the dude behind it.)

I think some of this stuff about which attacks count for what is in the manual, but the combat roll window is always the easiest way to answer these questions, I think.

- I know Finesse reduces the base number needed for a critical hit from 7 + weight to 6+ weight. The description of subtlety says it reduces the base number by 2. Does this mean the critical hit number is now 4 + weapon weight, or is the "base" still treated as 7 (in which case it would be 5 + weight)?

Finesse + subtlety = base 4.

[ripforareason]

Ok, thanks. There's nothing about directed or reactive attacks in the manual, so I assumed there was no distinction. This makes concentration a whole lot less attractive... since flanking doesn't build it, and when you fight enemies in hallways, they like to swap with one another to break concentration.

[Patashu]

Maybe Concentration should be permissive - direct attacks build and break it, reactive attacks on your target build it, reactive attacks not on your target don't break it.

[ripforareason]

Maybe Concentration should be permissive - direct attacks build and break it, reactive attacks on your target build it, reactive attacks not on your target don't break it.

Since the ranged attack system knows how to autotarget, the game should be able to figure out which enemy you are "targetting" each turn. It ought to work in the way you'd expect: if you make a directed or reactive attack at your "target" you gain a point towards concentration each consecutive turn.

[seraph]

yeah, hitting the thing behind your target is especially heinous.

[bron]

flanking - does it count as an attack for the purposes of concentration?

I admit I only quickly skimmed the source, so it's not 100% clear, but it appears (to me at least) that any attack that targets the same monster counts for the Concentration bonus. In particular, Flanking, Controlled Retreat, Zone of Control, and Riposte are all ok. And missing the (same) target does not break the bonus (whether shooting or swinging). Although, as debo said, if you "accidentally" hit something else with an arrow, that will break the bonus, as will e.g. Riposting or Zone of Control against a *different* enemy, whether you hit them or not.