Too much cleavage on show

[Pleiades]

Bear with me From Dictionary.com:

cleave   [kleev] Show IPA verb, cleft or cleaved or clove, cleft or cleaved or clo·ven, cleav·ing.

verb (used with object)

1.to split or divide by or as if by a cutting blow, especially along a natural line of division, as the grain of wood.

2.to make by or as if by cutting: to cleave a path through the wilderness.

3.to penetrate or pass through (air, water, etc.): The bow of the boat cleaved the water cleanly.

4.to cut off; sever: to cleave a branch from a tree.

verb (used without object)

5.to part or split, especially along a natural line of division.

6.to penetrate or advance by or as if by cutting (usually followed by through )

 

Now I think definitions 3 and 6 are closest to Avernum's usage of the term, but I still don't get how people to the side of someone get 'cleaved', especially by arrows (bounced off armour I suppose)?

 

My poor mage got constantly cleaved in one quest, everytime I moved her she just got next to some other character due to the lack of space and got sliced, poor thing heheh

[Skwish-E]

What happens is the blade or arrow passes completely through (cleaves) the original target and then hits the other person.

[Pleiades]

Originally Posted By: Skwish-E

What happens is the blade or arrow passes completely through (cleaves) the original target and then hits the other person.

But off to one side? More like a deflection tbh; I get more of those than the 'passing thru' type...

[Randomizer]

I can't prove it, but there seems to be a greater chance that the cleave will hit an adjacent target if the primary target is easier to hit. I switched a high dexterity character to the position where he would be the primary and my damage dropped.

[Lilith]

The use of the term in that sense comes from D&D, where Cleave is a feat that lets you attack a second enemy adjacent to the one you attacked if your hit defeats the first enemy.

 

Originally Posted By: Randomizer

I can't prove it, but there seems to be a greater chance that the cleave will hit an adjacent target if the primary target is easier to hit. I switched a high dexterity character to the position where he would be the primary and my damage dropped.

 

Nope. In A:EftP, cleaving is a flat chance that can happen whether you hit or miss with the original attack.

[Aoslare]

Does cleaving automatically hit, if it happens, or is there a to-hit roll for it?

[Randomizer]

There is a to hit roll at a lower percentage. However given two adjacent characters one with a high dexterity and the other a low dexterity. The chance of the second character getting hit seemed to be related to whether the first was hit.

[Lilith]

There's no to-hit roll. It doesn't happen on every attack, but if it does happen, a cleave can never miss. The chance to cleave is a flat percentage that doesn't take the user or enemy's stats into account in any way.

[Aoslare]

Lilith is right. Cleaves don't miss and the success roll is just the cleave chance, which shows in the item info window and also in the defs file. I've used the same mechanic on other effects in the remix.

[Lilith]

Wait, if you knew the answer why did you -- oh, I see, your question was about how it works in D&D. Here's the rules text for it in 3rd edition:

 

Quote:

If you deal a creature enough damage to make it drop (typically by dropping it to below 0 hit points or killing it), you get an immediate, extra melee attack against another creature within reach. You cannot take a 5-foot step before making this extra attack. The extra attack is with the same weapon and at the same bonus as the attack that dropped the previous creature. You can use this ability once per round.

[Aoslare]

Actually my question was as you interpreted it, and then after you and Randomizer gave contradictory answers, I ran a quick test and looked at the defs for it.

[Lilith]

for future reference i'm always right