Simple Q&A D&D 4e Thread II: Electric Boogaloo

[Gavran]

Qc630

Reliable isn't fighter specific, is it? Though it does fit the criteria. Not looking for anything specific, rather I always forget about the two I called out and wanted to be sure there wasn't another I'm forgetting.

[tcrudisi]

Qc630

Reliable isn't fighter specific, is it? Though it does fit the criteria. Not looking for anything specific, rather I always forget about the two I called out and wanted to be sure there wasn't another I'm forgetting.

Reliable is not Fighter specific. Just remember that element keywords also need to be called out (cold, necrotic, poison, etc).

[Newoblivion]

Q631

Is there a way to gain damage reduction from plate armor in a mundane way? feat or masterwork item?

I was looking at the builder and I can't find anything.

I think I saw something in the Runepriest handbook. But, it seems that most of the handbooks are gone now, sense WoTC changed their site.

The point was that the a Wrathful runepriest should find a way to get DR to mitigate the fact that he needs to receive damage in order to do extra damage. But I can't seem to find a way to do it

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Q631

Is there a way to gain damage reduction from plate armor in a mundane way? feat or masterwork item?

A631

Three of the masterwork plate armors in the Adventurer's Vault give increasing amounts of resist all.

Grey Wolf

[Joval]

Q362

Cleric Power Angelic Witness. How do you determine how many angels you get?

[Ashdate]

Q362

Cleric Power Angelic Witness. How do you determine how many angels you get?

A362: Assuming you meant Angelic Witnesses, It says right in the power (although it does read poorly).

You get one angel naturally. For each time you used a Healing Word or Channel Divinity power since the start of your previous turn, you get an additional angel.

[Jigürd]

Q363

Do feats like Sorcerous Power or class features like the Hexblade's Pact Reward count as ability modifiers for the purposes of the White Lotus Riposte feat?

[Kurald Galain]

A363 No. Note that WLR states modifier, singular, not modifiers.

[Tegu8788]

Q 364

Can a Skald's Aura have two daily effects going on simultaneously?

[Badgerish]

A364

Until the end of the encounter, your skald’s aura gains the following effect:

Until the end of the encounter or until you use another bard at-will attack power, your skald’s aura gains the following effect

Don't see why not. At-wills have clear language about when they end, but (normal) dailys don't.
edit: and considering how all the dailys I checked where one-off boosts, it seems balanced but focused on the nova.

[Echobeats]

Q365

Are the properties of marks all completely class-specific, or are there properties which all classes' marks share? If the latter, what are they? If the former, does one classes' mark displace another?

E.g. A Battlemind marks an enemy. Does the enemy take a penalty to attacks that don't include the Battlemind? Is the Battlemind's mark displaced if a Fighter marks the same enemy?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Q365

Are the properties of marks all completely class-specific, or are there properties which all classes' marks share? If the latter, what are they? If the former, does one classes' mark displace another?

E.g. A Battlemind marks an enemy. Does the enemy take a penalty to attacks that don't include the Battlemind? Is the Battlemind's mark displaced if a Fighter marks the same enemy?

Mark is a status effect, like blind or prone, with the property "a marked creature that does not target the creature that marked it has -2 to hit". Others may be targeted as well, but the maker needs to be targeted, or the penalty is applied.

Some defenders have riders on their marks, but that is a class-specific thing. A mark, regardless of who applies it, does at least the above. And yes, marks overwrite each other - only the last mark counts.

Grey Wolf

[Dimers]

A 365

A mark always applies a -2 penalty when the target makes an attack that doesn't include you. There are many abilities that apply marks that ALSO have other effects, and there are class features that trigger off a creature you have marked doing something naughty (in short), but there are also just featureless marks with no other effect. For example, someone using the PHB1 fighter multiclass feat can impose a mark once per combat, but they don't get the fighter Combat Challenge effect to go along with it -- that mark has no effect other than the limited attack penalty.

Unless the marking ability specifically says otherwise, a later-placed mark always overrides an earlier mark.

EDIT: **** it, I was so glad that there was no class called "ninja" in 4e, and now I need a word for it. Fine ... Cunning-Sneak-rogue-MCed-to-monk-for-Ghostwalker-PP'd.

[Echobeats]

Q365

Thanks guys. The query arose because I couldn't find anything about a -2 penalty in the description of the Battlemind's mark in PHB3. I now see it is there in the list of status effects.

[Echobeats]

Q366

The description for the Wall of Thorns power states "Entering a wall square costs 3 extra squares of movement. If a creature enters the wall’s space or starts its turn there, that creature takes 1d10 + your Wisdom modifier damage and ongoing 5 damage (save ends)".

Given that forced movement ignores difficult terrain, can I push/slide an enemy into the wall with a 1 or 2 square forced movement power? The term "difficult terrain" isn't used, but it's clearly a very similar concept, and we have been describing it as "super-difficult terrain".

If I can't get the enemy inside the wall, can I at least deal them damage by pushing them up against it?

Thanks all.

[Ashdate]

Q366

The description for the Wall of Thorns power states "Entering a wall square costs 3 extra squares of movement. If a creature enters the wall’s space or starts its turn there, that creature takes 1d10 + your Wisdom modifier damage and ongoing 5 damage (save ends)".

Given that forced movement ignores difficult terrain, can I push/slide an enemy into the wall with a 1 or 2 square forced movement power? The term "difficult terrain" isn't used, but it's clearly a very similar concept, and we have been describing it as "super-difficult terrain".

If I can't get the enemy inside the wall, can I at least deal them damage by pushing them up against it?

Thanks all.

A366: As near as RAW as I can read, what Wall of Thorns is, is not "difficult terrain", but "hindering terrain" (Rules Comp p 207) as it deals damage to creatures that enter it. Forced movement ignores a targets speed (which is the movement penalty that the power is referring to), so you can absolutely push a creature into the terrain, but they get a saving throw. If they succeed, they fall prone outside of the hindering terrain. If they fail, then you get to deal the Wall of Thorns damage.

That said I think such powers are more fun without allowing the saving throw, but that's your DMs call.

[Kurald Galain]

A366

The power doesn't specify that it's difficult terrain, therefore it's not, and pushing/sliding into it will cost extra movement.

A366: As near as RAW as I can read, what Wall of Thorns is, is not "difficult terrain", but "hindering terrain"

This is incorrect. Powers are not "terrain" unless they explicitly spell out that they are terrain, which this one does not. The term "terrain" refers to features drawn on the map, not to powers, with some exceptions such as Icy Terrain. In general, pushing an enemy into a wall or zone created by a power does not give a saving throw.

[Ashdate]

This is incorrect. Powers are not "terrain" unless they explicitly spell out that they are terrain, which this one does not. The term "terrain" refers to features drawn on the map, not to powers, with some exceptions such as Icy Terrain. In general, pushing an enemy into a wall or zone created by a power does not give a saving throw.

I will retract my previous statement. While I think there is a RAW argument for suggesting that a power like Wall of Thorns creates "hindering terrain", Wizard's Customer Service has apparently answered this question differently (in a way that agrees with Kurald's ruling), and - while not RAW - is both official and plays better.

[Kurald Galain]

Q367: What Themes, other than Scholar and Elemental Initiate, give a character training in the Nature skill?

[tcrudisi]

Q367: What Themes, other than Scholar and Elemental Initiate, give a character training in the Nature skill?

None. I used my offline character builder and went through every theme and only Scholar and Elemental Initiative give training in Nature.

[Echobeats]

Q366

Wizard's Customer Service has apparently answered this question differently (in a way that agrees with Kurald's ruling), and - while not RAW - is both official and plays better.

Are you referring to this?

Are zones that deal damage (like the Wizard power Stinking Cloud) considered ‘hindering terrain’? Can I make a save to fall prone and avoid being forced into one?
No, zones are not considered hindering terrain. Hindering terrain refers to more permanent features like pits, cliffs or pools of lava.

I'm sure that's correct, but is a magical wall a "zone"? I think it's physical, and therefore more similar to hindering terrain (while not actually being such).

[tcrudisi]

Q366



Are you referring to this?



I'm sure that's correct, but is a magical wall a "zone"? I think it's physical, and therefore more similar to hindering terrain (while not actually being such).

Ignore customer service. They are not a rules source.

Does the spell say that it creates hindering terrain? If so, then it's hindering terrain. If not, then it's not hindering terrain. Ditto for difficult terrain. Nothing more, nothing less.

In the case of the spell that was mentioned earlier, it did not say that it created difficult terrain. It said that it cost extra movement to move through. As such, you spend extra points of forced movement to move them into/through it. It doesn't say it's hindering terrain, so the creature doesn't get a saving throw to pass through it.

[Kurald Galain]

I'm sure that's correct, but is a magical wall a "zone"?

No. A spell is a wall if the description says it's a wall (e.g. Storm Cage) and a spell is a zone if the description says it's a zone (e.g. Grasping Shadows). A spell could theoretically say it's both a wall and a zone, but normally a wall is not a zone. Likewise, a wall is physical if the power description says so (e.g. Wall of Ice).

"The fluff sounds similar to..." is not RAW.

And also,

Does the spell say that it creates hindering terrain? If so, then it's hindering terrain. If not, then it's not hindering terrain. Ditto for difficult terrain. Nothing more, nothing less.

[GregoryTheBard]

Q367
Does the Comprehend Languages ritual/spell work retroactively? If a player hears a language and uses the ritual to understand that language later, do they realize what they had initially heard?

[Dimers]

A 367

No, there's nothing in the ritual description to indicate it would work retroactively. It'd be awkward to try playing as if it does, too -- can you imagine walking around a town for six hours listening to people babble in a foreign tongue, invoking this ritual, and suddenly being aware of everything you just missed out on?

The reference to "in the last 24 hours" is just a way of saying that you don't need to hear someone talking in the language for the whole ten-minute casting time.

[Echobeats]

On the other hand, if you have a high enough intelligence to remember an unintelligible string of speech sounds for a few hours, you could always repeat them back to yourself (even in your head) after casting. I would make that an Int check, say DC = 10 + number of hours passed + number of syllables.

[Dimers]

I thought of that too, but I don't think it should work. Comprehend Language has to read the intent of the speaker/writer -- otherwise there could be many simultaneous 'translations' for each arrangement of letters or syllables, since a given sound or word has different meanings in multiple languages. Someone copying sounds or letters they saw earlier doesn't have the original linguistic intent.

In any case, that's not RAW, and if further discussion of the mechanics is desired it should probably get its own thread.

[Echobeats]

I thought of that too, but I don't think it should work. Comprehend Language has to read the intent of the speaker/writer -- otherwise there could be many simultaneous 'translations' for each arrangement of letters or syllables, since a given sound or word has different meanings in multiple languages. Someone copying sounds or letters they saw earlier doesn't have the original linguistic intent.

In any case, that's not RAW, and if further discussion of the mechanics is desired it should probably get its own thread.

I was considering carrying this on, but I agree this thread isn't the place. If you're sufficiently interested to start a new thread, I'll join you there.

[Vince]

Q368
I feel slightly ridiculous asking this when surrounded by seasoned players, but as someone who's literally just taken the shrinkwrap off a 4e box having never played an RPG before (I got into the idea of trying D&D via the Posehn/Harmon route), what are the absolute basic requirements for not being the worst DM ever? Having convinced 4 friends (two guys, two girls, all fellow newcomers) that a Sunday evening D&D session will be fun, I want to make sure that I avoid any basic errors and keep things flowing. I know this may seem like an incredibly broad question, but just some basic pointers would be fantastic.

[NecroRebel]

A 368

This isn't really a RAW question, and isn't a simple one, either. It deserves its own thread. I'd recommend putting it in the Roleplaying Games general forum rather than the 4e-specific forum, as "how to be a good DM" is universal.