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Has there been any clarification on the limitations and abilities of Flaming Sphere?
For instance, does it count as a combatant for flanking purposes? Can you do OA's with it? Is it an impassable object? Do enemies take damage if moving through it's square?
Has there been any clarification on the limitations and abilities of Flaming Sphere?
For instance, does it count as a combatant for flanking purposes? Can you do OA's with it? Is it an impassable object? Do enemies take damage if moving through it's square?
These are purely my rulings in my own game and in no way officious...er...official.
No
No
No
Yes, as do allies
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Has there been any clarification on the limitations and abilities of Flaming Sphere?
For instance, does it count as a combatant for flanking purposes? Can you do OA's with it? Is it an impassable object? Do enemies take damage if moving through it's square?
Per the errata (i think), you can't flank with it, you can't OA with it, it is passable by allies and enemies alike, and no one takes damage moving through it. Damage is dealt specifically as the spell outlines and no other way.
Per the errata (i think), you can't flank with it, you can't OA with it, it is passable by allies and enemies alike, and no one takes damage moving through it. Damage is dealt specifically as the spell outlines and no other way.
I can't find that in the errata. Is there some other source?
Even if you just run flaming sphere without allowing flanking, OA and such like it is still a hugely powerful spell. Allowing those additional things would make a powerful spell much more powerful.
It makes sense to follow the general rule (for all powers and monster abilities) that a spell does what it says it does and no more.
I wouldn't expect Errata to increase its power still further.
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Conjurations do not flank or OA unless they say so - this is actually true of all powers, but a conjuration being a pseudo creature _seems_ to confuse the issue, but it's quite clear when you look at the conjurations that specifically do give OAs or flank, etc.
I think you can't actually move through a flaming sphere at all, since it counts as a Medium creature in an unoccupied space, but I'll concede some confusion due to the errata changing how conjurations fill an area.
The errata says it occupies a square so I'd rule you cannot move through it (being neither an ally or an enemy). The other stuff such as flanking, OAs etc are mentioned nowhere in the spell and thus it cannot do those things.
The errata says it occupies a square so I'd rule you cannot move through it (being neither an ally or an enemy). The other stuff such as flanking, OAs etc are mentioned nowhere in the spell and thus it cannot do those things.
I'd let an ally move through it but the sphere gets a free attack. It's only fair. Completely a house rule though.
I'd let an ally move through it but the sphere gets a free attack. It's only fair. Completely a house rule though.
You could, or you could see it as a low burning ember that occasionally pulses blasts of fire. There are ways to come up with believable flavor to keep powers in line with the RAW.
I would caution against adding to a power simply based on perceived flavor. That's both a benefit and a drawback of the "less is more" power flavor. On one hand it's nice to have some freedom to interpret a power in different ways, on the other hand you sometimes have to perform some mental gymnastics that not everyone may agree on.
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So when a wizard moves the flaming sphere around the battlefield, he can move it over people and damage everyone in its path?
Actually, that's a really good question ...
I realize that the spell power description does not allow for this, but still, how does it move over a battlefield? Are you forced to route around people, or can you pass over/through them?
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The sphere occupies a square. I wouldn't call it a creature and thus it is not an ally or enemy. It cannot be moved THROUGH other people because people cannot occupy the same space as objects (unless they have phasing).
Say that there is a Flaming Sphere in square 3A. In 2A is a monster, and 1A holds a sword and board Fighter. On the Fighter's turn, he Tide of Iron's the monster into square 3A. How would you handle this?
For our DM, he had the sphere grant a free attack while the monster rolled out of the square and into a square adjacent to the sphere. What ended up happening is that the Wizard would cast it when it was the proper time. I would run up and Tide of Iron it into the sphere, and the sphere ended up hitting about 70% of the time on the free attack.
I know there are rules on how to treat hazardous squares. Could you treat the square that the Flaming Sphere occupies as a hazardous square, and therefore keep it bound by those same rules?
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