D&D 4th Edition RulesAsk questions about 4th-Edition rules and the like in here. General discussion about 4E or any other game belongs in General RPG Discussion, above.
It's an at-will that can be used a (very) limited number of times per day. Why isn't it a Daily with multiple uses (like how Inspiring Word is an encounter that can be used twice)?
I mean, seriously. An at-will?
__________________ "Inanimate objects, do you have a soul
That ties to our soul and the force to love?"
I'd say it's a purely semantic distinction, but the more I consider it, the more I see that it's not. At-wills have an exclusive status, being frequently modified by feats or, at times, enemy abilities. For instance, with the Dominate condition, an enemy can force you to use an at-will. The intent here is obviously, in part, that you cannot be forced to lost/expend limited resources (excepting actions) when Dominated; since Lay on Hands is technically ann at-will power, you can be made to exhaust its uses.
I feel it'd be a very dickish DM move, and certainly not one I'd use myself, but it's rules-legal.
I always assumed it was just a screw up on wizards part. None of the other heals are at-wills and it doesn't actually function like one to begin with... so... /shrug.
Though the evil DM card being played definitely could be fun too. heh.
__________________ Currently taking bets on when 4.5 (a.k.a.: Now that we've actually play-tested...) will come out. :P
I think it simply meant that you could use all your lay on hand charges in one fight. If it had been an encounter or a daily, additional text would have been required to ensure this.
I think it simply meant that you could use all your lay on hand charges in one fight. If it had been an encounter or a daily, additional text would have been required to ensure this.
But... there was additional text anyway. There's no limit to how many dailies can be used in an encounter, so there wouldn't need to be any text beyond what they put in the at-will description.
__________________ "Inanimate objects, do you have a soul
That ties to our soul and the force to love?"
I think the point is exactly that the paladin is able to use lay on hands as many times as he has healing surges. But the number of surges he has is not a constant, so you can't really peg it down to a definitive number. So it seems more intuitive to simply make it an at-will, meaning you can use it as often as you wish, provided you have the resources to burn, of course.
You can't really compare it with healing word. I doubt they were meant to be similar. Healing word is situationally more useful, so I think the designers wanted to limit how often it could be used at any one time.
There is a lot of evidence that the powers in the player's handbook aren't all written with the same underlying methodology. For example, commander's strike vs every other power that does what it does.
Rage strike, the barbarian power, also started it's life as an at will, but was changed to a daily in the final version. Honestly, I'd like an undated PHB 1. Not DnD 4.5, just Player's Handbook 1 revised. The sort of modular way that 4e is being built now would allow you to just change the PHB classes while leaving the rest of the classes intact with little effect.
__________________ I will build a throne with the skulls of my foemen.
A lot of the class features are weird with the encounter/at-will etc subgroupings. I'm not sure what they should be called, but with magical items and the like, I would tend to think encounters are best, as dominate is too bad for at-wills and there are several ways to get Dailies back.
Though to be fair, a paladin's wis mod is likely to be much lower than the number of surges he has at any one time (except maybe towards the end of the adventuring day, assuming he hasn't expended that many uses of lay on hands).
Kinda interesting - an at-will that is limited by your wis mod or amount of healing surges, whichever is lower.
Nobody's saying it should be an Encounter. It's a power that can be used a certain number of times per day. Thus, it should be a daily with more than one use.
__________________ "Inanimate objects, do you have a soul
That ties to our soul and the force to love?"
that's my point. When dealing with powers that can be used not at will, not once per encounter, and not once per day, using the distinctions is for no reason except continuity. This is a useless thread imo.
that's my point. When dealing with powers that can be used not at will, not once per encounter, and not once per day, using the distinctions is for no reason except continuity. This is a useless thread imo.
Then why are you posting in a useless thread?
__________________ "Inanimate objects, do you have a soul
That ties to our soul and the force to love?"
Look, I came here because I noticed an inconsitency in the Player's Handbook. (You can't argue that there are plenty of them.) And instead of being helpful, or in any way whatsoever constructive, you've wasted both your own time and mine in order to "convince people it's a useless topic". If you disagree, simply say so and let that be the end of it. Are you trying to be malicious, or do you honestly have nothing better to do?
__________________ "Inanimate objects, do you have a soul
That ties to our soul and the force to love?"
Keep on the Shadowfell Character Errata Thread
Linear Mode
And yet another word from our sponsors
