Remebering blast vs burst

lukelightning

First Post

• Aug 10, 2009

• #1

I'm always forgetting which area is blast and which is burst. Really, the designers should have tried to think of words which were not so similar and not so interchangeable.

So I've thought of a mnemonic device:

Burst is uround a space, while blast is at a direction.

 

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R

Rothe_

First Post

• Aug 10, 2009

• #2

Grenades burst. Shotguns blast.

There you go.

 

Thanee

First Post

• Aug 10, 2009

• #3

Yeah, it's totally counter-intuitive. If you burst-out laughing, while drinking water, you spray an area more like a blast, for example.



Seriously, though, I don't really have any problem with those terms. Burst totally creates the image of an all-around explosion, while blast creates the image of a directed discharge.

Bye
Thanee

 

Obryn

Hero

• Aug 10, 2009

• #4

When I think Bursts, I think watermelons falling from a great height and bursting open. Cheesy and way too Gallagher-esque, but there you go.

-O

 

lukelightning

First Post

• Aug 10, 2009

• #5

Another minor problem is with describing actions... when I say "the evil wizard blasts you with necrotic energy" I may or may not literally mean a blast.

I have similar confusion sometimes with the word "charge"; I will say "the orc charges in and cleaves you" when I'm just describing "running in and attacking" as opposed to the charge action.

 

weem

First Post

• Aug 10, 2009

• #6

lukelightning said:

I have similar confusion sometimes with the word "charge"; I will say "the orc charges in and cleaves you" when I'm just describing "running in and attacking" as opposed to the charge action.

Click to expand...

Ugh, yes!

Me as DM...

[Player moves up to attack]
ME: "Ok, you charge forward and attack"
PC: "No, I don't charge, I just move up"
ME: "Well, yea, I was just describing it"

What makes it more frustrating is that when he DM's he then uses "charge" as a descriptive term for PC movement as well, hehe.

But yea, back to the point...

What I end up saying (for better or worse) is "Blast forward, Burst out" /shrug - some people have a harder time than others though and maybe it's the number of games we have played (I run one campaign and play in 3 others) but we have it down no problem.

 

Nifft

Penguin Herder

• Aug 10, 2009

• #7

lukelightning said:

Another minor problem is with describing actions... when I say "the evil wizard blasts you with necrotic energy" I may or may not literally mean a blast.

Click to expand...

Yeah, and "the evil wizard bursts you with necrotic energy" means something totally different, so it's not like you can just use the other term.

lukelightning said:

I have similar confusion sometimes with the word "charge"; I will say "the orc charges in and cleaves you" when I'm just describing "running in and attacking" as opposed to the charge action.

Click to expand...

We've been known to say things like: "I walk up to the orc and stab him in the face."

Cheers, -- N

 

lukelightning

First Post

• Aug 10, 2009

• #8

This makes me think of the Order of the Stick strip about "going up a level".

Player: I charge the orc and expend a charge from my charged sword of charging!

DM: How could you afford that item?

Player: Easy! I charged it!

 

J

JoeNotCharles

First Post

• Aug 10, 2009

• #9

I just remember that a blast is like a Horn of Blasting, and a burst is the other one.

 

A

abyssaldeath

First Post

• Aug 10, 2009

• #10

Burst like a bubble, blast like a shot gun.