Line of Sight/Line of Effect and an Aegis

Obryn · May 12, 2010

More or less, I need to know if I unfairly screwed my players over last session.

We couldn't finish it up last session, so we're starting out halfway deep into the encounter, and I can change my ruling tonight.

Alright, so here's the setup. There's an encounter in P2 where a demonic oni has created a large cloud of poison gas which also - insanely - blocks Line of Sight for everyone except him. Not line of effect - just line of sight. Before the oni was in the cloud, the Swordmage marked him with his Aegis of Shielding.

So, with the swordmage safely outside the cloud, the oni is beating up on one of his party members inside the cloud and well out of line of sight.

The swordmage asked if he could use his aegis to reduce the damage. I didn't want to spend too much time thinking about it, and made a spot-ruling that he couldn't because he had no line of sight to the mayhem and therefore might not even know if the Oni is hurting one of his allies.

I'm not sure about this one, though, and might change tack tonight. I mean, he clearly still has line of effect. But how important is awareness of the trigger condition for use of these defender interrupts?

-O

Zaran · May 12, 2010

One thing, if the demon is marked then they are -2 to hit. Even if the swordmage can't see the demon their spell would still be hampering attacks. Would an invisible stalker that is marked by a swordmage be able to avoid the aegis of defense? If the answer is yes then I would give the swordmage a perception skill check to locate invisible foes . That way the swordmage can basically figure out that their buddy is about to be hit.

Obryn · May 12, 2010

Yeah, we're counting the -2. It's the interrupt that's the odd part, IMO...

-O

Mr. Teapot · May 12, 2010

You ruled wrong. The swordmage's Aegis is a close burst power, so it only needs line of effect (not line of sight) to work. (Check the Burst entry in the Compendium's Glossary or in the Keyword definitions in PHB2.)

Flavor-wise, the swordmage's aegis is a magical enchantment on the target, so it does not need to rely on the swordmage's mundane senses.

And in general I'd advise that you rule in the player's favor if you are uncertain about a rules question. When in doubt, say yes and then consult the rulebook (or Forums) later.

Obryn · May 12, 2010

Thanks for the rules citation - I appreciate it. But ...

Mr. Teapot said:
And in general I'd advise that you rule in the player's favor if you are uncertain about a rules question. When in doubt, say yes and then consult the rulebook (or Forums) later.

Wow, that's unnecessarily chiding.

-O

Drakhar · May 12, 2010

Aegis of Shielding simply needs line of effect it's the Assault swordmage who would have been less then pleased at that point as no line of sight means no teleporting.

Line of Sight/Line of Effect and an Aegis

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