Flaming Sphere Sustain Question

[cjais]

So, the Flaming Sphere entry says "Sustain Minor: You can sustain this power until the end of the encounter".

Does this mean that by using one minor action, the sphere sticks around until the end of the encounter? Or that the wizard continually has to spend minor actions each round for it to persist? I'd presume it's the last one, but the wording is different enough from the numerous other "Sustain minor: the wall/zone persists" that I'm starting to doubt myself.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Sustained Durations: An effect that has a "sustain standard," a "sustain move," or a "sustain minor" duration lasts as long as you sustain it. Starting on the turn after you create an effect, you sustain the effect by taking the indicated action: a standard action, a move action, or a minor action. (You can sustain an effect once per turn.) Some effects do something, such as attack, when you sustain them. A power's description indicates what happens when you sustain it or let it lapse. At the end of your turn, if you haven't spent the required action to sustain the effect, the effect ends.

-Hyp.

 

[cjais]

Thanks!

However, if they went to the trouble of writing "you can sustain it until the end of the encounter" in order to prevent abuse by having the sphere stick around a whole day, does this mean that other sustainable powers are in fact allowed to do just this? I mean, could a player sustain a stinking cloud for half a day, if he were so inclined?

 

[Hypersmurf]

"Unless a description says otherwise, you can sustain a power with a sustained duration for as long as 5 minutes. However, you can’t rest while sustaining a power, so you can’t regain the use of your encounter powers or second wind until you stop sustaining a power."

Both quotes are from PHB p278.

-Hyp.

 

[cjais]

"Unless a description says otherwise, you can sustain a power with a sustained duration for as long as 5 minutes. However, you can’t rest while sustaining a power, so you can’t regain the use of your encounter powers or second wind until you stop sustaining a power."

Both quotes are from PHB p278.

-Hyp.

D'oh, now I feel really stupid. I'll check the rules properly next time, yeah.

 

[Bumamgar]

Of course, that still doesn't explain why they felt the need to add the "until the end of the encounter" clarification to Flaming Sphere, since I believe the definition of the "end of the encounter" is when the party takes a short rest. I know of no powers that can't be sustained till the end of the encounter.

Oh well, they probably wrote Flaming Sphere before they wrote the rules regarding sustaining. Maybe an earlier version of the rules had powers that could only be sustained for part of an encounter or something like that.

 

[twilsemail]

I've been in games where "End of the encounter" and "Take a short rest" did not go hand in hand(technically all games are like that, but these were games where it was a bit more obvious). It required a different kind of resource allocation.

The best example I've got is a chase where we were trying to rescue an NPC. If we'd taken 5 minutes to rest between each ambush and the next, we'd have certainly lost sight of our quarry. It took a lot of careful consideration of what we were using and when.

Eventually we rescued the NPC, and were all hurting pretty badly. Encounters can range from climbing up a cliff to battling a group of foes to Negotiating with a Duke and his vizier (PHB p. 258). The beginnings and end of an encounter aren't dictated by when the party rests.

 

[Hypersmurf]

I've been in games where "End of the encounter" and "Take a short rest" did not go hand in hand(technically all games are like that, but these were games where it was a bit more obvious). It required a different kind of resource allocation.

The beginnings and end of an encounter aren't dictated by when the party rests.

Actually... p278 again:

DURATIONS
Conditional Durations: These effects last until a specified event occurs.
Until the End of the Encounter: The effect ends when you take a rest (short or extended) or after 5 minutes.

The effect does not end when the last monster drops; the effect ends when you take a rest after the last monster drops. Or when five minutes is up.

-Hyp.

 

[Bumamgar]

I've been in games where "End of the encounter" and "Take a short rest" did not go hand in hand(technically all games are like that, but these were games where it was a bit more obvious). It required a different kind of resource allocation.

The best example I've got is a chase where we were trying to rescue an NPC. If we'd taken 5 minutes to rest between each ambush and the next, we'd have certainly lost sight of our quarry. It took a lot of careful consideration of what we were using and when. The beginnings and end of an encounter aren't dictated by when the party rests.

Actually, what you are describing is one encounter (the chase), with multiple 'waves' (the ambushes). Since you didn't take a short rest in between each ambush, then if you used a 'lasts till the end of the encounter' power during the first ambush, it should have still been in effect for subsequent ambushes, only ending once five minutes had passed since you used the power, or when the party stopped to rest.

The beginnings and end of an encounter are most definitely dictated by when the party rests (or 5 minutes, whichever comes first).

 

[Mistwell]

D'oh, now I feel really stupid. I'll check the rules properly next time, yeah.

Don't feel stupid. Hypersmurf just has epic ranks in Knowledge: D&D Rules.