Warlock Hellish Rebuke

[burntgerbil]

To paraphrase the 1st lvl at will power - after using it, when you take damage before the end of your next turn, the target takes an extra amount of damage.

Does this remember targets ? Is one target possible only ? The power says nothing about this. Consider this scenario -

Badguys A, B & C are all adjacent

1st round I use my Hellish Rebuke on bad guy A

2nd round I use Hellish rebuke on Badguy B
Then Use an action point to Hellish Rebuke Badguy C
Then move through their threatened squares, provoking AO's

if the first one hits, all three would take damage, correct ?
Repeat this two more time as the second and third AO's and presumably hit - right ?

I feel this is within the rules but without playing yet, I don't know.

I also imagine a fiery-eyed warlock throwing caution to the wind, running through a crowd of foes cackling, as they detonate in plumes of eldritch fire.

Someone let me know if this does not work.

 

[livinginarizona]

From what I understand about hellish rebuke (without books at this point) the minute you receive damage, anyone that has this curse receives d6 worth of damage JUST ONCE and it's just that particular round ....so if all three hit you or just one of the Ao's hits all three receive the damage.

 

[Rystil Arden]

It's an if, not a whenever. So yeah, it'll hit all three once in the above scenario, even if the Warlock takes many hits. However, if a Kobold Warlock blasts an enemy with Hellish Rebuke, then on the next round she uses Hellish Rebuke on the same dude (provoking an OA since it is ranged and triggering the first Rebuke if it hits) then shifts away as a Minor Action to stand next to another guy, then uses an action point to use another Hellish Rebuke (provoking an OA since it is ranged and triggering the second Rebuke if it hits) then moves around to provoke another OA that hits, she can do 5d6+5Con to that same enemy in the second round (and 1d6+Con in the first round when she casts the first Rebuke).

But is it worth it to eat so many OAs? Probably not.

 

[burntgerbil]

Arizona : It's not the same as the warlock's curse. This is the at will attack for infernal pact warlocks. It is worded as follows : (damage omitted)

Hit: X + mod fire damage. If you take damage before the end of your next turn, The target takes an extra X + mod amount of damage.

By this, my team mates could throw rocks at me and watch my previous targets repeatedly combust .

 

[Rystil Arden]

Arizona : It's not the same as the warlock's curse. This is the at will attack for infernal pact warlocks. It is worded as follows : (damage omitted)

Hit: X + mod fire damage. If you take damage before the end of your next turn, The target takes an extra X + mod amount of damage.

By this, my team mates could throw rocks at me and watch my previous targets repeatedly combust .

If. Not when, but if. It's a one-time only thing (per casting).

 

[Incendax]

It's pretty easy to get a chain of damage going with hellish Rebuke.
Round 1: Minor Curse, Standard Rebuke.
Round 2: Standard Rebuke, Minor Stab Yourself for 1 Damage.
Round 3: Minor Curse, Standard Rebuke.
Round 4: Standard Rebuke, Minor Stab Yourself for 1 Damage.

It is necessary to restart the chain after the second round, because you've already triggered the Rebuke from Round 2 once, and it won't double trigger again if you stab yourself on Round 3.

 

[burntgerbil]

Rystil - I see what you are going for, but the PHB seems to not make a clear enough distinction on precise wording of powers. As I see it, whether the power says if or when has no bearing on the limit of times it may be activated.

Many people will see an effect with a duration "until the end of your next turn" and to them - until that time - each time that condition is met, that effect will trigger.

I feel the CharOps guys could further abuse this - through other powers or even targeting yourself when you have fire resistance in addition to an enemy being targeted to "go nova".

I am just trying to ensure that the intentions for this power are as they are read - a first level at will being potentially abusable could be troublesome.

 

[FadedC]

It's pretty easy to get a chain of damage going with hellish Rebuke.
Round 1: Minor Curse, Standard Rebuke.
Round 2: Standard Rebuke, Minor Stab Yourself for 1 Damage.
Round 3: Minor Curse, Standard Rebuke.
Round 4: Standard Rebuke, Minor Stab Yourself for 1 Damage.

It is necessary to restart the chain after the second round, because you've already triggered the Rebuke from Round 2 once, and it won't double trigger again if you stab yourself on Round 3.

That could work, though as a DM I'd probably rule you aren't guaranteed to only take 1 damage. I'd probably use the blood mage ability that causes a minor injury to himself as a model (1d10 damage).

 

[burntgerbil]

you could circumvent that by having your weakest teammates punch you in the face to see your kobold and gobbo targets explode !

 

[Rystil Arden]

Rystil - I see what you are going for, but the PHB seems to not make a clear enough distinction on precise wording of powers. As I see it, whether the power says if or when has no bearing on the limit of times it may be activated.

Many people will see an effect with a duration "until the end of your next turn" and to them - until that time - each time that condition is met, that effect will trigger.

I feel the CharOps guys could further abuse this - through other powers or even targeting yourself when you have fire resistance in addition to an enemy being targeted to "go nova".

I am just trying to ensure that the intentions for this power are as they are read - a first level at will being potentially abusable could be troublesome.

It's quite clear. It doesn't say it applies the damage whenever you get hit. It says that if you get hit in that time frame, then they take some extra damage. If you don't take damage before the end of your next turn, then they don't take the extra damage.