Do enemies know they're marked?

[Gruns]

Hello.

First, the basic question(s): Do enemies know they are marked by fighters? And similarly, do they know what happens when they are marked?

I remember reading in some pre-4E playtest reports that enemies knew what would happen if the paladin Divine Challenged them, and they attacked someone else. There is also the text on the bottom right of PHB pg 57 that states "When you affect a creature with a power, that creature knows exactly what you've done to it and what conditions you've imposed." It even gives the example for Divine Challenge stating that it knows the consequences. What about fighters? Their marking isn't a power, it's just a class feature. Is there a specific rule in any book somewhere that explains what "Marked" means? I am thinking it just means the marked target takes a -2 to attack rolls on attacks that don't include the marker. I bring this up because some other classes can mark enemies, but it says nothing at all about what being marked means or does.

Thanks
Gruns

 

[IanB]

Marked is a condition defined in the list of conditions in the combat chapter of the Player's Handbook. I should think an enemy would be aware of what the marked condition imposes on it just like it would any other condition, like slowed or weakened, etc.

 

[silentounce]

Class Features: Class features are abilities shared by every member of the class. Some class features are powers that every member of a class can use, such as the warlock’s eldritch blast or the cleric’s Channel Divinity ability.

PHB pg 52, emphasis mine

 

[Gruns]

Umm...

aaa

Umm... I quoted that exact thing in my original post. I also pointed out that when Fighters mark someone, it isn't from a power...

Gruns

 

[Azza]

Like alot of the rules I cant see where it is spelled out but we are playing that yes they do know. It just makes more sense that knowing you are marked is universal to all abilities that mark a target. I can only see problems if the Dm has to pretend not to know when moving the enemies around. Obviously some creatures might be too dumb to care, especially vs opportunity attacks, but it is still better to assume they know.

It would also go against the 4e grain if the effect was used against a player and they didnt know."oh your not attacking the guy that tried to hit you, well he gets an attack on you because you were marked!" That sounds like punishing a player and I believe goes against this editions ethos.

 

[Gruns]

Thanks

Marked is a condition defined in the list of conditions in the combat chapter of the Player's Handbook. I should think an enemy would be aware of what the marked condition imposes on it just like it would any other condition, like slowed or weakened, etc.

Thanks! That at least officially explains what Marked is, though I had no doubt about what being marked was. Still good to see it somewhere listed in the book, as it's not in the glossary. I guess the Condition section only makes sense. (P.S.- Where does it say creatures/PCs know what conditions they have?)

But doesn't answer the question about whether they know the fighter will pummel them if they try to move...

Gruns

 

[Gruns]

Yes but...

Class Features: Class features are abilities shared by every member of the class. Some class features are powers that every member of a class can use, such as the warlock’s eldritch blast or the cleric’s Channel Divinity ability.

PHB pg 52, emphasis mine

Yes, SOME class features are powers, like the ones you mentioned, and like the Paladin's Divine Challenge, which leaves no doubt that creatures know what happens when they attack someone else when Marked by a paladin. But some are NOT powers; like the Fighter's Combat Challenge...

Gruns

 

[silentounce]

Umm... I quoted that exact thing in my original post. I also pointed out that when Fighters mark someone, it isn't from a power...

Gruns

Yeah, which is why what you quoted only says, "aaa". I fixed it. Or are you trying to say that you quoted "aaa" in your original post?

It appears you made a similar mistake to the one I did. I replied without paying attention to what I was replying to.

 

[Gruns]

Not quite.

Yeah, which is why what you quoted only says, "aaa". I fixed it. Or are you trying to say that you quoted "aaa" in your original post?

It appears you made a similar mistake to the one I did. I replied without paying attention to what I was replying to.

No, I paid attention. When I hit the Quote button, there was definitely text in there about pg 57 of the PHB. When it brought up the Quote blocks, I also saw the 'aaa' in there, I thought it odd, but figured it was some code that was going to include what you actually wrote.

Gruns

 

[theNater]

My reading: To mark the enemy, you have to attack it. So you have marked it with the power you used to attack it, so you have affected it with a power, so it knows exactly what you've done to it and what conditions you've imposed.