Stun

[Akarashi]

What does it do?

 

[oakbriar]

You grant combat advantage, can't take actions, and don't count for the purpose of flanking.

 

[Droogie128]

You're basically a statue for the duration

 

[Amaroq]

1. You can't take opportunity actions, etc, when its not your turn.

2. When it is your turn, you do nothing except make that crucial saving throw, and hope for a 10.



Seriously, its a very powerful power; if you're a DM, you want to steer clear of monsters with it because it really sucks for the player inflicted with the Stun condition, especially if they fail their saving throw ... unless there are several "grant a saving throw" powers in the party, in which case a "save ends" Stun can add an interesting sub-goal to the combat - "Get Fred un-Stunned before he loses a turn!"

 

[1of3]

Seriously, its a very powerful power; if you're a DM, you want to steer clear of monsters with it because it really sucks for the player inflicted with the Stun condition, especially if they fail their saving throw ...

I'm going to cry.

 

[MrMyth]

For quite a while, I was avoiding the use of stun on my monsters, since I don't like to completely remove my player's actions. Finally, in a recent fight, I had a boss with one awesome daily power that inflicted Stun (Save Ends) on one target. I hit the party caster with it...

...who proceeded to fail 7 straight saving throws. (Both his natural ones, and every free save the group gave him.) Even with a +1 item bonus on all of them, and some extra bonuses on some of the other ones.

I would have felt worse if he hadn't previously been a Blood Mage who regularly dropped Destructive Salutation on everything in sight. But yeah, Stun should be handled with care.

More importantly, I realized that it is best used in fast-paced combats, where it doesn't take someone out of the fight for as long (in real time.) So it might be more useful with a Solo, where rounds go quickly - but in a fight with a dozen enemies, you probably want to avoid it.

 

[Starfox]

Stun plays quicker than daze. With daze, the player has to agonize on what to do with their lone action and on whether to play an action point or not. No such quandaries with Stun.

 

[yesnomu]

One houserule I've used is that you can spend an action point while stunned to essentially become dazed instead for the turn. In the Epic game I used it, where stun is not uncommon, it helped the players feel a bit more involved.

 

[Amaroq]

I'm going to cry.

Fair enough, fair enough:

I should have said "use with discretion" or "use sparingly", not "steer clear of".

I meant it more as a caution for a beginning DM than a "don't use it at all".

Still, I do prefer Dazed, Slowed, Weakened, and Dominated as means of reducing the party's strength while leaving the player with something to do.

 

[Skallgrim]

I don't know why people are upset about Stunned. It is a code-word, in our group, for "I'm getting another slice of pizza".