Adjudicating Immediate actions

[Nail]

It doesn't seem to me that there is any point in nerfing immediate spells by insisting that they can't go here or there. I see nothing wrong with allowing it to be cast after a fireball is cast but before it explodes, or after a scorching ray has rolled to hit but before damage is rolled. I wouldn't allow it to be cast after the damage has been rolled (because it literally is too late then), but at any time before that - why ever not?

It's hardly like its going to break the game.

Waves "What He Said" flag

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Two points on this:

1) I do not mind if certain IA spells or abiliites state they can interrupt resolution as part of their descriptions (typically because they do not make sense unless you do that). Resiliance is one of these. Within its description, it states that this occurs when she takes damage (i.e. during, not before or after). It is also ok for a DM to modify an IA spell or ability so that it does this because he has little or no utility otherwise. But, I do not think DMs should do this for every IA.

So now that we've clarified Energy Aegis?

2) Elans are broke due to their IA abilities. They do not even have a boost to LA. I played an Elan Psion for 9 levels. In that time, she fell unconscious once. Resiliance is an extremely potent ability.

That seems a bit irrelevent. The topic here is "when can IA abilities be used", not "are elans broken?" An answer to the second question provides us nothing toward the first.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Thanks for the correction.

But, the rest of what you say is not necessarily true.

When a spell caster casts a spell, opponents (if they can see/hear components) can make a Spellcraft roll (DC 15 + spell level) to determine which spell is cast.

This makes Energy Aegis nearly as useful as if you allowed it after the spell is cast.

I'm the wizard in a standard 4-member party. The BBEG casts scorching ray, and I make my spellcraft roll. I have a 25% chance of choosing the correct party member to protect with my 3rd level spell. I don't see where you get "nearly as useful" from. 25% compared to 100% is a pretty big nerf.

The main difference is that a successful Spellcraft roll must be made (which at least in our games is a piece of cake, e.g. our 6th level psion/wizard has spellcraft of +18). Sure, the DM might not tell you who the target of a Scorching Ray or Fireball spell is, but that's a bit over the top. It's not as if a caster should be allowed to not look at his target, not point his finger (for elemental spells) at his target, etc. That's a bit extreme, at least without some type of Bluff check.

Extreme, but there's nothing in the rules that suggests any information besides "he's casting scorching ray" is conveyed to the character making the spellcraft check. If we're going to be anal about whether a spellcraft roll is required to react to a spell with an immediate action, then let's not get wishy-washy about how much non-standard information we're handing out to the players for whom the timing of the spell is important. Otherwise, why not just go ahead and let them react to the spell without a bunch of unecessary die rolling...especially if the spellcraft check, as you pointed out above, is guaranteed to work?