Arcane Power- Wizards Stretched Thin

[baberg]

i know we typically ignore it but... the flavor text mentions raising the ally "briefly" into the air... perhaps this was an oversight?

It's not necessarily an oversight, but more a misunderstanding of how the Flight rules work. I admit I had to read the MM and DMG entries a few times, plus the rules for fighting in 3D, before I could grasp what was going on.

If you don't have Hover and don't move at least 2 while flying, you fall. Creatures with Fly fall "safely" their Fly rating, but since this doesn't grant Fly a PC will have a Fly of 0. Then they crash, taking fall damage (DMG p.48). Since there's no way for a non-Sorcerer PC to fly on their turn (it's a Move action for the Sorc) they will fall, and the DMG specifically says "at the end of your turn". The Sorcerer can still use his Move to stay aloft, but he will provoke AoOs (though I'm not sure how it would work with 3 dimensions) from moving since you cannot shift.

It's useful for tossing a Rogue up onto a high ledge to engage those pesky sharpshooters, and for keeping the Sorcerer out of harm's way - but just hope you don't get stunned.

 

[RyvenCedrylle]

I think Baberg is right about this - you don't grant your ally 'flying', you allow him or her to Fly a certain number of squares. It's kinda like Teleport. If I use a power to let an ally Teleport "x" distance, he doesn't get to keep teleporting afterward. Your ally Flies and then lands.

Compare it to the Wizard 16th Utility Fly - you gain a speed of fly 8 until the end of your next turn - or even the Cleric Utility 22 Angel of the Eleven Winds which does the same thing. This is not the same concept. It could be better worded, probably, but I don't even think it's a kite at this point.

 

[Felon]

When I ran the introductory sample Delve Night campaign, I told the players to throw out all stat requirements for feats.

What point do such rigid prerequisites serve other than to pidgeonhole stat progressions for players that want to use a certain feats?

The point of prerequisites is, ideally, to add a cost to getting something that would otherwise be a no-brainer must-have selection. You can have A, but as a result you can't have B.

In practice, that's not always the case, of course. The +1 damage feats for implement users, for instance, certainly have unjustifiably stiff costs when Weapon Focus gives the same away at no cost.

 

[Felon]

I think Baberg is right about this - you don't grant your ally 'flying', you allow him or her to Fly a certain number of squares. It's kinda like Teleport. If I use a power to let an ally Teleport "x" distance, he doesn't get to keep teleporting afterward.

Well, the analogy is flawed because teleportation is, by PHB definition, instantaneous movement, so there's no keeping it going. However, I'm fine accepting that the rules allow an ally to be only briefly moved. But let's face it, it's kind of moot as the sorcerer has good incentive to keep it just for himself anyway--I suspect many will likely forget altogether that it can even be used on other characters.

"I'm staying in the air where things can't touch me". I've seen this character before, multiple times. A 3e sorcerer with a ring of flying, and a dragon adept, and a warlock. And they certainly screwed-up plenty of encounters that would otherwise have been exciting, simply because that big nasty couldn't touch him. True, the encounters could have been specifically rewritten by the DM every time to allow for kiting, but that is not an ideal situation.

 

[RyvenCedrylle]

You are correct in that teleportation is "instantaneous" which for game purposes has nothing to do with time and everything to do with what hinders your movement - which in this case is nothing, so long as you have line of sight. Flying is not instantaneous, so you can still run into stuff but, like walking, you don't need line of sight. You can fly blind if you want. Stuff in the air could presumably take OAs on you whereas that doesn't happen with teleportation.

But we're making the mistake here of confusing a purely mechanical effect with a 'fluff' picture or concept. If an orc throws a halfling across the room, the halfling has 'flown' - mechanically - some number of squares. He has moved at a height above ground interacting with whatever he moves into. That doesn't make it constant, nor does it mean the halfling is allowed to continue flying. He has no flight speed or hover and is therefore grounded. Same with the sorcerer - he can use his Dominant Wind to throw himself around, but he's not a 'flying blaster' in the defensive sense. On everyone else's turn, he's still well in contact with terra firma. Compare this to the Wizard or Cleric who can in fact spend an entire battle playing dragon - safely out of the reach of anything without Ranged attacks.

I can see this being a little cheesy but hardly game-breaking. I'd worry more about the Wizard than a guy with what's functionally a REALLY GOOD Jump check.

 

[Cadfan]

The more I read through this, the less I think that you get to stay in the air after using this power to fly.

The DMG Page 47 text refers to the move action "Fly," available to creatures with a Fly speed. It does not refer to an exception based rule in a power that gives you some other, differently defined ability to fly. While the rules could perhaps be more clear, it seems to me that during the action granted by this power, you have the ability to fly. Before it and after it, you do not. A sorcerer 30 feet in the air who does not possess the ability to fly, falls. He doesn't even get to use the rules for crashing, because he's not a flying creature. He simply falls.

Things could be a bit clearer, but it definitely seems that this power is intended to let you make short, airborne hops around the battlefield.

 

[yesnomu]

Yeah, if it doesn't grant an actual fly speed, they definitely can't stay in the air. While it ought to have mentioned this explicitly, I think the power's probably OK.

 

[chaotix42]

I think this is a good way to rule it. Without a fly speed you cannot maintain the flight, so land or fall!

 

[Plane Sailing]

"I'm staying in the air where things can't touch me". I've seen this character before, multiple times. A 3e sorcerer with a ring of flying, and a dragon adept, and a warlock. And they certainly screwed-up plenty of encounters that would otherwise have been exciting, simply because that big nasty couldn't touch him. True, the encounters could have been specifically rewritten by the DM every time to allow for kiting, but that is not an ideal situation.

But can't the wizard do just this with the 6th level daily utility 'Levitate'?

I suppose the issue is that this is an at-will power though, right?

Frankly, if someone has to search around several places in DMG and MM to understand how it is supposed to work, the spell description was pared down too much. Tell us everything that we need to know!

Personally, I like to use the flavour text to inform me about how the spell works (yes, I know it is badwrongfun, but there you go). As such I'm pretty sure that I'd rule that the spell has to land allies at the end of the movement; still doesn't cope with hovering blasters spoiling encounters though (it would be a killer utility for any arcanist or archer ranger to get via multiclassing, wouldn't it?)

Cheers

 

[erf_beto]

As such I'm pretty sure that I'd rule that the spell has to land allies at the end of the movement; ...

Those are my thoughts as well. Actually, I think Dominant Wind is just like the wizard's 2nd level utility, Jump, perhaps coupled with some Warlord power that let's your ally move in your place, only at-will and without the limits of the Athletics skill jumping rules...