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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FireLance" data-source="post: 5633144" data-attributes="member: 3424">Good summary. Given that most monsters do not have abilities that allow them to move their allies efficiently (and the bull rush action normally would not be considered an efficient use of a standard action), start of turn damage might as well be dealt at the end of the wizard's turn. After the enemies take damage on the first round, they can minimize the damage they take in future rounds by spreading out, moving faster than the sphere, or (if battlefield conditions happen to be just right) moving so that wherever the wizard places the sphere, it will also damage one of his allies. I personally doubt that the last is likely to happen very often, though. Assuming the enemies move slower than the sphere, start of turn damage effectively works out to once per turn automatic damage with the expenditure of a move action and a minor action. There is simply no way for the enemy to avoid this. He might as well not move, especially if he already has some incentive not to move.End of turn damage always gives the enemy an incentive to move, but is more difficult to use in a damaging manner. Usually, it involves giving the enemy a Hobson's choice between not moving and taking damage, and moving and running the chance of taking damage. As an example, consider an enemy marked by a fighter and adjacent to him. Start of turn damage gives him no incentive to move. If he moves, the fighter attacks him, and the wizard will move the sphere next to him anyway. If he does not move, he still takes damage from the sphere, but doesn't get attacked by the fighter. With end of turn damage, the enemy must choose between not moving and getting burned by the sphere, or moving and getting attacked by the fighter.</blockquote>

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