Can you do a "diamond" shaped blast?

[Spido]

How's about this? (see pdf)

 

[tafkamhokie]

Note: I know how WotC customer service will answer this and I understand the intent, but so far, nobody has posted actual rules to deny it. It's all been opinion and narrow interpretation.

Probably the closest we are ever going to get to a rule quote is:

...blast 3, which means the power affects a 3-square by 3-square area adjacent to you.

It would be helpful if it said something like "is exactly 3 squares across in every linear direction." Since the 3x3 diamond is 5 squares across in the middle, that would rule it out. But it doesn't say that. It just says an area adjacent to you that is a specified number of squares on a side.

Now you can, by pure mathematics, extrapolate that a "3-square by 3-square area" must inherently have a total area of 9 squares...and the diagonal blast has an area of 14 squares. But that is the only pure RAW reason I can find for why it won't work.

 

[Dracorat]

Wouldn't:

. . X . .
. X X X .
X X X X X
. X X X .
. . X . .

Be a 3 by 3 square??

 

[bardolph]

The easiest way to make a diamond-shaped blast is to rotate the battle mat by 45 degrees.

Alternatively, you can move yourself to the corner of the battle mat. This is probably easier than rotating the mat itself.

 

[Lucas Blackstone]

Since people are twisting the intent of the blast shape, I suppose twisting has to be done a bit more to get them to see the light.

The following is the definition of side.

Side - one of the surfaces forming the outside of or bounding a thing, or one of the lines bounding a geometric figure.

This is the blast area of a power as defined by the PHB.

Blast: A blast fills an area adjacent to you that is a
specified number of squares on a side. For example,
the wizard power thunderwave is a blast 3, which
means the power affects a 3-square-by-3-square area
adjacent to you. The blast must be adjacent to its origin
square, which is a square in your space. The origin
square is not affected by the blast. A blast affects a
target only if the target is in the blast’s area and if there
is line of effect from the origin square to the target.

So since you can CLEARLY see one of the sides of is well over the 3 squares ( in this case) limit, it does not meet the parameters.

 

[KarinsDad]

Since people are twisting the intent of the blast shape, I suppose twisting has to be done a bit more to get them to see the light.

The following is the definition of side.

Side - one of the surfaces forming the outside of or bounding a thing, or one of the lines bounding a geometric figure.

This is the blast area of a power as defined by the PHB.

Blast: A blast fills an area adjacent to you that is a
specified number of squares on a side. For example,
the wizard power thunderwave is a blast 3, which
means the power affects a 3-square-by-3-square area
adjacent to you. The blast must be adjacent to its origin
square, which is a square in your space. The origin
square is not affected by the blast. A blast affects a
target only if the target is in the blast’s area and if there
is line of effect from the origin square to the target.

So since you can CLEARLY see one of the sides of is well over the 3 squares ( in this case) limit, it does not meet the parameters.

That is not a side.

It is a diagonal. From your own definition of a side, a side is an outside boundary, not an interior one. There is no diagonal limitation in the rules (TMK).

You seem to be strongly opposed to a literal reading of the rules in this case.

"Blast: A blast fills an area adjacent to you that is a specified number of squares on a side. For example, the wizard power thunderwave is a blast 3, which means the power affects a 3-square-by-3-square area
adjacent to you."

3 square by 3 square (note: not 9 squares, 3x3). Check.

"The blast must be adjacent to its origin square, which is a square in your space."

Adjacent to origin. Check.

"The origin square is not affected by the blast."

Origin not affected. Check.

"A blast affects a target only if the target is in the blast’s area and if there is line of effect from the origin square to the target."

In area and line of effect. Check.


We are definitely twisting the intent. I agree with that statement of yours. But, we are looking at RAW here, not RAI.

 

[Lucas Blackstone]

Side isn't limited to just the outside of any given geometric figure in question. There's more to the definition of side then just the outside of it. None of these sides can be longer then three squares. If it was limited to only the outside I would agree.

 

[baberg]

Ok, looks like you found something for the errata. The intent is obviously for the Blast to be a non-close Burst that must have an adjacent square to the person who originated it, but since "side" is ill-defined you could do your diamond situation just fine.

 

[webrunner]

The diamond is not 3 squares to a side.

it is one square to a side and has 20 sides

 

[Bagpuss]

It's all new diamond shreddies!