Cause Fear: What the heck?

[Icefire78]

word for word from the manual
The target moves its speed + your Charisma modifier
away from you. The fleeing target avoids unsafe squares
and difficult terrain if it can. This movement provokes
opportunity attacks.

Ok, The move is immediate as soon as the spell hits. It's not considered a push or pull effect because they are moving on their own volition. If you changed it into a push effect then some items and spells could negate it. Instead you have to have things that deal with fear effects. Think dragon fear from 3.5 but have it happen on the dragons turn not yours

 

[Contents May Vary]

Okay, but can you back that up with evidence? If this is what it's supposed to do, I write a clearer power in about 4 seconds:

Hit: The target provokes an OA from each creature which threatens it. You push the target it's speed plus your charisma modifier.

Bam. 100 times better.

That's wrong though. Cause Fear allows the feared creature to decide the path that it takes - your example allows the character casting Cause Fear to decide the path.

[EDIT - Too slow, multiple Ninjas!]

 

[False Keraptis]

Another solid objection. I concede, my revised version is no good. Still, I maintain that the power is pretty darn unclear - it could really use an extra sentence or two explaining exactly how it works.

 

[Icefire78]

If nothing else just house rule it =D

 

[TimeOut]

Another solid objection. I concede, my revised version is no good. Still, I maintain that the power is pretty darn unclear - it could really use an extra sentence or two explaining exactly how it works.

Why?

You hit with the attack: At this moment, the target starts to move away from you. It moves on its own with a speed equal to its speed + your charisma modifier. It still can choose how to move, and it will avoid unsafe (hazard, threatening) squares and difficult terrain on its own.

That this move provokes is not a rule, it is rather a reminder that the movement above is not forced movement.

 

[Icefire78]

As far as I can see the feared target immediately runs on spell hit and will run directly away from the cleric attempting to dodge any known obstructions. There is no push or pull affect and this will have no other effect on the target after the spell ends other than they took a few AO and they are out of range of the fighting for a turn.

 

[Nikosandros]

It is not a push, hence it doesn't occur on your turn.

From reading the effect, it does seem that it happens on the cleric's turn. They would have specified it, if it happened later.

It is different from a push because it provokes opportunity attacks and the victim has some freedom in executing its movement.

 

[False Keraptis]

Why?

Plenty of reasons.

Because I didn't know how it was supposed to work from reading it, and neither did Hong. Because immediate forced movement is clearly divided into three categories, and this doesn't fit any of them. Because it's different from how fear worked in 3e, and the above anomaly makes it easy to guess incorrectly that it is the same.

 

[Nikosandros]

Another solid objection. I concede, my revised version is no good. Still, I maintain that the power is pretty darn unclear - it could really use an extra sentence or two explaining exactly how it works.

Agreed. Another power with an ambiguous description...

 

[TimeOut]

Because I didn't know how it was supposed to work from reading it, and neither did Hong. Because immediate forced movement is clearly divided into three categories, and this doesn't fit any of them. Because it's different from how fear worked in 3e, and the above anomaly makes it easy to guess incorrectly that it is the same.

Interesting. I had no trouble understanding the power. It is not a push, pull or slide, so it is no forced movement. If it is no forced movement, it is normal movement. You can't influence normal movement of another creature.

Since it doesn't specify a time where execution of the movement should start, it starts immediately.

But perhaps the fact that I don't compare anything in 4e with prior spells, feats or such helps.