Encounter power buffs outside of combat

[FourthBear]

Though, oddly enough, given how broken the CoC unarmed combat rules are, it's entirely possible to do that. Martial Arts+A high Db could easily result in 2d4+1d6 damage for a kick, and if it's a special that could go as high as 4d4+2d6, which is a lot in Call of Cthulhu and more than enough to scrag or at least badly injure a Deep One.

Yes, I vividly recall one CoC session in which my character had a pistol and another PC had brass knuckles and some unarmed combat training. Let's just say that Knuckles was killing opponents like a 70s kung fu movie while my character winged the bad guys again and again with my apparently rubber bullets. If only Clutch of Nyogtha didn't cost so many Sanity Points, I'd have shown her.....

 

[Nine Hands]

Out of combat, "per encounter" means "Every 5 minutes".

So, for cliff climbing...not so much.

Even if it were 'at will', you can still do it only once every 6 seconds, and that means you'll fall the full 15 feet LONG before you get to do it again.

At Will: Once every 6 seconds.
PE: Once every five minutes.
Daily: Once every 6-hour rest period but no more than once per 24 hours.

Other than the VERY rare case of an encounter lasting longer than 50 rounds(!), this provides a good basis for working out the effects and impacts of abilities. A wizard can use his at-will powers 600 times an hour, for example. Depending on what kind of powers there are, this can be pretty world-changing.

One of the things I like about using Encounter, Will, Daily is that the GM has the option of adjusting the times for his or her individual tastes.

One thing I have done (in my Star Wars game at least) is say that Daily "powers" are usable once per Game Session. This way I don't have to worry about ending a session in the middle of things and trying to have people remember if they used an ability or not.

I really like this type of game design, nice and flexible.

 

[Kordeth]

One of the things I like about using Encounter, Will, Daily is that the GM has the option of adjusting the times for his or her individual tastes.

One thing I have done (in my Star Wars game at least) is say that Daily "powers" are usable once per Game Session. This way I don't have to worry about ending a session in the middle of things and trying to have people remember if they used an ability or not.

I really like this type of game design, nice and flexible.

It is flexible, but depending on your group's scheduling and play style it could seriously hose your players. If you play weekly for 3-4 hours per session, it's probably not as big a deal, but if you're one of those groups that plays marathon 12-hour games once a month or so you're probably going to end up getting far fewer uses of your dailies than the game expects.

 

[Professor Phobos]

I'm thinking I will give everyone a chance at a single shot at a unique power. I'm going to call it a "Lifetime" power. You get one per lifetime, and it can do almost anything, but you die after using it.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I'm thinking I will give everyone a chance at a single shot at a unique power. I'm going to call it a "Lifetime" power. You get one per lifetime, and it can do almost anything, but you die after using it.

Lifetime Power:

This power allows your character to do just about anything. The effects must be truly heartwarming. After the power takes effect, the PC using it will die tragically,but with plenty of time for tears, confessions and reconciliation.

This power is sometimes referred to as the Oxygen Power or the We power.

 

[Mal Malenkirk]

Concerning buffing spell : I would tentatively say that it looks like most buffing spell requires a minor action to maintain, like fly.

In that context, you are not going to maintain a lot of them. So even if you cast just before entering, you are unlikely to see more than one or two spell cast by the whole party (Most class cast no buffs in the first place and you can't expect the classes that do to cast more than one).

If I'm right, while you will stil see some limited buffing going on before an expected fight, the designer are still correct in saying they have fixed this issue. One or two spells is nothing compared to the 3e buffathons before major encounters.

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Concerning taking it slow to rest between fight or moving fast to extend an encounter power :

Encounters are designed to cover an entire area in 4e. So you could say an encounter is a geographic concept as well as a temporal one. I remember seeing a dungeon with the encounters area clearly mapped out; resting between fights within that same encounter area would be silly anyway because it would require for the other monsters to be blind, deaf, and conveniently sitting on their arse at all time until poked on the shoulder.

Also, I thought encounter power didn't just recharge every five minutes. I think you need to rest for five minutes.

So basically, you secure the encounter area, catch your breath, move on.

 

[Professor Phobos]

Lifetime Power:

This power allows your character to do just about anything. The effects must be truly heartwarming. After the power takes effect, the PC using it will die tragically,but with plenty of time for tears, confessions and reconciliation.

This power is sometimes referred to as the Oxygen Power or the We power.

I like it!

 

[Trainz]

Concerning buffing spell : I would tentatively say that it looks like most buffing spell requires a minor action to maintain, like fly.

In that context, you are not going to maintain a lot of them. So even if you cast just before entering, you are unlikely to see more than one or two spell cast by the whole party (Most class cast no buffs in the first place and you can't expect the classes that do to cast more than one).

If I'm right, while you will stil see some limited buffing going on before an expected fight, the designer are still correct in saying they have fixed this issue. One or two spells is nothing compared to the 3e buffathons before major encounters.

Yeah, this I would have no problem with. All nice and easy.

Let's hope it's like that.

 

[Primal]

Because I'm lazy, and can't be bothered looking.. Are there any encounter powers that buff you, but don't rely on first doing something to an opponent?

I have nothing against, and would allow in my games, buffing seconds before a known (or suspected) fight.

However, my recollection is that there is virtually no powers which would fall into this category.

Or you could keep an NPC "henchman" you attack with a "buffing" Power just a round before the group enters a room with monsters. A completely "legal" way to "buff" the PCs, since that attack on the henchman begins the encounter! ;P

 

[drjones]

The fact that many of the 'buff' kind of utility spells we have seen seem to require a minor action to maintain leads me to believe that if you, say, wanted to fly a lot (and assuming the spell is an encounter power and not a daily) that you could be flying before the fight starts but outside of combat anything significantly 'distracting' that one could imagine you would not have a minor action available to do it would break the spell.

Also for this reason you would only be able to maintain 2 max spells if walking normally or 3 if doing nothing but maintaining them. This alone should prevent the casting of a bazillion buffs.

But I really think all this will be detailed in the PHB, or at least have guidelines for DM ajudication.

Edit: bah Mal beat me to the punch