Something came up in our game the other night that I would like some opinions on. Here's the situation: most of the party is standing in a doorway, looking into a large room that is dimly lit. A gnoll enemy is at the far side of the room. The party's rogue wants to shoot her crossbow at the gnoll and I impose the standard penalty of -2 to her attack roll, given that the gnoll is in a square of dim light and therefore has concealment.
So far, so straightforward.
"Wait a minute!" says the party's warlord (who is standing right next to the rogue). "Delay until after my turn. I use Forward Observer."
It's a case of RAW versus RAI.
We argued the point for a couple of minutes but, without wanting to stall the game, I accepted the player's reading this time, while reserving for myself the right to revise the decision for future occurrences.
To be honest, I am surprised this has not come up before but I don't seem to be able to find anything on the net about it.
My current thinking is to rule that this power cannot be used if the target is concealed to the warlord through light conditions. I imagine the player will complain that this renders the power useless (he has already said something along those lines) but I disagree; there are plenty of situations that can arise (or be made to arise) where this power can come into its own.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
So far, so straightforward.
"Wait a minute!" says the party's warlord (who is standing right next to the rogue). "Delay until after my turn. I use Forward Observer."
So my problem here is that the RAW absolutely allow this but it makes no sense. How can the warlord direct attacks on a target that is just as concealed to him as it is to the others (to the rogue)? The gnoll has concealment due to dim light and that applies equally for the warlord at this point. But the wording of the power's effect allows the player's interpretation: the warlord could see the gnoll, though dimly lit; the rogue could see and hear the warlord and so, as per RAW, the rogue does not take the -2 penalty on attack rolls for cover or concealment.Choose one enemy you can see. Until the end of your next turn, any ally who can see or hear you doesn’t take the normal penalty to attack rolls for cover or concealment when attacking that enemy (the penalties for superior cover and total concealment still apply).
It's a case of RAW versus RAI.
We argued the point for a couple of minutes but, without wanting to stall the game, I accepted the player's reading this time, while reserving for myself the right to revise the decision for future occurrences.
To be honest, I am surprised this has not come up before but I don't seem to be able to find anything on the net about it.
My current thinking is to rule that this power cannot be used if the target is concealed to the warlord through light conditions. I imagine the player will complain that this renders the power useless (he has already said something along those lines) but I disagree; there are plenty of situations that can arise (or be made to arise) where this power can come into its own.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this?