Great game, A few questions

[illwizard]

First of all, I just wanted to say how enjoyable the game on the weekend was. The Fighter defended, the Wizard controlled, the Warlord led (of a sort as he generally refuses to speak except to express his distrust of NPC's), and the Warlock and Rogue hurt kobolds. Alot (KotS). It was only our third session and the players were a bit disillusioned with 4e prior, but now are totally hooked, with the most experienced stating it was the best game he had ever played! Stoked!



Anyway enough self gratification, I have a few queries which I apologise for asking, but I assure you I have looked through the books and searched on the net.

• Do you provoke opportunity attacks from moving out of an enemies threatened square to a non threatened square only, or do you also provoke from moving from one threatened square to another threatened square? (same enemy)

• With the Warlords inspiring word, does the recipient have to be able to hear the Warlord?, ie. be conscious (as the fluff sort of implies). I ruled not, as this would make the Warlord a pretty poor healer? And does the Warlord have to speak at all? My Warlord player insists that his presence alone is enough to heal/inspire and it fits with his character concept which I don't like messing with.

• I understand that allies don't block LoS and neither do enemies although they can grant cover to your target. My question is, How do you determine if cover is granted? Is it just if a line passes through an enemies square on the way to your target?

• And if there is multiple enemy squares it passes through, is there a cumulative effect at all, ie. -4 for 2 enemies etc.

• Also, the PC's captured the gnome at the burial site and he co-operated with them and Lord Porric by supplying valuable information. Do you think, that in a standard PoL setting, the gnome would still be executed? I mean, he really put the whole town of Winterhaven at risk so I would say yes, but the players are a little sympathetic to him and I'm not sure how that news would go down.

Anyway the player are up against Irontooth next week, so I hope their form continues as he looks like a PC killer for sure! Cheers.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

• Do you provoke opportunity attacks from moving out of an enemies threatened square to a non threatened square only, or do you also provoke from moving from one threatened square to another threatened square? (same enemy)

• With the Warlords inspiring word, does the recipient have to be able to hear the Warlord?, ie. be conscious (as the fluff sort of implies). I ruled not, as this would make the Warlord a pretty poor healer? And does the Warlord have to speak at all? My Warlord player insists that his presence alone is enough to heal/inspire and it fits with his character concept which I don't like messing with.

• I understand that allies don't block LoS and neither do enemies although they can grant cover to your target. My question is, How do you determine if cover is granted? Is it just if a line passes through an enemies square on the way to your target?

• And if there is multiple enemy squares it passes through, is there a cumulative effect at all, ie. -4 for 2 enemies etc.

• Also, the PC's captured the gnome at the burial site and he co-operated with them and Lord Porric by supplying valuable information. Do you think, that in a standard PoL setting, the gnome would still be executed? I mean, he really put the whole town of Winterhaven at risk so I would say yes, but the players are a little sympathetic to him and I'm not sure how that news would go down.

1. You provoke OA's on both occasions.
2. If you and your player are both happy that the Warlord doesn't need to speak to use Inspiring Word, then that's fine by the RAW. However, I'd personally find it a bit odd.
3. There is a section on cover in the PHB, but I don't have my book so someone else will have to answer that one.
4. AFAIK, there is no cumulative penalty for multiple sources of cover, but there is superior cover.
5. This isn't really a rules question, as there isn't a "Standard PoL setting". You're the DM - you can make the decision. Personally, I wouldn't have him executed - but I'd think about having him escape during the attack on Winterhaven by the Undead. He could either join the fight, or sneak back into the Keep and ambush the PC's in the middle of another battle, if you'd prefer.

 

[tiornys]

For cover, you pick a corner of the origin square, then draw a line to each corner of a square the target occupies. If no lines pass through a square that contains an obstacle, the target has no cover (passing along a wall is fine). If 1-2 lines pass through a square that contains an obstacle, the target has cover. If 3-4 lines pass through a square that contains an obstacle, the target has superior cover (if 4 lines pass through obstacles, make sure you have line of sight/effect to the target).

t~

 

[Wormwood]

Also, the PC's captured the gnome at the burial site and he co-operated with them and Lord Porric by supplying valuable information. Do you think, that in a standard PoL setting, the gnome would still be executed? I mean, he really put the whole town of Winterhaven at risk so I would say yes, but the players are a little sympathetic to him and I'm not sure how that news would go down

1. [boilerplate answer] Whatever works best for your story, of course!

2. [What Wormwood would do answer] The players kinda like him? I like conflict? Cool! I'd have the gnome arrested and then have the players engage in a social Skill Challenge to convince the authorities to let him off with a lighter sentence. If things go all pear shaped---well, a jailbreak Skill Challenge wouldn't be out of the question

 

[illwizard]

Ok thanks very much so far. So I understand the cover rules in relation to obstacles, but do enemies count as obstacles I guess is what i need to know?

Cool! I'd have the gnome arrested and then have the players engage in a social Skill Challenge to convince the authorities to let him off with a lighter sentence. If things go all pear shaped---well, a jailbreak Skill Challenge wouldn't be out of the question

I like your thinking Wormwood, though I must admit that Skill Challenges still intimidate me.

If you and your player are both happy that the Warlord doesn't need to speak to use Inspiring Word, then that's fine by the RAW. However, I'd personally find it a bit odd.

Haha yes he is a bit odd. His character, which is an Eladrin, is almost entirely removed from society and the real world, or atleast part of his psyche anyway. Most things around him are just abstract representations and it's as though in his mind he is talking to the gods or the fey or something. I think part of his personality is stuck in the feywild perhaps. He cannot fully remove himself from there. That probably makes no sense upon re-reading it haha. Let's say he has Split personalities, spread across the planes haha.

 

[Callowbran]

Ah...interesting.

The phrasing on PHB pp. 290 says an Opportunity Attack is granted "if an enemy leaves a square adjacent to you"

I've been interpreting that to mean that one is granted only if someone is no longer adjacent to you when they end their move.

Clearly my misread.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[tiornys]

Ok thanks very much so far. So I understand the cover rules in relation to obstacles, but do enemies count as obstacles I guess is what i need to know?

Enemies count as obstacles for ranged attacks only. They do not provide cover for melee, close, or area attacks (PHB, p. 280, Creatures and Cover).

t~