Personally, I've never been fond of making players guess whether using their limited-use ability is going to be a complete waste of time; whenever I've had characters with some sort of "after you make Y check, add +X bonus" ability, in any system, I tell the player whether they failed by a small enough margin that the power could help. Never had a balance problem with it.
Will the player know if using a given power will prevent a hit? Should the player know that? It could make powers such as Dragonflame Mantle, which provide a minimal bonus, nigh-useless in that regard if the player doesn't know (but then again, maybe the damage is the main deal of that power), but on the other hand, a power like Ward of Brilliance, which has an effect in case the attack hits despite the bonus to defenses, seem silly as the bonus will likely be used to ward off the attack entirely.
Ditto.
Huh, given that Memory of a Thousand Lifetimes is not a "+X bonus" but a "+1dX" bonus, would you tell them only that "you failed by less than or equal X"? Or exactly how much so they could properly judge the odds?
Seconded. I used to hold that with such powers the player had to apply a degree of guesswork to its application (i.e. you have to elect to use it before knowing the result of the roll). Then the players and I chatted and they changed my mind...Personally, I've never been fond of making players guess whether using their limited-use ability is going to be a complete waste of time; whenever I've had characters with some sort of "after you make Y check, add +X bonus" ability, in any system, I tell the player whether they failed by a small enough margin that the power could help. Never had a balance problem with it.
The deva power says you can choose to add the +1d6 when after you make a roll and "dislike the result".
Does that mean you get to hear whether the check succeeded or failed, or just that you don't like the number showing on the die, before the DM tells you the outcome?
It seems ambiguous, unless there's some general rule I've forgotten about.
house rule - outside of combat is considered an "encounter" so that encounter powers can only be used once between battles(but ONLY for that reason)Also consider that this is an encounter power, useful outside of combat. IOW, you might use it on many, many, many skill checks outside of combat.
This is my attitude as well, but this position erodes the value of powers that expressly let you decide with all the info in hand. Admittedly, the Belt of Fiends has the only power of this kind that I know of...Personally, I've never been fond of making players guess whether using their limited-use ability is going to be a complete waste of time; whenever I've had characters with some sort of "after you make Y check, add +X bonus" ability, in any system, I tell the player whether they failed by a small enough margin that the power could help. Never had a balance problem with it.
Belt of Fiends -Level 15 Uncommon
Power (Daily): Immediate Interrupt. You can use this power when you are hit by an attack. Gain a +3 power bonus to defense against that attack; you can decide to use the power after the DM tells you the attack die total.