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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Inlicere" data-source="post: 4659169" data-attributes="member: 73064">Wow... This is quite a wave of responses! Thanks to all of you for taking the time to post! I'm going to do my best to answer your questions about the current version of the Historian but, as I do, I want you to be aware that there is a MAJOR revision in the works. Many of the questions won't be applicable in the next version, but I'm answering them in the interest of helping you get the most out of the version you have right now. I also want to let you know that there is a possibility that the upcoming revision will be released as a real product. More on that later though. And now to your questions! Remember... these answers are in the context of the current version of the class.   Esoteric Knowledge is modeled after power-swap feats. As with power-swap feats, the power gained through retraining can increase in level over time. In your example, the retrained power can be 7th-level or lower.  The benefits of the check are lost when you make a subsequent check.    It isn't that he forgets what he knows... It's a combination of:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The combat giving him the opportunity (or not) to take advantage of what he knows, and</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">His ability to focus on coming up with useful tips is limited while ducking sword-swipes, etc.</li> </ul>I should mention that I don't think of Practical Knowledge as exploiting the same weakness of the creature over-and-over. Rather, it reflects the Historians general knowledge of the creatures behavior and physiology. (This is a common issue with knowledge-based abilities. It's necessary for them to have limits for balance purposes, but then you have to rationalize why a character seems to "know" something one moment and then "not know" it the next.)   Your rewording is correct -- that is intention of the keyword.  Hmm... <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/ponder.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":hmm:" title="Hmmm    :hmm:" data-shortname=":hmm:" /> neat idea! I'll put some thought into that. Thanks!  Thanks! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />  Another hmm... as far as I can see, all the dailies for the core classes have a miss effect, the Reliable keyword, or have an "Effect:" item (which takes place whether or not the attack hits). Are you thinking of any in particular that don't have one of these?  Yes; I'm not happy with the wording, but your understanding of the power is correct.  Yes and yes. (I like questions like this! <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/laugh.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing    :lol:" data-shortname=":lol:" />)  I'm not sure I understand the motivation for your question on this one, but I'll give a shot at answering anyway: In the PH, we see marking used more by defenders than by other classes, but they also tend to use it as a setup for another ability (through Combat Challenge or Divine Challenge).... in other words, the focus is less on the marking itself, and more on what they can do to you because of the mark. For the Historian, the mark is just a way of giving the creature an incentive to focus on him rather than on an ally. The (save ends) aspect reflects the historians ability to keep the opponents attention for some period of time.  That's correct... I felt it would be too powerful for a level-1 power to allow the character to shift through a square occupied by an enemy. There are higher-level powers that allow this though.  In most cases, following the exact path is probably easiest to run. In my own game, I might be more flexible and run it as if the historian had moved 1 square, then did a 1-square "pull" on the ally, then moved another square, then another "pull", etc. Size doesn't matter. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> Seriously, though... this is forced movement, so size doesn't come into it.  That's certainly the normal case, though it isn't a rule. As far as I know, WotC has published one encounter power that is a stance ("Stance of Chaos", in the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide). Still, the point is well taken.  How I wish the next revision were ready... Are you signing up to be a playtester? <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> As above, the point is well taken, though I do know of one encounter power published by WotC that has a (save ends) feature.  Am I missing something obvious? I'm not aware of the Historian having the Reliable keyword on anything other than dailies.</blockquote>

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