D&D 4E Official Unofficial 4E Rules FAQ

[Seeker_of_Truth]

A new question on damage and Keywords.

I asked
[sblock]
The new Dragon_364 class acts article on illusions has several examples of spells that do psychic damage, but do not have the psychic keyword.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/drfe/20080616

The players handbook has no examples of of powers that deal damage of a type that is not also a keyword for that power, and reading page 55 could suggest that a power that deal a particular type of damage must have that keyword.

To further complicate things apparently different custserv reps have given different answers on this subject that have been posted on the boards (copied below).

Does "Illusory Ambush" from the dragon article have the psychic keyword even though it isn't listed?

Does the "Psychic Lock" (PHB pg 205) work with "Illusory Ambush" to provide a -4 penalty to the targets attack on it's next turn.

Are dragon magazine articles going to receive the kind of support that other published material will receive (errata, FAQs etc)?

If damage type is not strictly tied to the power's keywords how does this affect resistances and vulnerabilities? Page 55 seems to indicate it's tied to the keyword, while page 276 mentions only damage type.

Thank You,

James
_______________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by squirloid
This is a two-part question, with the second question dependent on the answer to the first.

(A) Page 55 of the PHB strongly suggests that a spell which does damage of a given type also gains the keyword of that type. To whit: "For instance, a power that deals acid damage is an acid effect and thus has the acid keyword." Literally, if it deals acid damage then it gains the acid keyword. Is this a correct reading of this passage, and is the implication general (if a power deals x damage type, it gains the x keyword)?

(B) If A is not true, does that mean that a power which doesn't have the x keyword but deals x type damage isn't subject to vulnerability or immunity, as per the next paragraph: "Keywords help to determine how, or if, a power works when the target has resistance, vulnerability, or immunity to a damage type or an effect..."? This line of thought is continued in the subsequent paragraph, and strongly implies that resistance/immunity/et al. only look at the keywords to determine their effectiveness. So, hypothetically, if a power deals acid damage but does not have the Acid keyword, a creature who is immune to Acid still takes full damage from the power?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul@CustServe
Thank you for writing. That is true. If you look at the first level daily power of acid arrow, Acid is a keyword listed in the text.


___________________________
By Stardock
Question

if a power deals a certain type of damage does it have that keyword? For instance if a power deals fire damage does it have the fire keyword?

I'm trying to understand how keywords work in relation to damage types.

Answer

Greetings,

Even though powers that deal a particular type of damage will often have the appropriate keyword to that damage, it doesn't necessarily have to have that keyword. Thanks for contacting us.

Tony
Customer Service Representative

********************
Page Number: 55
Book Name: PHB 4E & Dragon 364 Class Acts
[/sblock]

they answered
[sblock]
James,

Thanks for the great feedback! We’ve passed this along to the good folks that make the games and hopefully we’ll see some errata covering this situation soon. Until then, it is up to your Dungeon Master to determine how he/she wants to handle this particular situation in their campaign.

I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused.

We would appreciate your feedback on the service we are providing you. Please click here to fill out a short questionnaire.

To login to your account, or update your question please click here.

Joe
Customer Service Representative
Wizards of the Coast
1-800-324-6496 (US and Canada)
425-204-8069 (From all other countries)
Monday-Friday 9am-6pm PST / 12pm-9pm EST[/sblock]

 

[Ziana]

Evan T. (Wizard CSR)
Can ranged attackers, eg. rogues and rangers, use cover (eg, walls, pillars) or concealment (eg. bushes, darkness) to make stealth attacks during combat?
You can make a stealth attempt with any action that you do. So, if you have cover or concealment, you can attempt to hide yourself as part of your attack. If you are successful, then you are given combat advantage against your opponents who can not see you.

Is it part of the design intention of 4E that players are encouraged to make use of tactics that can grant Combat Advantage, and using terrain to make stealth attacks is intended and encouraged by the rules?
This stealth system was implemented to make cover and concealment useful to players, and make the environment more interactive.

 

[Ziana]

Answer from Joe (Wizards CSR) 19/06/2008
So the core question here that I would like to confirm is: each time a player attempts a stealth attack during combat (which could be each round for each stealther), the player's stealth check DC is:
a) the passive perception of their target (since this is the only monster they need to be hidden against)
b) an active perception roll for the target (requiring a roll from both player and DM, each turn)
c) the passive perception of all monsters in range, whether they're involved in this attack or not
d) the active perception checks of all monsters in range (requiring multiple rolls from the DM each turn)

The Stealth check is opposed by a Perception check from each observer. To gain combat advantage on the attack, the attacker only needs to succeed vs the target, though the DM can of course play around with this. Unless characters are actively being perceptive, use the passive value.
The DM will always make the final ruling on any issue that arises.

 

[Chris_Nightwing]

I have to disagree with the Corellon's Implement ruling - why wouldn't they have written 'Implement you have Mastery with' ? If you don't have mastery, you can still use the Longsword as an implement but you don't get to do any funky Wizard stuff with it. (Else this ruins my character, sadface).

Oh for an official designer written FAQ!

 

[Underage AOLer]

I have updated the first post with a new format and the new questions. It should be a bit easier to read.

Thanks for all your help posters.

 

[Particle_Man]

The third dimension and implements

If my wizard faces a flying creature, can I aim a spell "high" so as to hit the flyer?

If a spell is burst 3, and I can aim high, does that make a one square high by 7 squares long by 7 squares wide prism, or a cube that is 7 squares long on each edge?

Can I, if facing a gargantuan creature in meelee with my allies, aim a spell high enough to hit the gargantuan creature but miss my allies?

[sblock=]A flying creature is considered in that space so they will be affected by spells. There is no aiming high, unless your DM wants to create rules for fighting in a 3D environment.[/sblock]

A Wall of Fog can be no more than 8 squares long, no more than 4 squares high, and area 8 within 10 squares.

Does that mean:

a) If a wall is 4 squares high, it can be no more than 2 squares long

or

b) A wall can be 4 squares high and 8 squares long at the same time?

[sblock=]Thank you for writing. The Wall of Fog can be both 8 squares long and 4 squares tall at the same time.[/sblock]

Can an Initiate of the Faith use a Holy Symbol of Hope's daily power?

[sblock=]Thank you for writing. You can absolutely use the daily power from the Holy Symbol of Hope. The use of this power is not dependent on your ability to use Cleric powers.[/sblock]

 

[Ziana]

Fleeting Ghost

Fleeting Ghost, p119, says you can move & make a stealth check.

Does this mean that use of this power allows the rogue to ignore the normal rule that moving through open space during combat negates stealth, and allow them to make a stealth attack immediately after moving, while in plain view?

Or does the rogue have to end their turn in concealment/cover for the stealth check to be valid?

I want to be sure I'm reading this power correctly.

This ability allows you to move at your full speed and not take a penalty to your stealth check, as described on page 188. All other rules for stealth, cover, and concealment still apply.
-Charles Customer Service Representative 06/22/2008

Incidentally, CSRs work on Sunday!

 

[Ziana]

Can we sticky this?

 

[Bink of Xanth]

Given the quantity of FAQ scraps floating around all over the place, I thought it would be useful to create a site to pull all these bits n pieces together. Here's the link:

dndfaq.com

I grabbed a lot of 4e FAQs out of this thread- hope thats OK. Also, given the site is brand new, Im looking for some people to be admins. Anyone interested? Hope you guys find the site useful. Please use the suggestions link liberally and I'll do my best to accommodate!

 

[James McMurray]

Given the quantity of FAQ scraps floating around all over the place, I thought it would be useful to create a site to pull all these bits n pieces together. Here's the link:

dndfaq.com

Nice. Thanks!