Playtesting questions

[Li Shenron]

We try to setup a little 4e playtesting tonight, using the preview characters and rules.

Something is missing from my notes however, that is required in order to play some powers, so I'll be glad if someone could explain them to me...

1) What are the effects of being "slowed"?

2) How do temprorary hit points work (stack or not stack)?

3) What does "vulnerability 5" mean?

4) What kind of action is required to stand up from prone?

5) What benefits from being invisible?

6) Looks like only movement, or ranged and area attacks provoke AoO... how about personal spells and effects (e.g. teleport)?

I hope at least some of these are known. If we are missing only a few of them, we'll just avoid using those powers.

 

[keterys]

1) Speed = 2, except for teleportation.
2) Not stack.
3) Takes 5 more damage
4) move. Does not provoke.
5) Effectively +5 to all defenses. Do not provoke for movement.
6) Just movement, ranged, area.

Least, that's how they were done at my tables.

 

[Stalker0]

Doesn't invis also give you a 50% miss chance? Further you are immune to ranged attacks.

 

[deathdonut]

Doesn't invis also give you a 50% miss chance? Further you are immune to ranged attacks.

+5 Defense is the same as 50% miss chance on average, but it's one less roll.

 

[erf_beto]

5) Effectively +5 to all defenses. Do not provoke for movement.

Really? For Invisibility?
You mean I get Will and Fort +5 too?
I can see the reasoning behind it, but it feels weird, I don't know... Guess the wizard can't see your eyes so you're better protected from his mind tricks... but what about a poisoned dart? attack vs AC to hit, and follow up vs Fort for the poison (just house ruled it). Why would my invisibility protect me from the poison?

 

[keterys]

Dart didn't hit you in as vital a location (hand instead of chest, for instance) - there was no 50% miss chance at the table I played at.

Most attacks are just straight up one rolls anyways - jet of poison is a Fort attack, not a Ref then Fort, etc.

Actually the whole 'conceal 11 and ranged can't attack' I think is just something from D&D Minis, not actual D&D.

 

[Li Shenron]

Thanks a lot!

A couple of clarifications:

3) Takes 5 more damage

5) Effectively +5 to all defenses. Do not provoke for movement.

So no less actions from being slowed, just reduced speed...

Obviously, I guess that the +5 damage from vulnerability applies to any attack that actually does at least 1 point of damage (and on a hit only)?

When invisible, do you still provoke if you use a ranged attack or cast an area spell?

Finally more questions

7) How do you measure areas? Are they all spherical or squared? If an area attack is "burst 1", does it mean it affects a square area with a side 1-square, a spherical area with a radius 1-square (from a grid intersection point) or something else?

8) What benefit from concealment?

9) There are powers tagged as "immediate (interrupt/reaction)". General notes say that immediate actions are like readied actions... but the powers description seems that you just can use those powers when the trigger happens. Is it like that, or do you need to "ready" an action somehow? [powers in question are Paladin's Second Chance and Fighter's Fox's Cunning]

 

[keterys]

Vulnerability applies only a hit that does damage, as far as I know, but if you have a creature with resist 6 and vuln 5 and you do 4 damage on the roll, I believe you do 3 damage. Ie, 3 + 5 - 6, not (3-6 not >0, so don't include vuln)

7) There are several threads on this that I did ascii art in... I should really have it saved. Area burst 1 is a 3x3 square with the square you target sa the center (ie, every square 1 away from my target square), close burst 1 is everything 1 away from the caster (so if a large creature, is a bigger square) and blast 5 is a 5x5 square. Blast originates from any adjacent square.

Area burst 1 within 10 on *, cast by @
XXX
X*X.....@
XXX

Close burst 1 cast by a big (D)ragon

XXXX
XDDX
XDDX
XXXX

Blast 5 by the same dragon

XXXXX
XXXXX
XXXXXDD
XXXXXDD
XXXXX


DD
DD
XXXXX
XXXXX
XXXXX
XXXXX
XXXXX

Etc.

8) +2 to all defenses

9) interrupt is _before_ the trigger action, reaction is _after_ the trigger action. No need to every 'ready'

 

[Li Shenron]

Thank you every one We managed to run a playtest battle yesterday night, thanks to your rules clarifications. A couple of more issues springed up during the game, like for instance we found out we didn't know if some burst powers would effect allies as well, or not, so we ruled something on the fly.

 

[Jack99]

Thank you every one We managed to run a playtest battle yesterday night, thanks to your rules clarifications. A couple of more issues springed up during the game, like for instance we found out we didn't know if some burst powers would effect allies as well, or not, so we ruled something on the fly.

They do, just like area of effect spells from past editions.