Powers outside of combat?

[McTreble]

I was wondering how people embrace the use of powers outside of combat. For encounter powers, we have a flat "every 5 minutes" rule, but since combat is sped up outside combat, we do a lot of hand-waving-time-advancement. What got me really thinking were the powers that have sustain minor attached to it. Could you theoretically sustain effects throughout the day, or does the 5 minute limit still count?

In general terms, is anyone out there doing anything interesting with powers outsie of combat?

 

[1of3]

You cannot sustain for more than 5 minutes.

Many attack powers including movement are very useful outside combat, too.

 

[OnlineDM]

Agreed. An eladrin's Fey Step, for instance, can come in handy outside of combat, too, but when I run games I still stick to the five-minute rule. Furthermore, I require an actual short rest before an encounter power like that recharges (so an eladrin on the run doesn't get to teleport every five minutes unless they actually stop running).

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I was wondering how people embrace the use of powers outside of combat. For encounter powers, we have a flat "every 5 minutes" rule, but since combat is sped up outside combat, we do a lot of hand-waving-time-advancement. What got me really thinking were the powers that have sustain minor attached to it. Could you theoretically sustain effects throughout the day, or does the 5 minute limit still count?

In general terms, is anyone out there doing anything interesting with powers outsie of combat?

The bard's Words of Friendship power (and similar skill-boosting powers in the PH1) are really handy for such situations. In fact, I give a lot of minion NPCs (and a few social non-minions, like dune traders) similar powers. This lets them fool NPCs the PCs work with, withstand social skill challenges, etc.

Any sort of mind-control power can be handy, especially if it's open-ended. You could dominate someone and choose their actions, like forcing them to give an order or a speech. A great way to break into some place or solve a skill challenge (at least in the short term). One of my NPCs, a templar, has an encounter power called "Sudden Conscription" that forces a victim to choose between being dominated or taking ongoing damage ... and naturally he regularly uses this on lower-level NPCs and minions who are his political opponents. The power is specifically invisible so noone but the templar and victim knows it's being used. The bard's vicious mockery is tailor-made for mocking someone in any sort of political situation - IMO, it should apply to skill checks as well as attack rolls.

IMO, there should have been mind-reading powers in the PH3 (maybe I missed some of them) which you could also use in a conversation/skill challenge/verbal/social confrontation.

I don't know if there's any skill-hampering powers, but there should be.

What sort of sustain minor powers were you thinking of? If the situation warrants, and the power is an encounter and not a daily power, I don't think it's a huge harm to the game if a PC can continually sustain it. You might want to call for Wisdom or Constitution checks to avoid distractions or physical or mental exhaustion after they've been doing something for "too long" though.

I agree with earlier remarks that the PC or NPC should have to take a 5 minute rest before they can recharge an encounter power.

 

[blalien]

I am a bit more liberal with my definition of short rest. I define a short rest as a period of time in which the players are not engaging any challenges, whether combat, puzzle, or role-playing. During this short rest, players may use as many encounter powers as they want, such as Healing Word. The eladrin could also use Fey Step a million times, but it wouldn't do a whole lot of good. Powers cannot be sustained and end of encounter effects happen. If the PC wants to sustain a power for more than five minutes, I'll allow it, but then the party can't have a short rest. If an encounter (even a non-combat encounter) lasts more than five minutes of in-game time, the PCs will not get back encounter powers until the encounter is over.

 

[wlmartin]

I was wondering how people embrace the use of powers outside of combat. For encounter powers, we have a flat "every 5 minutes" rule, but since combat is sped up outside combat, we do a lot of hand-waving-time-advancement. What got me really thinking were the powers that have sustain minor attached to it. Could you theoretically sustain effects throughout the day, or does the 5 minute limit still count?

In general terms, is anyone out there doing anything interesting with powers outsie of combat?

5 minutes is pretty much how we work things.
This only really comes into play when dealing with Healing Word and such where the Cleric is sat there praying to his god every 5 minutes whilst a queue of adventurers stand in front of him waiting to be healed.

I think it comes down to what feels right more than anything.