Psychic Anomaly

[PrinceZane]

No one in the group has ever played with psions before (3.5 or 4), so figured I'd give it a go. We've been playing for 2 weeks and I must say I am having fun with it However, there is a bit of a cloud hanging above this power. For those of you who don't have the information handy...

Psychic Anomaly:

You conjure a psychic anomaly in an unoccupied square within range. The anomaly lasts until the end of your next turn. You can make the following attack using the anomaly.

Opportunity Action Melee 1
Trigger: An enemy starts its turn in a square adjacent to the anomaly
Target: The triggering enemy
Attack: Intelligence vs. Will
Hit: 1 d6 + Intelligence modifier psychic damage, and you slide the target 3 squares to a square adjacent to the anomaly.
Augment 1
Effect: As above, and your allies can flank with the psychic anomaly.
Augment 2
Hit: 1 d8 + Intelligence modifier psychic damage, and the target is dazed until the end of your next turn.

So a few assumptions here: 1) Since it specifies it must be summoned in an unoccupied square, it has some sort of semi-physical essence whether it be of actual mass or not (i.e. ghost). 2) It is an ally (obviously since an ally summoned it), but also threatening since it has the ability to attack and provide an optional flanking benefit.

That all said, here's the part in question... We're doing a bit of dungeon crawling and running through a lot of 1 square wide hallways. On a couple of occasions we've been able to pretty much lock down a fight by summoning the anomaly in the hallway to act as a wall while the rest of the team pummels everything with ranged attacks. It has caused a bit of frustration for the DM making these fights a lot less challenging than they could've been, but also because there was really nothing that he could do unless we were missing something. I know this by itself doesn't make the power broken or anything because outside of a 1 square hall they can walk around it - that's fine. But is there anything obvious we're missing? I didn't see any mention of stats or anything to try to dismiss/kill it and being an at-will power could effectively just lock that path down for as long as we needed be it to block off enemies or an escape route.

I've been meaning to write this up for a while and kept forgetting. Wanted to jot it down before I put it off again even though it's 7:30am and no sleep yet. Please pardon any spelling/grammar issues and I'd be happy to clarify anything I might have made confusion or left out.

Thanks for your comments

 

[DracoSuave]

No one in the group has ever played with psions before (3.5 or 4), so figured I'd give it a go. We've been playing for 2 weeks and I must say I am having fun with it However, there is a bit of a cloud hanging above this power. For those of you who don't have the information handy...



So a few assumptions here: 1) Since it specifies it must be summoned in an unoccupied square, it has some sort of semi-physical essence whether it be of actual mass or not (i.e. ghost).

It occupies a square. So, this is reasonable.

2) It is an ally (obviously since an ally summoned it), but also threatening since it has the ability to attack and provide an optional flanking benefit.

It is not a creature, so no. Only creatures are allies. It doesn't block line of sight or line of effect, however.

That all said, here's the part in question... We're doing a bit of dungeon crawling and running through a lot of 1 square wide hallways. On a couple of occasions we've been able to pretty much lock down a fight by summoning the anomaly in the hallway to act as a wall while the rest of the team pummels everything with ranged attacks.

This is a fair use of it. Conjurations like this one are designed to occupy squares, and if you can use it to create choke points and barriers... good on you for solid effective tactics.

It has caused a bit of frustration for the DM making these fights a lot less challenging than they could've been, but also because there was really nothing that he could do unless we were missing something. I know this by itself doesn't make the power broken or anything because outside of a 1 square hall they can walk around it - that's fine. But is there anything obvious we're missing? I didn't see any mention of stats or anything to try to dismiss/kill it and being an at-will power could effectively just lock that path down for as long as we needed be it to block off enemies or an escape route.

Yeah. Stop using one square wide hallways all the time. It's specifically suggested you don't do this because it limits the mobility of the combat and leads to scenarios like the one above.

You need room to move in many encounters... thin hallways should be the exception, crawl spaces to the side that allow sneaky characters to get around back, or find hidden encounter features like trap triggers they can use.

It should not be where the bulk of fighting takes place.

I've been meaning to write this up for a while and kept forgetting. Wanted to jot it down before I put it off again even though it's 7:30am and no sleep yet. Please pardon any spelling/grammar issues and I'd be happy to clarify anything I might have made confusion or left out.

No problem.

Thanks for your comments

 

[Wednesday Boy]

Is the anomaly a conjuration and if so, does the power specify that the conjuration occupies a square?

By default conjurations occupy no squares, so unless the power specifies that it does you may be using it incorrectly.

 

[spayne]

It is a conjuration, so it does not occupy a square unless the power says so.

The power does not say it occupies a square. Having to conjure it in an unoccupied square is not the same as saying it occupies a square. It is simply a limit to where the conjuration can initially be placed.

For an example of a conjuration that occupies a square, look at the Storm Pillar power.

Effect: You conjure a pillar of crackling energy in an unoccupied square within range. The pillar occupies 1 square and lasts until the end of your next turn.

 

[PrinceZane]

Is the anomaly a conjuration and if so, does the power specify that the conjuration occupies a square?

By default conjurations occupy no squares, so unless the power specifies that it does you may be using it incorrectly.

Yes, it is: At-Will 4 Augmentable, Conjuration, Implement, Psionic, Psychic
Standard Action Ranged 10

The power does not say it occupies a square. Having to conjure it in an unoccupied square is not the same as saying it occupies a square. It is simply a limit to where the conjuration can initially be placed

How does it's effects work then if it doesn't occupy a square? I guess I could see if the enemy started it's turn next to it and it were some kind of a mist-esque thing, maybe. But could a mist offer flanking? Having a hard time seeing that one

Thanks to all of you for the quick replies

 

[zoroaster100]

I don't see why the fact that it offers flanking means it would occupy a square. Unless the power specifically says it occupies a square, as a conjuration, it does not.

 

[DracoSuave]

It is a conjuration, so it does not occupy a square unless the power says so.

Brain fart on that one, yeah, by bad.

Still... damn good at-will power.

 

[PrinceZane]

I don't see why the fact that it offers flanking means it would occupy a square. Unless the power specifically says it occupies a square, as a conjuration, it does not.

I guess I've just never had a situation come up where something could offer a flanking bonus is if something was physically there outside of using skill to feint or something like that. So basically it's something that has to be summoned in an unoccupied square, but doesn't "occupy" said square. Since it doesn't occupy a square it can be passed through by both allies and enemies - so using it as a wall is out.

To put it in basic terms: it's a burst 1 power that deals damage at the beginning of an adjacent target's turn rather than on your own with the potential to either grant flanking or deal a little extra damage and daze until the end of your next turn.

Is that it in a nutshell? Also, I assuming if you wanted to reconjure the anomaly, you could bring it into the same square despite the original not leaving until the end of your turn since the original doesn't occupy the square (rather than having to select a new target square).

 

[Wednesday Boy]

How does it's effects work then if it doesn't occupy a square? I guess I could see if the enemy started it's turn next to it and it were some kind of a mist-esque thing, maybe. But could a mist offer flanking? Having a hard time seeing that one

I'm not sure what a psychic anomaly actually is but perhaps when you augment the power you tap into the psyche of your enemy to make the anomaly more scary. Because your enemies are more concerned about it, when they're trying to fight someone on one side and keep an eye on that anomaly thing on the other side their attention is split enough that they can be flanked.

 

[PrinceZane]

I'm not sure what a psychic anomaly actually is but perhaps when you augment the power you tap into the psyche of your enemy to make the anomaly more scary. Because your enemies are more concerned about it, when they're trying to fight someone on one side and keep an eye on that anomaly thing on the other side their attention is split enough that they can be flanked.

Ok, fair enough. I could buy that