D&D 4E Q on 4E powers (specifcially the Ranger's Careful Attack)

[RigaMortus2]

Quick question...

Do the attack powers REPLACE the "to hit" and damage from your basic weapon attack, or are they in addition to?

I downloaded the same character sheets and I am looking at Riardon (Ranger) and trying to decipher things.

Normally, w/o using a power, the longbow attack is:
+6 vs AC
1d10+4 damage

Using Careful Attack you get
+10 vs AC
1d10 damage

So you are gaining +4 to hit, but losing +4 to damage? Or is it additive? +16 to hit and 2d10+4 to damage?

And would Careful Attack have different numbers if it were a different weapon like a sling? I can't imagine a sling dealing 1d10 damage by default, but if you use Careful Attack with it, would it bump it up to 1d10? Or is Careful Attack just using the base info from the Ranger's Longbow?

 

[fafhrd]

The information on the pregen sheets was consolidated to what the player needed to know to run his character. The powers replace the basic attack, no stacking. Careful shot looks to be a sort of reverse power attack. A sling would do less base damage. We can see from the various ampersand articles that the powers are phrased [w] + [stat bonus], so the numbers on the character sheets just show the output of that formula.

 

[Ktulu]

It replaces their regular attack.

The ranger gains a +4 to hit, but loses his dexterity bonus to damage.

Ktulu

 

[mneme]

Quick question...

Do the attack powers REPLACE the "to hit" and damage from your basic weapon attack, or are they in addition to?

Replace. The power blocks give specific attack and damage.

And would Careful Attack have different numbers if it were a different weapon like a sling?

Attacks are nearly always phrased in terms of the underlying weapon -- like W or 2W. So the 1d10 is coming from the weapon.

Stated as baldly as this, I'd have to guess that Careful Attack is something like:

Ranger 1 At-will Attack: Careful Attack

Attack: DEX+4 vs AC
Damage: W

But it might be DEX+DEX vs AC, given that the Ranger has a +4 Dex bonus.