Question on Phasing

[Riastlin]

Quick (hopefully) question on phasing. Can a monster with phasing attack through solid objects (assuming LotS and such)?

Can a non-insubstantial creature have phasing?

As the DM I realize that I am free to say "yes" to both of these questions, but would rather have a definitive answer. I ask because I am designing an encounter in a relatively cramped tower and would love to give the big bad phasing to allow him to simply phase through the floors/ceilings to create mobility in the encounter. Obviously, I could simply leave an opening in the center, but that creates other, possibly quite deadlier, problems.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[webrunner]

A creature with phasing is moved to the phase out zone or back into play at the beginning of your turn and..

wait, wrong Wizards product.


Phasing is technically just a movement mode. It doesn't change the Line of Effect or Line of Sight rules. A creature must not end its movement 'phased' either, if the wall is more than just between two adjacent blocks.

That doesnt mean it cant just have a trait like:

Phased Attack
This creature is considered to have line of effect to all creatures within it's attack range, ignoring cover and blocking terrain.

Any creature can have phasing, though.

 

[DracoSuave]

Insubstantial and phasing are unrelated. You can have one without the other.

You cannot attack through terrain that blocks you or solid objects that would provide cover.

 

[Riastlin]

Cool, thanks for the help! I plan on giving them the tower afterward, but of course want to make them work for it. Chasing the big bad through several levels of the tower ought to do the trick.

 

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Just as a quick note, a monster with phasing will not provoke an opportunity attack from moving out of a wall (as the potential attacker will not have LOS or LOE to the monster while it is moving within the wall), but it will provoke when moving back into the wall.

Which will mean that the phasing monsters will likely have an easy time moving to the space they want to attack from, but may have a hard time disengaging.

 

[mudlock]

Webrunner's got it: phasing let's you go through solid objects during your movement, but if you end the action inside one, you get shunted out. In order to attack while inside a wall, a phasing creature would need an attack like Deft Strike, that let it move and attack all as a single action (and it would STILL get shoved out once that action was resolved).

Consider the Avenger powers that give you phasing... do you want your Avenger PCs to be hiding in the walls, safe from all your monsters? No, you don't. So if you want your phasing monsters to do that, you'll need to give it to them explicitly.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Also note that phasing lets you ignore difficult terrain, which can be a nice little benefit.