Question on power interaction from DDI

[NewJeffCT]

I was looking at some powers for a high level controller and saw this one under Lalali-Puy, Sorcerer Queen (level 28 Solo Controller)

When Lalali-Puy is first bloodied, it triggers Oba's Vengeance, which is a close burst 15 power (no action) that is +32 vs Fortitude and targets enemies in the burst. (my guess is that will be almost all the PCs)

On a hit, the power does 6d10+3 damage (avg of 36 pts) and stuns the target until the end of Lalali's Puy's next turn. That's pretty powerful in that it stuns potentially all the PCs. However, it also has an effect - the target is also subject to Oba's Curse (save ends) Again, this could potentially affect several PCs.

Oba's Curse reads as follows - when Lalali-Puy deals damage with a melee or ranged attack to a target other than a cursed creature, the attack also deals an equal amount of damage to the cursed creature.

My question is, if 5 out of 6 PCs are affected by Oba's Vengeance and therefore Oba's Curse, does that mean if Lalali-Puy then hits the one non-cursed PC with her Spirit Maw attack (ranged 20) for 6d8+9 damage (avg of 36 points of damage), the other five (cursed) PCs would then also take the equivalent damage?

That seems pretty powerful. But, it is a very high level Solo.

Thanks

 

[OnlineDM]

Yes. (I like short answers!)

For a slightly longer answer, I'll point out that the stunning part of Oba's Vengeance doesn't necessarily do much, since it's possible that Lalali-Puy becomes bloodied right before her next turn, which would mean that the stun has little effect (except to end the turn of the creature who bloodied her, basically). This is also a once-per-encounter power, so the fact that it's high-impact makes sense.

 

[Unwise]

Powerwise it seems interesting to me and I think it could end up having some good tactical elements in the encounter.

That curse seems to be an oddly designed power. If I understand correctly, the PCs would be best off not resisting the damage+stun. That way they would all be cursed and the curse would have no effect as there is no non-cursed target to attack.

Sure in practice, somebody will resist and somebody will make a saving throw, it just seems odd that they would be better off not doing so. Do you have rules in your campaign for purposely not ending a save-ends effect or purposely not resisting an attack?

The effect this would have on combat is kind of the opposite of what you would think of on a curse. The un-cursed person is the one that you want to protect, hide and guard. You would much prefer your tank to be cursed than not.

 

[the Jester]

Yes. High level solos are, and should be, bad-ass.