Rule Clarifications

[heregon]

Last night during a session we ran into a few problems, we couldn't find any definite rules in the PHB or Compendium and so we ran with the situational vibe. I was the DM and didn't want to make any calls without first seeing what other people had to say.

First Problem: The party's warlock casts Dreadful Word upon an opponent immune to Fear, but not Psychic attacks. The damage is Psychic as stated, but we were unsure whether the -1 penalty was Psychic or Fear based. I denied the penalty, but would still like a rule clarification.

Second Problem: One of the party members attempted a bull rush against an opponent, succeeded in the attack, and pushed the beast one square back diagonally. The square behind the pushed was free, and we discussed it after game in which the player stated any of the 3 squares behind the opponent are optional. Is this true and are there any exceptions to this rule?

Third Problem: One player was dropped below 0 hitpoints, an adjacent PC attempted a Heal check on the dying player. These players were both in combat with an enemy. I stated the healer would take an attack of opportunity but couldn't find anything to back up my claim. What exactly would happen in this situation?

Any help or links is greatly appreciated

 

[N8Ball]

Last night during a session we ran into a few problems, we couldn't find any definite rules in the PHB or Compendium and so we ran with the situational vibe. I was the DM and didn't want to make any calls without first seeing what other people had to say.

First Problem: The party's warlock casts Dreadful Word upon an opponent immune to Fear, but not Psychic attacks. The damage is Psychic as stated, but we were unsure whether the -1 penalty was Psychic or Fear based. I denied the penalty, but would still like a rule clarification.
Any help or links is greatly appreciated

Q1: Pg 282 MM: Immune: The monster has immunity to the stated kind of damage or effect. For example, a monster with "immune to poison" never takes poison damage and can't suffer any other ill effects from a poison attack.

The damage from the attacks is specifically Psychic, so you're good to go there, but the "other ill effects" are unspecified and so would take on all the keywords appropriate, both fear and psychic, so you made the right call in denying the penalty.

 

[Starglim]

2. See page 285 for the definition of push 1 square. You can move the opponent into any square that is 1 square away and further from you than where it started. So, if pushing an opponent located on a diagonal to you, say northwest of you, you can legally move it 1 square diagonally, north or west.

edit: Although the RAW might allow you to push it NE to the square two squares north of you, or SW to the square two squares west of you, for sanity's sake, I would say you can't bullrush it in the opposite direction to your move with which you enter its square, unless there is no other legal square for it to enter (that is, unless it's standing against a diagonally placed wall).
Otherwise a diagonal push would have a better effect than a push in an orthogonal direction (5 possible squares vs. 3 possible squares).

3. edit: Nothing in the Heal skill (p. 185) says that it provokes opportunity attacks and it is not a move or a ranged or area power (opportunity attack text, p. 290), so it doesn't provoke.

 

[Infiniti2000]

Also, note the errata regarding resistances. I realize this isn't a resistance (it's immunity), but it might be pertinent in other, similar situations.

 

[Danceofmasks]

@starglim
The OP asked for a rules clarification, and not any sort of suggested houserule.
Some players frequently make optimum use of the push mechanics, such as using a push 5 effect to push a foe to your NW 5 squares NE.
See, it's perfectly legal ... and if you rule against it in say, LFR at a con, it would be quite reasonable for any dissatisfied player to conclude that the DM is "a total n00b who likes to surprise gank 1337 players by changing rules on the fly."

 

[Gruns]

And furthermore...

Last night during a session we ran into a few problems, we couldn't find any definite rules in the PHB or Compendium and so we ran with the situational vibe. I was the DM and didn't want to make any calls without first seeing what other people had to say.

First Problem: The party's warlock casts Dreadful Word upon an opponent immune to Fear, but not Psychic attacks. The damage is Psychic as stated, but we were unsure whether the -1 penalty was Psychic or Fear based. I denied the penalty, but would still like a rule clarification.

Second Problem: One of the party members attempted a bull rush against an opponent, succeeded in the attack, and pushed the beast one square back diagonally. The square behind the pushed was free, and we discussed it after game in which the player stated any of the 3 squares behind the opponent are optional. Is this true and are there any exceptions to this rule?

Third Problem: One player was dropped below 0 hitpoints, an adjacent PC attempted a Heal check on the dying player. These players were both in combat with an enemy. I stated the healer would take an attack of opportunity but couldn't find anything to back up my claim. What exactly would happen in this situation?

Problem 1: As N8Ball pointed out, you were correct.

Problem 2: Your player was correct. There are usually 3 squares that qualify as "further away. Likewise, when charging, there are usually 3 squares that qualify as "the closest square".

Problem 3: There shouldn't have been an Opportunity Attack here. (What is this "Attack of Opportunity" you speak of?!?) For future reference, there are generally only 2 things in 4E that cause OAs: Moving away from a threat, and using a Ranged (or Area, which are usually Ranged anyway) attack while next to a threat.

Later!
Gruns

 

[jeffhartsell]

And a key part of OAs is that a ranged power is not necessarily a ranged attack. So powers that work at range but are not attacks, do not cause OAs.

 

[Tarril Wolfeye]

Powers that work at range don't automatically provoke, that's right, but Ranged Powers do provoke even if they are not an attack.

 

[Starglim]

Powers that work at range don't automatically provoke, that's right, but Ranged Powers do provoke even if they are not an attack.

Good point. In this case, a Heal check is neither.

A skill check can quite easily be an attack, but is it a power?

 

[Starglim]

@starglim
The OP asked for a rules clarification, and not any sort of suggested houserule.
Some players frequently make optimum use of the push mechanics, such as using a push 5 effect to push a foe to your NW 5 squares NE.
See, it's perfectly legal ... and if you rule against it in say, LFR at a con, it would be quite reasonable for any dissatisfied player to conclude that the DM is "a total n00b who likes to surprise gank 1337 players by changing rules on the fly."

Fair enough. The OP asked if his player's assertion that he could have bull-rushed the target to any of the 3 squares behind it was correct. Yes, those 3 squares are definitely legal. I know of only one exception - that you can't push a target into a square that it couldn't enter by walking - and one caveat - that if forced movement would move the target into hindering terrain (DMG p. 44 and 61) it gets a saving throw.