Self-Mutilation Powers

[Lizard]

Thinking about dragons and their breaths and gnomes and their invisibility has gotten me thinking... doesn't 4e create a perverse incentive to occasionally attack yourself?

Or your teammates. There's a rogue power which can move a target up to charisma modifier squares. Just switch to a low-damage weapon, lightly tap your buddy on the back, and toss him a couple of squares.

 

[djdaidouji]

There was a french tactical mmo I used to play, dofus or dofes or something, which has a sacrificer class. When they used their power, they gained a bonus to a certain ability score depending on how much damage they took before the next turn. My friends and I who played it used the tactic "Round 1, Sac uses ability, everyone else gang attacks him." It often ended up with the Sac dying after the second round, but he'd do one mega damage hit before then.

I could see that working very well in DnD. Perhaps a special ability like a negative-second wind.

 

[Sojorn]

There's a rogue power that lets you move by enemies, and it causes them to hit themselves with an OA as you do so.

 

[Family]

There's a rogue power that lets you move by enemies, and it causes them to hit themselves with an OA as you do so.

Stop hitting yourself...

 

[Wormwood]

Uh huh. I'd say no.

 

[divinenathanica]

Using the KotS pre-gen characters, and some monsters that I picked up on this site, I put together a little 4e run for three of my friends. At one point, they were fighting a boneshard skeleton which the paladin had marked. The group huddled itself around the boneshard, with the rogue sneak-attacking, and the fighter smacking it around whenever it would attack anyint except itself.

It was almost bloodied, so I decided to have it attack the wizard (who for some reason had strayed into melee range). The paladin was very pleased, thinking that he would get to inflict the radiant damage due to the marking, only to have the skeleton explode, nearly killing the wizard and fighter.

This does raise the question of necromancers making armies of suicide bombing undead. Or, maybe a Lich (who, for some reason heals with necrotic damage) keeping a routine of them as guards/meatshields/healers.

 

[Satori]

Wow. If they had a "Sacrificer" style class in 4e (regardless of its real name), I'd be all over it like captions on cats.

 

[pawsplay]

I think it's more like a self defense mechanism, like those lizards whose tails can detach with the slightest bit of turbulence.

Lizards are not very likely to say, "You know what? It would be awesome to be invisible right now."

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Lizards are not very likely to say, "You know what? It would be awesome to be invisible right now."

No, but they would be like, "crap! I'm under attack" *uses instinctual escape/defencive mechanism* (which since were talking fantasy could be invisibility).

 

[pawsplay]

Gnomes have different characteristics as strategists than lizards. Again, I see no reason why a gnome couldn't stab himself in order to turn invisible, and I think they might occasionally be inclined to do so.