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<blockquote data-quote="Ruin Explorer" data-source="post: 6319780" data-attributes="member: 18">Indeed. I think it's a small minority of spells that suffer this issue, but they are there, and Cleric spells seem particularly prone to it, because they're often a bit vague/nebulous. One example is Aura of Vitality, which seems every bit as artificial and rules-y as any of the more game-y 4E powers, and has exactly as much flavour text (or slightly less!) as one, too. There isn't a particularly natural idea behind it (rather it seems very computer game-y) - unlike, say, Fireball. Fireball has the fiction and the rules in-tune - you use magic to make a fire-y explosion, which in the rules, explodes for fire damage in an area. Perfect. Aura of Vitality, though? You apparently magically link yourself to people nearby who are somehow determined to be your friends (by what process, we shall never know!), and for unclear reason, once a turn when you &quot;deal damage&quot; to an enemy, you can heal them all for 1d6.That spell really does have every problem of the worse 4E offenders in rules/fiction separation or artificiality or however one wants to put it.(Total tangent - Man, Barkskin appears to kind of blow! 2nd level and all it does is give +2 to AC for one person for up to an hour AND it requires Concentration? Bless is 1st level and I'm pretty sure that'll have much more impact on the outcome of any combat... Hope they've improved Barkskin for release)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Ruin Explorer, post: 6319780, member: 18"] Indeed. I think it's a small minority of spells that suffer this issue, but they are there, and Cleric spells seem particularly prone to it, because they're often a bit vague/nebulous. One example is Aura of Vitality, which seems every bit as artificial and rules-y as any of the more game-y 4E powers, and has exactly as much flavour text (or slightly less!) as one, too. There isn't a particularly natural idea behind it (rather it seems very computer game-y) - unlike, say, Fireball. Fireball has the fiction and the rules in-tune - you use magic to make a fire-y explosion, which in the rules, explodes for fire damage in an area. Perfect. Aura of Vitality, though? You apparently magically link yourself to people nearby who are somehow determined to be your friends (by what process, we shall never know!), and for unclear reason, once a turn when you "deal damage" to an enemy, you can heal them all for 1d6. That spell really does have every problem of the worse 4E offenders in rules/fiction separation or artificiality or however one wants to put it. (Total tangent - Man, Barkskin appears to kind of blow! 2nd level and all it does is give +2 to AC for one person for up to an hour AND it requires Concentration? Bless is 1st level and I'm pretty sure that'll have much more impact on the outcome of any combat... Hope they've improved Barkskin for release) [/QUOTE]

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