Warlock's Curse Questions

[Oni]

Does a someone that has been cursed know they have been? Would it make them aware of your presense or location?

How long does a curse last? If you curse someone and then they run away and you run into them a couple hours later are they still cursed?

Does it count as an attack? Would it break invisibilty?

 

[fba827]

PCs and enemies are aware of conditions used against them and their source.

As for how long it lasts, I am inclined to say until end of encounter, but I've never really had to consider it since my players always kill their cursed targets right away

 

[periculum]

creatures are always aware of what conditions they have on them, and that includes being cursed. That doesn't necessarily make them aware of location though.

I don't have my book in front of me, but I believe it lasts until end of encounter (or 5min)

Again I don't have my book in front of my, but I'm 95% sure it does not have the attack keyword in it, so it wouldn't break invisibility.

 

[Starglim]

As others have said, a creature affected by a power knows exactly what effects are on it. The example for divine challenge says that the creature knows it is marked and will take damage if it attacks anyone other than the paladin - thus, the creature knows the game effects, including the identity of other specific creatures connected to them, but I don't see that it knows the name, class or level of the power, or who or what caused it, unless it can guess from the visual display or game effects. edit: It knows the power source for the effect because that's a keyword of every power. It doesn't learn your location.

Warlock's curse lasts until the end of the encounter or until the cursed target drops to 0 hit points, as it says in the description.

What source of invisibility? Read the description of that power. Presumably it isn't eyebite because the creature isn't aware of the warlock's presence. If the warlock had invisibility, Wizard Utility 6, cast on him by the party's wizard, he becomes visible if he attacks, as you mentioned. Warlock's curse doesn't require an attack roll, has no immediate effect on the target, is not one of the four types of attacks listed on page 56 and is not an attack power - note that I'm not saying that any of these are the definition of an attack, but together they suggest to me that warlock's curse is not an attack. (It would be really helpful if Attack was a keyword.)

 

[Oni]

Warlock's curse lasts until the end of the encounter or until the cursed target drops to 0 hit points, as it says in the description.

I'm not sure how I missed that.

 

[Oni]

"Whenever you affect a creature with a power, that
creature knows exactly what you’ve done to it and
what conditions you’ve imposed. For example, when
a paladin uses divine challenge against an enemy, the
enemy knows that it has been marked and that it
will therefore take a penalty to attack rolls and some
damage if it attacks anyone aside from the paladin."

This brings up the nitpicky question in my mind, are warlock's curse and hunter's quarry powers or simply class features?

"The paladin has three class features that work like
powers: Channel Divinity, divine challenge, and lay
on hands."

This implies to me that not all class features are powers. If this is true the originally cited rule would not apply. Neither curse or quarry received a power style write up like Divine Challenge either.

 

[Starglim]

Fair point. A little earlier (p. 52): "Some class features are powers that every member of a class can use .. Others are more like racial traits - they're not so much things you do as things that modify the effects of what you do." I think that placing a damaging effect on a creature is more like using a power than modifying the effect of a power, but I can see the opposite argument.

I'd refer back to the economy of actions. In the situation you describe, if warlock's curse didn't tip off enemies, a warlock could use potentially a number of minor actions without cost before the start of combat. That's an unfair advantage that shouldn't be allowed. It might be reasonable for greater invisibility (a 16th level power that requires the wizard to stand in line of effect within 20 squares) but the warlock could gain the same effect with a skill check on his own (Stealth).