Why are single target powers stated as Close Burst?

[Mapache]

Sorry to get off topic here. That I'd interesting. I figured wizards would have dumped that domain name. Why pay for something that isn't even your company (it was over a DECADE ago).

Less than $10 a year is trivial for a company compared to even the barest glimmer of future value from a once-famous name. If even one person a year hits TSR.com because they vaguely remember playing D&D when they were young and goes on to buy just a single book, they're already profiting off it short-term. Also, if they dropped it, it'd be snapped up by a squatter—or, even worse, Totally Slutty Rangers: The only site where half-elven hotties show off their enhancement bonuses! (Most of them are probably not using the inherent bonus rules.)

 

[Dice4Hire]

be snapped up by a squatter—or, even worse, Totally Slutty Rangers: The only site where half-elven hotties show off their enhancement bonuses! (Most of them are probably not using the inherent bonus rules.)

If you had gotten essentials in there somewhere, I'd have given you an xp.

 

[Frankie1969]

All Attack Powers are exactly one of four types: Melee, Ranged, Close, or Area. It's not how I would have set things up, but there it is.

Got it. I had been using "ranged" and "area" as English-language concepts rather than keywords. Close attacks have areas of effect, but they are not Area attacks.

Sorry to be the one to break this to you, but TSR's been gone for 13 years…

As long as I still have my set of 1E books (including an unexpurgated DDG), TSR lives on.

Speaking of Deities, I'll have you know that although dwarves may call the creator god Moradin, human societies in my game worlds know him as Gygax. His symbol is the egg, and his high festival is the Day of Arnes Sun.

You'll sometimes see a PC power that is an immediate action and is ranged -- often punishment-type attacks. Because the PC is making a ranged attack during the monster's turn that triggered the immediate, the monster does not get an OA against the PC for making a ranged attack, because one cannot make an OA on one's own turn.

LOL. I see the influence of MtG developers on D&D here.

 

[Dausuul]

Yeah, it's a silly way to handle it. They try to fix one source of confusion (people thinking it must provoke an OA since it's ranged) by introducing another, worse source of confusion (people thinking it affects everything in the burst like any sensible burst power).

I think "melee reach 5" is a much better solution.

 

[Dice4Hire]

I think "melee reach 5" is a much better solution.

Melee Ranged 5 Area 1 would be more troublesome.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Sorry to get off topic here. That I'd interesting. I figured wizards would have dumped that domain name. Why pay for something that isn't even your company (it was over a DECADE ago).

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

It's left in for diaglo.

 

[Dungeoneer]

I think a lot of power descriptions could stand to be more explicit, rather than relying on the player having comprehensive knowledge of all the technical terms of the 4e ruleset.

And I say this as a computer programmer who digs that kind of stuff.

 

[MrMyth]

Aha. I must have missed the paragraph that says "close" does not count as an area. Bursts and blasts sure look like areas from an ordinary-language point of view. Thanks for the info.

Nevertheless, I still don't like that templating. Hmm... if I were evil TSR overlord, I would have used operator overloading on a different keyword:

Reach [X]
Target: You or one ally
​

And if the desired ally is concealed from you, well tough buns for them.

Yeah, it's a poor way to go about it, in my opinion. I think they should have left such things as 'Ranged' powers, and just created a new keyword (*Defensive* or some such) that means the power doesn't provoke OAs. Would also be useful on lots of utility powers that are technically Ranged powers, and thus provoke despite being minor action small buffs to your allies.

 

[MrMyth]

As for "www. tsr. com", I'm a fan of it still being around simply due to being the quickest address you need to type to get to the D&D webpage.

 

[Joshua Randall]

Ranged 5, does not provoke OAs is very different from Close Burst 5, targets one creature in burst.

You'll appreciate the difference the next time your PC is Blinded yet still wants to attack.