Wizard Shield Ability

[Neuroglyph]

The way we play, the DM announces what AC value he hits, so there's no "DM recalculate" involved -- I know if the power will be effective or not before I choose to use it. Many groups play this way, and it makes interrupt powers much more useful, but there's no RAW requirement to announce or withhold that information (as far as I know).

I DM that way as well and it's only fair to allow the Player a chance to use their power in a way it will help them. Making them guess whether popping the power is going to avoid a hit or not is kinda mean.

 

[eamon]

Per RAW you can't ever use an Interrupt or Reaction on your own turn, even if you are hit on your turn (e.g. if you provoke an Opportunity Attack and get smacked for it).

I'm curious - in one group I play in, this rule isn't always rigorously followed. How RAW do others play this?

 

[sfedi]

I STRONGLY play by that rule.

Plenty of weird stuff may happen if you can make Immediates in your turn.

 

[BASHMAN]

If it is an immediate interupt, that means that you get to know if it will make a difference or not- the GM tells you what AC was hit, and you decide to use the power to interrupt the attack. If the AC the enemy hit is a secret, the power becomes practically useless.

 

[Destil]

Yeah, I pretty much just call out the defenses hit every round. It's actually sort of unfair to do otherwise as a DM, as you may be gimping the party unnecessary (and unintentionally): last session my monsters made a full round of attacks hitting by 1-2 points on several PCs, only for me to be reminded that each character had used second wind the previous turn and was missed. I'm not necessarily going to remember that for everyone.

EDIT: Though I have some real sympathy for my Saturday DM, who has to deal with my Kalashatar paladin. Bastion of mental clarity is a huge pain in the ass at times, and I've been told 'never do that again' after using it conditionally...

 

[scottchiefbaker]

I discussed it with my DM and here's how we decided to play it.

We figure the shield is the a response action the wizard has when he sees an attack coming. If a goblin is attacking you and rolls a 2 he fumbles his dagger and you know you're not under threat and don't pop your shield. If a minotaur rushes straight at you, you know you're going to get hit and then have a chance to pop your shield.

Basically we figure you have about .2 seconds before a hit strikes you to determine if you'll need to pop your shield.

 

[BASHMAN]

I discussed it with my DM and here's how we decided to play it.

We figure the shield is the a response action the wizard has when he sees an attack coming. If a goblin is attacking you and rolls a 2 he fumbles his dagger and you know you're not under threat and don't pop your shield. If a minotaur rushes straight at you, you know you're going to get hit and then have a chance to pop your shield.

Basically we figure you have about .2 seconds before a hit strikes you to determine if you'll need to pop your shield.

As long as the GM is telling what AC the minotaur hit, you're playing it right. Otherwise, you're being screwed.

 

[Nichwee]

My fluff reason for why a Wizard should know if the +4 AC/Reflex will help so he can pop Shield only when useful:

The way I have always seen this working is that the Wizard's Shield is "unpassable" when cast - so if you are the triggering attack it would fail as it bounces off the Shield but following attacks just need to swing round it (this is my fluff for the +4 AC and Reflex for duration part).

But this fluff doesn't explain the +4 (as opposed to cancel the attack) when cast. I put that down to limit of reaction time. If the hit beat AC/Reflex by more than 4 the Wizard couldn't get the Shield up before the attack hit (as an Immediate Interrupt beats the trigger in time) so doesn't trigger it at all.

 

[DreamChaser]

My fluff reason for why a Wizard should know if the +4 AC/Reflex will help so he can pop Shield only when useful:

The way I have always seen this working is that the Wizard's Shield is "unpassable" when cast - so if you are the triggering attack it would fail as it bounces off the Shield but following attacks just need to swing round it (this is my fluff for the +4 AC and Reflex for duration part).

But this fluff doesn't explain the +4 (as opposed to cancel the attack) when cast. I put that down to limit of reaction time. If the hit beat AC/Reflex by more than 4 the Wizard couldn't get the Shield up before the attack hit (as an Immediate Interrupt beats the trigger in time) so doesn't trigger it at all.

Fluff wise:

A wizard who knows how to shield has a permanent aura about him that can potentially be brought to bear to deflect an attack...but this aura only has so much energy to spare. On an instinctive / reflexive level, a wizard knows whether any given strike could be deflected by his shield but he must choose when to actually flex the shield into form. Most of the time, a wizard resists doing this unless he knows that his shield is potent enough to deflect the attack that triggered the reflexive "flexing" but he's not required to; he can respond to an attack that he knows will hit him anyway to gain the protection for a few sections if he expects more attacks.

When asked why he cannot flex this field at will, he explains that he can but nothing actually happens unless it encounters a threat to deflect.

DC