Ask the Sage: Quick Rules Questions Vol. 5 (DnD 4e)

[Houtoku]

Meant new for me (& since there haven't been any new ones in 2 weeks).. either way.

Thanks alot, that cleared it up. I usually pick one up when creating a character just for the RP aspect, but this at least justifies it. I didn't even think of Wizards' Implement Mastery.

[blesper]

How do you determine defenses on something that you create through a power like the psion's Shaped Consciousness.

[Nocturnal]

The general rules for Conjurations are that they use the same defenses that you have.

[blesper]

Thank you. I've been wondering about that.

[Nocturnal]

Glad to help!

For future reference, this and similar information can be found on page 59 of the first Player's Handbook, and also in an updated form in the appendix of Player's Handbook 3, which starts on page 214.

[hvg3akaek]

Alternatively, you can find them in the Compendium (direct link). It's a great tool for searching out rules, and it even tells you where to look for more (eg, PHB3 in this case).

[Nocturnal]

That does not work if you don't have a D&D Insider subscription.

[hvg3akaek]

That is true

Of course, directing to the PHB3 doesn't work without the PHB3, either - so I was jut putting out more options

[Nocturnal]

True enough and I guess the DDI option is cheaper in the short run!

[zelphi]

He's not going to be summoning something with a Psion without the PHB3 though, unless he's already got a D&Di subscription.

[Illya]

Originally Posted by Nocturnal

That's not a new one, I'm sure it was asked before. Short, inaccurate answer: No.

Slightly longer more accurate answer: Some class features (such as the Wizard's Implement Mastery features) and some feats (such as Implement Expertise) trigger off your using an attack through a particular kind of implement. A non-enchanted implement will suffice for these purposes.

So for example if you have the Holy Symbol Expertise feat, and you use a non-magical holy symbol, you'll get a +1 feat bonus to the attack though you won't get any enhancement bonus. You wouldn't get this bonus if you used the attack without any symbol.

Also can consider the new Superior Implements - non-magical with specific bonuses...

[Nocturnal]

Right, those require feats to use so I lumped it in with "trigger certain feats" rather than give a more complicated answer that would likely still fail to capture every possible use (what if the game features a door sealed with a powerful Arcane Lock that only opens to a holy symbol of Erathis?)

But yes, that is correct: non-magical superior implements might hypothetically be purchased and the feat taken to use them, as they are well within reach of most level 1 characters' starting gold allotment.

[Houtoku]

Question about multiple damage types.

If something (power, weapon, etc) says you do damage of multiple types (cold/fire, poison/acid, etc) - does that mean you do X damage of each type.

Or it's considered "mixed" damage, and can ignore resists towards one type (ie: you do cold/fire damage against something with Cold resist 5) - will it do full damage because of the Fire component?

[Nocturnal]

The latter: it is considered "mixed" damage and only the weakest resistance or the highest vulnerability will count. This is the way to ignore resistances.

Note that untyped damage is not a type. If damage has a type, then it is not also untyped.

There's an exception: some attacks (mainly monster attacks) deal "# [untyped] damage and # [typed, e.g.] cold damage" - those will trigger resistances and vulnerabilities, but only the part of the damage which is typed. So say you deal 8 damage and 4 cold damage to someone who has resist cold 5? You will end up doing 8 damage, not 7 which is what you'd do if you had dealt 12 cold damage. If you hit that same target with 12 cold and fire damage, of course, you will do the full 12 damage.

However that brings up a good question that I had and don't know the answer to. What happens if you deal multiple distinct types of damage (written as e.g., "5 cold damage and 5 fire damage"), or typed and untyped (as might actually happen) and are Weakened? Here's the thorniest example situation:

A young white dragon is Weakened when he bites a target that has vulnerable 5 cold. The dragon rolls and deals 7 untyped damage and 1 cold damage. How much damage does the target take? Things to consider...

Is the damage summed then halved so the total would be 4, or is it halved separately, then summed, so the total would be 3?

If it's halved first then is the cold damage negated (as it rounds down to zero) so it doesn't trigger vulnerability at all? So the final damage is 3?

Is extra damage inflicted on a vulnerable creature also halved if the attacker is weakened? So in the first case (summed then halved) the total damage would be 6 after the 5 from vulnerability got halved and rounded down to 2 (or the 13 total got halved to 6)?

[Nocturnal]

Heh, stumped the Sage, have I?