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Talaxar wrote:

Ive got a serious problem with the rules concerning psychic damage and powers that affect the mind. The target line of the powers should say: One living creature. It doesn't make sense to use certain Wizard and Warlock powers on construct and Undead (see confusion, Sleep, delusions of loyalty, whispers of the fey. Anyone else have a problem with this?

The Monster Manual glossary definitions of the keywords for the creatures involved. The glossary explains in the definition when a certain type of creature is not considered "living" and whether they are immune to effects that target "living creatures". Specifically, the Construct (p. 281) and Undead (p.283) keywords in the glossary explain that constructs and undead are not living creatures and that spells and effects that specifically target living creatures have no effect against them.


Now that being said, I couldn't find any powers off-hand that specifically target living creatures. Sleep, for example, doesn't specify "living" creatures. It just targets "creatures". And while constructs and undead don't need to sleep, their keyword definitions don't say they are specifically immune to magical sleep effects. So undead and constructs can normally be affected by Sleep unless their specific monster entry says otherwise.

If you need an in-game explanation for why Sleep might work on an animated creature, simply say that these creatures, while not living, have been given the spark of sentience, which is still just enough for a spell caster to manipulate using psychic and illusion powers, etc. Therefore even though they don't normally go to sleep on their own, the potential to magically "flick the off switch" in their mind is there.

wingedcoyote wrote:

You can do that if you like, but there was a very deliberate decision with 4E to reduce or remove that kind of blanket immunity. You'll notice that nothing is immune to Sneak Attacks, either.

To add on to this, just because something is 'mindless' doesn't mean it can't be affected by a psychic. Sure, it might be a different effect, but the Animus is as susceptible to mental attacks as the soul is.

[I really love that Animus stuff they came up with. Amazing. :D ]

And we finally have our first sticky! Hurrah!

Bodyknock wrote:

Kobold dragonshields can evade a charge attack by shifting away, but they can't fully evade someone who does a move action followed by a standard action

Spoiler: Show

Question:
Kobold Dragonshields have an immediate reaction ability that triggers when an enemy moves adjacent to them that lets the kobold shift 1 square.

The question that came up was this: if you charge a kobold dragonshield, and he shifts 1 square away from you when you move next to him, if you moved less than your speed can you move 1 more square to end your charge next to the kobold? Or does his shift end the charge because you had to declare your starting and ending point for your movement?

Similarly, if you use a move action to walk next to a kobold, and he shifts 1 square away, if you walked less than your speed can you walk one more square to end your move action next to him? Or would you have to declare your starting and ending points for your walk action beforehand?

Answer:
Thank you for contacting us. The answers to you questions are below.

1.) If you charge a kobold dragonshield, and he shifts 1 square away from you when you move next to him, if you moved less than your speed can you move 1 more square to end your charge next to the kobold? Or does his shift end the charge because you had to declare your starting and ending point for your movement?

-As per the rules of charge on page 287 and 288 in the Players Handbook, once you have charged you can take no other actions unless you spend an action point to take another action. In this situation when the Kobold Dragonshield Shifts away after you charged you would not be able to move again, even if you moved less than your speed. You could spend an action point to take a move action next to the Koblod after he has shifted away, but you would not be able to attack as well.

2.) Similarly, if you use a move action to walk next to a kobold, and he shifts 1 square away, if you walked less than your speed can you walk one more square to end your move action next to him? Or would you have to declare your starting and ending points for your walk action beforehand?

- Yes, If you use a move action to walk next to a Kobold Dragonshield and walked less than you speed, after he shifts away you can walk one more square to end your move action next to him.

I hope this information is useful.

Marc
Customer Service Representative
Wizards of the Coast

Hmmm... One thing interesting about his "part 1" reply is that it doesn't specify if the charge is completely resolved or not. Is that common sense yet or is the debate still on? Maybe someone would like to ask CustServ something like this:

a) Do attacks that include movement trigger the Kobold Dragonshield's Dragonshield Tactics ability?

i. e. if a rogue uses Deft Strike to move 2 squares and attack, does the Dragonshield shift once the rogue moves adjacent? Or, if someone charges a Dragonshield, does it shift one square before the attack roll is made?

b) If so, do you have the ability to continue the movement?

i. e. if the rogue moved 1 square, the Dragonshield shifts, can the rogue move another square and finish the attack? Similarly, if you charge less than your speed, can you charge another square and resolve the charge?

Lord Phobetor wrote:

Holy Salma Hayek!

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