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Jul 2, 2010 -- 5:52AM, Harzerkatze wrote:

Several of the movement techniques are used during someone else's turn  (interrupts). How does that affect the use of the encounter power? If I  use Two Falling Feathers attack, then will the movement technique be  available for use until the start of my next turn? Or what about using  the movement technique first, must I use the attack during my next turn  or is it wasted? I guess the same can be said about the free action  movement techniques when they aren't used on my turn.

My understanding of the rules on p.217 is that the monk's Full Discipline Movement techniques and attacks are linked, and you can only use one such set per round. Only you used e.g. a Full Discipline attack on your turn and it is still the same round, you cannot use a movement technique from a different Full Discipline until the start of the next round.
So it is important to look at your position in the initiative order.

- If you acted in that round already and used a Full Discipline action, you can only use that discipline's techniques (or a regular move/attack etc) until the end of teh round.

- If you have used no Full Discipline technique the running round, you are free to use any Full discipline free action or Immediate Interrupt during your opponents turn, if the trigger occurs. If you do, you are then commeitted to that discipline (or basic attacks/moves etc) on your turn.

In short: New round, new choice.

What I still have problems understanding is:

The Fallen Needle Move technique is an Immediate Interrupt shift 2 triggered by an Opponent ENDING their move adjacent. What does that mean?

When an opponent (melee only, reach 1) with speed 6 moves three squares to a square next to me and strikes me, I can shift 2 squares away. But can I then no longer be attacked by him? Or can he simply continue his move for two of his remaining three squares and then attack me in the same turn?

My problem is the immediate interrupt, which implies that the interrupting action happens before the trigger. A wizard's shield power activates on a hit, but the shield is there before the hit and turns it into a miss. An interrupt invalidates the trigger, or retcons it, so to speak.

If my shift 2 now happens before the opponent ends his move, he hasn't ended his move and could decide to move on and hit me despite my shift. This would of course make the technique less useful then otherwise, when it would be very powerful indeed.

So: The enemy moves adjacent and hits, I shift away. Am I safe from him, or only if he has not enough movement left?

Monks aren't the first class with interrupt movement- rangers have had it forever, just never at-will.


As for the wording, it specifies they end their movement- what that means is that they've ended the action. They can't 'go back' and use any remaining, unexpended squares, in the same way you can't break up a move action into a bunch of pieces- like, move 2, attack, move 2, shift 1 as a minor, move 2. Doesn't work.


So if they move adjacent to you with a move action, you can use the interrupt to shift away BEFORE they can make any attack as a standard action.

The reson this tends to be confusing is that players really don't usually wait to see if they trigger anything with their movements, so it often becomes "I move adjacent and attack.", despite that actually being "I use a move action to move adjacent." and "I use a standard action to attack."

A *Charge* action is where the real gray area is, because it's one action. However, here we default to the rules of immediate actions- an interrupt happens 'before' the triggering effect, and a reaction happens 'after' the triggering effect.

If an enemy moves adjacent to you and makes an attack as part of a charge, before that action resolves you can shift 2 squares.

Their action then resolves *as normal*- they can't move extra squares, and given that you're two squares away, they probably can't hit you unless they have reach.


Really, this is a powerful option for monks who as a class have no real usage of immediate actions, and is interesting thematically. In a way it is much like Lightning Rush from the Battlemind- an option that presents a new paradigm for the class allowing it to act outside of it's initial parameters while still being balanced by the action economy.


EDIT: To put the effect in perspective, I'm going to lift from MTG.

Basically, when a creature moves adjacent to you using an action, that creature's controller says "I use a move action to move adjacent to you."

Once declared they can't go back and change it, even if something happens before the actio resolves.

They declare it. Then it resolves. An immediate interrupt happens effectively 'before' the action that triggered it finishes resolving, however as the action is already resolving, it cannot be changed.


Does that clear things up any?