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The Black Reaver Zombie has a special attack that deals bonus damage "against a creature that could not see the zombie at the start of the zombie’s turn."

The monster has an ability that creates a "zone in a close burst 1 that lasts until the start of its next turn. The zone blocks line of sight for all creatures except the zombie, and any other creature except the zombie is blinded while within the zone. "

The argument came up that when the zombie's turn starts, it's zone vanishes, and it can therefore be seen at the start of it's turn.  Several people suggested that the zombie can take it's start of turn events in any order, but deciding if it can be seen or not isn't an event, it can either be seen (it's not in a zone of darkness) or it cannot be (it is in a zone of darkness).

I can see the intent, but does this creature actually function by RAW?    

Yes it function by RAW since a creature can choose the order at which things happen at the start of its turn, not just events. The blinding zone created lasts until the start of its next turn so it cannot be seen at the start of the it’s turn since it can decide to end it at the end of the stat of turn phase.

RC 197 Any Order: The creature can choose the order at which things happen at the start of its turn.

..."at the end of the start of turn phase"...what?  This is the part my brain keeps tripping on.  Regardless of what order events occur in, the start of your turn is the start of your turn...isn't it?  If I'm adjacent to the Black Reaver Zombie, and therefore in it's zone, I'm blind.  When do I stop being blind?  The start of the creature's turn, when the zone expires...
 

EDIT: misunderstood what Plague was saying. 

They dont' actually happen together.

What Plague is saying is that if you have more than one effect that trigger at the same time, you can do them in any order.  So at the start of the turn these two effects happen:

The zone disapates.
The creature can make an attack.

He can do those two things in any order, since they are both his effects.  He chooses to attack first, then let the zone fade.  Unless your DM is nice then he does it in the wrong order. 

No, the creature can't make an attack at the start of its turn, and it can't make an attack before the zone dissipates. You mean "the creature exists as capable of making an attack"?
 
Nonetheless, I think Plaguescarred is correct. Checking whether or not the zombie can see a creature will, by the zombie's choice, happen before the dissipation. It's the same as choosing when to take ongoing damage/when a resistance dissipates/etc.

But is checking to see if a creature has line of sight to you an effect? 

Jan 7, 2013 -- 4:34AM, Metafictional wrote:

But is checking to see if a creature has line of sight to you an effect? 

Doesn't matter, because the rule is as general as it could possibly be.  Everything happens in an order the creature whose turn it is chooses.