No Range area-effect question

[buzz]

Okay, my current PC has a Flash that has the limitation No Range with a variable Area Effect advantage. Essentially, he glows, so the Flash always starts with him and then radiates in shapeable areas.

 

Q: Do I need to roll to target a hex when I want to catch another PC in the area of effect? Since my PC is always the "starting" hex, I was thinking that I didn't.

 

Also, the exmaple flashlight given in the sidebar for the Images power also has the No Range limitation. Does that mean it can only illuminate the hex the PC is in?

[dugfromthearth]

You do not need to target another hex, with no range you can't miss the hex you are in.

 

As a house rule (unless it is an official rule, but I don't recall seeing it) we don't allow aoe attacks to deviate more then half the range at which they are targetted.

 

 

And yes a no range flashlight can only illuminate the hex in which the character stands. Which is not as unrealistic as you might think - most flashlights are fairly weak. Higher quality flashlights would have range, the cheap ones probably do not.

[austenandrews]

Right, don't roll to hit the hex with No Range AE. Technically you should, but if you miss, the shot will go astray by 0" (since it has No Range) and you wind up with the same effect. So don't bother.

 

Unless ...

 

As a GM, I would probably allow someone with a No Range AE to center the effect in an adjacent hex. After all, STR is inherently No Range and you can punch someone in the next hex. The same should be true for any No Range attack (depending on the Special Effect, of course).

 

If your GM decided to run it that way, it's possible you could miss your own hex and center the Flash in an adjacent hex. However, that's a lot of rolling for a generally meaningless effect. I wouldn't mess with it unless the Special Effects demanded it and both player and GM agreed.

 

Then again I rate a hex as DCV 0, not DCV 3, because I just don't think they should be more difficult to hit than a Stunned person. So I'm biased that way.

 

-AA

[badger3k]

Originally posted by austenandrews

Right, don't roll to hit the hex with No Range AE. Technically you should, but if you miss, the shot will go astray by 0" (since it has No Range) and you wind up with the same effect. So don't bother.

 

Unless ...

 

As a GM, I would probably allow someone with a No Range AE to center the effect in an adjacent hex. After all, STR is inherently No Range and you can punch someone in the next hex. The same should be true for any No Range attack (depending on the Special Effect, of course).

 

If your GM decided to run it that way, it's possible you could miss your own hex and center the Flash in an adjacent hex. However, that's a lot of rolling for a generally meaningless effect. I wouldn't mess with it unless the Special Effects demanded it and both player and GM agreed.

 

Then again I rate a hex as DCV 0, not DCV 3, because I just don't think they should be more difficult to hit than a Stunned person. So I'm biased that way.

 

-AA

 

I think the FAQ answers a similar question on range - the no range limit can be used like hth attacks - you can target the hex next to you. I'd still require a roll to hit - otherwise it's a cheap automatic hit power. Still DCV 3 isn't that hard (and it gives the defender a chance to dodge the effect).

[Farkling]

Don't forget...if you target an ADJACENT Hex with a AOE attack, YOU are definitely in the area....

[Lord Liaden]

Originally posted by Farkling

Don't forget...if you target an ADJACENT Hex with a AOE attack, YOU are definitely in the area....

 

Unless you choose an AoE option like Line or Cone in which the adjacent hex is the starting point of the effect - in that case the area spreads away from you without catching you in it.

[dugfromthearth]

I do allow aoe's to target adjacent hexes and not hit the caster. requiring a +1/4 advantage to be able to hit the next hext and not yourself seems very odd.

 

No range lets you hit the next hex. So the rule means that aoe adds in the limitation that it spills over and hits you (assuming a one hex aoe, it doesn't hit anyone else in surrounding hexes, just you)

 

now to hit an adjacent hex you do have to roll to hit. It is DCV 0 if adjacent though, not DCV 3.

[prestidigitator]

The FAQ makes it plain that you can "start" a No Range attack in an adjacent hex. I usually don't even require the DCV 0 attack roll for this unless something really wacko is happening, like a wizard trying to cast a spell requiring Concentration from the back of an untrained horse in the middle of combat. In such cases I might argue for the power going in some oddball direction, or even getting messed up and including the caster in the area.

 

I would never require an attack roll if the attack/power is centered in the character's own hex, but (s)he must, of course, then have the Personal Immunity (or Hole in the Middle) Advantage or be hit by the power her-/him-self. As a special case, I allow cone-shaped Area of Effect powers to "start" in adjacent hexes, but be counted as if they had been started in the character's hex (essentially a free, really limited Hole in the Middle), because otherwise it is really weird trying to figure the hexes with the axis extending directly away from the character, or artificially canting it at some other angle.

 

As for flashlights, I have always had a problem with the example. I think they should function differently from torches. I consider them to either be a ranged single hex area (which hits the first thing "in the way"), or a cone-shaped (maybe line-shaped) area, with something like Reduced By Range. Maybe they should even be Area of Effect: Line, Non-Selective Target, Reduced by Range (and a little GM fudging when it makes sense).

 

Considering an illminated hex, I handle lighting like this: while the actual effect illuminates only the hex in question, things can still be seen elsewhere, but with illumination Per roll penalties affected as by range (on top of normal range Per roll penalties due to something being far away from a character and thus taking up less view angle). So if you are holding a torch you can see everything in your hex at -0, everything out to 4" at maybe a -1, everything out to 8" at -5 (additional -2 from decreased illumination, -2 from distance), etc. If you had light from a high-powered, undirected lightbulb, this might provide a "+3 to Per rolls," so lighting penalties (as opposed to distance penalties) might not actually occur until 16" away). Additionally, I might give those outside the lighting the Images Per roll modifier (on top of normal high-contrast bonuses) to see things in the area.

[Dust Raven]

Originally posted by badger3k

I think the FAQ answers a similar question on range - the no range limit can be used like hth attacks - you can target the hex next to you. I'd still require a roll to hit - otherwise it's a cheap automatic hit power. Still DCV 3 isn't that hard (and it gives the defender a chance to dodge the effect).

 

Adjacent Hexes are 0 DCV.

 

One of the character's in my old game has a AE 3" Radius Flash attack centerd in himself and no Personal Immunty..then again...he also has lots of Flash Defense.

 

I have another character with a Darkness Field centered on herself, but she's got the PI.