Fourth Edition Player's Guide Errata and FAQ

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Re: Fourth Edition Player's Guide Errata and FAQ

Postby Baravakar » Mon Apr 20, 2015 5:44 pm


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Re: Fourth Edition Player's Guide Errata and FAQ

Postby Panda » Mon Apr 20, 2015 5:47 pm

It is the second scenario, where the the rank in Item History tracks to the rank of the thread item.
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Re: Fourth Edition Player's Guide Errata and FAQ

Postby Baravakar » Thu Apr 23, 2015 5:50 pm


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Re: Fourth Edition Player's Guide Errata and FAQ

Postby Mataxes » Thu Apr 23, 2015 7:20 pm

Anticipate Blow does require a specific target; the phrasing of the talent rules indicate a specific target (must have a higher Initiative than his target, test is against target's MD). If it were a generic ability, it would have been phrased the same way as Acrobatic Defense (which specifies 'any opponents').

As far as the bonus goes, the bonus certainly applies to melee and ranged attacks, as the intention of the talent is to anticipate the target's attack/movement and the bonus results from knowing where they are going to be. Prior editions have never been clear on whether the bonus from Anticipate Blow applies to spells; the rules have always said the bonus applies to the "Attack test".

I don't think it has ever actually been addressed before. Prior to ED4, none of the core spellcasting Disciplines had access to Anticipate Blow (outside of Versatility), so whether "Attack test" in that context applies to spellcasting... my gut says it should, only so that the utility of the talent applies equally across the board.

But I could see the argument that in the context of this ability it should only apply to Attack tests against Physical Defense (because spell targeting works differently than targeting an attack with a sword or arrow).

As a side note, the reason we dropped the whole thing with only giving the bonus on delayed actions is because, quite frankly, the convolutions that can result when you're dealing with delayed actions and Initiative results, and different talent interactions... it was frequently a headache, and doesn't really add enough value to play. (That and the ED1 version of the talent didn't have the need for delayed actions to give the attack bonus -- this was one of those things added in ED3 that added complexity without really adding value, IMO.)

Edit to add: Reading that through, I realized that I may have misunderstood your question, and didn't really answer what you were asking? That is, if a character can use Anticipate Blow against a target that is not actually coming after him. I would say you can, though obviously if the target of Anticipate Blow isn't actually attacking you, the Defense Bonus doesn't really do anything for you. You could still get the secondary benefit of the Attack test bonus, though.
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Re: Fourth Edition Player's Guide Errata and FAQ

Postby Baravakar » Thu Apr 23, 2015 8:30 pm

I appreciate the completeness of your response. I choose to target the question to one aspect of the talent description but I wanted an explanation for the change. Hence asking for the intention of the change and not just soliciting a yes or no response.

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Re: Fourth Edition Player's Guide Errata and FAQ

Postby Baravakar » Sat Apr 25, 2015 11:09 am

FYI:
There is very little difference between Anticipate Blow and Maneuver.
Anticipate Blow is PER based and tested against Mystic Defense. Maneuver is DEX based and tested against Physical Defense.
Anticipate Blow has a specific the initiative limitation and Maneuver does not.
In order to use take advantage of the defensive bonus for each you will have to beat the initiative of your target anyway.
The attack bonuses are the same. But Maneuver is limited to close combat only.
There is an advantage to Maneuver's bonus because you don't have to exceed the opponent's initiative.

It's probably to late but because of the changes discussed previously, Anticipate Blow could benefit from a name change. It has nothing to due with "blows" from the target anymore. Anticipate Enemy or something similar. The text could be more divination based. The adept is able to foresee briefly into the future and can predict what the opponent will do.

Also in thinking about it, if you can Anticipate your opponent's attack and attacks include spells, why can't Anticipate Blow increase both Physical and Mystic defenses?

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Re: Fourth Edition Player's Guide Errata and FAQ

Postby Mataxes » Sat Apr 25, 2015 11:34 am

With regard to the last item, the reason is twofold. The first is that many spells do not really have a physical component that can be predicted, and allowing it only to work against 'physical' spells hampers certain magician Disciplines over others. The other component is the nature of how spell targeting works -- even for spells with a physical component (like Earth Darts), the caster is still creating a connection to the target's pattern through astral space, and 'anticipating' what the caster might do doesn't really affect that.

(Not to mention from a game-balance standpoint, a Novice-tier talent that increases Physical and Mystic Defense is overpowered.)

While Maneuver and Anticipate Blow have similar overall effects (PD increase, attack bonus), the mechanisms they use (Dex-based vs PD and Per-based vs MD) are different enough that they are beneficial to different types of characters.
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Re: Fourth Edition Player's Guide Errata and FAQ

Postby N-Pendzialek » Mon Apr 27, 2015 4:13 pm

If i am right, Maneuver is also compatible with Acrobatic Defense, while Anticipate Blow is not. Which makes it a nice combination. I am playing 2 gaming rounds atm playing a weaponsmith with high perception using Anticipate Blow and one playing a warrior using the dexterity combination in combat.

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Re: Fourth Edition Player's Guide Errata and FAQ

Postby etherial » Sun May 10, 2015 10:54 pm

Looks like at least a couple errors made it to the print edition. There's a layout glitch on p. 310. Fortunately, it's just cutting the descenders off a couple of characters. Also, on p. 317, Stench is missing a close parenthesis on "Increase Area (+2 Yards"

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Re: Fourth Edition Player's Guide Errata and FAQ

Postby Jaracove » Sat May 16, 2015 9:55 am

Has the pdf been updated to reflect the errata found in this thread?


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