Queries

For Queries.

From the Forgotten Realms Player's guide p. 8
Does that mean that in any encounter I can choose to use either power, or do I have to decide now which of the two powers I want?

Also, am I right in thinking that in 4e you are either trained in a skill or not, that there are no ranks, that you just get a +5 bonus to any skills that you are trained in? I'm a bit confused by the 'ranks' heading on the gamersplane 4e character sheet, but maybe that is just a bit of 3e terminology that has slipped through?

You are correct on both points Hardlandski. The Drow racial power is either one of your choice once per encounter. The drow have always been a powerful race. Their history and upbringing demands they have more power. Then R.A. Salvatore invented Drizzit and it became cool to be a drow character. This caused issues at many tables because drow were always bad guys before so their power was in the hands of the DM and could be balanced against the party. In 4e there was a big push to balance everything and since they decided to make drow playable they had to tweak the race. They didn't want to strip them of their powers completely though so you get to choose which power to use when you use it. The mechanical effects of these powers are not any greater than the other racial powers, but the drow get to keep the coolness of having more than one racial power. I believe the only other race to do that are the Wilden and the Hamadryad.

And the skills don't have ranks in 4e just "trained" or "not trained". If you are trained you get the Ability modifier+5 when you make that skill check, if not trained you only get your Ability Modifier added to your skill check. The "ranks" box is probably a hold over from the 3/3.5 character sheet that that the site designer used as a short cut. It seems he isn't a hardcore 4e player either or didn't have time to code the sheet properly. Given the lack of 4e games I'm sure he thought he had finished the sheet but no one ever complained about its lack of function before. Not that I blame him, there is a lot going on on this site so to have as much functionality as we do is pretty cool.

Sorry, I am a big 4e nerd and was way into all the design articles as this version developed.

No need to apologise, on the contrary that's awesome and useful knowledge. I'm a bit of a history of D&D nerd, but 4e is the big gap in my knowledge. When I tried to pick up 4e about 4 years ago (coming from AD&D 2e), I just couldn't cope with how very different everything was, so went with 3e instead. Now (with D&D Next and 5e under my belt) I find the differences fascinating and it's great to get your explanation of why it's that way. You don't happen to have some choice "Design philosophy of 4e" links lying around do you? I'd be very interested to read more.

Forgive me, but being completely new to 4E I'm not sure I am computing my attack & damage modifiers for my powers correctly. Shadowfire & maybe Foolsmask, would you mind looking these calculations over and checking for correctness? Thanks!

I'm including Asterion's abilities and summaries of feats and other thiings that might affect these computations. The more detailed text is here. My calculations are in blue.

Abilities:
STR 11 +0
CON 12 +1
DEX 11 +0
INT 16 +3
WIS 8 -1
CHA 18 +4

Feats & Stuff:
Star Pact Reward: Add INT modifier to damage rolls with warlock attack powers.
Star Pact Weapon: Starshadow Blade: One-handed military melee weapon ✦ Heavy Blade ✦ Proficiency Bonus: +3 ✦ Damage: 1d10
Rod Expertise: You gain a +1 feat bonus to implement attack rolls that you make with a rod. When you hold a rod, you gain a +1 shield bonus to AC and Reflex.
Heavy Blade Expertise: You gain a +1 feat bonus to weapon attack rolls that you make with a heavy blade. While wielding a heavy blade, you gain a +2 bonus to all defenses against opportunity attacks.

Powers:
Resplendent Blade:
At-Will ✦ Standard Melee ✦ Arcane, Implement, Radiant, Weapon ✦ Target: One creature
Requirement: You must use this power with your Starshadow Blade.
Special: You can use this power as a melee basic attack.
Attack: CHA vs. AC = CHA (4) + Weap. Prof. (3) + Rod Exp (1) + Hvy Weap Exp (1) + 1/2 Level (0) = 1d20+9 to hit vs AC
Hit: 1d10 + CHA modifier radiant damage, & one enemy adjacent to the target takes radiant damage equal to your INT modifier.
= CHA (4) + Pact Reward (3) = 1d10+7 damage vs primary target, 3 damage vs secondary.

Wield the Warp:
Encounter Standard Melee ✦ Arcane, Implement, Psychic, Radiant, Teleportation, Weapon ✦ Target: One creature
Requirement: You must use this power with your starshadow blade.
Attack: CHA vs. Fortitude = CHA (4) + Weap. Prof. (3) + Rod Exp (1) + Hvy Weap Exp (1) + 1/2 Level (0) = 1d20+9 to hit vs. Fortitude
Hit: 2d10 + CHA modifier psychic & radiant damage, and you teleport the target to another square adjacent to you.
= CHA (4) + Pact Reward (3) = 2d10+7 damage

Eldritch Bolt:
At-Will ✦ Standard ✦ Ranged 10 ✦ Arcane, Force, Implement ✦ Target: One creature
Special: You can use this power as a ranged basic attack.
Attack: CHA vs. Reflex = CHA (4) + Rod Exp (1) + 1/2 Level (0) = 1d20+5 to hit vs. Reflex
Hit: 1d10 + CHA modifier force damage = CHA (4) + Pact Reward (3) = 1d10+7 damage

Eyebite
At-Will ✦ Standard ✦ Ranged 10 ✦ Arcane, Charm, Implement, Psychic ✦ Target: One creature
Attack: CHA vs. Will = CHA (4) + Rod Exp (1) + 1/2 Level (0) = 1d20+5 to hit vs. Will
Hit: 1d6 + CHA modifier psychic damage, and you are invisible to the target until the start of your next turn.
= CHA (4) + Pact Reward (3) = 1d6+7 damage

Prophecy of Zhudun
Daily ✦ Standard ✦ Ranged 10 ✦ Arcane, Fear, Implement, Psychic ✦ Target: One creature
Attack: CHA vs. Will = CHA (4) + Rod Exp (1) + 1/2 Level (0) = 1d20+5 to hit vs. Will
Hit: 2d8 + CHA modifier psychic damage, and the target is dazed (save ends). The target treats all its enemies as if they are concealed until it saves from its dazed condition = CHA (4) + Pact Reward (3) = 2d8+7 damage
Miss: Half damage, and the target is not dazed.