Re: 4E smiting


"Jasin Zujovic" <jzujovic@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:fink91$4il$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mark Blunden wrote:
Binding smite's effect is "2x[W] + Wis damage and target cannot gain
line of effect to anyone but you until the end of your next turn." I
sure hope that weirder powers like this will have decent flavour
attached. I like it from a gamist perspective, and I could probably
think up something on my own, but I hope the books include a ready
answer to "So you hit me and I can only target you with spells or
bows? Why? What happened?"

Well, the title of the smite hints at its flavour - "Binding smite". At
a guess, it binds the target to the smiter with divine magic,
effectively encapsulating him and the paladin together.

Well, yes, "it's magic!" is a potential explanation for anything, but I
would hope for something more compelling.

When did "it's magic!" stop being a compelling explanation for a divine
warrior's powers in a D&D game? Isn't that, essentially, what the
explanation for the current Paladin's special mount, lay on hands ability
and immunity to fear can be summed up as?

I guess what I'm looking for isn't an explanation of the
mechanical/metaphysical source of the power: divine magic is perfectly
acceptable for that.

What I want is some way to visualize this in the game world. I'm having
trouble imagining *what happens* when a paladin uses binding smite.

C'mon, guys. It's a legitimate complaint.

I don't have this problem with the abilities you mention: I've heard
plenty of stories with people with loyal steeds, or who could heal by
touch, or who feared nothing, and it's easy to imagine "powers" like that.

I've also heard stories about people who wade into battle to defend their
friends, so I have absolutely no problem with "smite enemy, grant AC bonus
to ally".

But people wading into battle to magically bind opponents into being only
able to attack them at range... feels weird. Not insurmountably so, but
weird.

How about a sort of glowing divine energy that smacks the guy and envelops
the two of them in a sort of "its you and me, bub" sort of...

Yeah, you are right. That is a bit of a tough one.

--
^v^v^Malachias Invictus^v^v^

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishment the scroll,
I am the Master of my fate:
I am the Captain of my soul.

from _Invictus_, by William Ernest Henley


.

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