D&D Peeve

[pseudopagan]

D&D, especially later products in 3.5, 4E, and Pathfinder, features a number of abilities that have the qualifier:

He must use this ability after the roll is made, but before the roll’s outcome is determined.

This is stupid. It's stupid in ways that fill me with nerd rage to think about.

If you roll a 1 on a saving throw, the roll's outcome is

Comments

[youngwilliam]

If I were to fiddle with the phraseology to keep the gist they seem to be going for, but have it make a touch more sense, I'd probably go with "...but before the reaction is determined" or something (EG: You're whacking something with your sword, and you don't find out that it's electrically charged so your metal weapon will work like a lightning rod and end up getting you zapped if you hit it).

Although that gets me to wonder what the in-game situation is, when a do-over ability like this is used -- is it like a really really quick retcon, and the first attempt never happened, or is it like a one-two punch, with the 'one' hastily pulled?

[pseudopagan]

I don't think there's any one answer to that, as it seems to vary from ability to ability.