[4E] Interrupts that prevent their trigger occuring?

[Killfalcon]

This is a general timing question: what happens when an interrupt prevents it's trigger occurring?

Example:
Say a Heavy Blade Opportunist fighter is standing next to an archer, and the archer takes a shot at someone else. The HBO guy busts out Tide of Iron and knocks the archer away so that he no longer has LOS to his target.

I assume the archer's attack 'fizzles'. But, it's also plausible that, since he hadn't taken the action yet, he can either change it to something else like a move(unlikely), or use the same action on a different target (ie, shoot the fighter). Any ideas/rules I've missed?

[Alvin Frewer]

I don't have the PHB in front of me so I can't find a page for you, but the PHB has a clear paragraph or side bar that explicitly states that if an interrupt prevents the triggered action from being completed, then the triggered action fails.

[Jim DelRosso]

I had a similar question when dealing with a monster that got an Immediate Interrupt when it was hit with a melee attack. Said power allowed it to make an attack and, if the attack hit, teleport. So the party fighter hit the monster, the monster made its roll and teleported... but what about the fighter's mark? I ended up ruling that the mark couldn't be applied, but I wasn't sure.

It ended up being both a moot point and a teachable moment, as the fighter and the warlord discovered that you only get one immediate action per round, but I'm still curious.

[Nahat Anoj]

Originally Posted by Killfalcon

This is a general timing question: what happens when an interrupt prevents it's trigger occurring?

Example:
Say a Heavy Blade Opportunist fighter is standing next to an archer, and the archer takes a shot at someone else. The HBO guy busts out Tide of Iron and knocks the archer away so that he no longer has LOS to his target.

I assume the archer's attack 'fizzles'. But, it's also plausible that, since he hadn't taken the action yet, he can either change it to something else like a move(unlikely), or use the same action on a different target (ie, shoot the fighter). Any ideas/rules I've missed?

This is just my opinion of course, but I'd say the archer lost his standard action and can't attack again that turn.

Originally Posted by Jim DelRosso

I had a similar question when dealing with a monster that got an Immediate Interrupt when it was hit with a melee attack. Said power allowed it to make an attack and, if the attack hit, teleport. So the party fighter hit the monster, the monster made its roll and teleported... but what about the fighter's mark? I ended up ruling that the mark couldn't be applied, but I wasn't sure.

It ended up being both a moot point and a teachable moment, as the fighter and the warlord discovered that you only get one immediate action per round, but I'm still curious.

Because the fighter's mark goes off whenever he attacks the target (hit or miss), I'd say the teleporting creature is still marked by the fighter.

But, again, I don't write the game.

[Nomad]

Along similar lines, I expect this one to come up soon, and I'm curious what people think.

I'm playing a Pursuit Avenger. He's got Power of Skill and Battle Awareness.

Now, my GM is kind enough to allow me to add my pursuit bonus when I pop an Opportunity Attack if someone shifts and I use Battle Awareness, of if they just move. Hooray!

The question though, is if they're trying to shift or move, and I use Overwhelming Strike as my OA and yank them around a bit. After I reposition, they can take their shift or move from the new position, right?

[Jonas Albrecht]

I love timing rules questions, and I t... that's kinda weird.


But, the way Immediate Interrupts work is that they go off first, and then, the triggering action does a quick glance before going off to see if it is still legal. If something happens to prevent that, it indeed fizzles.

Even if the action is preempted, its still "spent", and doesn't get to be reassigned.

[Scarik]

Originally Posted by Nomad

The question though, is if they're trying to shift or move, and I use Overwhelming Strike as my OA and yank them around a bit. After I reposition, they can take their shift or move from the new position, right?

Yes unless your repositioning specifically nullifies the movement ala Combat Superiority.

[Vargo Teras]

Originally Posted by Jim DelRosso

I had a similar question when dealing with a monster that got an Immediate Interrupt when it was hit with a melee attack. Said power allowed it to make an attack and, if the attack hit, teleport. So the party fighter hit the monster, the monster made its roll and teleported... but what about the fighter's mark? I ended up ruling that the mark couldn't be applied, but I wasn't sure.

It ended up being both a moot point and a teachable moment, as the fighter and the warlord discovered that you only get one immediate action per round, but I'm still curious.

My reading is as follows: when a trigger is "you are hit", the interrupt affects the attack roll, not the making of the action. This teleport doesn't prevent the attack from being made, any more than the Shield spell does; it just prevents it from hitting. So the mark would be applied, in my opinion.

[Scarik]

Originally Posted by Vargo Teras

My reading is as follows: when a trigger is "you are hit", the interrupt affects the attack roll, not the making of the action. This teleport doesn't prevent the attack from being made, any more than the Shield spell does; it just prevents it from hitting. So the mark would be applied, in my opinion.

I think that's too fine a distinction because when you declare an attack making the attack roll is the action in its entirety.

That said Shield is a bad example because it is so straight foreward, interrupts that teleport you away are pretty clearly intended to negate the attack entirely and if the attack is negated the attack roll is negated. For the Fighter this is no longer a hit or miss because its simply nullified there is no mark applied.

[Killfalcon]

Originally Posted by Scarik

I think that's too fine a distinction because when you declare an attack making the attack roll is the action in its entirety.

Not really, there's damage and/or hit/miss/effect text to resolve as well.