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D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder / Re: 3.5e invisibility and collatoral damage
« on: March 13, 2014, 12:14:15 PM »
I'd rather just say "Fireball: Attack". It's much better to choose break conditions based on easily identifiable game mechanics than to make players' brains do the heavy lifting, when it comes to interpreting your intent as a designer. If you cast Fireball as a signal flare and there happens to be a bird you didn't see in the area, does that break invisibility? If so, how is that dependent on the character's intent? If not, does that mean there's a valid optimization reason to blind yourself? If you cast a Wall of Fire and somebody charges through it to break your invisibility, does that mean that whether your spell counts as an attack is up to other creatures as much as you?
EDIT: And I'd consider firing an arrow into the air an "attack" for similar reasons. An action's qualities can't depend on consequences that haven't happened yet, which the context you're insisting on requires. If I push a button, whether it's an attack or not shouldn't depend on whether I know what it does.
EDIT: And I'd consider firing an arrow into the air an "attack" for similar reasons. An action's qualities can't depend on consequences that haven't happened yet, which the context you're insisting on requires. If I push a button, whether it's an attack or not shouldn't depend on whether I know what it does.