I am 90% sure it's "roll damage once, apply to all creatures in the line", that's usually how Line spells work.
I think the "calculate damage" is an attempt to say "apply all DR and resistances for each creature separately" in as few words as possible, and it didn't quite come out clearly.
Take this with a grain of salt, but I think this is how it works (and how most GMs would prefer it work, rather than you taking the time to roll 16/32/64d6).
I agree, single damage roll and if you fail to penetrate SR, DR, or resistance then it stops just like if it failed to hit AC.
|
I also have a question about Impale. The description only mentions rolling «attacks».
Basically, I'm confused because this ability feels like both a ranged attack and an AoE effect, and those two usually behave very differently in those respects.
If at any point in the line the single roll you made fails to hit someone the impale stops.
That's wrong. The impale only stops when you do hit someone but fail to penetrate their DR — i.e., when your spike gets stuck.
1) It is a ranged attack because the kinetic blast is a ranged attack at it's base. The melee form infusions cannot be applied since impale is also a form infusion.
2) I would think an ally in the way could provide soft cover to the first target but foes wouldn't grant cover to the foes behind them since you're literally shooting right through them so they can't act as cover. The same goes for the part about shooting through cover. You are going through it so it does not provide cover.
3) Again, it would if you have an ally in melee that you are trying to avoid hitting.
Bit of a thread necro there. Nonetheless:
1) It's a ranged attack. Blasts are ranged attacks. The traditional way to make blasts into melee attacks is through the use of kinetic blade. But Kinetic Blade and Impale are both Form Infusions, so they can't both be applied to the same blast.
2) Since it's a ranged attack and it doesn't specifically say anything changing the cover rules, by RAW the following applies:
To determine whether your target has cover from your ranged attack, choose a corner of your square. If any line from this corner to any corner of the target’s square passes through a square or border that blocks line of effect or provides cover, or through a square occupied by a creature, the target has cover (+4 to AC).
When making a melee attack against an adjacent target, your target has cover if any line from any corner of your square to the target’s square goes through a wall (including a low wall). When making a melee attack against a target that isn’t adjacent to you (such as with a reach weapon), use the rules for determining cover from ranged attacks.
But I would imagine that many DM's would see it as you do, and likely make a homerule that they would not get cover.
3) By the same token as #2, since it doesn't say to treat these ranged attacks any differently than any other ranged attacks, shooting into melee with an Impale blast carries the same penalties for shooting into melee as all ranged attacks.
If at any point in the line the single roll you made fails to hit someone the impale stops.That's wrong. The impale only stops when you do hit someone but fail to penetrate their DR — i.e., when your spike gets stuck.
Agreed on that last point.
Smurf
Haha! signing a reply as Smurf changes your portrait to a Smurf
|
|
Bit of a thread necro there.
I prefer to add to an existing thread on a topic rather than create redundant threads... or does thread necromancy have an Evil descriptor I don't know about...? ;o)
As for your treatments of the Impale issue, I tend to agree with your views. I guess that makes Impale quite different from Torrent, despite the superficial similarity. A melee Kineticist could conceivably forego PBS and Precise Shot and still use, say, an electric Torrent for ranged blasting, whereas Impale definitely needs those feats.
Agreed on that last point.
Though I don't particularly like the fact that you only get to roll once for the whole attack. That turns it into a global hit-or-miss thing in most situations. I'd rather roll separately for each enemy... perhaps something to houserule. It certainly makes sense to use the same damage roll for everybody, though, since those tend to be more time-consuming.
It's thematically an impale, a single attack that stabs through multiple enemies. One attack roll is appropriate, since it represents your power for the attack to see how well you can blow a hole through several people at once with a single blow.
Also since it's hilarious, Smurf
But it is also a line attack. Just because it failed to hit a person in the line, does not mean it stops going in its line. Per the attack it (attempts to) hits all in the 30' line. Only when it hits but fails to "penetrate" (e.g. do damage) does the line attack stop. Per the attack itself.
Don't you hit or miss based on your roll but also their AC? So you might miss a heavily armored target but hit the two casters behind her?
Smurf?
yep smurf
The way we ruled it in my campaign with a geokineticist, was that you roll to hit individually against each target, and if and when you confirm a crit on one of them it only crits on that one, all other nat 20's, and nat 19s for you improved crit kineticists out there, are treated as hits, if with your to hit mods it hits.
That way if you fail miserably against one target you have an opportunity to make up on your next die rolls, because its a length of earth/metal being launched in a line the first may dodge and the second may not be as aware. But to make the rolling individually not ridiculous for fishing for crits, you couldn't crit more than once on an impale.