Protective Luck hex once per day?

[KingGoko247]

Was this intended to be usables with no limitations of per target per day, as almost every other hex was written? It's clear that it's not limited based in the written rule but was it a mistake? Hoping for a definitive response, thanks.

[Lady Asharah]

Interesting, it doesn't have the "Once a creature has benefited from the X hex, it cannot benefit from it again for 24 hours." clause.

I would imagine that means it can be used multiple times, each time spending a standard action to restart it.

I was under impression that all hexes are 1/day/target but I can't find that anywhere anymore.

[MrCharisma]

No they're definitely not all 1/day/target.

It seems like this can he used at will, similar to the Evil Eye hex.

Not bad. It's basically a worse version of Misfortune (as is Evil Eye), which is probably why it can be used infinity times per day.

[Lady Asharah]

Or better version of misfortune, depending on how you look at it. If you have a character that excels in attracting attention on themselves and take majority of attacks from enemies, a single protective luck on them will be much better than a single misfortune on one of the enemies.

[MrCharisma]

Yes there will be times when this is better, but as a general rule it's not as good.

Protective Luck affects attack rolls.

Misfortune affects attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks and ability checks.

If you had a choice between using Misfortune on every enemy or using Protective Luck on every ally you'd pick the Misfortune option every time.

There are always times when one is better than the other, but I think the reasons outlined above are why this hex hasn't been given the same restrictions as Misfortune.

[Melkiador]

It's that way because there is a general assumption that enemies are only there for one fight while allies are there every fight. So, while misfortune can't usually be used on the same target multiple times, you should have new enemies every fight to use it on. But protective luck is cast on allies and only lasts a very short time. If it were limited to once per target per day, then you might use up all of your daily uses in the very first combat.

[Lelomenia]

MrCharisma wrote:

Yes there will be times when this is better, but as a general rule it's not as good.

Protective Luck affects attack rolls.

Misfortune affects attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks and ability checks.

If you had a choice between using Misfortune on every enemy or using Protective Luck on every ally you'd pick the Misfortune option every time.

There are always times when one is better than the other, but I think the reasons outlined above are why this hex hasn't been given the same restrictions as Misfortune.

misfortune requires a failed saving throw to have any effect. If someone is going to fail a will save for you, you’d generally rather have them slumbered. Protective luck is amazing.

[MrCharisma]

I didn't say it's bad.

I said if it had the 1/day/target restriction it'd be worse than Misfortune.

I actually think it's quite good.

[Derklord]

Melkiador wrote:

But protective luck is cast on allies and only lasts a very short time. If it were limited to once per target per day, then you might use up all of your daily uses in the very first combat.

I concur. The question is less why Protective Luck lacks the 1/day clause, but rather why Fortune has it.

[Melkiador]

Derklord wrote:

The question is less why Protective Luck lacks the 1/day clause, but rather why Fortune has it.

Could be a combination of things. The first might just be experience. Fortune is as old as the Witch itself. Protective Luck had the benefit of years of play testing. So, Protective Luck may just be correcting errors of the past. The second issue might be how reactive Protective Luck is. A bonus to attack can almost be guaranteed to be used during the following round. But a bonus to defenses could easily get ignored by the monsters just attacking someone else.

[KingGoko247]

My original issue with it was between 1is and 3rd level the witch was spending 3 out of every 4 rounds of combat not engaging in the game. And it's gotten worse since they got cackle. Any turn they are not putting protective luck on a person (or everyone) in melee was seen as a mistake as it was so much stronger than anything they were able to do. Now they are not even moving and staying in full cover. Part of it is the strentht it provides the other is they are spending so much of the game doing just that. But I can see the points you are making. I dont think it was an attempt to correct the limitations of the past similar hexs. Still seems like an oversight to me. But I don't wanna take away something they have gotten so used to using.

[KingGoko247]

"It's that way because there is a general assumption that enemies are only there for one fight while allies are there every fight. So, while misfortune can't usually be used on the same target multiple times, you should have new enemies every fight to use it on. But protective luck is cast on allies and only lasts a very short time. If it were limited to once per target per day, then you might use up all of your daily uses in the very first combat."

All buff hexes have the once per day per target mechanic with one odd exception for water breathing I think.

[KingGoko247]

All the comparisons that have to be made to misfortune and fortune make it even harder to believe it would be so different in its repeatability.

[Melkiador]

Allied hexes without a once per day limit:
1) Flight, you can feather fall as often as you want.
2) Soothsayer, though this one is limited by the hexes you can use it with
3) Ward can be used over and over again, but only on one target at a time. It's probably the most comparable to Protective Luck, though their mechanics are quite different.
4) Water lung.
5) And of course, Protective Luck

The main theme seems to be that the more reactive hexes are less likely to have the daily limit. The less likely the triggering condition is to come up in a given fight, the more likely it is to not have limited uses.

Major Hexes:
1) Beast's Gift

This one is weird and could be interpreted to be completely repeatable or limited by minutes per day.

[Isabelle Thorne]

Melkiador wrote:

It's that way because there is a general assumption that enemies are only there for one fight while allies are there every fight. So, while misfortune can't usually be used on the same target multiple times, you should have new enemies every fight to use it on. But protective luck is cast on allies and only lasts a very short time. If it were limited to once per target per day, then you might use up all of your daily uses in the very first combat.

This, basically. ^_^