8th Ed. The Penumbral Pendulum

[eppe]

About two weeks ago my VC friend tried to cast The Penumbral Pendulum on me. Now the issue came up on if he could aim it or not... we rolled off and he won but I still believe I am 100% right, that he could not aim.

The spell states that you extend a straight line 6D6 directly away from the caster. He stated he got to aim it any direction away from the caster. I said that if that were the case why say "directly away from the caster" at all and why not just line of sight or forward arc.

Any thoughts or references on this?

 

[n810]

Prety sure it means draw a line in the casters forward arc, and not just straight ahead.

 

[eppe]

Prety sure it means draw a line in the casters forward arc, and not just straight ahead.

Then wouldn't it be better labeled as a Magic Missle?

 

[n810]

Naaa, What it should be labeled is a magic canon ball.
*(See cannon rules)

 

[eppe]

Naaa, What it should be labeled is a magic canon ball.
*(See cannon rules)

Yeah, that would be better. It's really terrible wording.

 

[Lord Cedric]

Naaa, What it should be labeled is a magic canon ball.
*(See cannon rules)

Yeah, that would be better. It's really terrible wording.

I find this is the case with a lot of the GW rules. Not sure if it's because Im American and the rules are created by Britains? No offense in meaning.. just that there is a difference in word meanings and overall speaking/writing and sentence structure between the two countries. Or.. it's just me.

- Lord Cedric

 

[BEEGfrog]

No, it is GW! They deliberately write their rules to be interesting to read rather than precise.

 

[Lord Cedric]

No, it is GW! They deliberately write their rules to be interesting to read rather than precise.

Ahh.. well that explains it!

- Lord Cedric

 

[BEEGfrog]

The other thing about Penumbral Pendulum is that the book says that is direct damage, i.e. it has to be in forward arc but does not need line of sight, but the FAQ made an amendment to remove the type. The only difference this seems to make is that it removes the restriction about aiming the spell through your own troops.

As you still have the standard restriction on targetting units in combat it means you can kill your own guys with this spell except when they are in combat. The restriction on affecting units in combat is strange for this spell, as amended, as the restriction is normally justified as being due to the risk of harming your own troops in combat but the spell allows you to affect your own troops when not in combat.

It is possible to argue that since the spell area of affect is a line rather than a specific unit then the restriction on targetting units does not apply, but this is a bit rules lawyery even for me.