I only have the starter set. One of my characters powers lists "force damage". What exactly does that do?
Thanks
It subtracts from the monster's HP.
There's nothing inherently different about force damage. Certain feats, monsters, or other abilities may interact with certain damage types.
Force is simply a type of damage certain attacks do. There is also Lightning, Fire, Acid, Cold and Thunder damage types.
The Acid, Cold, Fire, and Lightning damage types can sometimes do what is called 'Ongoing Damage'- this occurs as continuous damage until the affected character makes a saving throw.
Basically, ongoing damage works like normal damage, but it occurs at the start of the affected character's turn each round. If the character succeeds on a saving throw, the character is no longer taking any ongoing damage. If the player fails the saving throw, then they are still affected by the ongoing damage until they make another saving throw on their next turn.
Since D&D is a game where you can make your own slight tweaks, you can add some emphasis to the different damage types:
Acid- Target takes damage, and the target is (Dazed, Confused, Helpless, Weakened, Stunned)
Cold- Target takes damage, and the target is (Immobilized, Helpless, Stunned)
Fire- Target takes damage, and the target takes ongoing x damage.
Force- Target takes damge, flies back x squares and is knocked prone.
Lightning- Target takes damage, and the target is (Immobilized, Stunned, Weakened)
Thunder- Target takes damage, flies back x squares and target is (Deafened, Prone, Dazed)
These are just examples of what you could do to make some of your attacks more rewarding in special situations.
Force is used as a catchall descriptor for "invisible, concussive blast". Think Star Wars. Anakin and Obiwan lock sabers, draw their hands back and "push" at each other. After a "tug of war", you hear a loud resounding THRUM and they both get knocked away from each other.
No visible energy effects, no Kamehamehadokens, they just get knocked apart.
That's one way to envision it.
Other than that, it applies damage, applies more damage if something keys off of that "Force" keyword favorably, qualifies for feats and other stuff paying attention to the "Force" keyword, etc.
I usually go with the "bluish bolts of energy" interpretation, but it's pretty much just a damage type.
A particular note is that very few creatures are resistant to it, as compared to Fire. A tradeoff is that they sometimes do less spectacular things.
The Paragon feat Inescapable Force allows Force powers to bypass the Insubstantial quality, as well as doing extra damage, which can be pretty big depending on the adventure (things like Wraiths primarily).
Force is used as a catchall descriptor for "invisible, concussive blast". Think Star Wars. Anakin and Obiwan lock sabers, draw their hands back and "push" at each other. After a "tug of war", you hear a loud resounding THRUM and they both get knocked away from each other.
No visible energy effects, no Kamehamehadokens, they just get knocked apart.
That's one way to envision it.
Other than that, it applies damage, applies more damage if something keys off of that "Force" keyword favorably, qualifies for feats and other stuff paying attention to the "Force" keyword, etc.
i would suggest the [thunder] keyword be more for sonic/wind/concussion type effects. remember that magic missile, the archetypal "wizard bolt" is a [force] type spell.
force is effectively, IMO, magical energy in a quasi-channeled form. it's not as channeled as fire/cold/lightning/acid/psychic, but it has more form & substance then untyped or thunder attacks. the hue would probably vary depending on the caster in question, but
i would suggest the [thunder] keyword be more for sonic/wind/concussion type effects. remember that magic missile, the archetypal "wizard bolt" is a [force] type spell.
force is effectively, IMO, magical energy in a quasi-channeled form. it's not as channeled as fire/cold/lightning/acid/psychic, but it has more form & substance then untyped or thunder attacks. the hue would probably vary depending on the caster in question, but
Sure. That doesn't mean that giving the Force whatever a sound effect makes it Thunder anymore than making visible (and thus have light or hue) would make it a Radiant effect.
i had understood it to mean only the sound, not the lightsaber thing. i'm not up on my star wars at all since the only scene i really watched when i walked in on my buddies watching it on the SciFi channel. it was the one in the forest with little midget bears beating the space army with pointy sticks. my roommates tell me it gets better.
at that point i heard my computer booming some music so the install of my game had finished.
i'm not saying force effects shouldn't have some sound effects. i mean, what would fireball be without a thunderous KA-BOOM! or a firewall with a SWOOSH and the crackling noise of fire? all i'm saying that that if the primary effect is the noise or concussion (whereas the delivery could be a crackling ball of energy) then it should be [thunder] damage one, is all.
i had understood it to mean only the sound, not the lightsaber thing. i'm not up on my star wars at all since the only scene i really watched when i walked in on my buddies watching it on the SciFi channel. it was the one in the forest with little midget bears beating the space army with pointy sticks. my roommates tell me it gets better.
Ah, yes - Rock Beats Laser at its finest.
That would be Return of the Jedi, the third movie of the Original Trilogy. (And in my opinion, the second-best movie, after Empire Strikes Back - but that's neither here nor there.)