Simple Q&A D&D 4e Thread 3

[Highfeather]

A83A Rapid Shot is a poorly worded power, and the reading you're proposing is a valid one. In the case of base Elemental Bolt, it just parses 'is this creature in or adjacent to a square within 10 squares; if yes - make an RBA against it'. And because the answer to that is going to be 'yes' for creatures up to 11 squares away, you could get an RBA against each single one. There's nothing in the power that tell you to pick or define a square to count from.

That said, this goes archived with stuff like Death's Brink Armor under the 'this reading will not fly at any serious table' folder.

A83B Similarly, the power doesn't state that you have to use the same ranged basic attack against every target. Let's look at some of the 'Making an Attack' guidelines in RC214.
The first one is 'Choose an attack power, keeping in mind the rules for its type'. The final, sixth, one is 'If an attack power has more than one target, repeat steps 3 through 5 for each of them'.

Since Rapid Shot is not a burst, but instead a series of ranged attacks, every single RBA is a seperate attack. Moreover, Rapid Shot never explicitly defines 'targets' in the power - the RBA you're using does. (Though this creates more awkwardness with PoS Divine Bolts...) This means that you're never using an attack that has multiple targets, and such the sixth stage of making an attack is never reached. Therefore, the first step is never skipped and happens for every seperate RBA. Rapid Shot restricts our choices to RBA powers, so we can pick from all RBA powers we have, which can then differ with each attack.

I'd file this one under 'ETV'. Having the attack be pseudo-friendly isn't that big of a deal, but I can see many DMs ruling against it considering the attack penalty hints at the attack not being accurately aimed to begin with. Moreover, this could change the "targeting" from Rapid Shot as the power's range might change, which also doesn't have a particularly clear answer anyway.

...The power creates a giant mess anyhow. I wouldn't even say the intent is clear in case B - if it's all with the same weapon, you could still not draw ammo or run out of ammo (for crossbow/bow RBAs, or non-magical thrown weapon RBAs) at which point you could not attack your allies. And which of the RBAs goes off first anyhow?!