Clear Line Of Fire

[charlzm]

This line of text has always bothered me. The implication to me is that there should be nothing between the figure doing the action and the target of the action. This would include terrain and characters. In the Fantastic Four rulebook, clear line of fire was effectively described as line of fire is not blocked, which would remove hindering terrain from the issue unless Stealth was involved. With the Darkest Night rulebook, there are now three types of line of fire - clear, hindered, and blocked with clear being less restrictive than hindered, and hindered being less restrictive than blocked. Additionally, the most restrictive is to be used when different types of terrain are crossed.

My question is this, if clear line of fire is required to use a power (most notable powers using this terminology are Outwit, Perplex, Probability Control, and Telekinesis), and the line of fire crosses hindering terrain, can the power be used?

[normalview]

My question is this, if clear line of fire is required to use a power (most notable powers using this terminology are Outwit, Perplex, Probability Control, and Telekinesis), and the line of fire crosses hindering terrain, can the power be used?

Yes.

The only thing the description of hindered terrain does is make it clear when to apply the +1 bonus to DV during ranged attack and/or Stealth activates.

BN, page 11:

Hindering terrain represents an area containing trees, furniture, debris, objects, and other similar items that might obstruct both a character’s line of fire and movement. Close combat attacks are not affected by hindering terrain. Any line of fire or path of movement that crosses hindering terrain is labeled a “hindered” line of fire or path of movement. A hindered line of fire is treated as a clear line of fire for the purposes of powers and abilities that require a “clear” line of fire, with the additional effects below.
• Movement: Hindering terrain impedes movement. A character that crosses from terrain that is not hindering for movement into a square that is hindering must stop moving. Any character that begins its movement in hindering terrain halves its speed value before moving.
• Line of Fire: Hindering terrain impedes line of fire. If a line of fire between two characters on the same elevation crosses a square of hindering terrain on the elevation at least once, modify the target’s Defense Value by +1 for the attack, unless the only square of hindering terrain crossed is occupied by the attacker.

[Hero_guy]

So, how are the diagonals handled now? If I target a figure and it crosses diagonally between blocking and hindering is the LoF blocked or hindered? What if I were trying to move? Is it the same as it used to be?

[normalview]

So, how are the diagonals handled now? If I target a figure and it crosses diagonally between blocking and hindering is the LoF blocked or hindered? What if I were trying to move? Is it the same as it used to be?

Please see page 13 in the BN rules. There is a whole section devoted to intersections.

[nbperp]

So, how are the diagonals handled now? If I target a figure and it crosses diagonally between blocking and hindering is the LoF blocked or hindered? What if I were trying to move? Is it the same as it used to be?

Not 100% the same. Moving across a diagonal, or "an intersection" is now one rule for moving and lines of fire. You go with whatever is the more forgiving of the two terrains. So crossing blocking and hindering (through a move or a line of fire) counts as hindering.