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If a ranger is hidden and quarries an enemy, is the enemy aware of it? Is the ranger's position revealed?

Are the rules the same for a Bravo's prey? I'm sure there are other effects out there too, but these are the two my party has to deal with.

The debate arises from the wording of the player's handbook and that of Hunter's Quarry

Whenever you affect a creature with a power, that creature knows exactly what you've done to it and what conditions you've imposed. For example, when a paladin uses divine challenge against an enemy, the enemy knows that it has been marked and that it will therefore take a penalty to attack rolls and some damage if it attacks anyone aside from the paladin.


Hunter's Quarry
Effect: You can designate the nearest enemy to you that you can see as your quarry.

Is designating a creature as your target considered affecting a creature with a power?

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2 Answers

up vote 9 down vote accepted

Player's Handbook, pages 57-58

Whenever you affect a creature with a power, that creature knows exactly what you've done to it and what conditions you've imposed. For example, when a paladin uses divine challenge against an enemy, the enemy knows that it has been marked and that it will therefore take a penalty to attack rolls and some damage if it attacks anyone aside from the paladin.

Citation shamelessly copied from @okeefe's answer; any errors in it are his ;-)

Additionally, to clear up any and all confusion on whether or not Hunter's Quarry is subject to this rule (i.e. is it a "power" or not?), consider that the citation specifically singles out the Paladin's Divine Challenge as an example of a power that is subject to this rule.

But Divine Challenge, which is directly cited as an example of when and how this rule is applied, is a Paladin class feature. From the Compendium:

Class features: Channel Divinity, Divine Challenge, Lay on Hands.

...

DIVINE CHALLENGE The challenge of a paladin is filled with divine menace. You can use the divine challenge power [emphasis mine] to mark an enemy of your choice.

And take a look at the Ranger's entry in the Compendium:

Class features: Fighting Style, Hunter's Quarry, Prime Shot, Running Attack.

...

HUNTER'S QUARRY Once per turn, you can use your Hunter's Quarry power [emphasis mine].

I think this all makes it quite clear that yes, any NPC would immediately know it was the target of a Hunter's Quarry, however nothing in here gives any suggestion that the Ranger's hidden position would be compromised -- the Ranger is still hidden, but the NPCs could now be more on alert that someone is around. Additionally, depending on flavor text, a GM might rule that certain powers like this might be too flashy to do while remaining hidden, or might give a penalty to the character's Stealth check.

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Citation please? I'd gladly give an upvote for the citation. – F. Randall Farmer May 6 '11 at 2:58
This definitely clears up that Hunter's Quarry is a power. But I'm not convinced that Hunter's Quarry falls under the "what you've done to it and what conditions you've imposed" category. Divine Challenge, sure, because the creature will have a penalty if he doesn't attack the paladin. But with quarry there are no effects or conditions. The ranger just hits harder. – dpatchery May 6 '11 at 19:33
Not that everything in D&D has to make sense (wee I'm running faster diagonally!), but here's an example of why I'm not convinced: Randy the Ranger sneaks within bow range of Krusty the Kobold. Randy thinks to himself, "I'm gonna kill that Krusty guy good." Why would Krusty be aware of this? – dpatchery May 6 '11 at 19:35
@dpatchery Because Randy isn't simply hitting harder (that would be a critical hit and/or a called shot), he's invoking the powerful primal energies against Krusty. While you're right that Hunter's Quarry doesn't invoke any penalties on the target, it nonetheless does put an effect on the target, namely allowing the Ranger to dish out more damage. Extra damage most certainly does affect a creature, regardless of what the fluff says about the method of such. – Kromey May 6 '11 at 19:47
Thanks for checking the Compendium! – okeefe May 6 '11 at 20:11
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up vote 11 down vote

Yes, the enemy is aware of the Hunter's Quarry. No, the location of creature that caused the effect is not revealed.

Player's Handbook, pages 57-58

Whenever you affect a creature with a power, that creature knows exactly what you've done to it and what conditions you've imposed. For example, when a paladin uses divine challenge against an enemy, the enemy knows that it has been marked and that it will therefore take a penalty to attack rolls and some damage if it attacks anyone aside from the paladin.

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I agree with you, even if technically Hunter's Quarry is not a power (even if it could be easily designed so). – Erik Burigo May 6 '11 at 10:42
I was aware of this rule. But, as Erik said, Hunter's Quarry is not necessarily a power that affects the creature. The ranger is simply designating that enemy as the quarry. Edited the question to bring up this debate. – dpatchery May 6 '11 at 12:32
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It's only an at-will, minor action, ranged, class feature that the character builder creates a power card for. – okeefe May 6 '11 at 12:36
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Combat challenge is a Fighter class feature that marks targets. I would hope that it falls under the same ruling, namely, that the creature knows that it is marked. – okeefe May 6 '11 at 13:18
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@Erik and @dpatchery, there is no question that Hunter's Quarry is a power. See my updated answer for citations that directly address this. – Kromey May 6 '11 at 16:56
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