Can Pursuit of the Hunter be used to move away from the triggering enemy?

Question

Pursuit of the Hunter's Effect line includes this:

Effect: You shift 3 squares...

There are no stipulations in the rule itself as to which direction you must shift. However, the flavor text of the power is:

Your prey tries to maneuver away, but there is no escape.

This seems to imply that the power is intended to be used in a way that keeps you close to the target.

Can Pursuit of the Hunter still be used to maneuver away from the triggering enemy, such as to gain an advantageous position against another enemy?

Answer 1

Yes, Pursuit of the Hunter can be used to move in any desired direction for any purpose.

Your prey tries to maneuver away, but there is no escape.

This is flavor text. Flavor Text is defined on p62 of Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms. It includes this bit:

Feel free to invent a description of the power yourself

Also see Dragon Magazine #394, Reflavoring Powers

Players can choose how their characters’ powers act, customizing each for the theme of the character or feel of the campaign.

Based on the above, I believe it is clearly intended for players to use the descriptions of the powers as a help to understand how they might look. For a DM to disallow uses of a power that do not meet with the flavor text but is otherwise legal would not be correct by RAW, and such rulings should be known in advance so that the players can accomodate them.

Answer 2

Yes. The mechanics are rigid, the flavor is interpretive.

Obviously, you could also use this power to escape or retreat rather than "pursue"... The flavor text in most (if not all) 4e powers should be treated as a hook or a handle for roleplaying, but not a straitjacket.

It's a triggered immediate reaction, (an enemy moves, the Wilden reacts). If you were using ranged attacks or your enemy ducked behind cover (for example) you would want to shift back or out of the area to line up your shot. Or if you were a melee character you would probably move towards.. Or if you just needed to get out of the area, you might use that shift to get out.. but this gives you a descriptive hook to describe what your character is doing. Not a rigidly structured definition, but more like a possible thing to interpret.

Answer 3

Yes. The flavor text is just flavor.