# How do Monster Recharge Powers Work ?



## Istar (Jul 18, 2010)

We have a new DM to 4e, well we all are.

He has been playing that monsters with recharge loose the power once they fail the roll to recharge it.

But one of the players thinks that the DM should be rolling that each turn as the monster has a chance to get it back each round.

How does it work ?


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## Oldtimer (Jul 18, 2010)

Istar said:


> But one of the players thinks that the DM should be rolling that each turn as the monster has a chance to get it back each round.



Like this. The monster has a chance each turn to get back (recharge) the spent power.


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## Aulirophile (Jul 18, 2010)

Is worth pointing out that the recharge happens at the start of every turn. 99% of the time you roll the recharge and if it recharges you use it right away. No tedious bookkeeping for the DM that way, and that is intentional.


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## DracoSuave (Jul 18, 2010)

On top of that, you do not roll recharge for each power.

You roll -one- recharge die, and whatever powers that monster has that are recharged by that roll get recharged.

So with a 6, if it has many recharge powers, it tends to get its entire load at once.


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## noodle fish mice (Jul 18, 2010)

DracoSuave said:


> On top of that, you do not roll recharge for each power.
> 
> You roll -one- recharge die, and whatever powers that monster has that are recharged by that roll get recharged.
> 
> So with a 6, if it has many recharge powers, it tends to get its entire load at once.




Whoa whoa whoa, really? Where does it say that? I need to show that to my DM.


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## CAFRedblade (Jul 18, 2010)

Page 7 of the MM definition of Recharge.  Roll 1d6 and apply to any recharge powers applicable.  Slightly paraphrased.  Darn, I've been rolling separately for each one up to now... oops.


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## Pseudopsyche (Jul 18, 2010)

CAFRedblade said:


> Page 7 of the MM definition of Recharge.  Roll 1d6 and apply to any recharge powers applicable.  Slightly paraphrased.  Darn, I've been rolling separately for each one up to now... oops.



wow, me too.  Now I really want to see some monsters that have 123 for one recharge power and 456 for another, so they always get back one of them every round. Maybe on some kind of demon, emphasizing it's chaotic nature?


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## Stalker0 (Jul 18, 2010)

Well it looks like a lot of us needed to ask this question, I didn't know that myself.


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## AbdulAlhazred (Jul 18, 2010)

Actually this is not true at all. The exact wording in MM3 is under the "Usage" sub-heading of the "Powers" heading. Usage says "A monster power is usable at will, oncer per encounter, or it recharges in certain circumstances."

There is then a paragraph for "Recharge", which states "*Recharge:* The power has a random chance of recharging during each round of combat. At the start of each of the monster's turns, roll a d6. If the roll is one of the die results shown in the power description, the monster regains the use of that power."

Since this is talking about A power specifically and how each individual power works it stands to reason this procedure is intended to apply individually to each one. NOWHERE in the rules is it ever stated or implied that there is a single monster-wide recharge roll, nor is there any example given of such that I'm aware of.

In all fairness its not 100% certain that the procedure applies to each power individually either, its an argument from context and WotC has been known to come out and issue rulings on things that differ from what context would suggest before, but the most consistent interpretation is its a per-power check.

The other reason to think it would be a per-power check is simply that there are a number of monsters that have several (sometimes even many) recharge powers. These are usually capstone solo class monsters with highly powerful recharge powers. Forcing them to recharge all of them on the spin of a single die puts a rather significant amount of the flow of the encounter on that single die roll. For most monsters it isn't a big deal and I think the DM should do it whichever way they find easiest (and maybe even roll for a whole group of identical monsters at once if it is simpler). For some solos though I don't think that is a great idea.


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## Stalker0 (Jul 18, 2010)

Pseudopsyche said:


> wow, me too.  Now I really want to see some monsters that have 123 for one recharge power and 456 for another, so they always get back one of them every round. Maybe on some kind of demon, emphasizing it's chaotic nature?




What monsters use this?

Abdul's logic makes sense, and is the way I've always played it. However, if there are monsters that recharge of 123, then the only reason I could see a use for that is because it really is supposed to be one d6 roll recharge from that.


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## Oldtimer (Jul 19, 2010)

DracoSuave said:


> On top of that, you do not roll recharge for each power.
> 
> You roll -one- recharge die, and whatever powers that monster has that are recharged by that roll get recharged.
> 
> So with a 6, if it has many recharge powers, it tends to get its entire load at once.



Nope, it's one die roll per spent power.


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## IslandFarmboy (Jul 29, 2015)

*Clarity on Recharge*

So the recharge for rolls seem to make sense to me, but what about the special recharge situations.  For instance the Abyssal Plague Swarms have an ability for infestation which Dominates a PC; and it states "recharge on attack miss."  I get that it recharges if it misses, but once it has used the ability, and gets resisted/ejected from the player does it get the power back or does it loose the power after it has once successfully dominated a PC?  A sub-question: does the plague swarm regain its turn immediately after being ejected, or does the domination control take up its turn as well?

(mm reference: Abyssal Plague Swarm lvl 12 Skirmisher)


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## AbdulAlhazred (Jul 29, 2015)

IslandFarmboy said:


> So the recharge for rolls seem to make sense to me, but what about the special recharge situations.  For instance the Abyssal Plague Swarms have an ability for infestation which Dominates a PC; and it states "recharge on attack miss."  I get that it recharges if it misses, but once it has used the ability, and gets resisted/ejected from the player does it get the power back or does it loose the power after it has once successfully dominated a PC?  A sub-question: does the plague swarm regain its turn immediately after being ejected, or does the domination control take up its turn as well?
> 
> (mm reference: Abyssal Plague Swarm lvl 12 Skirmisher)




I'd say your reading is correct, the power recharges every time it misses, so it is the equivalent of a PC's reliable keyword power. 

As for your sub-question... I think this is a bit poorly thought out from a strictly RAW perspective. A creature that is 'removed from play' doesn't really HAVE a turn, which would mean it wouldn't be possible to utilize the Dominated condition of its victim. I'd interpret it as the victim is dominated, but the plague swarm cannot be attacked (IE nobody has LOS or LOE to it) and it still gets its turn (though it can't move unless it voluntarily ends the domination). Once the victim saves then the swarm reappears in an adjacent square and it would get its normal turn again at its normal place in initiative order given that nothing says otherwise. 

Its a bit of a complicated monster, but it makes sense as-written, aside from any questions about 'removed from play'.


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## pemerton (Jul 30, 2015)

Another voice added to that of [MENTION=82106]AbdulAlhazred[/MENTION]'s - both as a matter of rules interpretation, and from the point of view of mechanics/playability, I think a separate roll for each power is the better approach. It only matters on creatures with multiple recharge powers, and for them it goes against playability to have their access to their good abilities be all-or-nothing.


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