Crunchbane

Something has been niggling at the back of my brain over the past week. It's Devilbane. Actually there are a couple feats just like it but they have the same basic concept. Attacks that normally target undead now target [x] as well. Very cool.

Devilbane

Heroic Tier
Prerequisite: Any divine class
Benefit: When you use a divine power that normally targets undead, you can also target creatures of the immortal origin.

First published in Divine Power.

Seems simple right? Kinda.

The problem is there are quite a few powers that appear to "target" undead, that actually don't. For instance: Solar Wrath or as we like to call it post-nerfing, Sunny Hug.

Radiant Servant Attack 11Solar Wrath

Radiant light explodes from you like a solar flare, evaporating shadows and dealing illuminating damage to everything around you.

Encounter       Divine, Implement, Radiant
Standard Action      Close burst 3

Target: Each enemy in burst

Attack: Wisdom vs. Will

Hit: 2d6 + Wisdom modifier radiant damage. If the target is either an undead creature or a demon, it is also stunned until the end of your next turn.

Update (4/8/2010)
In the Range entry, replace “burst 8” with “burst 3.” In the Hit entry, replace “3d8” with “2d6.”
Addition (6/10/2008)
Add the “Implement” keyword.

First published in Player's Handbook.

Reading this power over, I might conclude pretty easily that my cool new Devilbane feat allows me to apply the Hit effect to Immortals as well as undead and demons. Sadly, no. The power already targets every enemy regardless of creature type in the burst, so the [x]bane feats do not apply.

In an uncharacteristic act of trust toward the race of nubstains known as customer "service", I took a(nother) moment of my time and posted a question to the support page on WoTC's official site.

Q: Does the Devilbane feat work with powers like Solar Wrath? Solar Wrath and other similar powers do not specifically call out undead in their "Target" line but do have effects specifically for undead. Do feats like Devilbane and Demonbane work with these effects?

A: Nope, the power will specifically have to state that it's targetting undead creatures. Then it can target creatures of the other origins like devilbane.

BTW: I received this answer in less than 12 hours. Yay for WoTC customer support. I may someday soon learn to love again...

If you do a search in the Compendium for the keyword "undead" you will find 21 matches in the powers category. Of those, six actually target undead. Of those, one is a cleric power. Still it's a pretty kick-ass boost to the versatility of turn undead. Well worth the feat IMO.