Victory Points: Confusing Conditions

From WOTC:

Welcome to the first installment of Victory Points, an article series for answering questions on the D&D Miniatures game. By following this series, players and judges won't need to comb through the D&D Miniatures forum to find answers to obscure rule questions.

Topics for this series will be chosen from threads in the forums or brought to us by frequent posts to customer service. Periodically, these articles will be combined with the Clarifications and Errata document.

This week, we look a bit closer at the conditions in the D&D Miniatures game. A few questions have come up on exactly what a Confused or Staggered creature can and can't do. To answer these questions, use the following revised entries for these conditions. This new text replaces what's currently on page 33 of the rulebook.

Staggered: As Dazed, AND the Staggered creature cannot use Champion powers or take attack actions other than making either a basic attack or substituting a move action.

Confused: A Confused creature acts randomly. At the start of its turn, roll 1d20 and consult the table below.

d20 Roll Result
1-5 Controlled by its player.
6-15 Takes no action.
16-20 Controlled by opponent for the rest of the creature’s turn.

A Confused creature

cannot take attack actions other than making either a basic attack or substituting a move action;
cannot make opportunity attacks;
cannot use special powers, including Champion powers;
is considered to have no Champion Rating for purposes of initiative checks.
While controlled by an opponent, treat the Confused creature as part of the opponent's warband. If a Confused creature is destroyed, it reverts back to the warband it belonged to in its unconfused state before VPs are awarded.


These clarifications supersede any conflicting information in the April 10 Errata and Clarification document.

Q. Can a Confused or Staggered creature charge?
A. This is not allowed because a charge requires an attack action that isn't a basic attack.

Q. Does using a special power refer specifically to powers that require a move or attack action to activate, or does using also include special powers that take effect automatically under certain conditions?
A. Using a special power includes benefiting from powers that take effect automatically. A Confused creature, for example, cannot benefit from Sneak Attack because it can't use special powers.

Q. Can a Confused creature benefit from an ally's special power? Can a creature benefit from a confused ally's special power?
A. A Confused creature can benefit from an ally's special power. For example, a Confused creature could be given a basic attack by a Snaketongue Cultist's Snake's Swiftness power. A creature cannot benefit from a confused creature's special power; for example, a Confused Cleric of Pelor cannot use Aura of Radiance to give an ally +5 radiant Damage.