A *description* of some of the things a feat can do is NOT the same thing as a *definition* of all the things (or, RQ-wise, "the only thing") a feat can do.
Descriptions of some of the sorts of things that Orlanthi can achieve with
(to name the most prominent offender) their Sunset Leap feat would be an
unqualified Good Thing, IMO. Otherwise we'll all be developing mutually
incompatible accounts of how a basic Orlanth Adventurous feat works.
So, is it: generic jumping magic (with a confusing name)? Jumping at sunset
(only) magic? Jumping (with a bonus at sunset) magic? Line-of-sight
teleportation magic? Teleportation at sunset (only) magic? Teleportation
(with a bonus at sunset) magic? Heroquesty jumping-to-the-Isles-of-Sunset
magic? A Slaine-style vertical salmon-leap as a surprise move in combat
(with a bonus if it's used to put out a Solar's lights)? etc.
Me, I'd allow it to work as *any* of the above. I tend to think I'd give it a bonus at sunset, rather than *require* sunset for it to work, just in the interests of having more fun. (Offhand, can you recall how many of your games' fight scenes took place at sunset? Thought not...).
I don't know we need to define just how far you could go with a Sunset Leap
(use the Distance chart HW p.231, or maybe only allow leaps over the basic
"50 yards" at sunset?). Jumping would need to be physically possible (i.e.
no intervening objects); teleporting would have the D+20 line-of-sight mod
(per the Difficult Task table, HW p.173) as you don't need to pass through
the intervening space.
I'm not certain how to use Sunset Leap as a combat move -- a straightforward augmentation doesn't really fit the bill for this kind of one-off dramatic leap (that is, I don't envisage Our Hero pogo-ing around for the whole fight). Probably it lets him go straight for the main bad guy, i.e. leaping over the goon squad into the midst of the enemy, and attacking with a one-off edge due to startlement, vertical velocity, etc. Although if *everyone* starts doing it, the surprise and the bonus wear off (as in Feng Shui) -- once the novelty of any combat stunt wears off, players should think of something else interesting they can do, rather than rely on an old trick that was new, once...
(New feat for Yelmies -- "Set Spear to Receive Sunset Leap"?)
Cheers, Nick
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