Hi there.

I was playing last friday a very casual game with a friend and this situation came up. very Catch 22!

My opponent had:

Baron Mordo w/UB showing +2
Range 8
Running Shot-Pulse Wave.

I had:
Catwoman w/UB (Batman Cowl) showing +2 Standing in HINDERING Terrain.
Cyborg Superman right behind her.

The action
Baron Mordo begins movement 8 squares away from Catwoman, he Running Shots and Pulse Wave ending 4 squares away from Catwoman and 5 squares away from Cyborg Superman.

What triggers first?

Option 1: Catwoman TRAIT triggers first, so Baron Mordo can't use UB +2, making his range 4, and targeting only Catwoman, but because of Pulse Wave cancel all game effects, including Catwoman's trait, does the trait trigger but then it is lost?

or

Option 2: Pulse Wave triggers first so Catwoman can not use her Trait, Baron Mordo, then, can use his UB +2 but now range is 5, targeting Catwoman and Cyborg Superman both?

I hope I made myself clear.

thanks.

The area of effect for pulse wave is determined first. So I believe seeing as he is within range of catwomans trait at the time of determining th area of effect then that area of effect is half his printed range. No plus two for range. Now, I think once the area of effect is determined and lines of fire are drawn he would get the +2 for attack because those lines are what ignore game effects thus canceling out catwomans trait.
So if in understanding everything correctly, the attack would be a single target (catwomen) with plus 2 to attack and damage.

Here's my take:
The Baron gets a power action to use Running Shot. He moves to 4 from Catwoman and 5 from Cyborg. You give him a ranged combat action to use PW and determine the Area of Effect. Because you have not yet drawn LOF no effects are being ignored: Catwoman prevents the +2 from increasing the AoE, so it's 4. He now draws LOF to all characters within the AoE and so ignores her trait, so he will get the +2 to attack and damage single targeting Catwoman.

I agree with these.

DiToMan and necrodog explained it well. Line of fire is drawn to determine affected characters, and affected characters then have their game effects ignored. Nothing is ignored when the range value is needed to draw LoF, so the +2 does not apply. Once her trait is ignored, the +2 attack and damage return and when their values are called will receive the modifier.

I do feel it is important to point out "replace then modify to the OP". You said you have an 8 range with +2 and thought the pulse wave AoE is 5 squares. That is incorrect (ignoring the whole Catwoman example, just a normal example without her there). You have an 8, that is replaced with 4, then modified to 6, making your AoE 6 and not 5 in an example similar to this but without Catwoman present.
A LOT of older players seem to get tripped up by this.

you would be incorrect, PW does not replace.

"the area of effect for this attack is half the character’s range."

So to find half of his range you would need to calculate his range, which would be 8+2 for 10, then half that range is 10.
The power does not say half his range for this action or anything along those lines.

Are you sure? I was pretty confident anytime you halve, the rulebook considers that a replacement.

this is covered in this thread. http://www.hcrealms.com/forum/showthread.php?t=471153

threw me for a loop at first too but with PW you are not halving their range and using it as a replacements. instead you are being asked "what is their range?" then told the AOE is half that. at no point in PW description does it say replace with half or it becomes half. just the AOE is half of range.
so range of say 5 plus say 3 for a few perplexes would be 8. at the time of PW the range is 8. the AOE is half of 8.

Actually, PW does say the AoE is "half the characters range". So why wouldn't perplex or UB affect that?

They do affect it just not in the same way as a power like charge or running shot. Those powers state that a characters rage becomes half of printed. Pw does not change a characters range. Instead it asks a question. What is characters range? Then based on te answer it gives you an aoe. Believe me, I understand the confusion and encourage you to read the link I provided.

It does. Take the printed range, do any replacements, do any modifiers, then half the result to get the AoE. The distinction is that the AoE is determined by halving the range, but you're not replacing the range value.

Thanks for the link! I typed my previous post as you posted the link....now I understand why it is what it is

You're also halving speed for charge and running shot :/
So how is that different?

Not arguing, just want clarification.
Thanks necrodog

if you take a look at charge, running shot and PW onyour PAC you will see a difference in how the halving is worded. for running shot and charge it specifically says "half its(the character) speed value for this actions" you are replacing its printed speed with a new number. then you apply any modifiers. PW never tells you to replace a characters range so there are no replacements. all pw is doing is creating an AOE. that AOE is half of characters range.