Elemental Spell and Merciful Spell


Rules Questions


1 person marked this as FAQ candidate.

Greetings from Spain

In our last game session a couple of feats made me think about their right use.
They are two metamagic feats: elemental spell and merciful spell.

Say that we have a wizard who knows both of them.

In its description, Elemental Spell says that you "may replace" a spell's normal damage or spleit the spell's damage.
So, if you cast a fireball and have this feat with the acid type, I assume that you can deal all fire damage, all acid damage or half fire damage and half acid damage. Is that correct?

On the other hand, Merciful Spell doesn't use up a higher-level spell slot. So, could a wizard have all his damaging spells learnt with this feat and choose if they deal lethal or nonlethal damage at the precise moment he is casting them?

Please, I would appreciate some clarification.

Thank you everybody for your time


Yes and Yes. Elemental lets you do all fire, all acid, or half and half. Merciful can be used to change the damage of a spell to nonlethal. This choice is made at the time of casting.

Now, the particular wording seems like merciful can only transform one type of damage when you cast the spell: "Benefit: You can alter spells that inflict damage to inflict nonlethal damage instead. Spells that inflict damage of a particular type (such as fire) inflict nonlethal damage of that same type".

By strict interpretation, if you were to combine these and threw a 50/50 acid/fire Elemental Merciful Fireball at someone, you could only turn one of the damage types into nonlethal, not both. But that's a silly restriction and a GM shouldn't feel a need to enforce it.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Uh, no. Sorcerers can choose at the time of casting, but the OP asked about Wizards.


1 person marked this as FAQ candidate.

Both metamagics still say the caster 'may' or 'can' modify the damage type. I assume that is a choice at any time. Choosing to memorize the spell with applied metamagic would affect the spell slot into with the spell goes, but it wouldn't require the choice be made at the time of preparation.

I take it to mean a Wizard could stick an Elemental (acid) Fireball into a 4th level spell slot in the morning, but still use it to cast a normal fire-based fireball later in the day. It would be a waste of the +1 caster level cost he paid, but it would still be a choice at time of casting whether or not he exercises the metamagic.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Interesting interpretation, I must say.

Sovereign Court

Now that you point out the wording, I think you are correct. It seems reasonable to me that both feats were intended to allow flexibility to the caster when the spell is cast.

If the feats did not allow flexibility and the caster had to choose energy types or Merciful upon memorization, it would at the least diminish the value of these nontypical choices. There would also be encounters where their choice of unique feats is punished (enemies with some type of immunity).

I wouldn't want my PCs handicapped because they didn't choose another "+1 caster level" feat like all the other wizards.


So once a wizard knows Merciful Spell, there's no reason at all for them not to make every single one of their spells merciful? Why even make it a metamagic feat, why not just make it an always-on "all of your spells are nonlethal if you want" effect? (To annoy sorcerers, I guess?)

I actually agree with this interpretation, it just seems like silly design to me.

Sovereign Court

Well remember that nonlethal damage actually can overflow into lethal damage so a "merciful" fireball won't be that if one casts it into a crowd of commoners to try and catch a thief.


Good info


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Morgen wrote:
Well remember that nonlethal damage actually can overflow into lethal damage so a "merciful" fireball won't be that if one casts it into a crowd of commoners to try and catch a thief.

You can always cast the thing on purpose with a lower caster level.

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