Are Ranged Touch Spells Touch Spells for Winter Witch's Frozen Caress?


Rules Questions

Scarab Sages

Considering the Winter Witch, she selects Frozen Caress as the first level hex.

Frozen Caress:
Whenever the winter witch casts a touch spell, she can infuse the magic with cold as a swift action. This grants the spell the cold descriptor, and adds 1d4 points of cold damage to the spell’s effect. If the touch spell allows a saving throw, a successful save negates this additional cold damage.

Now considering that she is capable of casting Ray of Frost, which in turn is a "ranged" touch spell, would the Frozen Caress be able to trigger since it is a touch spell, or would Frozen Caress would only be able to apply to melee touch spells?


Cao Phen wrote:
Now considering that she is capable of casting Ray of Frost, which in turn is a "ranged" touch spell, would the Frozen Caress be able to trigger since it is a touch spell, or would Frozen Caress would only be able to apply to melee touch spells?

A "touch spell" is a spell with a range of Touch.

See also Touch Spells in Combat vs Ranged Touch Spells in Combat.


What Grick said.

Also, I think this is a terrible hex anyway. It would only apply to a very small number of spells, it's only +1d4 cold damage which is negated on a successful save, and you would have to be engaged in melee to benefit from it at all.


submit2me, the powerful part of that hex is that it adds the cold descriptor. There are a number of abilities that modify spells with the cold descriptor.

Like the Winter Witch's Ice Magic ability:

Quote:
When a winter witch casts a spell with the cold descriptor, the save DC of the spell increases by +1.


Normally I would agree with you, but for this hex it still only applies to touch spells. It's not like the Elemental bloodline where it would effect all spells with an elemental descriptor. How many spells would this hex effect? And even then, should a witch be engaged in melee in the first place to benefit from this?

Liberty's Edge

Well, having a DC+1 for, say, Bestow Curse? That sounds like a deal.

Liberty's Edge

Plus, being able to deliver touch spells through a familiar sorta makes your concerns about being in melee less pressing.


StrangePackage wrote:
Plus, being able to deliver touch spells through a familiar sorta makes your concerns about being in melee less pressing.

Sending your living spellbook, without which you are basically hosed, into battle, and in most cases needing to enter an enemy square which provokes separately from movement, to deliver a touch spell, is really pretty risky.

Though you could set up an interesting combo with that weird anti-magic cat. Make it invisible, then stick a touch spell on it, then ready an action to cast a cantrip at it when it appears. It goes over and touches something, discharging the spell and appearing, your spell goes off and it teleports adjacent to you out of danger (and probably chooses not to pounce you).

-edit- Dweomercat Cub via improved familiar.


You'd have better luck with the arbiter inevitable who can't really die unless they're hit by chaotic damage.

Or use Prehensile Hair.

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