The Power of Mending


Rules Questions

Shadow Lodge

So question: how powerful is the Mending spell? My party in my RL game had thoughts of using it to repair a wrecked ship to escape a deserted island. I figured it would take several thousand castings, if it worked at all.


One object up to 1 pound per level - the ship being a single object, that makes it an invalid target for mending.

Now, they could go through the process of trying to mend each individual broken board and then re-assemble the boat... but good luck trying to get every little piece of each board grouped together with the board it came from in order to validly target the spell.

...both of which are things easily learned by reading the spell in question.


jlighter wrote:
So question: how powerful is the Mending spell? My party in my RL game had thoughts of using it to repair a wrecked ship to escape a deserted island. I figured it would take several thousand castings, if it worked at all.

"Target: one object of up to 1 lb./level"

A ship is much heavier than that in normal gravity, and most of its parts are not "objects" in their own right.

(Edit: ninja'd)


Skull and Shackles covers some of that info for you. In particular, the use of Make Whole applied to Ship Repairs.

Shadow Lodge

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The theory behind the idea was, in fact, repairing each subsidiary part (board, nail, etc.) and putting it back together. I had noted the object limit, I was more referring to the possibility of repairing each constituent piece one at a time in an attempt to repair the entire ship. It sounds like, though, to actually pull that off, each piece would have to be removed from the whole, then mended, then put back in, otherwise the piece would be a part of the whole ship.


As Rathendar pointed out, not the spell Mending, but the 2nd level spell make whole will repair a ship as though the whole thing were a construct. So, let your players know repair the ship with the cantrip mending is beyond the abilities of that particular 0 level spell. However, casting mending a few times on it should get it ship shape.

Liberty's Edge

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jlighter wrote:
The theory behind the idea was, in fact, repairing each subsidiary part (board, nail, etc.) and putting it back together. I had noted the object limit, I was more referring to the possibility of repairing each constituent piece one at a time in an attempt to repair the entire ship. It sounds like, though, to actually pull that off, each piece would have to be removed from the whole, then mended, then put back in, otherwise the piece would be a part of the whole ship.

But if they are shipwrecked, taking the time to rebuild a ship and get out of there becomes a matter of, "What else are they gonna do?". However, if you do repair the pieces one by one and have to do a reassembly you will need someone with the appropriate craft or profession skill to actually be able to rebuild a working ship.


Claxon wrote:
As Rathendar pointed out, not the spell Mending, but the 2nd level spell make whole will repair a ship as though the whole thing were a construct. So, let your players know repair the ship with the cantrip mending is beyond the abilities of that particular 0 level spell. However, casting Make Whole a few times on it should get it ship shape.

Corrected for wrong spell name.


jlighter wrote:
The theory behind the idea was, in fact, repairing each subsidiary part (board, nail, etc.) and putting it back together. I had noted the object limit, I was more referring to the possibility of repairing each constituent piece one at a time in an attempt to repair the entire ship. It sounds like, though, to actually pull that off, each piece would have to be removed from the whole, then mended, then put back in, otherwise the piece would be a part of the whole ship.

Correct, which means you'd be essentially rebuilding the whole ship. Also, you need to caulk the ship, or do whatever else, which the individual parts being Mended may not provide. So it'll take a while to do, but I think the PCs repairing a shipwreck is very clever.


Don't forget about the 10 minute casting time. If you decide it takes say 1,000 castings of the spell to repair the ship it will take one person approximately 70 days to repair the ship if they do nothing but cast that spell all day every day and never sleep or eat. Even Make Whole would take a long time IMO. You would need enough castings of Make Whole to bring the ship above 0 HP before it can float and you only have so many level 2 spell slots per day.

Liberty's Edge

I am not usually very picky on things like this. I would decide does this advance the plot/work out as fun for the group? If yes, then go for it. If the answer is no, then it does not work.


pendothrax wrote:
I am not usually very picky on things like this. I would decide does this advance the plot/work out as fun for the group? If yes, then go for it. If the answer is no, then it does not work.

So if next time they use that, it's not an advance or somewhat fun, it will not work? I'm really against this kind of rule bending.


I currently have a Fighter/Druid character in a pirate campaign in the Shackles, and was considering Mending as an alternative to the skill "Profession (Shipwright)." My skill points are limited and, if I could avoid having this Profession, I would.

Based on what I've read, I don't understand why you can't target specific damage on a ship. Sails are a part of a ship and, if someone sliced holes in them, they could be Mended, couldn't they? The same could apply for sliced ropes or broken chains, I believe.

If someone were to ram into a ship and puncture it's hull, couldn't a Druid of a sufficient level to effectively target the damaged area fix the leak in the 10 minute casting time?


I believe the general idea is that allowing Mending to fix the whole ship would be too easy as it's a cantrip. Damage to the ship is abstract so general hp damage to it doesn't mean the sails have been ripped or the forecastle caved in.

Now, if the sails specifically get ripped I would allow you to repair it with mending. And that would remove any penalty for having damaged sails specifically, but I wouldn't let it heal the general ship. So Mending as an alternative to proper ship maintenance and repair? No, not mending.

Make Whole does work though.

Also, remember you have allies. Perhpas one of them should consider taking the skill if you can't.


As Rathendar stated, there are rule using make Whole for ship repair. You talk about a shipwreck, which to me, means a ship counted as "sunken" in effect. I know it could be on the beach, etc.

There is a spell just for this from Inner Sea Pirates. I imagine a 9th level spell is not a viable option for your players given the AP.

Salvage

School transmutation; Level cleric 9, sorcerer/wizard 9
CASTING

Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M
EFFECT

Range long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Target one shipwreck
Duration see text
Saving Throw Fort negates (object); Spell Resistance yes (object)

DESCRIPTION

An invisible force pulls together the remains of a shipwreck. Bits of hull, tattered sails, broken masts, and smashed figureheads knit themselves back together. Rotten wood turns solid once more, and sails re-weave themselves as the rigging snakes across the masts.

It takes a variable amount of time for the ship to rebuild itself, depending on its size.
Size Duration
Raft 1 minute
Rowboat 1 minute
Keelboat 10 minutes
Longship 1 hour
Sailing ship 2 hours
Warship 3 hours
Galleon 4 hours

At the end of the duration, an air bubble forms around the repaired ship. If submerged, the ship shoots to the surface, erupting with a great splash before settling on the water.

Though the spell requires time to repair the ship, its effects are instantaneous. A salvaged ship cannot be dispelled to return it to a shipwreck. However, before the spell’s duration ends and while the ship is still being repaired, salvage can be dispelled to interrupt the repair process. The ship remains in the condition it was in when the spell was interrupted until a new salvage spell is cast (but continues to age normally and suffers the effects of its environments). A new salvage spell’s duration is modified by any repairs already begun.


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Would shrink item help?


A ship counts as several different objects for most spells. So no, not really. You could shrink an individual item on the ship, but you wouldn't be able to shrink the ship as a whole. At least not without dozens, perhaps hundreds of castings. And during the process you would end up breaking things apart as you shrink some parts and others are left full size.

No, I don't think shrink item would help. Besides, make whole is a second level spell (lower spell level) and will allow you to fix your boat by itself.


It would seem to me that, as several posters have suggested, each individual item should be reparable (within reason). Of course, as others have said, that leaves the specific piece intact, but does nothing to make it workable in it's intended position. EX: the steering wheel is in 3 pieces, and it gets mended, but it's not mounted...

Realistically speaking, the PCs could repair the ship, making the (several) appropriate craft checks, some of which may be negated by the casting of mending (sails, oars, ropes, etc.), and some of which should be granted a circumstance bonus on the check (likely equal to the mender's CL). Of course the mending will speed the repair of the vessel, perhaps even make some impossible repairs a little more realistic (e.g. setting a keel or mast), but will by no means will the mending spell be all that is required.

Also, please note that an untrained craft check is commonly referred to as an INT check, and multiple (if not all) PCs should be able to assist (or at least try to).


I'd probably say no, you can mend minor things around the ship sure but remember mending is one object of up to 1lb per level. Sails are very, very heavy swathes of canvas. Mending is meant to fix a broken spoon, small sentimental statue/necklace that sort of thing.

Unless your talking a small one man sailing ship but even those I think were 20-30lbs of weight and if your talking a proper ship ship well it was quite capable of crushing someone as I recall.

Make whole on the other hand is a 2nd level one that removes the weight limit in favour of a size one. Fixing one object of up to 10 cubic feet a level and I'd say that could repair unique parts of a ship.

I wouldn't let you take a wrecked galleon and cast it to repair it but with multiple castings you could fix various components e.g. torn sails, broken spars (one spar per casting), shattered rails etc.

Maybe later on research one that removes the object requirement so you can fix 10 cubic feet per level per casting so if the sail is bigger than the area you can fix you can still repair part of it.


Azten wrote:
Would shrink item help?

Good question, this.

Sovereign Court

Ok don't mean to take away from the original question but if let's say a greataxe (12 lbs) is broken would only a 12th level caster be able to mend it since it's 1lb./level?

Sczarni

Asuterks wrote:
Ok don't mean to take away from the original question but if let's say a greataxe (12 lbs) is broken would only a 12th level caster be able to mend it since it's 1lb./level?

That is correct. You are far better off just casting Make Whole. At minimum caster level to use the spell (3rd level caster) that would mend one object of 30 cubic feet.

Also, according to the Skull & Shackles Player Guide addendum, one ship counts as a construct which allows a single casting of Make Whole work.

Pertinent Linky.

Granted, each casting will only repair 1d6 damage per caster level....

Grand Lodge

Even using mending on individual pieces of the ship will not work. Unless we are talking about a jolly boat or something similarly short ranged, almost all the pieces that matter for keeping the ship afloat and moving weigh over 20 lbs. (sails, masts, hull boards, ribs, etc.)

The Exchange

Note that even make whole does not magically generate any material. Implicit in the term "wreck" are snapped ropes, shredded sails, shed caulking, shorn-off metal bolts and missing (not just snapped) planks. If you have story reasons for your PCs to be stranded on an island, these difficulties give you a reason. Basing a plot around a shipwreck does require the PCs to know that they're out of water walking/overland flight range of the mainland, although to reduce players' "cabin fever" I recommend at least having a couple other islands or rocks within range so they can feel good about having those abilities.

Shadow Lodge

Too low-level to have those spells, actually. That was my impression of the power-level of Mending. I did end up telling them that even if they disassembled the ship, repaired individual pieces, and rebuilt the ship, the sheer monotony would require them to make sanity checks after a time. They've finally figured out how to get off the island, so it's all good. Thanks to everybody who responded.

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