TL/DR-Find TL/DR to get the main question and skip the setup stuff.
Our party consists of 4 members, the important one in this case being a Magus with the Bladed Scarf Dancer archetype. He also has the Spell shield Magus Arcana. I think he has more but I don't know what they are because this is the main one he uses, plus it's the important one because he can use it to pump his AC up to 53 with it.
I'm setting up an encounter with a former member of our party. Long story short, he was a squire of my character (as per the squire feat) who betrayed us and became a vampire. So we are going to track him down and beat him until we all feel better.
It will be him, his mount (he was a cavalier like my character) and a partner. He and his new partner are both pure range based with the squire being a DPS type with many shots that accumulate damage and the partner being a single shot with a near guaranteed hit type.
Obviously having been with us for so long (14 levels for him) the squire would know a thing or two about what our strengths and weaknesses are. He and his partner will be trying to eliminate the Magus first for two reasons:
1) Emotional reasons. While the partner has no specific reason to hate the Magus, the squire hates the Magus most of all out of our party because of bad interactions between the two.
2) He's the only one of our party that he wouldn't be able to simply shoot and kill because the Magus has various skills that block attacks (like ice wall and force wall) and the shield wall arcane pool skill. Plus, both being range based builds, the Magus being able to summon a wall of wind around her is of course another problem which is where the following comes into play.
I have a plan ready but I need to know how something like a potion with the spellbane effect, the Dispel Magic effect or the Antimagic field effect (or just a full antimagic field for simplicity) would affect the Magus. Also, I'm not sure which would be more effective so use that one for this.
Assuming the potion was thrown on her (I would prefer this method because she would be lured into a vulnerable position but if it has to be a full magic field then assuming she walked into the field), what would be blocked and for how long? Would he still be able to cast spells normally, would there be an added percent failure or would all spells cast be nullified because of the potion? Would her Arcane Pool and/or Magus Arcana class skills still work or would these cease to function as they are both magic?
How long does the effect last if there is one does in the vial that is thrown? Is there a set time for something like this or does the effect remain for as long as the potion is on the Magus? Can she clean it off to reduce the time the effect lasts or is it a standard amount of time?
Ignore the TL/DR stuff, this post was longer but before posting I shortened it to just the more necessary stuff and it seems I forgot to take that out and it's too late to edit it.
Let's take the Dispel Magic first, because that is the only spell you listed that is low enough level to brew a standard Potion of. Splashing/spilling a Potion on somebody does nothing but stain their clothes, barring corner cases like the Magus trying at just the time of impact to use a Sipping Jacket or whatever that Alchemist item is that vaporizes Potions into breathable form (can't remember -- might actually be an Alchemist Discovery or Extract). (Contact Poison isn't made according to the Potion rules, so it doesn't count.) You CAN get the Dispel Magic (but not Greater Dispel Magic or the other spells you listed) onto a standard (although expensive) Wand, which will allow firing the Dispel Magic off more accurately than you could throw a splash weapon at Medium range, which is probably good enough (if not, you can just barely squeeze in Reach Spell Metamagic on it and still fit into a standard Wand, although that gets really expensive). Then the Vampire and companion just need a good enough UMD score to use the Wand reliably (and don't roll a natural 1), and they can start popping off buffs from the Magus (and/or anybody else).
The other 2 spells are too high level, so they would have to be made into some kind of one-shot item that looks like a Potion, but works like an Alchemist Bomb. Good luck figuring out the Magic Item Creation rules for custom items. A Rules As Written way does exist to put these normally self-targeted spells on another target: the Arcane Archer, although the Vampire and cohort are of the wrong build to take advantage of this, and they are going to have to hire a specialist (of very high level, especially for Spellbane). See this guide for how to build the specialist.
UnArcaneElection wrote: Let's take the Dispel Magic first, because that is the only spell you listed that is low enough level to brew a standard Potion of. Splashing/spilling a Potion on somebody does nothing but stain their clothes, barring corner cases like the Magus trying at just the time of impact to use a Sipping Jacket or whatever that Alchemist item is that vaporizes Potions into breathable form (can't remember -- might actually be an Alchemist Discovery or Extract). (Contact Poison isn't made according to the Potion rules, so it doesn't count.) You CAN get the Dispel Magic (but not Greater Dispel Magic or the other spells you listed) onto a standard (although expensive) Wand, which will allow firing the Dispel Magic off more accurately than you could throw a splash weapon at Medium range, which is probably good enough (if not, you can just barely squeeze in Reach Spell Metamagic on it and still fit into a standard Wand, although that gets really expensive). Then the Vampire and companion just need a good enough UMD score to use the Wand reliably (and don't roll a natural 1), and they can start popping off buffs from the Magus (and/or anybody else).
The other 2 spells are too high level, so they would have to be made into some kind of one-shot item that looks like a Potion, but works like an Alchemist Bomb. Good luck figuring out the Magic Item Creation rules for custom items. A Rules As Written way does exist to put these normally self-targeted spells on another target: the Arcane Archer, although the Vampire and cohort are of the wrong build to take advantage of this, and they are going to have to hire a specialist (of very high level, especially for Spellbane). See this guide for how to build the specialist.
Unfortunately the main GM (the one who runs most of the game, myself and the other players rotate dungeons and since this is a character of mine that we are fighting, I'm running the encounter with the main GM acting as a secondary to keep things from getting out of line) has made a few restrictions as to the encounter. The lead up will be filled with the former squire's new army (when he betrayed us he got a cozy general position in the vampire army) but the actual encounter should be the squire, his mount and his partner. From this I won't be able to add in another character.
That aside though, how much of the Magus' skills would be limited assuming I could force her into the anti-magic field or somehow got the spellbane or dispel magic to work in whatever way? I need to know just for the purpose of determining if this is even a viable route to take or if I should try something else.
Edit:Also, for completeness sake, if said anti-magic field were activated, how would this affect magic weapons and armor? They would obviously work as their non-magical counterparts but what about the enhancements and special abilities? Would, for example, a +2 Second Chance bow still have it's standard bonuses or would it become a standard longbow? If the arrow were fired into the field from outside of the field, could Second Chance still work?
Within an anti-magic field the bow would be treated as a masterwork longbow. The same would apply to all other magic items; they are treated as mundane masterwork items.
SU and SP abilities do not function within an anti-magic field.
Snowlilly wrote: Within an anti-magic field the bow would be treated as a masterwork longbow. The same would apply to all other magic items; they are treated as mundane masterwork items.
SU and SP abilities do not function within an anti-magic field.
Well, now I have two party members who are going to be a little bit unhappy when they find this little surprise. Thanks for the help guys.
Recent threads in Rules Questions
|
