Wind Walk and the Wendigo fight

[Warklaw]

So I know there is already a ton of discussion around Wind Walk but I have a new wrinkle with regard to this most discussed spell. This particular line of questioning came from our group recently fighting the

Spoiler:

Wendigo in the Anniversary Edition Rise of the Rune Lords. In that fight it mentions that the Wendigo grapples targets, then casts wind walk, pulls them high into the air (600 feet) then drops them.

This however was challenged by the group as to how a Wendigo manages this as the spell states it takes 5 rounds to change from physical to gaseous form (and vice versa). It seems an unreasonable tactic as lets be honest a LOT can happen in 5 rounds and it would seem rather unlikely that a Wendigo would stand there getting hammered on for 5 rounds.

RAW seems to support that while the spell may be instant the change to gaseous form or out of it always requires 5 rounds. However the logistics of the Wendigo combat led us to believe that perhaps you are instantly gaseous on casting the spell (or instantly physical on dismissal) and that only changing into and out of the gas form after the initial cast (while the spell is still active) takes the five rounds.

The other issue I have with the Wendigo's combat actions is that the spell says specifically that each person affected by the spell becomes and individual cloud. This would seem to imply that even if the Wendigo grappled you and then turned to gaseous form, as the target transforms it would become and individual cloud, and easily be able to drift apart.

Any thoughts?

[Tusk the Half-Orc]

Per the spell description, "A wind walker can regain its physical form as desired and later resume the cloud form. Each change to and from vaporous form takes 5 rounds, which counts toward the duration of the spell (as does any time spent in physical form)." Looks to me as though the reference to change of form taking 5 rounds only applies for changes during the duration of the spell after the initial casting, not to the initial time to take effect.

[wraithstrike]

Wind Walk wrote:

WIND WALK

School transmutation [air]; Level cleric 6, druid 7
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, DF
Range touch
Targets you and one touched creature per three levels
Duration 1 hour/level (D); see text
Saving Throw no and Will negates (harmless); Spell Resistance no and yes (harmless)

The initial casting is only a standard action. The 5 rounds is for when you are changing form after the spell is cast.

[wraithstrike]

Warklaw wrote:

The other issue I have with the Wendigo's combat actions is that the spell says specifically that each person affected by the spell becomes and individual cloud. This would seem to imply that even if the Wendigo grappled you and then turned to gaseous form, as the target transforms it would become and individual cloud, and easily be able to drift apart.

Any thoughts?

Quote:

Wind Walk (Sp) If a wendigo pins a grappled foe, it can attempt to wind walk with the target by using its spell-like ability—it automatically succeeds on all concentration checks made to use wind walk. If the victim fails to resist the spell, the wendigo hurtles into the sky with him. Each round, a victim can make a new DC 23 Will save to turn solid again, but at this point he falls if he cannot fly. Eventually, the wendigo strands the victim in some rural area, usually miles from where it began. A creature that wind walks with a wendigo is exposed to wendigo psychosis. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Basically, the Wendigo's spell-like ability allows it to do things creatures can't do with the normal version of the spell, such as grapple someone it has used windwalk on.

[Lurch]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if a wendigo wants to abduct a victim using wind walk, it has to first establish a pin on a victim it currently has grappled, then maintain that pin for the entire 5 rounds it takes to shift to gaseous state (incurring attacks from the victim's allies the whole time) before it can finally fly away with them?

If that's the case, it hardly seems worth the effort IMO; even allowing for the wendigo's dual damage resistance & regeneration, 5+ rounds of unanswered actions from a skilled group of PC's of comparable level (particularly ones savvy enough to know of a wendigo's vulnerabilities) can be enough to turn the tide before it can carry out its intentions against its single opponent. It seems to me like it might be better off simply maintaining a grapple, flying into the air with its victim, & then dropping them (or carrying them off to strand them later as in the creature's description).

Am I missing something? Does a wendigo's wind walk ability let it shift states more quickly than the spell version, or is there some other modifying influence I've overlooked?

[Rysky]

You might want to have read the rest of the thread, the spell only takes a standard action to activate and become wind, the five rounds is how longs it takes to change after that if you want to between solid and then wind.

[Claxon]

You're wrong. The initial change is instant as part of the casting of the spell/SLA. Subsequent changes to or from gaseous form after the initial casting of the spell take 5 turns.

[Lurch]

Fair enough; my table has been misinterpreting the spell/ability as requiring 5 rounds to shift at all times vs. just shifts subsequent to the initial one triggered by the casting (previously this hadn't been an issue since it had never come up in a combat situation before).

Thanks for the clarification!