| 5 people marked this as FAQ candidate. Answered in the errata. |
Please, can anybody help me with this---> How does cloudkill affect a 6HD creature? My party were going over this yesterday, being most of us 6HD characters. The spell description apparently has remained "foggy" for a long time. Since 3.5 at least.
Either you consider a 6hd creature in the range 4 to 6hd, and therefore you have to roll a Fort save each round to see if you die or just lose 1d4 Con;
Or you are in the 6 or more HD range, and you just have to save to see if you lose 1d4 Con or half of it.
Why has this issue never been "errated"?
Please, can anybody help me with this---> How does cloudkill affect a 6HD creature? My party were going over this yesterday, being most of us 6HD characters.
These vapors automatically kill any living creature with 3 or fewer HD (no save). A living creature with 4 to 6 HD is slain unless it succeeds on a Fortitude save (in which case it takes 1d4 points of Constitution damage on your turn each round while in the cloud).
A living creature with 6 or more HD takes 1d4 points of Constitution damage on your turn each round while in the cloud (a successful Fortitude save halves this damage). Holding one's breath doesn't help, but creatures immune to poison are unaffected by the spell.
A 6th-level character would make a Fort save. Failure means he dies. Success means he takes 1d4 points of Con damage per round on the caster's turn as long as the character remains in the cloud.
Seems simple enough to me.
I would say they must save or die each round (1d4 Con on a successful save).
I would say they must save or die each round (1d4 Con on a successful save).
That's not what the spell says. There's one Fort save to avoid death in the 4-6 HD range. If that save succeeds, the victim takes Con damage each round.
Ah, you're right. Ignore Me!
It does look like there is an error in the description, since two of the categories (4 to 6 HD and 6 or more HD) overlap. I would go with 6 HD needing to save or die, for several reasons. (Admittedly, all of these reasons can be argued with.)
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- 1-3 and 4-6 for the first two categories both cover a range of 3 HD, which gives it a nice scaling.
- It seems more difficult to write "4 to 5" when you intend "4 to 6" than "6 or more" when you intend "more than 6".
- If I was writing the spell, I would concentrate more on the stronger effect of the spell (death to low HD creatures) than the lesser effect (Con damage to everyone else)
It does look like there is an error in the description, since two of the categories (4 to 6 HD and 6 or more HD) overlap.
Embrace the overlap. If you're in the 6 HD zone, you get a Fort save to avoid death, plus, like those 7+ HD monsters, you also get a Fort save to halve the Con damage (assuming you live), unlike those poor 4-5 HD victims, that either just die or take full Con damage.
It's like a Venn diagram and a spell, all in one!
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It does look like there is an error in the description, since two of the categories (4 to 6 HD and 6 or more HD) overlap.Embrace the overlap. If you're in the 6 HD zone, you get a Fort save to avoid death, plus, like those 7+ HD monsters, you also get a Fort save to halve the Con damage (assuming you live), unlike those poor 4-5 HD victims, that either just die or take full Con damage.
It's like a Venn diagram and a spell, all in one!
+1
Spes Magna Mark wrote:
udalrich wrote:
It does look like there is an error in the description, since two of the categories (4 to 6 HD and 6 or more HD) overlap.
Embrace the overlap. If you're in the 6 HD zone, you get a Fort save to avoid death, plus, like those 7+ HD monsters, you also get a Fort save to halve the Con damage (assuming you live), unlike those poor 4-5 HD victims, that either just die or take full Con damage.
It's like a Venn diagram and a spell, all in one!
+1
+2
+2Spes Magna Mark wrote:
udalrich wrote:
It does look like there is an error in the description, since two of the categories (4 to 6 HD and 6 or more HD) overlap.
Embrace the overlap. If you're in the 6 HD zone, you get a Fort save to avoid death, plus, like those 7+ HD monsters, you also get a Fort save to halve the Con damage (assuming you live), unlike those poor 4-5 HD victims, that either just die or take full Con damage.
It's like a Venn diagram and a spell, all in one!
+1
Ok, so two Fort saves for 6HD? I can live with that. BTW Do you know about any ruling regarding this on previous editions? 3.5?
I go with putting the 6hd's in the save or die catagory, and assume the designers meant more than 6 for the final effect.(i.e. 7 and up)
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It does look like there is an error in the description, since two of the categories (4 to 6 HD and 6 or more HD) overlap.Embrace the overlap. If you're in the 6 HD zone, you get a Fort save to avoid death, plus, like those 7+ HD monsters, you also get a Fort save to halve the Con damage (assuming you live), unlike those poor 4-5 HD victims, that either just die or take full Con damage.
It's like a Venn diagram and a spell, all in one!
That's brutal but is actually exactly what the spell's wording says.
Our GM tossed this on us when we were 5th level and I thought it was pretty f$&!ed up. On a group of 4-6 5th level characters you are more or less guaranteed to kill one or more characters which violates my GMing philosophy. I'm ok with killing players (I killed two over the last 2 sessions) but they deserve a fair shake and cloudkill on a <7th level party is just slaughter which isn't cool.
While we are on the subject of cloudkill, the text states, "its vapors are yellowish green and poisonous".
Does that mean it is a poison effect? Are creatures immune to poison, immune to cloudkill?
Note: I would change the text in the first paragraph to, "a creature under 6 HD". But that is just based on my own dislike of save or die type stuff. I think 1d4 con is bad enough.
Does that mean it is a poison effect? Are creatures immune to poison, immune to cloudkill?
Holding one's breath doesn't help, but creatures immune to poison are unaffected by the spell.
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While we are on the subject of cloudkill, the text states, "its vapors are yellowish green and poisonous".
Does that mean it is a poison effect? Are creatures immune to poison, immune to cloudkill?
Note: I would change the text in the first paragraph to, "a creature under 6 HD". But that is just based on my own dislike of save or die type stuff. I think 1d4 con is bad enough.
It does specifically mention that creatures immune to poison are immune to the spell. Given the way its described (holding your breath doesn't help) it seems to act as a spell-based airborne contact poison. Of doom.
EDIT: Ninja'd by >= 24 seconds! Not ninja'd by <= 24 seconds!
