With everybody heading into the Abyss these days, some questions have come up leafing through and preparing the final installments. While I do have personal take on most of them, I would appreciate some outside input
I ) - Demogorgon and many of his greater minions have a (Su) Touch effect caused by their attack - namely "rotting flesh", causing Con-damage, with additional Con damage over time, until a remove disease is used on the victim. Now, would this be treated as a supernatural disease ? Or if not, what other sort of effect would it be ?
Personally I would treat it as a disease, even if not specifically named so, but I am up for alternative explanations and I want to make certain that applicable defenses and tailor-made items are taken into account, if it comes down to bandages in Dungeon #149
II ) How extensive is the protective effect of "Mind Blank" ? Does it only extend to such mind-affecting effects that target and influence emotions (say fear or a phantadmal killer ) or does it also protect from domination and charms ? Because, in effect, this might make the entire Malcanteth encounter rather..... absurd ? Yes, protection from evil is a cheap substitute against domination and possession, and will close that gap, but where is the limit ?
Since we are at it - is Magic Jar being warded against ?
And do positive mind affecting spells or effects such as bardic music affect the recipient of Magic Jar neither ? What about telepathic communication - blocked by Mind Blank, right ?
III ) How will "Dominate" and/or energy drain effects affect a person which is currently under the Magic Jar command of an arcane caster, hence technically possessed. Who will be affected ? The body or the occupying lifeforce ? I am inclined to rule for it being the lifeforce (the body will likely get abused enough ), but am foreseeing player protests.
IV ) Would either domination - of which the PC is likely aware, yet helpless to resist the commanded compulsions - possession, Magic Jarring or the "rot" from Demogorgon qualify as a "spell, effect or condition" from which a Warblade could free himself through the use of the "Iron Heart Surge" maneuvre (BoNS, P. 68 )?
I have already ruled so with regard to blindness, confusion, slowing, poisoning and normal disease, but ruled against it being a viable maneuvre versus paralysis and stun.
Input is absolutely appreciated, because I may have to adapt some monstrosities to be more or less challenging to the group "as per rules", especially so Malcanteth ( the "item forge" wizard" has become very much enarmoured with "Eyes of Winking" from the MoF, and I guess, by the time they are going to snuggle up with Shami and Mal, they will all be wearing one. Succubi Queens carry a certain reputation....). The encounter may just develop a nasty turn if they think they are immune to her viles and charms
If the warblade is unable to take a standard action then he cannot use Iron Heart Surge, so you were right about stunning and paralysis.
I would not allow a warblade to use Iron Heart Surge if he was dominated, since he is not in control of his actions.
I would be hesitant about letting it wipe away charm spells as well. If you pass a save against a spell targeting you, you get a Spellcraft check to identify it. If you fail a save against a spell you get no such check. In my games when someone fails a save against a charm spell they won't suspect anything is wrong until the spell ends. Therefore I'd probably not allow Iron Heart Surge to remove the effect, since the warblade can't effectively identify that he's being affected by a charm until it ends. If I'm in the wrong here someone let me know. : P
If the warblade was possessed but in control of his actions I would allow him to use Iron Heart Surge to boot the creature out of his body.
I would not allow Iron Heart Surge to end the effect of Magic Jar. I wouldn't allow anyone trapped inside a magic jar actions of any kind, so that rules out Iron Heart Surge.
About the rot - I could see it as a disease. Remove disease also kills parasites, so perhaps Demo's scaly hide crawls with microscopic Abyssal skin mites? Or perhaps he merely overflows with entropic death energy? I think that's stretching it, and would lump it in with diseases myself.
1) It isn't a disease, even though it shares many properties with diseases and is cured by some of the same countermeasures. For instance, you don't get a saving throw against the damage other than the initial exposure and it doesn't go away on its own. It also bypasses normal immunity to disease, such as that possessed by Paladins and warforged.
2) Mind Blank is basically a magic bullet, and it screws high-level enchanters and succubi hard. Malcanthet should probably have at least one minion with a Scroll of Disjunction to get rid of those pesky Mind Blanks if there is a rough patch in negotiations. Yes, it prevents Magic Jar from working properly. It provides immunity to friendly morale buffs and telepathic communication, but it remains open to question whether that is an adequate drawback.
3) The user of Magic Jar keeps his or her level after a transfer, so it stands to reason that he or she keeps his or her negative levels as well. Similarly, ability damage is applied to the host body if it is physical and the Magic Jar user if it is mental. Whether Domination works on the user or the host is strictly academic, since the user cannot use a standard action to transfer back to the Magic Jar anyway. It would presumably work on the user, though, rather than the host.
4) Note that Iron Heart Surge doesn't make very much sense as written. However, it should be able to cure Demogorgon's rot but not possession or Magic Jar, because it requires a standard action. Theoretically, it could cure Magic Jar if the Magic Jar caster intentionally used it or Domination if the dominated person was ordered to use it, but that is phenomenally unlikely to happen in-game.
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Note also that Malcanthet can cast greater dispel magic at will, so it's pretty easy for her to deal with mind blank spells if she needs to. And she's got plenty of tactics to resort to if she doesn't want to bother; she can do a hideous amount of damage with her 8 attacks per round if she flanks a foe, due to her +12d6 sneak attack damage. Mind blank won't help much against someone who hits AC 33 on a roll of 2 with her lowest attack roll and (if all 8 attacks hit and she's flanking) who deals an average of 450 or so points of damage per full-attack.
Note also that Malcanthet can cast greater dispel magic at will, so it's pretty easy for her to deal with mind blank spells if she needs to. And she's got plenty of tactics to resort to if she doesn't want to bother; she can do a hideous amount of damage with her 8 attacks per round if she flanks a foe, due to her +12d6 sneak attack damage. Mind blank won't help much against someone who hits AC 33 on a roll of 2 with her lowest attack roll and (if all 8 attacks hit and she's flanking) who deals an average of 450 or so points of damage per full-attack.
hehe thanks, if JJ declares Demogorgon's tender tipping an effect and not a disease, how much more "official" can it get ?
As for "Magic Jar" and "Mind Blank", I have a nasty suspicion they will be trying to pull a fast one on poor Malcanteth since there is some elaborate "anti-succubi" character background involved which will make it highly possible and appropriate, and the players involved have over the years pulled a lot of extremly viscious combos out of their hats.
"Dominate" might not stay in place all that long, since a being is aware of being dominated, and this group regularly casts circles of protection from evil to do "possession checks"... since the domination's victim is aware of it, and then momentarily freed, one "Iron Heart Surge" later both Magic Jar and Dominate would be so much history.
"Greater Dispel Magic won't help Miss M much either, if the characters go for mind-blank items, and if they go and create some "Eyes of Winking", poor Mal might even end up charming or dominating herself.... Plus, they might just take a casting of "Mind Blank" the wrong way and pull out (well, from somewhere, they are going to be naked after all....) the guns. Succubi Shootout.... sounds..... frisky ?
And they have started looking for and inquiring about the acquisition of for some pretty odditems since Scuttlecove.... Like "periapts of health" (at level 16+ ?) etc... So, lets hope issue number #150, the last of its kind will arrive soon, and I get to find out how the cards for the final battle are to be dealt. And then we see which demon lords, queens and princes(ses) get turned into so much protoplasm, hehe
To the best of my knowledge, there is no already-existing Item of Continuous Mind Blank. If your players want to produce their own, it might be a better idea to limit it to casting Mind Blank a number of times per day (as an immediate action, if you're feeling generous) rather than simply gouging out the entire section of the PHB and Monster Manual devoted to mind-affecting spells and monsters.
To the best of my knowledge, there is no already-existing Item of Continuous Mind Blank. If your players want to produce their own, it might be a better idea to limit it to casting Mind Blank a number of times per day (as an immediate action, if you're feeling generous) rather than simply gouging out the entire section of the PHB and Monster Manual devoted to mind-affecting spells and monsters.
- Eye of Winking (MoF) (comes very very close)
- Ring of Mental Fortitude (DMG-II)With an item recasting a 24 hour duration spell at will or at least several times a day..... now there goes an entirely new can of worms !
and ttBomK, there is an item which grants continuous "Protection from Evil" to its wearer (and would be very much obliged to be pointed to , before some player-plot hits my sideways =) )