Multiple touch spell 'attacks'


Rules Questions


Hi

This is about this part in the combat section about touch spells:

Quote:
Holding the Charge: If you don't discharge the spell in the round when you cast the spell, you can hold the charge indefinitely. You can continue to make touch attacks round after round. If you touch anything or anyone while holding a charge, even unintentionally, the spell discharges. If you cast another spell, the touch spell dissipates. You can touch one friend as a standard action or up to six friends as a full-round action.

Does that mean I can cast Cure Light Wounds, hold the spell for a round and then as a full-round action heal 6 allies with the same spell?

If the answer is no, then the following questions aren't important:

Would I roll healed HP just once, or for each person seperately?

Could I touch one person more than once, or does it have to be 6 different ones?

Can I be one of the 6 people?

That be quite interesting for after combat heals, when it doesn't really matter anymore how long a spell takes.
Or for buffs like Bull's strength before combat.


Quatar wrote:


Does that mean I can cast Cure Light Wounds, hold the spell for a round and then as a full-round action heal 6 allies with the same spell?

If the answer is no, then the following questions aren't important:

Would I roll healed HP just once, or for each person seperately?

Could I touch one person more than once, or does it have to be 6 different ones?

Can I be one of the 6 people?

That be quite interesting for after combat heals, when it doesn't really matter anymore how long a spell takes.
Or for buffs like Bull's strength before combat.

1. No, the spell only works on a single target. Certain touch spells work several times, you can use those the way you described. In the following answers, consider a different spell being used that has several charges.

2. This is mostly a matter of play style and taste, I think, but RAW you would roll it individually. However, much as how I don't roll damage for every target of a 10d6 fireball, one might consider not to depending on circumstances.

3. No, you have to touch different people.

4. My interpretation is that yes, you can be.

EDIT: Hum, seems to be some confusing rules here.

prd wrote:
Touch: You must touch a creature or object to affect it. A touch spell that deals damage can score a critical hit just as a weapon can. A touch spell threatens a critical hit on a natural roll of 20 and deals double damage on a successful critical hit. Some touch spells allow you to touch multiple targets. You can touch up to 6 willing targets as part of the casting, but all targets of the spell must be touched in the same round that you finish casting the spell. If the spell allows you to touch targets over multiple rounds, touching 6 creatures is a full-round action.
prd wrote:

Touch Spells and Holding the Charge: In most cases, if you don't discharge a touch spell on the round you cast it, you can hold the charge (postpone the discharge of the spell) indefinitely. You can make touch attacks round after round until the spell is discharged. If you cast another spell, the touch spell dissipates.

Some touch spells allow you to touch multiple targets as part of the spell. You can't hold the charge of such a spell; you must touch all targets of the spell in the same round that you finish casting the spell.

So it seems it isn't enough that it's a touch spell, one that you can hold, and that it has several targets; it seems as though it must specifically state that you can hold the charge for several targets.

I don't really know many such spells that would be used on friendly targets (allowing 6 touches per round). Does someone have a list?


Hm, where did you get your quotes from?
Both
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering---final/combat---final#TOC-Cast-a-Spe ll
and
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/combat.html

say what I quoted, as does the rulebook.

Do you know any spells that allow multiple touches?

Dark Archive

Quatar wrote:

Hm, where did you get your quotes from?

Both
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering---final/combat---final#TOC-Cast-a-Spe ll
and
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/combat.html

say what I quoted, as does the rulebook.

Do you know any spells that allow multiple touches?

Water breathing would be a good example.


Quatar wrote:

Hm, where did you get your quotes from?

Both
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering---final/combat---final#TOC-Cast-a-Spe ll
and
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/combat.html

say what I quoted, as does the rulebook.

Do you know any spells that allow multiple touches?

Here:

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic#TOC-Range
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic#TOC-Duration

Yes, there are a few offensive spells, like Chill Touch, but not many.

EDIT:
Plane Shift and teleport spells too.


Ok thank you all.
Seems that feature is not of much use to me then :/


Quatar wrote:

Ok thank you all.

Seems that feature is not of much use to me then :/

Not in that case, no. Unless the spell states it can have several targets, it can't.


As a confusing addendum....

You could cast cure light wounds, and hold the charge. Then, on your next turn run up to a friend, touch them, cast another cure light wounds, and touch them again or some one else, and effectively get 2 CLW off in a single turn. So that is one way you could get 2 touch spells off in a single round.

That reminds me, I need to start holding a charge of a cure spell on my cleric to use as an emergency heal in combat. Being able to heal yourself or a friend as a free action is nice.


Charender wrote:

As a confusing addendum....

You could cast cure light wounds, and hold the charge. Then, on your next turn run up to a friend, touch them, cast another cure light wounds, and touch them again or some one else, and effectively get 2 CLW off in a single turn. So that is one way you could get 2 touch spells off in a single round.

That reminds me, I need to start holding a charge of a cure spell on my cleric to use as an emergency heal in combat. Being able to heal yourself or a friend as a free action is nice.

I believe that touching somebody (even an ally) with a held charge would be a standard action (this is shown by requiring a touch attack against an unwilling opponent). There for even by holding the charge you couldn't get off two CLW in the same round.


cwslyclgh wrote:
Charender wrote:

As a confusing addendum....

You could cast cure light wounds, and hold the charge. Then, on your next turn run up to a friend, touch them, cast another cure light wounds, and touch them again or some one else, and effectively get 2 CLW off in a single turn. So that is one way you could get 2 touch spells off in a single round.

That reminds me, I need to start holding a charge of a cure spell on my cleric to use as an emergency heal in combat. Being able to heal yourself or a friend as a free action is nice.

I believe that touching somebody (even an ally) with a held charge would be a standard action (this is shown by requiring a touch attack against an unwilling opponent). There for even by holding the charge you couldn't get off two CLW in the same round.

I can't find anything in the SRD that says either way.

I thought touching a willing target was a free action and that making a touch attack is a standard action.

Either way I am pretty sure that touching yourself is a free action..... and no not the way you are thinking THAT is at least full round action.


cwslyclgh wrote:
Charender wrote:

As a confusing addendum....

You could cast cure light wounds, and hold the charge. Then, on your next turn run up to a friend, touch them, cast another cure light wounds, and touch them again or some one else, and effectively get 2 CLW off in a single turn. So that is one way you could get 2 touch spells off in a single round.

That reminds me, I need to start holding a charge of a cure spell on my cleric to use as an emergency heal in combat. Being able to heal yourself or a friend as a free action is nice.

I believe that touching somebody (even an ally) with a held charge would be a standard action (this is shown by requiring a touch attack against an unwilling opponent). There for even by holding the charge you couldn't get off two CLW in the same round.

An interesting question on the rules. Is a touch attack considered a standard or swift action? And how is that action reconciled with the casting action of the spell itself, since you can't do two standard action s on the same round normally? Move action?

Personally I think it should be ruled to be part of the standard action of casting for any specific touch attack spell and an attack action on any other round (in case you miss and hold the spell). Because every game I've played in the touch was done as part of the spell casting and those spells would be far less useful if you had to cast then couldn't attack until next round.


Charender wrote:


Either way I am pretty sure that touching yourself is a free action..... and no not the way you are thinking THAT is at least full round action.

Nice... is there any way to set a signature on these boards?


The caster of a touch spell is allowed to make a single touch attack as a free action during the same round as the spell is cast. This allows a caster to cast a spell, move up to their target, and touch (or attempt to touch) them. However, if you have held the spell into later rounds, you lose that free attempt.

Quatar wrote:
You can touch one friend as a standard action or up to six friends as a full-round action.

This, I believe, was quoted from the book.

The ability to make the one free touch during the same round of casting was added in officially in Pathfinder. Originally in 3.5 you got a free touch as part of the casting. The difference being that you couldn't move between casting and touching before. This has made healing allies a lot safer in the new rules :D


Benjamin Trefz wrote:
Originally in 3.5 you got a free touch as part of the casting. The difference being that you couldn't move between casting and touching before.

You could do that in 3.5, too:

Touch Spells in Combat
Many spells have a range of touch. To use these spells, you cast the spell and then touch the subject, either in the same round or any time later. In the same round that you cast the spell, you may also touch (or attempt to touch) the target. You may take your move before casting the spell, after touching the target, or between casting the spell and touching the target. You can automatically touch one friend or use the spell on yourself, but to touch an opponent, you must succeed on an attack roll.


You could only do this if the spell allowed up to 6 targets. Yes you can touch 6 friends as a full round action, but the spell will only last for as many targets as it can, so if it can only target 1 person, the 2nd-6th ones won't get any effect.

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