Okay two things came up in my session last night. One:
Someone used a scroll with Use Magic Device. He happened to hit a 23 DC with only a 5 skill so I didn't need to know what happened if he failed... but what would happen if he failed? Does the scroll disappear? Or can he keep trying?
Same with using a scroll higher than your level. Can you just keep trying as long as you make those Wisdom checks?
Second:
A creature cast Confusion on the party. They killed the creature. Should the Confusion spell still keep going on even after the caster is dead? I ruled the spell ended, just because I figure it would have taken 15 minutes of real-time to have them tie up the confused characters for the rest of the spell and I didn't want to deal with it.
First. There is nothing in the rules that I am aware of about destroying the item is you fail. Personally, when I DM, I usually houserule that if you fail to activate an item by 5 or more, you expend a charge without effect (which in the case of a scroll uses it up).
Second. As written, the magic is cast and it will keep going till the end of the spell. The death of the caster has little to do with anything once the magic is set into effect. This can frequently have really annoying consequences, such as monsters throwing around dominate person (duration 1 day/level... good luck!). I normally let the players deal with it or hand-wave the most annoying cases (Yes you manage to wrangle the confused character to the ground and tie him up. You then twiddle your thumbs for 15 minutes while he comes to. On we go!)
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Okay two things came up in my session last night. One:
Someone used a scroll with Use Magic Device. He happened to hit a 23 DC with only a 5 skill so I didn't need to know what happened if he failed... but what would happen if he failed? Does the scroll disappear? Or can he keep trying?
In the skill listing:
"Try Again: Yes, but if you ever roll a natural 1 while attempting to activate an item and you fail, then you can't try to activate that item again for 24 hours."Seems to imply that you can keep trying until you roll a one and that items don't go away.
"You make a Use Magic Device check each time you activate a device such as a wand. "
The suggestion was that the implication is you activate the device regardless and the roll is only to determine if you were able to get the desired effect...
I don't buy into this but just wanted to put it out there.
Same with using a scroll higher than your level. Can you just keep trying as long as you make those Wisdom checks?
Based on the above I figure you can keep banging at it. If you have to emulate an ability you do have to make two rolls per round. Keep in mind though that you can cast 95% of spells in the game with charisma so charisma based characters get a free pass on this mostly.
A creature cast Confusion on the party. They killed the creature. Should the Confusion spell still keep going on even after the caster is dead? I ruled the spell ended, just because I figure it would have taken 15 minutes of real-time to have them tie up the confused characters for the rest of the spell and I didn't want to deal with it.
Spells last until their duration expire unless they require explicitly concentration.
Unless there is potential for another encounter before the duration of the spell expires I hand wave the effects of lingering spells away though. I suspect most GMs do likewise rather than have the players kill each other under a confusion spell.
While spells normally don't end with the death of the caster.
With the sole exception of Duration: Concentration.
As for Dominate Person, this spell actually forms a mental link between the caster and the subject. This mental link is what allows the caster to compel the target to perform certain actions. I would say that the death of the caster would end the effects of this spell just based on how the spell description explains it.
Note that the description of dominate person contains part:
Once you have given a dominated creature a command, it continues to attempt to carry out that command to the exclusion of all other activities except those necessary for day-to-day survival (such as sleeping, eating, and so forth).
Which would suggest that it is possible for dominate to outlive its caster. Perhaps I would allow additional saving throw when the caster is slain.
Thanks for the help guys. I figured the scrolls remain because I couldn't find a rule... just thought I'd double check.
Note that the description of dominate person contains part:
Once you have given a dominated creature a command, it continues to attempt to carry out that command to the exclusion of all other activities except those necessary for day-to-day survival (such as sleeping, eating, and so forth).Which would suggest that it is possible for dominate to outlive its caster. Perhaps I would allow additional saving throw when the caster is slain.
I'm guessing that's why they put this line at the end of the Dominate Person spell:
"If you don’t spend at least 1 round concentrating on the spell
each day, the subject receives a new saving throw to throw off
the domination."