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The spell says it hedges about vermin with less than 1/3 the caster's level in HD. Swarms are treated as one thing for hit points and hit dice. Does Repel Vermin hedge them out automatically or would they get a will save?
Thanks
Prawn
Treat it like it were one big bug. If the swarm has less than 1/3 the caster's level in HD it is repelled. If it has more, it gets a will save.
So it is really more useful against giant insects than swarms, I guess.
Aldin has the right of it. The swarm has a collective might that can overpower the magic.
I am not so sure. It is a 4th level spell. I think it should hold back any swarm. IMHO. Otherwise, it's pretty darn useless. Gt Insects are pretty rare.
But that's not how the RAW is worded I think.
Swarms are pretty powerful, so an ability to instantly "Nope" them would be, too. I don't think it's a good idea to have a spell that can automatically remove them from play.
Instead, it makes sense for this ability to function like Halt Undead—super good against minor foes like zombies and giant beetles, and still fairly good against the real dangers. It's not like it's useless against swarms or anything. They still have to save. A swarm can't do a thing if it can't close into melee, remember: They don't exactly have ranged attacks.
A vermin with HD of one-third your level or more can penetrate the barrier if it succeeds on a Will save. Even so, crossing the barrier deals the vermin 2d6 points of damage, and pressing against the barrier causes pain, which deters most vermin.
Basically, unless the swarm is magically controlled, it's probably going to f@~& off from the spell. Repel Vermin is by no means useless just because it doesn't automatically succeed.