| 3 people marked this as FAQ candidate. |
A 'little' kobold sorcerer, Level 10 becomes paralysed in battle. Because he has a unfortunate history of getting kidnapped and tied up several times, he gained the feats 'Still Spell' as well as 'Silent Spell' (and as a sorcerer he also has 'Eschew Materials').
Would he be able to cast 'Fly' with 'Still Spell' & 'Silent Spell' and fly away (in the next round) although he is paralysed?
In other words, are you able to control flight while paralysed? And can you cast ranged spells while being unable to move, as long as you are able to see your target?
Re: Fly spell... Well, it´s using the Fly skill, which is a DEX-based skill.
It´s not really made clear, but that seems grounds to say that you DO need to be able to move around in order to make the checks.
On the other hand, you can just apply the penalty from having DEX 0 to the Fly checks and leave it at that.
Re: casting Still, Silent, Eschewed spells while Paralyzed... Yes, that´s pretty clear that you can do that,
that´s what Still Spell does, removes any Somatic components. If it´s a Touch spell, it doesn´t get rid of the requirement to Touch the Target, but if you have a Familiar who can ´land´ on you to receive the Charge before delivering it to the Target, that would work IMHO.
EDIT: On one hand, you only need to make Fly checks for specific maneuvers, so perhaps your Paralyzed Flyer could continue flying as long as they keep moving ´sedately´ (not hovering, not doing fancy stuff).
On the other hand, Fly says ¨Using a fly spell requires only as much concentration as walking¨ and walking requires physical exertion, which conflicts with Paralysis saying ¨you may take only purely mental actions¨. In combo with Fly being a DEX based skill, it seems reasonable to say that it isn´t PURELY mental (but requires physical balance to control the magics, etc), and thus you can´t Fly at all.
But since Paralysis specifically calls out WINGED flyers as immediately falling, but not people using the Fly spell, I´d go with the previous interpretation: you can´t make any Fly CHECKS, but will continue flying until you need to make a check (for hovering, maneuvers, winds, etc).
In the glossary:
A paralyzed character cannot move, speak, or take any physical action. He is rooted to the spot, frozen and helpless. Not even friends can move his limbs. He may take purely mental actions, such as casting a spell with no components.
So yes, he can cast fly, assuming you remove all the components, (V S and F) which you would do with those 2 metamagics and eschew.
Fly says it only requires as much concentration as walking- and states that it doesn't hinder your ability to cast spells or attack, implying you don't have to use movements (say, pointing your arms forward like superman) to fly around. So I'd say you're clear there too. It doesn't say anything about physical exertion.
Of course, your dex will suck because of being paralyzed. You could (and may have to) make fly checks, you'll just be bad at them- which makes sense as you can't turn your head or even look around with your eyes. In this case, DEX is more about reflex than actual fine movements.
I really don't see a reason you couldn't choose to start flying backwards, as if pulled by an invisible rope. Your fly type is good, so yeah, paralyzed go can fly around about as if he was a statue being dragged round by a 20 foot invisible leash.
Ughbash´s point about STR seems the strongest so far.
His 2nd point/conjecture that they would stay floating in mid-air seems more iffy,
since to Hover in Place requires a Fly Check (DEX skill) that is harder than normal.
I guess that is still ambiguous though, whether you can make the DEX skill check (with -5 penalty) or not...
I wouldn´t say you can make Acrobatics, Ride, or Slight of Hand checks while Paralyzed...
And the thing for me is, besides being DEX-based, your Ranks in the Fly skill apply equally to winged flight as to magic flight,
so it´s hard for me to beleive that using the Fly skill is a ´PURELY mental activity´.
I think the issue is that some people IMAGINE the Fly spell as purely mental direction of magic, while that isn´t actually specified one way or another, other than the circumstantial evidence (DEX-based, applying equally to Winged and Magic flight, etc).
I think it would be helpful if Paizo actually clarified it officially one way or another.
i think some people are making a reading of DEX as NOT a physical stat (how it´s always classed, along with STR and CON) but as some type of mental stat... ´how you interact with the world´ independent of your physical body/state. That seems to be contradicted by Magic Jar, Synthesist Summoners (which don´t retain DEX for any purpose, but take on that of the new form)), and abilities like Hand of the Apprentice / Telekineses which don´t use DEX when control is purely mental.
Regardless, I think it would bring closure if Paizo clarified the issue. As I see it, there´s a reasonable interpretation that a magical Flyer who is paralyzed does not fall IMMEDIATELY, but the next round that they do not make a Hover check (not clear if that happens at beginning of turn or after all your actions). ...The other intrepretation not being able to move and only being able to make Hover checks with a -5 DEX penalty... But that isn´t made obvious by Paralysis itself (which calls out winged flyers only) or the Fly spell (which seems to cover non-winged Flight).
*IF* you can´t even Hover, I think the most elegant outcome would be if you only start to fall AFTER your turn (when you fail to Hover), which lets you Dismiss the spell as a Standard Action (if it was your own spell), which triggers the Feather Fall effect which otherwise wouldn´t trigger if the spell was still active but you just failed to make the Hover check.
Paralysis indicates the affected creature "cannot move" or "take any physical action" and that he is "rooted to the spot," and that even his companions "cannot move his limbs."
Casting with the named feats may be a mental thing. But flying is a physical action. It is also a move. A move action that means a character is no longer rooted to the spot and that his limbs have moved (at least upwards). Since the physical act itself is prohibited by the paralysis rule, the kobold in question could cast it, but clearly could not use it.
Paralysis indicates the affected creature "cannot move" or "take any physical action" and that he is "rooted to the spot," and that even his companions "cannot move his limbs."
Casting with the named feats may be a mental thing. But flying is a physical action. It is also a move. A move action that means a character is no longer rooted to the spot and that his limbs have moved (at least upwards). Since the physical act itself is prohibited by the paralysis rule, the kobold in question could cast it, but clearly could not use it.
+1
