Touching Targets? How does this work?

[TJen777]

How does touching multiple targets work with a communal spell?

The PRD says:

"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."

and

"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."

If I cast a communal spell as a standard action, I'm allowed to touch multiple targets. If they're not adjacent to me, how does this work?

[Zaister]

Using a touch spell on more than one target is always a full-round action, You must be adjacent to all targets in order to be able to touch them, since you cannot hold the charge to touch some of the targets at a later time.

Note that some spells (like teleport) only require you to touch one of the targets, who themselves must be in touch with each other.

[TJen777]

Zaister wrote:

Using a touch spell on more than one target is always a full-round action, You must be adjacent to all targets in order to be able to touch them, since you cannot hold the charge to touch some of the targets at a later time.

Note that some spells (like teleport) only require you to touch one of the targets, who themselves must be in touch with each other.

Hmm, well, that makes Communal spells . . . significantly less attractive for combat.

Thank you for clearing that up, though. I greatly appreciate it. :)

Oh, but if I applied the Reach Metamagic spell to it, then I'd be able to hit more people as a standard action, right?

[Midnight_Angel]

Zaister wrote:

Using a touch spell on more than one target is always a full-round action, You must be adjacent to all targets in order to be able to touch them, since you cannot hold the charge to touch some of the targets at a later time.

Do I, really? I always thought that I have the option of doing a 5-foot-step before, after, or during my full round action.

Not to mention the situations when I happen to have reach in excess of 5 feet...

[Zaister]

TJen777 wrote:

Hmm, well, that makes Communal spells . . . significantly less attractive for combat.

Thank you for clearing that up, though. I greatly appreciate it. :)

Oh, but if I applied the Reach Metamagic spell to it, then I'd be able to hit more people as a standard action, right?

By the way, you can find the relevant rule on page 186 of the Core Rulebook as part of the paragraph "Touch Spells in Combat" that starts on page 185:

Core Rulebook wrote:

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

Using Reach Spell should work, yes.

[Zaister]

Midnight_Angel wrote:

Do I, really? I always thought that I have the option of doing a 5-foot-step before, after, or during my full round action.

Not to mention the situations when I happen to have reach in excess of 5 feet...

You are right, i was under the impression that it was only explicitly allowed to take 5-foot step during a full attack, but in fact the rules say:

Core Rulebook wrote:

You can take a 5-foot step before, during, or after your other actions in the round.

So yes, you need to be adjacent to the all targets, but for each target you only need to be adjacent to it at one point during the round, and you can take a 5-foot step to reach more targets. Reach in excess of 5 feet helps a lot, of course.