UM: The Alchemist, Plague Bomb and a persistent Contagion "Cloud"

[Stynkk]

Ok, so I am having a little trouble with Plague Bomb (from Ultimate Magic) and I'd like some input from the forumites on how to treat this. I'll go through what I know, then what I'd like to know.

What I know:

PRD - UM - Spellcasting Options - Alchemist - Discoveries wrote:

Plague Bomb (Su)*:

Spoiler:

The effects of the smoke created by an alchemist's bomb duplicates the effects of contagion instead of fog cloud, filling an area equal to twice the bomb's splash area for 1 round per level. An alchemist must be at least 8th level and must have the smoke bomb discovery before selecting this discovery.

So we have a 10ft radius cloud of contagion, that lasts for 8 rounds at minimum.

PRD - Core - Spells wrote:

Contagion:

Spoiler:

The subject contracts one of the following diseases: blinding sickness, bubonic plague, cackle fever, filth fever, leprosy, mindfire, red ache, shakes, or slimy doom. The disease is contracted immediately (the onset period does not apply). Use the disease's listed frequency and save DC to determine further effects. For more information see Diseases.

This cloud removes onsets of diseases contracted by those inside it.

What I'd like to know:

1) Can a creature be affected by multiple instances of the same disease? I think not because of this text from the Afflictions section in the glossary: Unlike other afflictions [Curses & Diseases], multiple doses of the same poison stack.

2a) Is the type of disease "set by the Alchemist" when you throw the bomb? Do you throw the bomb and say: This bomb acts as an area Contagion spell and gives anything in the cloud "the Shakes"?

2b) OR can you assign any of the diseases listed by Contagion to any of the creatures during their time in the cloud.

Example:
Round 1 - Orc is in the cloud and contracts "the Shakes" (or at least makes a save vs it).
Round 2 - Orc is in the cloud and contracts Blinding Sickness (or at least makes a save vs it).

2c) Basically, are the creatures treated as if they encountered a new instance of Contagion every round in the cloud? How does repeated exposure to the same Contagion spell work?

3) Does a cloud of Contagion limit your visibility, like a Smoke Bomb? All the other "cloud" bombs obscure sight: Smoke Bomb, Stink Bomb, Inferno Bomb and Poison Bomb, but Plague Bomb is nebulous because Contagion was not intended to be an area spell.

A lot of these questions come up because Contagion was not inherently an area spell before being applied to the bomb.

[Stynkk]

Anybody?

Oh Abraham, where art thou?

[hogarth]

I'm also curious about this -- mostly the bit about whether you need to make multiple saves if you stay within the cloud. So you're not alone!

[Unithralith]

This is something that I have also been curious about. Seeing as nobody else is really weighing in, I'm going to give you my opinion on how it is meant to function, though this is by no means an official answer.

1) No. A creature cannot contract multiple instances of the same disease.

2a + b) The disease type is chosen when creating and throwing the bomb, and the same disease applies to all targets.

2c) Because the cloud of contagion remains for 1 round / level and contagion does not specify that creatures are immune to the effects after a successful save, a creature needs a new saving throw for every round they remain in the area of effect.

3) This one is less clear. It does say that it duplicates the effect of contagion INSTEAD of fog cloud, and contagion itself does not block sight in any way. However, it also refers to the "smoke" created by the alchemist's bomb in its description. I would say that although there is smoke produced, it no longer duplicates the effect of fog cloud, and thus the smoke is not sufficiently dense to block line of sight.

This is what I believe RAI is on this ability, but I agree that it could use some clarification.

- Unithralith