End of Active spells

[Spinotron]

If a cleric who cast prayer, bless, shield other, etc. falls unconscious, his spells end or stay active till his death?

Same for a wizard with shield, mage armor, etc etc... do the spells dissipate falling unconscious? Or not?

Thanks for anybody who shed light on this

[Jeraa]

The spells will remain active until the duration ends. Any spells the caster casts on other creatures will also remain active, even after the casters death.

There are a few spells that require concentration, however. Those spells will end when the caster falls unconscious or dies. (A few will last for a couple of rounds before failing, though.)

So if the spell has a duration of Concentration, it will end when the caster falls unconscious or dies (or it will end within a few rounds, depending on the spell). Every other spell will continue until its full duration is over. (If a spell lasts 10 minutes, and the caster dies after only 1 minute, the spells effects will still continue for another 9 minutes.)

[Xzaral]

I thought spells that were Dismissable ended when someone went unconscious? Or was that an old rule? Or something made up entirely?

[Jeraa]

Xzaral wrote:

I thought spells that were Dismissable ended when someone went unconscious? Or was that an old rule? Or something made up entirely?

Something someone made up entirely. The only thing a Dismissible spell means is that, instead of the spell lasting its full duration, the caster can end the spell early by spending a standard action.

Quote:

(D) Dismissible: If the duration line ends with “(D),” you can dismiss the spell at will. You must be within range of the spell's effect and must speak words of dismissal, which are usually a modified form of the spell's verbal component. If the spell has no verbal component, you can dismiss the effect with a gesture. Dismissing a spell is a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

A spell that depends on concentration is dismissible by its very nature, and dismissing it does not take an action, since all you have to do to end the spell is to stop concentrating on your turn.

Normally, a spell with a duration other then concentration will always last for its full duration. Dismissible spells can be ended early, but the caster must spend an action to do so.

[Spinotron]

Thanks Jeraa,
very helpful

[Xzaral]

Huh, that's the way we've played since 3rd edition with dismissable spells in my homegroup. Very interesting. Thanks for the info.

[Spinotron]

We too, make a lot of confusion... having played from AD&D to Pathfinder ^_^"